Life, 1902-10-30 · page 15 of 22
Life — October 30, 1902 — page 15: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains three brief satirical pieces typical of Life's early 20th-century humor: **The opening dialogue** mocks doctors and wealthy patients' casual attitudes toward unnecessary medical procedures—suggesting the rich could "afford" treatments they didn't truly need. **"The Artistic Side"** satirizes American cultural pretension. A nude Beethoven statue unveiled in Leipzig is criticized as mimicking a supposed American sculpture of "Washington Rising from the Bath"—a fabrication used to mock American claims to classical artistic achievement. The piece jokes that Germans are "kicking like an American steer" at this supposed influence. **"Statecraft"** critiques government prioritizing legal formality over justice, suggesting officials put "the cart before the horse" by following procedure rather than moral principle—and that this protects the wealthy's "prosperity." The accompanying illustration shows a romantic couple; the caption satirizes gender economics: a man spent all his money on flowers for a woman, who consoles him that it "wasn't your fault" he had no more—implying women expect male financial devotion regardless of reality.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
377 with it after all. I never feel guilty about those cases, as he ‘would probably have had to have it done some time, and he could well afford it. Besides, how were we to know that his temperature didn't mean some- thing? What do you suppose was the matter with him, any- way?” “Oh,” said Cuttleton, care- lessly,*‘ probably some one told him he wasn’t well.” Tom Masson. e THE Highblowers are in bad odor, aren’t they?” “Well, they own several automobiles.’ The Artistic Side. TH unveiling at Leipsic of astatue of Beetho- ven, nude save for a filmy drapery that looks like a bath towel, discovers the artistic aspect of the Ameri- can invasion. The idea is nominally classical, but it will not escape the critical observer, that amid the tons and tons of moulded marble and bronze that make our capital the very home of sculptare, tho statue of Washington Rising from the Bath has always been conspicuous, No candid man will chal- lenge the claim that thecon- ception is really American. Nor is it without signifi- cance in thisconnection that the people of Leipsic are kicking like an American steer. Statecraft. “ TUSTICE according to law."* Secretary Shar, Justice is of God ; law is either State or Federal. But a mere matter of get- ting the cart before the horse is nothing, in the higher realms of statecraft. Law according to justice might disturb the confidence hich our unexampled “1 SPENT ALL THR MONEY I HAD IN THE WORLD ON FLOWERS POR YOU, DARLING.” ont P “WELL, DEAR, IT WASN'T YOUR PAULT THAT YOU DIDN'T HAVE MORE.” prosperity rests. comicbooks.com