Life, 1896-11-12 · page 5 of 18
Life — November 12, 1896 — page 5: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# "Over There" Cartoon Analysis This page from *Life* magazine satirizes wealthy American society's indifference to wartime sacrifice. The cartoon depicts an elegant duchess dismissing her florist's bill with aristocratic disdain, asking "Do you expect me to pay this absurd florist bill of yours?" while her companion asks what she married the duke for—implying mercenary motives. The title "Over There" references the popular WWI song, sarcastically contrasting frivolous high-society concerns with soldiers fighting abroad. The accompanying poem "Modest Worth" celebrates humble integrity in contrast to such vanity. The text below criticizes Americans horrified by Indigenous peoples' practices while ignoring medical exploitation of Native Americans by scientists—another form of cruelty masked by institutional authority.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
MODEST WORTH. E always shunned society With self-containing mind; No fitful notoriety Marked him among his kind. In modest ease, without reproach, Alone he chose to dwell; And, at a stranger's rude approach, Withdrew into his shell. His neighbors never knew his worth— He moved outside their strife; And yet, I think he left this earth Much better for his life. He gained no puffing paragraph When he had passed away, But read his noble epitaph— Harry Komaine. OTHING is more discouraging than unappre- ciated sarcasm. MERICANS who are horrified at some of the cruelties practiced by the Comanches and other tribes would do well to drop in at some of the laboratories and medical schools where vivisection is under way. They would find that the North American Indian, while an experienced vivisector himself, is by comparison only a clumsy hand at that gentle sport. The Med. has science to back him, and he can wring more agony from his victim because he . knows how to keep him e longer. eras tw. ft b0 YOU EXPECT ME TO PAY THIS ABSURD That sort of a ‘‘scientist” can give points to The Duke: MY DEAR, WHAT DO YOU THINK 1 MARRIED YOU FOR? the untutored aboriginal. OVER THERE. comicbooks.com