Life, 1904-01-07 · page 23 of 36
Life — January 7, 1904 — page 23: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains social satire on three topics: **"A Choice"** mocks moral hypocrisy—contrasting the proverb "your sin will surely find you out" with cynics who prefer being "found out" to restraint. **"The Snapshotter Nuisance"** attacks amateur photographers who obsessively photograph unwilling subjects, particularly women. The article describes an incident where an American photographer on the *Kaiser Wilhelm I* ship caught the Duchess of Roxburghe's image despite her efforts to avoid him. The satire argues such behavior is disrespectful and should be legally punished, yet lacks legal recourse—unlike spoken insults. The complaint appears genuine rather than ironic. **"The Cranbray School for Boys"** uses heavy sarcasm to critique elite education: praising the school for being "healthy" despite student deaths, "democratic" despite class distinctions, and emphasizing "military drill" to teach "precision and cruelty necessary to success in modern life." The overall theme critiques social rudeness, invasive technology, and institutional hypocrisy in early 20th-century America.
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Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
A Choice. : Your sin will surely find yeu out,” ye ti me moral * When Kismet knocks,” sin, * We'd rather be found out than in,” doth spout say those who The Snapshotter Nuisance. I ESIDES the __ boll-weevil, the scorching automobilist and the rales of the aeriats, there is still another aggravating ional pest that ought to be abated. Let us kill off the snapshotters, too, But not all of them. Such as snapshot inanimate things, or animals, or folks that consent or are indifferent, may live, but for those that snapshot unwilling humau sub- jects there is not room on the earth, pecially if the subjects are females. If there ure too many of these to extir- pate, we favor sparing those who do it for hire rather than wanton amateurs, Take a case in point. A London dis- patch to the Svu says that on the Kaiser Withelm I, which lately carried the new Duchess of Roxburghe to Lon- don, half a dozen amateur photogra- phers spent their time trying to catch a likeness of the Duchess, She usually kept her stateroom until after dark, but once on the boat deck a young Amer} whose manaruvres she was a little slow to notice, caught her be- fore she could put her muff to her face, and walked off smiling with her like- ness. ‘Thank you,” saidhe. “ How dare you?" said she, and went back to her cabin and stayed there. Imagine a more brutal and contemptible dis- courtesy to offer a woman! No one seems to have been moved to throw this cad, or even his camera, overboard. There is no defense from these crea- tures, except such as a bold by- stander may improvise on the instant by hand 1 foot. To kick such snap- sin their rear and smash their uneras is the natural instinet of a virtuous man, These creatures com- mita sort of assault from which the law at present affords no protection, and for which it provides no remedy. To insult a woman by spoken word is dangerous. To snapshot her seems not to be so, unless some man resents it. Such antics abound on shore, but A SPRAY FROM THE BONTIE 6 why a steamship captain should per- mit them on his vessel seems hard to because of the difficulty School. TPE Cranbray School for Boys. All the Distractions. Healthy. In seventy-five years not a single pupil has died from over- stud: : Democratic. Out of thirty boys killed at football last year, fifreen were si more than fifty millions. Oth tinctions bestowed with equal disre- gard for family connections. Military Drill, There is nothing like our military drill to impart the precision and cruelty necessary to suc- ven, cess in modern life. comicbooks.com