Life, 1903-05-21 · page 11 of 24
Life — May 21, 1903 — page 11: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
**Left illustration ("A Bear Possibility"):** A sketch showing a bear climbing a tree, seemingly threatening or approaching a human settlement below. This appears to be a humorous commentary on frontier life or wildlife dangers in America. **Right photograph ("Another Victim"):** A dramatic image captioned "He says, as near as we can make out, that he was blown here by a subway explosion." The photo shows what appears to be a person amid debris near a large spherical object (possibly the moon or a bomb), with onlookers visible above. The accompanying text discusses American child-rearing practices and family life, contrasting with the satirical title "Euphemistic." The overall page appears to mix frontier/nature humor with urban disaster commentary, typical of Life's satirical approach to American social issues.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
A BEAR rossimiLity. as an incident of family life. They don’t raise them to supply the general demand for population, and there is no prospect that they ever will again. They are not concerned about their duty to the race. The race won't take care of their children; let the race look out for itself. They raise children from selfish motives, be- cause they like them in the abstract, and love them in the concrete ; because life without children is incomplete; be- cause they get bigger returns for their outlay of time, pains and money in children, than in anything else. American parents never did raise children for any other reason, that I know of, than that they wanted them, but when the demand for American-born children was more urgent, and substitutes for them were less readily obtained, they wanted more. They won't raise enough now to supply the pick and shovel industry. . * . O wonder! Pick and shovel work has changed its character. In old times it was inter- mittent. The average American took a hand in digging a cellar when there was ono to dig, and the job being done went on to share the building of the house, and when that was done he lived init, He did his own work, and it was greatly diver- sified. But now all work is specialized, and pick and shovel work is aspecialty like everything else. It is notone which American-born men, as a rule, find as yet profitable to compete in, or to raise children for. Is there any complaint of adearth of American-born men for railroad officers, bank officers, merchants, inventors, drammers, traders, teachers, public officials, editors, preachers, doctors, lawyers or engi- ANOTHER VICTIM. “Wn SAYS, AS NEAR AS TCAN MAKE OUT, THAT He Was BLOWN HERE BY A SUBWAY EXPLOSION.” neers? Not any that is noticeable. There seem to be home- grown American children enough to compete for all the more lucrative and desirable employments—for all employ- ments that call for trained intelligence. It may not always beso, but the natural motives for raising children are so very strong, that it is hard to see why they should fail. ELS, Martin, The Photograph. JFPUSTACIA : What an intellectual looking group of men! Are they United States Senators? Epmanta: Senators! That's our ping-pong club. Euphemistic. “ ‘OU are as false as——" ‘Be careful what you say,” she interrupted, “Remember I am a Jady.”” ‘* False as War,” he continued, completing the simile, comicbooks.com