Life — January 28, 1904 — page 8: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Life Magazine Contest Page This is a contest announcement page from *Life* magazine offering $100 for the best answer to "Which is the meanest railroad in the United States?" The satirical cartoon at top shows a derailed train labeled "The Darling" and "The Pasteboard Box," suggesting absurdly flimsy construction—a visual pun on what makes a railroad "mean" (unreliable, dangerous). The page includes "Number 1," a submitted entry describing the Long Island Railroad's poor condition: rusty rails, parallel tracks that "constantly meet," and sparse service. The writer sarcastically notes it's the "only instance in the world of where two parallel lines having in the same direction constantly meet." This mocks a real railroad's notorious unreliability through pseudo-mathematical humor. The contest invited readers to submit their own railroad complaints in this satirical format.