Life, 1898-03-24 · page 5 of 20
Life — March 24, 1898 — page 5: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 225 **Main Cartoon ("A Good Thing"):** Two anthropomorphic elephants sit conversing. This is satirical commentary on American politics, as the elephant is the Republican Party symbol. The cartoon appears to mock political discourse or strategy of the era, though the specific political situation isn't entirely clear from the visible text. **"Colonel Hay in Egypt" Section:** References American Ambassador John Hay's diplomatic mission to Egypt. The text describes excavations of the tomb of Osiris occurring near Aswan and comments on Hay's good fortune being away from London during spring. Two small caricature sketches below show figures labeled "Rum Did It"—likely satirizing some diplomatic or political situation related to Hay's absence. The page mixes political humor with international affairs commentary typical of Life's satirical approach.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
To Whom It May Concern. IFE will give one hundred dollars for the best short story received at this office before June 1, 1898. Seventy-tive dol- lars will be paid for the second best, and fifty for the third best, Among the other storics received, but not, in the judgment of the entitled to receive any awards, Lire will pay twenty-five dollars for cach story accepted. The stories should contain a fresh, original idea, and should be Ameri in tone, brigh cheerful, crisp, with a good cli- max, They may be fanciful, sentimental, ghostly, fantastic, social, but a touch of humor is desirable. The stories must con- “a GOOD THING.” tain between fifteen hundred and two thou- sand words. All manuscripts typewritten, and addressed to the Short Story Editorof Lire. Colonel Hay in Egypt. ALT 2st accounts the American Ambassador to Great Britain was recruiting his energies on a trip up the Nile, It isa pleasure to con- gratulate Colonel Hay on bis happy selection of a time to be away from London. It has not been especially salubrious in that capital thisspring. ‘The air has been heavy with rumors of war and suggestions of all sorts of alliances. Report has followed report, and contradiction has dogged assertion in a manner that has been far from conducive to intellectual comfort or the processes of diges- tion, Egypt, on the contrary, has never been more interesting than now. Only the other day the tomb of Osiris was unearthed at Abydos. — linpor- tant excavations are going on all the time, and the sky is as blue and the air as fine as it usually is in Egypt in the spring. Colonel ‘ood luck with his spring outing 3 and has shown himself a true mother to himself, “RUM pip rT,” comicbooks.com