Life, 1898-10-06 · page 13 of 20
Life — October 6, 1898 — page 13: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains theater reviews and social commentary typical of early 1900s *Life* magazine satire. **Main cartoon** (center): Shows a young man overwhelmed by an overly affectionate woman at what appears to be a social gathering. The caption humorously depicts his distress—he "can't hold her" and she's swooning over him. The satire mocks excessive romantic displays or perhaps the woman's forward behavior, which would have been considered scandalous for the era. **"Speed the Parting Guest" section**: Satirizes England's recent decision to stop mandatory vaccination. *Life* criticizes this as foolish—the English prefer risking epidemic disease to vaccination. The piece mockingly calls this "another glorious discovery passing to the grave," sarcastically listing failed medical advances (Koch's lymph, Pasteur's work) while citing a Pennsylvania girl who died from vaccination complications. **"Too Learned" poem**: Brief social satire about educated women. The joke: a woman with ten diplomas is too intellectually pretentious ("superior carriage") to successfully secure marriage—suggesting overeducation made women unmarriageable, a common period prejudice. The reviews above discuss theater productions including "The Fortune Teller" comic opera.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
in the flesh and blood of the stage, they do not realize our ideals, “Tho Christian” as staged is “ Faust” done over again without the humanity which, in Goethe's masterpiece, gains the recognition and sympathy of every human boing. . * IFE finds “The Fortune Teller” of Victor Herbert and Harry B. Smith not only the best of their joint work in comic opera, but about the best thing in that line of work done originally in America, This seems a sweeping etate- ment, but Mr. Herbert's music is 80 thoroughly catching as well as musicianly, and Mr, Smith’s book is 80 clover, that the public is bound to aid Lars in maintaining the claim. Mr. Herbert runs the whole gumut of popular music from the Hun- gurian ceardas to tho Irish jix, and Mr. Smith's jokes and jingles keep pace with their musical accompaniment. Few light opera companies have com- bined so much talent, To start with, thero aro three excollent comedians, Mr. Joseph Horbert, Mr. Richard Golden, and Mr. Jo- seph Cawthorne, who are spontaneously and onergetically funny—not as though thoy were working by the day. Thon there is Miss Nielsen, who {8 tho star of the piece, and who is attractive in hor looks and dainty in her singing. And there is Mr. Eugene Cowles, with music fitted to his magnificent voice, To all these aro added a good chorus, brilliant costumes, and good staging. It is the best thing in the way of light opera seen here for many a year, . . . T {s strango Charles Frohman and his Trust did not do “The Christian.” They usually do. Metcalfe, Speed the Parting Guest. =~ HE English, happy people! have put a stop to compulsory vaccina- tion, Jobnoy Bull pre- 4} fers to face the un- certain dangors of a distant epidemic to being immediately innoculated with other people's discases. He is to be congratulated. In this country, too, there isa grow- ing aversion to having unknown impurities injected into one's Well, good-by to it, and good rid- —- = ” blood. dance, It is only one more glorious discovery passing to the grave. Koch's lymph, anti- TOO MUCH FOR HIM, 1 CAN'T HOLD YER. WOT'S THE MATTER WID YER?” “OM! JUST THINK O' HAVING A GIRL FERD YER LIKE THAT!" (Swoons.) “ans, ort cP. toxin, Pastour’s immortal discovery, and vaccination, form a pathetic procession of “scientific” defeats— defeated victors,” we should say, a8 all have had their day of triumph, and each one counts its victims by thousands, Apropos of vaccination, we quote the fol- lowing from the New York Farmer: A- six-year-old schoolgirl, named Alice Demp- sey, recently died in Gerthantown, Pa,, from blood-potzoning, caused by vaccination. She ‘was forced to be vaccinated in order to attend ‘school, and thus lost her life—a legalized marder by the State of Pennsylvania, Too Learned. T’8 tho maid with ten diplomas And tho quite superior carriage Who's not smart enough to capture Ono certificate of marriage. comicbooks.com