Life, 1903-12-03 · page 7 of 22
Life — December 3, 1903 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This *Life* magazine page features a medical dialogue where a physician diagnoses a patient with tuberculosis, spinal malady, and notably "settled melancholia"—attributed to attending New York theatres in poor conditions. **"The Annihilation of the Individual"** cartoon depicts two figures labeled "TRUST" and "UNION" squashing a human head between them, symbolizing how large corporate and labor organizations destroy individual autonomy. This reflects early 20th-century anxieties about industrialization's impact on personal liberty. **"The Destroyers"** silhouette depicts a mounted warrior, likely referencing destructive historical forces or imperial aggression. Other brief satirical items mock theatrical pretension and include cynical commentary on power structures ("Peace is Hell").
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
-LIFE- Your Fate and Mine. ‘IIS is a most interesting case,” remarked the great physician, enthusiastically, after making a complete examination of the patient,—a man who, despite the terrible ravages of illness, still showed traces of having once been a magnificent specimen of physical manhood. “Do not fear to tell me the worst, Doctor,’’ pleaded the invalid, feebly; ‘I can bear anything better than this sus- pense.” “So be it,’ replied the physician, gravely. ‘ But I warn you that what I have to say will call for an exercise of all your courage. It is practically a sentence of doom, T find a hopeless tubercular condition of both lungs and throat. There is an incurable spinal malady, necrosis of the hip-joint and ankylosis of the knees. Even more serious is the mental condition, for you are, I regret to say, a victim of settled melancholia. In all of my experience in the practice of medicine, I have never seen so remark- The Destroyers. able a complication of diseases, and I find my scientific (Atter Rudyard Kipling in the “* Five Natlons.") knowledge unable to account for it.’” ue strength of half a hundred horse “One moment, Doctor,” sighed the patient. “It isin That serve the one command ; ‘ . matting & The hand that heaves the headlong force, my power to enlighten you. My sad condition is the The hate that backs the hand: result of a constant attendance upon the New York theatres. 2 po 7 Ft The doom-bolt in the darkness freed, The seats being placed with the laudable intention of ren- ‘The stenchfal wake, the 'wildering speed, ete., € dering their occupants as uncomfortable as possible, I thus contracted the spinal and knee troubles. The zymotic dis- eases were, of course, caused by the bad air of the ill-ventilated and overheated auditoriums, and the melancholia was induced by the quality of the presented and the musical selections rendered by the orchestra during the entr'actes.”” Mrs, Wilson Woodrow. Mundane. (TBACHER : What is the “ house not made with hands ’’? Bricut Boy: Papa says it is the new home of ours that the walking delegate wouldn’t let go up. you can frighten a child into a lie; never into the truth. Shocking. Tie Lora wilt do justice —Paut Kruger. The conception of the Lord leading a bear raid on South African securities is quite worthy of a mind infatuated with Old Testament Christianity. Motto for a South American Republic. THE ANNIMILATION OP THE INDIVIDUAL. comicbooks.com