Life, 1899-08-31 · page 6 of 20
Life — August 31, 1899 — page 6: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 166 This page combines social commentary with humor typical of early 20th-century American satire. **"The Arrival at Life's Farm"** photograph shows a large crowd arriving by rail—appearing to reference a charitable or social welfare initiative ("Fresh-Air Fund" donations listed). **Political content**: The article on Colonel W.J. Bryan discusses Democratic Party politics and voting proxies within the Republican Trust, suggesting internal party corruption or manipulation concerns relevant to the era. **"Sharper than a Serpent's Tooth"** presents domestic humor: a child ("Tommy") refuses to eat butter, prompting his mother's sharp rebuke about ingratitude and generosity—a common moralizing theme in period humor about children and parental authority. The tone reflects Progressive-era concerns about political reform and traditional family values.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
THE ARRIVAL AT LIFE'S FARM. FROM THE STATION TO THE FARM. R. CROKER having declared himself, there seems little doubt that that eminent blatherskite, Colonel W. J. Bryan, will be the next nominee of the Democratic party. The McKinley syndicate seems to hold all the voting proxies iu the Republican Trust. This provides rather an embarrassing situation for Gold Democrats, Anti-Imperialistic Republicans, Free-Traders, Income-Taxers and Civil Service Reformers, to say nothing of plain, patriotic American citizens, MERICA is fortunate io having no Dreyfus, France has heretofore inv ted that unfortunate individual with almost as much impartiality as we showed in investigating our own embalmed beef, It takes a public confrontation of ex- President Casimir-Perrier and ex Minister of War Mercier to bring out the facts. Would a future confrontation of ex- President McKinley and ex-Minister of War Alger bring out the facts about the embalmed beef? Sharper than a Serpent's Tooth. «¢-OMMY,” said Mrs, Weatherwax, ‘Tommy, will you never know which side your bread is buttered on?” “ Not,” returned the thankless child, as a spasm of unutter able longing shook his frame, ‘not until the butter is laid on with more gencrosity than at preseat characterizes your administration.” The silence which followed was broken by the sound of blows, Our Fresh-Air Fund. Previous!y acknowledged. Mra. Newbold Morris. Miss E. V. C. Morrta. From three littie children, Helen, George and Houghton Pierce Metcal 7 : C.G.B... The Qnadmpie Club, New Rochelle—Catharine and Ji William and Malcolm. ‘ In Memory of R. B.S. 10 00 10 00 10 00 18 15 300 7 $3,568 23 Names. HE burning news from Newport seems to be that Colonel and Mrs. Astor, Harry Payne Whitney, Mrs, William Rt. Travers, Mrs. Adolph Ladenburg, Mr. and Mrs. Peter Cooper Hewitt, Miss Susan Willing, Mrs. William Astor, Mrs. Whitney Warren, Miss Evelyn Burden, Victor Sorchan, Stanley Mortimer and Lispenard Stewart, It also appears that A. De Navarro, Mrs. Oliver H. P. Belmont, Mrs. Stuyvesant Fish, Miss Sands, Hamilton Cary, Elisha Dyer, Jr., Winthrop Rutherfurd and Reginald Ronalds. What they did is not important, but good Americans are always glad to sce these names. And they see them often. It is enough to know that their owners once again have eaten, or have seen something, or perchance have been somewhere, or have stayed at home. UR venerable contemporary, Lon- don Punch, Is said to contemplate certain innovations in its make-up, and in particular is charged with the inten- tion of adding to the number of its pages RB and giving a serial story in weekly in- % stallinents, That might do it no harm, but it weuld bring home to thou- sands a sense of the instability of mundane things. Changes even in Punch! Next, the eternal Sphinx will be having her nose repaired, and acogwheel railroad wiil run up the side of the big pyramid!