Life, 1904-05-05 · page 32 of 40
Life — May 5, 1904 — page 32: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page is primarily **advertising**, not political satire. The dominant feature is a large Studebaker automobile advertisement promoting both their electric and gasoline-powered cars—vehicles positioned as modern solutions for local transportation. The ad emphasizes the Studebaker's reputation and reliability. The right column contains a **satirical letter** about railroad mistreatment of passengers. The unnamed writer uses allegorical language, describing a train journey where coaches named "Ambition," "Hope," and "Prosperity" crash, with "Defeat" piled on top. The satire mocks railroad companies (specifically referencing the Erie Railroad) for their poor service, incompetent management, and indifference to passenger welfare. The time-table is called "mysterious" and "Egyptian," suggesting deliberate obfuscation. This reflects early 20th-century frustrations with railroad monopolies and their notorious customer service problems—a context where automobiles like Studebaker's represented liberating alternatives to rail travel's unreliability and corporate negligence.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“THE AUTOMOBILE WITH A REPUTATION BEHIND IT.” Unsolicited testimonials from owners or The Studebaker Electric Car prove that it satisfies the increasing demand for a horscless vehicle wh can be conveniently run for local use. It is equipped with Exide or Edison batteries, and made in the following models: Runabout, Victoria-Phaeton, Stanhope, Surrey or Delivery Wagon and Truc The Studebaker Gasoline Tonneau Car is designed for those who appreciate a light, noiseless and 1 car of > most approved type—sold at a fair Write for catalogue to STUDEBAKER AUTOMOBILE CO., SOUTH BEND, IND. BRANCH HOUSES: XEW YORE Cry, adway, corner 48th Street. PORTLAND, ORF; 330.34 Past Morrison Screet, cute. : ‘ot, IS KANSAS CLEK, Shit Lak Ciry SAS HaNCIS0O, Gn oe ta és DALLAS, TEX.: AGENCIES IN OTHER PRINCIPAL CITIES. H A RPS | ASTHMA S225 ¢ for our beautiful Harp Book. Gives full par. Lyon & # H on Great Englisn Remedy : BLAIR’S PILLS z LYON @. HEALY, DRUGoTSt orc wines 6b PS 57 Apams Srxeet + CHICAGO of a locomotive, baggage car, four day coach (Ambition, Hope, Opportunity, Pross nd the Pullman “Defeat,” was bour of Promise for that of of from fifty-five to sixt the first twenty or twenty-five went well. ‘Then commenced the hard pulling ow the uphill e. We stopped at i xpecta. tion, a rather inviting v ¢, for dimer. As j we pulled out, everything wa king. pret | good to me fiman with a full | we were roundiny | nearing the depot of Sites, tween the baggage car and broke and a general smash-up was tl |The coaches, Opportunity, Hope an perity, were lifted from the rails, th their sides, r of the tr. while tl | man “De as piled on top. The s e the wed was The track was strewn with Gre: fand Wrecked Hopes. The jeries of the injured were tried, slowly and selves together, the conduc Never mind, boys: train No. 2 dive w Start.” Frances 1. Denver, Co1o. Nemner 20. Mes f railroads are mean in th meanor, ‘The most meaningly 1 |the Dreary—alias the Erie Railr Its parents gave it no early trains. They let it run itself, while t running from process-servers |tination in life—and ha Its locomotives are a coffins, heated by the sul of the passengers; its employes are under takers for the obsequies of the c dead hopes; its President sleeps peace tt Underwood! The time-table is a mysterious work— resembling an Egyptian hieroglyph. It is supposed to be symbolic of something Ir is the creation of a lunatic, wh thought he could solve the secret of per led, and this time-table is his reve a humanity. There is no motion about ailroad, or its officials. The commuters are a strange tribe, Thes Letters of Credit AND Exchange Checks For Use of Travellers ISSUED BY Guaranty Trust Company Nassau & Cedar Sts., New York London Ottice 33-35 Lombard Street comicbooks.com