Life, 1899-09-07 · page 8 of 20
Life — September 7, 1899 — page 8: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Page 188 from Life Magazine This page contains an illustrated story about "Old George," depicting a dramatic incident involving a character named Bella and a doctor's visit. The narrative describes an early-morning incident where Old George, fully dressed in costume with a blanket, encounters Bella (described as wearing a fluffy summer dress with blue ribbons). The story humorously escalates when George catches fire and must be rolled over and beaten by the narrator. The text emphasizes comedic chaos—George running for a doctor at top speed, the old mare chasing after him, and the doctor finding the situation absurd. The accompanying illustrations show period-appropriate dress and rural or estate settings. Without additional context about "Old George" as a recurring character in Life magazine, the specific satirical target remains unclear, though the humor appears rooted in slapstick mishap and character farce.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“There was Old George himself." We were all up just at sunrise and on our way tothe quarter-mile. As we cautiously approached the barn we saw some of George's clothes lying in the big doorway, and a moment later, as we turned the corner, there was Old George himself, in full racing costume, with a blanket over his shoulders, just stepping onto the t He wasa good deal cut up when we burst into view, but Old George is too much the gent!eman to show any chagrin. We all begged him to run for us, but he stoutly demurred until Bella made a personal matter of it. At which he gravely bowed and tossed the blanket to one side, I took out my watch, and then—and then a dreadful thing happened! Jim Blakeslee had been smoking a cigarette, and he must have flung it down, half-smoked, on the grass near where Bella was standing. She had on some kind of fluffy, white summer dress, with—with blue ribbons, I think, Anyway, she looked positively stunning, as she always did. She stood there in her loveliness, watching Old George with eager eyes, and the first thing we knew one of the girls screamed and we looked around, and there was Bella all aflame! Then she screamed, too, and started down the lane like a mad thing, the flames leaping over her head, and we standing there like wooden fools. Old George heard the scream, too, and whirled around, He snatched up the blanket, and in twenty great strides had caught the poor girl. He flung the blanket about her, he thrust her down on the turf, he rolled her over, he beat at the fire in her hair with his naked hands. It was all over in less time than it takes me to tell it, and then Old George leaped at Bertie. ‘* For God's sake,” he stammered, ‘‘ where's the doctor?” “Half a mile down the road,” gasped Bertie ; ‘‘ white house, green blinds.” Before he got the last word fairly out George was off down the lane, running at his top speed. I saw his great race with Ambrose, the Cambridge crack, but he never ran as he did for that country doctor, The old medic told us afterwards that when George burst into the yard that morning he thought he had to deal with a circus lunatic. But George gasped out his errand in a half-dozen words, and the doctor ran for his horse and chaise, which fortunately were standing at the side porch. As he turned to speak to George he caught sight of his hands. “Heavens, man!” he cried; ‘look at your fingers!” “Hurry!” yelled George. But the doctor reached under the scat of the chalse and drew outa bottle. “ That's the stuff for burns,” he cried as he tossed it to George; “rub it on your hands.” The next moment George was out in the road, bottle in hand, running at top speed again, the doctor lashing the old mare after him. “Bat George gasped ont bis errand ina half. dozen words.” comichooks.