Life, 1903-01-22 · page 7 of 20
Life — January 22, 1903 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Coal Mining Satire This page satirizes the exploitation of workers in coal mining. The left image shows figures sitting atop a skull—a visual metaphor for how mining profits are built literally on workers' deaths and suffering. The dialogue beneath presents the operators' callous logic: when asked what they'd take from poor miners' families, they respond they'd take bread from widows and orphans if it meant higher dividends. This exposes the moral bankruptcy of prioritizing profits over human welfare. The "Booky Bits" section offers publishing aphorisms, seemingly unrelated but likely reinforcing themes of exploitation—how the publishing industry similarly exploits writers while claiming respectability. The overall message: industrial operators justify systematic human suffering through profit-seeking rationalization.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Coal Mining. rPHE owned widows ow Moreover, there the opera- When it chances that the widows and orphans murmur, and complain that their dividends are too small, the operators exclaim : “What! Would you take the bread from the mouths of the poor slaves in are tors. the mines?" And if it falls out that the slaves would have more wages, the operators protest : “What! Would you take the bread from the mouths of the widows and orphans whose slender means are in- vested in these mines? ”’ It is their cleverness in working the widows and the orphans and the slaves that has won for these persons the name of operators. “] NEVER couid understand why a woman puts anything on her face. She deceives no one but herself.” “Isn't that enoug Booky Bits. BOOK in the hand is worth two int the press, Too many books spoil the trade. M: hands make light verse. Circumstances alter bookcases. A good name is rather to be chosen than great characters. Dead authors tell no tales. It’s a long page that has no turning. Authors will happen, even in the best-regulated families. Fine leathers do words, not make fine Where there's so much puff, there must be some buyer. A gilt-edged volume needs no accuser. A profit is not without honor save on a best-selling box The love of sequels is the root of all evil. A publi keeps. ris known by the Co, he Don't look a gift book in the bind- ing. Two Vanrevels are better than one. Someare born Corelli ; some achieve Corelli; and some have Corelli thrust upon them, Ye cannot serve Good English and Mammon. An ounce of dialect is worth a pound of royalties Epigrams cover a multitude of sins. A new boom sweeps clean. Carolyn Wells. comicbooks.com