Life — April 24, 1902 — page 8: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

Not a Fable. lwo men started —Z| ont in life to seek what all men are striving for, viz.: Notoriety and Mis- And one man chopped wood, which happened to be the first thing that offered itself. The other man thought. The first man, after he had gotten through chopping wood, worked in a machine shop, carried water for ‘the fang,” whistled a little, and perspired profusely. The second man continued to re- flect. The first man drifted on to a railroad, where he got to be a brakeman on a fast freight, and then a fireman, and then anengineer. And then he entered the army for a change, and shot, and killed, and slept hard when he was tired, and anywhere he happened to be. The second man still thought. The first man, being now a major, came back from the war, entered the political field, ran for Congress, and was elected. The second man was still at it. The first man fell asleep in Congress over the speeches of his confréres, and gave it up because there was nothing doing. He entered a railroad combina- tion, got himself on the reorganizing committee and made a million, The second man was still thinking. The first man now got married, raised a family and several millions more. Then he entered his wife and children at Newport and they ran for first place, while he settled back and learned to play hearts and poker at the club, but kept away from whist because it required too much thought. He also began to deal out his superfluous cash, and to bea professional philanthropist. Also he was a power. When he lifted his finger, the wheels began to turn, legislative, financial and international. He was The Real Thing. In the meantime, where was the second man? Well, he had written a nice little book of poems, and got his picture in the literary periodicals, and made fully twohundred dollars in cash, “LIFE * almost enough to pay his cigar bill for a year. Immorat. This shows us the great power of thought. Tom Masson. Freedom, Up-to-Date. DEAR CUBA, you are free at last— Saved from the Spanish wreck. Only one thing we still hold fast— A cord around your neck. You're free to choose a President, And have a Congress, too, And turn out laws to heart's content, As other nations do. Only—if you should fail to show Your gratitude profound, Forgetting everything you owe For blessings that abound ; And if you're bent—like foolish men— On doing as you list— Why, don’t complain if, now and then, We give that cord a twist. And you are free to plant your isle Thick-set with sugar-cane, And let tobacco, mile on mile, Dot mountain-side and plain. And if we still blockade your ports, While all your products rot, Don't let that put you out of sorts ; You're free—to what you've got. Your rights are many, wide and deep. Why should you sulk and pout? Only one little right we keep— The right to starve you out. We've kept our word. Who ever heard Such word of honour matched ? We've kept our word—for to that word We've kept a string attached. And this is freedom, sure as fate ‘A novel, wondrous thing— American and up-to-date— Blest freedom !—with a string ! We'll come and share its joys with you, And bring our trolley-cars, And introduce a trust or two, And smoke your best cigars. And if you have the nerve to kick, From fort and quarter-deck We'll prove how strong it is and thick— That cord around your neck. Ernest Crosby. GOMETIMES you have to dig to find your star. comicbooks.com