Life, 1895-08-08 · page 6 of 14
Life — August 8, 1895 — page 6: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Page Analysis: Life Magazine, circa 1910s **"Our Fresh Air Fund"** (left): A satirical fundraising list mocking wealthy donors' modest contributions to send poor children to the country. The amounts ($1-6) are trivial, suggesting the wealthy give pittance while congratulating themselves for charity. **"A Woman's Idea of a Modern Man"** (right): A lengthy article critiquing Ella MacMahon's novel *Drac*, which portrays an idealized "Modern Man." The piece sardonically examines what qualities this fictional character embodies—apparently self-made ambition, wealth, and romantic appeal—while questioning whether MacMahon's "Modern Woman" character is equally compelling or merely another literary cliché. **"A Downward and an Upward Step"** (bottom left): Brief commentary on the Duke of Cambridge's potential resignation as British Army head, questioning whether royalty should hold military command positions during wartime.
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Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
OUR FRESH AIR FUND. YOUR three dollars not only sends a child to the country for a fortnight of fresh air, wholesome food and clean beds, but it gives you the consciousness of having made a good investment. We admit the dividends are not \] given to the investor, but they exist, neverthe- less, and in large amounts, They take the form of browner faces and larger waists, and in cool green memories that freshen a child’s spirit during the re- mainder of the summer in a heated city. Previously acknowledged. $24 03 78 Enginee $300 A Friend Cassie Dodge $0 00 Helena, Paul, Heary and Alford 25 00 15 00 Brrore, AFTER. en of the Tap- Zee Hotel, Crkehan, Alvin A. Mack and Louis de G. Constance Gardnei From. Garnet St Will Club of Folks... Through Lare mont 600 J. Je As A In Memory of A. M.S... Skanea : _10 0 Utopian . : $2576 28 We thank Mr. George M. Landers for two gross of children's knives and forks presented to the Farm. A DOWNWARD AND AN UPWARD STEP. T appears that the Duke of Cambridge may resign his position as Commander-in-Chief of the British army. From one point of view it is a thing to be regretted, as this SS person in such a position has been the crowning feature of the hereditary farce. The whole system of royalty at this period of the world’s enlightenment is somewhat amusing, and that an intelligence like that of the Duke of Cambridge should be at the military head of the British Empire is a resounding joke. And this dull, slow minded, witless duke, because he is the cousin of a very dull woman, holds the highest military posi- tion in the English army. It is certainly time for a change, and it will not be many years before royalty with certain other curi- osities will be stowed away in MOTHERLESS. the European attic. A WOMAN’S IDEA OF A MODERN MAN. T last one of the army of women writers has turned from the complacent contemplation of herself as a “new woman" to write a novel about ‘A Modern Man” (Macmillan.) We have long suspected that the New Woman only exists for the purpose of more efficiently catch- ing the eye of the Modern Man. Itis hardly necessary to state that at least four women show a decided interest in Miss Ella MacMahon's Modern Man in this story, and two of them are more or less in love with him. As for the man here depicted any other brother-man of the decade could tell you just what sort of a fellow a bright woman thinks him to be, and therefore puts him into her stories. It is needless to say that Merton Byng isa devil of a fellow, He has that admirable quality that all women rave over in books, but despise in real life—the faculty of getting along by his own efforts. Byng is what the Englishmen call a self-made man; over here we should think that he had too many advantages of education and society to be called self-made. “He simply had to hustle for his own law- practice and daily bread—which lots of good men are doing all about us. * * * W = can’t exactly make out what makes him typically modern in Miss MacMahon’s eyes—whether it is his capacity for hustling ; or for falling in love with the girl whose money and social position are best calculated to help along his career; or his readiness to flirt with a very pretty girl in Wales, while his own best girl is in England. All these things seem natural enough to fit any alert man of this or previous decades. What the author seems to have very much to heart is that the Modern Man is not steadfast in his affections; that he is a time-server, turned this way or that by self-interest or passion. We suspect that Miss MacMahon has“ sized him up " with considerable acumen, But we don’t think it is peculiar to the Modern Man; we also have suspicions that the Modern Woman is tossed about by similar waves of emotion, The heroine of this story—A/ur¢e/—however, is not made of any such weak stuff. She loves Byng from first to last, sees right through his vacillations, keeps her mouth shut, and marries him. Of course she calls him down about the other girl, when they are safely married, but she is very nice about it, and Byng feels just cheap enough to kiss and make up. Why shouldn't he? The girl, the fortune and the career are all safely his. She had simply kept him from making a fool of himself—as most good women are apt todo! Droch. yaw That man Tubbs just lives for his stomach. Mac: He has a great deal to live for. comicbooks.com