Life, 1897-07-29 · page 7 of 20
Life — July 29, 1897 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 87 This page contains humorous vignettes rather than political cartoons. The main illustrations show children playing golf and baseball near a large tree, with dialogue about proper berth selection on trains and complaints about "modern schooling." The satire targets **early 20th-century parenting anxieties**: parents debating practical matters (upper vs. lower berths) while children prioritize comfort and outdoor play. A recurring joke involves a squirrel threatening to fill golf holes with quinine pills if shooting doesn't stop—absurdist animal humor typical of the era. The text sections include commentary on literature and an "Assistant Librarian" question about book placement, reflecting contemporary intellectual concerns. The overall tone mocks both pedantic adults and the gap between educational theory and children's actual interests.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
banish that melancholy and tragedy which is often a part of the highest art, but she has no patience with will- fulsadness. ‘'Many of the Elizabethan dramas are dark and terrible, but they com- pel men to think.” The novels of Meredith and Ste- venson have plenty of trag- edy in them, but not a page in them will induce you “to sit shaking your maudlin head over yourself or all creation.” That is a very useful distinction to make in literature at this time, when the little voices are given to whining, as though they carried about in their bosoms the dole- {ul secret of universal pain. “We owe our gratitude,” says Miss Guiney, **to the men of letters who deliberately undertake to be gay— for nobody expects unconscious and spontaneous gayety in books nowadays.” Drock, A SSISTANT LIBRARIAN: Where shall I put this book, “Impressions of America by an Englishman "? LIBRARIAN: In the fiction de- partment. A Contemporary Incident. A{Sthe train passed through the tunnel out of New York al! manner of gases got into the sleeping car, as usual, and stifled the suffering passengers. The little boy did not like it, and his mind worked. When the tunnel was passed the air was 87 is bad air in any place it rises, and is worse near the ceiling than it is lower down. Now, father, the air in this car will rise, and it will be worse in the upper berth than in the lower berth. You are bigger and stronger than I, and can stand the bad air better. Please, father, take the upper berth and let me have the lower one.” Then the man said to his wile: “What viper is this that we have nourished ? Is this what modern schooling leads to?" But she replied: ‘‘Pshaw! The child wants the lower berth so that he may look out of the win- dow in the morning. He will wake earlier than you.” 216.4 BG ny Se ah 2A, See ya better. Then the little boy said: * Father, The Squirrel: SEE HERE, YOUNG MAN, IF YOU DON'T STOP SHOOTING THESE OVER- I learned at school that when there GROWN NE PILLS INTO MY HOUSE I'LL FILL UP EVERY HOLE ON THE COURSE.