Life, 1901-02-28 · page 14 of 20
Life — February 28, 1901 — page 14: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
**The Egypt Poem:** Isabella H. Ferry's verses satirize American tourists' romanticized views of Egypt (circa 1900). The poem lists Egypt's famous attractions—pyramids, sphinxes, Nile networks—alongside the harsh reality: poverty, begging, decay, and lost glory. The repeated refrain "That's Egypt!" mocks the gap between tourist fantasy and grim reality. **The Three Cartoons:** These depict a woman and a man in a top hat preparing for travel. The captions suggest women should outfit themselves practically ("trains like this," "prepare for emergencies") rather than fashionably—satirizing women's impractical Victorian dress for travel. **Judge Waterman Editorial:** The piece mocks Chicago Judge Waterman's recent courtroom remarks that women are morally superior but unreliable witnesses due to imagination and susceptibility to false beliefs. The editorial ridicules his indiscretion in stating such views publicly, sarcastically suggesting he move to China or Kansas where such opinions might be "useful"—implying those places are backward.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Egypt, 1900. Nato streets and turbaned Arabs Veddlii Where Mo mmedans religious Beg and pray with zeal prod Mighty pyramids, tremendous, Monuments of t Obelisks and wi Monarchs once, stupendous ; od mummies, poor, dry dummics at's Egypt! Rui As to thrill the m Sphinxes, marred and mutilated, Rameses’ statues broki Donkey boy All one's alert and smiling, y cash beguiling ; ery soul for bucksheesh pleading, urists wisely little heeding. That's Egypt! Villages of mud, poor hovels, Quaintest water-wheels, queer shovels, Everything, in fact, so curious One feels either fond or furious. That's Egypt! O'er the fi e's Vast network, Domes and minaret Of the call to prayer resoundi Hieroglyphics, strange inscriptions, Writt ‘Telling of their Or, perchance, of Ra or Isis 1 by those old vl Osiris, That's Egypt! Power and greatness long since vanished, Progress from its borders banished ; Just enough of ancient glory Left there still to tell its story. That's Egypt! Teabelle H. Ferry. USHER : I can write a novel in a month, but I can’t sell it in five years. Bicueap: Perhaps if you reversed the process you might succeed. If you wrote a novel in five years you might be able to sell it in a month. IN HOME. SUCHE WAY AS Tits, UDGE WATERMAN, of Chicago, lately remarked from the bench that though women are undoubtedly on a higher moral plane than men, they are not as reliable as men on the witness stand. They are re imaginative than mon, he thinks, and tend to believe as true, and stick to, in spite of all evidence to the contrary, things that at first they only imagined. The Judge does not like to rely on the testimony of women alone, unsupported by other evidence. There is nothing very surprising about Judge Waterman's conclusions abstractly considered, but his indiscretion in exposing such opinions in open court is astonishing indeed. Chicago seems hardly the place for him. He should move to China where he might be safo, or else to Kansas where ho might be useful. comicbooks.com