Life, 1899-08-17 · page 9 of 20
Life — August 17, 1899 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 129 **Top Cartoon:** Shows a man in a top hat in a cart pulled by a pony, while a man on horseback approaches. The caption reads: "You can't get much speed out of that pony, can you?" / "No; but he just suits me, as I ride a wheel and am used to a low gear." This is a bicycle joke—the man on the cart is comparing his slow pony to bicycle riding, suggesting the pony's slow pace matches cycling speeds. It's light satire about the popularity of bicycles in this era. **Article Text:** Discusses Mr. Churchill's storytelling abilities and literary work, praising his style. The lower section debates the genealogy of the Astor family, discussing whether William Waldorf Astor's ancestry is legitimate—a social commentary on American wealth, class pretensions, and European aristocratic lineage.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
=> po ee a, Ve “YOU CAN'T GET MUCT SPEED OUT OP THAT POXY, CAN YOU “NO; BUT NE JUST SUITS ME, A3 I RIDE A WHERL AND AM USED TO A LOW GEAR.” R. CHURCHILL has taken tho time and tho pains to clabo- rato his story carofully; he has shown his ability to al a large canvas with figures that gain the personal interost and affection of the reador. Tho traditions that ho has followed aro good traditions—tho very best in a romantic way. Moroovor, ho has expended his energios upon an Amorican subject and helped to create some fecling of romance for a bleak and barren past. He has eschewed the smartness and tho pro- cocious cynicism of the modern story-writer, and directed attention new to the old, healthy story-telling methods of the men who were giants, Droch, “THE RED CROSS." HE genealogists have left the self-expatriated Astor in rather an unpleasant predicament. If the pedigree he paid for is correct, he has introduced the bar eidister not only into his own coat-of-arms, but into that of all the other Astors. To be sure, it would indicate that he and they sprang from the noble Astorgas, but it is quite possible that some of the still American Astors would prefer legitimacy of descent to a noble ancestor on the left-hand side. If the opponents of the pedigree Mr. William Waldorf Astor so modestly made public to Bae the world in his own magazine are correct, Ue the Astor descent is legitimate, but springs v from very humblo beginnings indeed. Whether the Astor ancestors were married or not married, and whether the family sprung from butchers or barons, are not questions of vital import, but the whole discussion calls added attention to the lamentable folly of Mr. W. W. Astor. De gustiius non, but the X-rays should be turned on the head of a man who prefers being the laughing stock of all Britain to being the useful and, at least, respected Ameri- can citizen he easily could be with the sdvantages at his command.