Life, 1895-02-21 · page 7 of 18
Life — February 21, 1895 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 119 The main illustration, titled "The Spirit of Carnival," depicts a jester or carnival figure in elaborate costume striking a theatrical pose. The cartoon critiques American government spending on architecture and public buildings. The left column discusses homeopathy versus conventional medicine, questioning whether homeopathic treatments' survival rates justify their continued use. The text cites statistics comparing patient outcomes. The right column, "Ring Down the Curtain," attacks wasteful government spending on the Capitol building's construction. It references Mr. Carrère (a supervising architect) who declined the position, noting the project's chaotic, over-budget state. The cartoon satirizes the government's architectural extravagance and poor project management—suggesting the "spirit of carnival" (wasteful frivolity) governs public construction.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
SHALL WE RESIST TEMPTATION? T™ presumption of these homeopaths is appalling. It appears now that of an equal num- ber of patients treated for grippe they lose eight where the “ regular phy- sician ” loses thirteen. This puts us in a quan- dary. Shall we stick to the gory old banner, with cight time-honored chances of coming out alive, or shall we call in the irrepressible homeo- path and profit by the whole thirteen? In other words, is it42 better to bea dead allopath than a live homeopath? What adds to the embarrassment of the faithful is that grippe often leads to pneumonia, and in pneumonia, ac- cording to recent statis- tics, the homeopath only loses ten patients where the other M.D. loses six- teen patients and nine- tenths of another patient. Of course, death is pref- erable to dishonor; but when the candle of life is burning so low that it isa toss up as to recovery, the most conservative and high-minded citizen might be pardoned for wishing to profit by the extra seven- tenths of another chance. RING DOWN THE CURTAIN. ONSIDERING the money it costs and the actors employed, the biggest burlesque ever or- ganized in this country is THe Spirit oF Carsivat. the office of the govern- ment architect. Of course, we have all known in a general way that build- supervising architect, declined it, as under existing conditions ings erected by the U.S. Government are not only mortifying no one man could bring order out of the present chaos. He caricatures on architecture, but that their cost is always — remarks incidentally: beyond the dreams of common sense. “The present condition of this work is in such a disor- Mr. Carrére, who was recently offered the position of ganized state that it would take the best part of any man’s comicbooks.com