Life, 1898-12-03 · page 18 of 40
Life — December 3, 1898 — page 18: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page presents "Christmas Eve on the Ark," a humorous fictional story using Noah's Ark as a satirical setting. The narrative depicts Captain Noah and Mrs. Noah aboard a ship during Christmas, stuck in rainy weather unable to reach Mount Ararat. The satire appears to mock: 1. **Victorian domestic tedium**: Mrs. Noah mending her husband's worn mackintosh (raincoat) bought from a department store that wasn't designed for actual outdoor use—suggesting complaints about consumer goods 2. **Nautical incompetence**: Captain Noah lost at sea for weeks, unable to take celestial observations due to rain; his poor planning (forgetting kerosene, using whale oil in a dish as lighting) 3. **Period humor about pets**: References to pet goats named "Sampson and Dewey" (likely political figures of the era) being brought aboard to outfit "future volunteer regiments" The story uses the biblical Ark framework as an absurdist setting to gently satirize ordinary middle-class life, practical problems, and contemporary concerns—a typical Life magazine approach to humor and social commentary.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
curred to me that it would be an original idea to make a study of the fairly con- tented man—the man who didn’t steal, beg, or want society done over. Fortunately, I obtained a position with you, and I may say the chapter there Eve on the Ark. HE Ark was drift- ing slowly beforo light southerly broezes, Al- though it was Christmas Evo, it was still raining with the steady down-pour which had marked every day of tho cruiso of the famous yacht, For forty-oight hours Cap- tain Noah had been 9 expecting to make Ararat, but there was evidently something wrong with his reckoning. On account uf the rain he had not been able to Christmas written I consider my best.” “Thank you,” I replied; ‘ you found the right place. Iam contented.” “You have a very good reason to be,” said the Doctor, which showed that he was a man of correct observation. get an observation for moro than five weeks, Captain Noah and Mrs, Noah woro sit- ting in the first cabin, which was not very brilliantly lighted, The Captain had for- gotten to include any kerosene in the ship's stores, and tho only luminant was a bit of lighted lamb’s wool floating in a dish filled with the oil from a whale whieh Noah had harpooned and tried out in the early days of tho voyage. Ho had fed and bedded down the animals, and was poring over aback numbor of the ‘National Al- which the rain had also poured over many times, Mrs, Noah was trying to patch up somo rents in Noah's mackin- tosh—a gurment that he had bought at a department store, and which was never made to bo worn out of doors in wet weather. Ham, Shem and Japbet had been carefully tucked up in their little berths and were dreaming of their pet goats, Sampson and Dewey, whom Noah had brought on board so that futuro volunteer regiments should be properly fitted out with mascots, Noah, dear,” said Mrs, Noah, looking up from her work and pushing her glasses