Life, 1902-10-30 · page 5 of 22
Life — October 30, 1902 — page 5: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains three distinct sections: **"Fatal Facility"** (top left): A poem by Feliz Gormen about writing villanelles—a poetic form. It's light verse celebrating the ease of composing when rhymes flow naturally. **"Sine Qua Non"** (middle left): A humorous dialogue between a teacher and student "John" about why Romans stole Sabine women. The joke plays on the phrase "horse show"—implying the Romans wanted to display their conquest like displaying horses. **"Teaching"** (right): An article discussing Dr. E. Benj. Andrews' views on university education. It debates whether professors should focus on "original research" versus teaching fundamentals to students. The illustration labeled "A Leader of the Bar" (bottom left) appears to be an unrelated satirical figure, though its specific subject is unclear.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Fatal Facility. (VILLANELLE.) 7? HAT can compare with the fun, Playing the Poet, you know, When the rhymes easily run! Picture or proverb or pun, S Put it in verse, it will go: What can compare with the fun! Once you are fairly begun, Quickly the poem will grow When the rhymes easily run. Sing of the stars or the sun, Anything, lofty or low: What can compare with the fun! Poem? Why you can make one In but a minute or so ‘When the rhymes easily run. Here is a Villanelle done With a refrain d propos: What can compare with the fun When the rhymes easily run! Feliz Carmen, Sine Qua Non. IEACHER: John, why did the Romans steal the Sabine women? “Dunno. Maybe they was goin’ to have a horse show.” a WwW HAT have you been doing, old man—putting cake and cus- tard all over your lawn? ’’ “‘ Not exactly, but you know we've just had a children’s party.”” A LEADER OF THE BAR. SNAPSHOTS IN HADES. Satan; vie rv OM, BOYS, THESE GENTLEMEN HAVE A MONOPOLY ON THE SUPPLY. Teaching. R. E. BENJ. ANDREWS, speak- ing of teachers the other day, de- clared that ‘‘ they will compass sea and land to create a course of lectures, a book, or a system, but do nothing toward the infinitely more precious task of perfecting the human beings who face them each day in class.”* Ordinary students at a great univer- sity see but little of the crack professors. These latter are mostly busy with what is termed original research; that is, they are discovering artificial means of producing the protoplasmic cell and such like, Speaking of the artificial production of the protoplasmic cell, the Almighty provides an abundance of crude life, apparently expecting us merely to round out this raw material into the forms contemplated by ultimate dcs- tiny. Anciently, we fell in with this arrangement, but of late years, having come into a larger measure of self-re- spect in virtue of our scientific progress, we seriously consider if we ought not to be doing the whole job ad initio, Very likely the ‘task of perfecting the human beings who face them each day in class” is sufficient to engross the abilities of educators of the calibre of Dr, Andrews, but certainly not of professors who are in the highest and truest sense crack, comicbooks.com