Life, 1897-12-02 · page 7 of 26
Life — December 2, 1897 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Life Magazine Page: "Life's Polar Expedition" This page documents Commander Hornblower's polar expedition attempt, featuring diary entries and photographs. The text humorously portrays Hornblower as determined but physically struggling—he admits to having "the gout" and stomach troubles, yet persists toward the Pole. Miss Belle Bunker, shown in a photograph, accompanies the expedition as Hornblower's typewriter operator. A sketch labeled "Rough sketch of Mrs. Hornblower, by her husband" appears on the right. The satire centers on the contrast between the expedition's ambitious goals and Hornblower's compromised physical condition. The inclusion of a female typist and the domestic humor (Mrs. Hornblower's sketch) mock the pretensions of polar exploration while highlighting the expedition's practical, unglamorous reality. The map shows the proposed route to the Pole with ice and wind considerations marked.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Life’s Polar Expedition. HE Same Old Game, carrying with her so many hopes, anx- icties and ambitions, is pressing steadily onward to the Pole. Latest advices received by carrier- pigeons daily show that Commander Hornblower is the man we took him to be. Like all great men, he falters at times, but the thought of the im- mense receipts and the homage that will be his on his return spurs him on, His iron constitution is also with him. “T may have the gout,” he writes in a private note, ‘‘the pdté de fore gras may give out and my stomach may fail me, but I shall keep on if it takes all winter.” This is the right spirit. To be properly adver- tised we must all make a bluff at something, and Commander Horn- blower is well aware of this. The following is the Professor's diary received to date: Nov. 24.—Mrs. Hornblower is not with us. I feared that her delicate constitution might not withstand the rigors of an Arctic winter, and prevailed upon her to remain behind. For this piece of stern self-denial on my part Miss BELLE Prorosep ROUTE TO THE POLE. Outside dotted lines show the intended course of the Same Old Game, ice and wind permitting. the crew have presented me with an engrossed resolution of thanks, We shall miss her, of course, as the presence of a loving, thought- ful woman would be a great solace. Nov. 25.—This morning we dropped an- chor off Newport and took aboard Miss Belle Bunker, my typewriter. She will accompany me on the expedition and help me write my great book. She is not at all like Mrs, H., but I shall bear up under it. Nov. 26.—This morning Albert Good- enough, who shipped as bo'sun’s mate, was discovered under the forward hatchway by my private detective, surreptitiously en- gaged in writing a journal with the aid of a BUNKER, dark lantern, He was promptly dragged out and shot. This had a salutary effect on the crew, and I believe will be effective. Nov. 27.—Still off Newport. Have ordered out the furs, preparatory to the approach to Boston, A moment of weakness came over me this morning. Here I am, on an osten- sible expedition tothe Pole in the interests of science. I will write my book, secure tre- mendous advertising privileges, be hailed by the American public as a hero, be received into the best families, and the thought of what a monumental fraud 1 am overcame me, Away with such thoughts! When I think of the money in it, of the delightful table we have, I am reassured. Nov, 28,—We weighed anchor this morning and started around Cape Cod. The crew suspected something, for they came forward in a body and demanded toknow if we were bound for Boston. They shipped for the Pole, they said, and were not prepared to pass the time in Boston, I immediately or- Rough sketch of Mrs, Hornblower, by her husband. comicbooks.com