Life, 1905-03-02 · page 28 of 44
Life — March 2, 1905 — page 28: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains three separate pieces of satire: **"The Isolation of Wisdom"** (poem, left): A humorous first-person poem mocking nonconformists. The speaker proudly declares unconventional preferences—living in an inverted sieve, eating plain hay while others enjoy elaborate cuisine, preferring trees and sea contemplation to moneymaking—then concludes that society calls him "odd" for thinking differently. The satire cuts both ways: it gently ridicules both the speaker's affected eccentricity and society's dismissal of independent thought. **"Downward Tendency"** (brief dialogue): A man notes that whisky prices have fallen, interpreting this as moral decline—a dry joke about economic pessimism. **"Snap Shots in Hades"** (illustration with caption, right): Shows what appears to be souls in Hell being punished by hopping on one leg for eternity—specifically for "stepping on people's feet and not apologizing." This is light satirical commentary on rudeness as a moral failing warranting eternal punishment, typical of Life's social humor.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
256 The Isolation of Wisdom. OME people seem content to dwell S In an elaborated cell ; They call it house,” or sometimes © fiat oH In which each perse me as that— or some s gets his share Of last week's insufficient air, For my part, [ prefer to live Within a Large inverted sieve Upon the top, in case of rain, Yet people choose to call ine queer Since 1 prefer to live in here Some people seem to like their food Raked, frizzled, fricassced and stewed Hashed, chipped Steamed, pepper roasted, frozen, boiled, Poached, scrambled, pickled, corned and (ried { many other ways besi For my part mple hay— Some people like to think and dream, Plan, ponder, speculate and scheme On how to grab nore than enough Cold cash —the common, vu! This is herr way, but as for me Im + climb a tree And Clams, crawfish and eternity prefer ygitate about the sea y Some people choose to call me ** odd.” since my mind seeks paths untrod, Downward Tendency. ‘| SEE by the papers,” remarked nk his snifte “that whisky is lower now than it has Snooper, as he d: been for years. Lyoing down, I sce,"* adde Advertisement. L FT at our house, at 12:30 this morn pac dently bee . by stork express, a small The wrappings have evi- off in ‘ansit, and the sgoods arrived entirely without ac shi bill, kind, In case a mis! invoice, c ification tke: made,the article will be delivered to the rightful owner, upon y property and payment for this advertisement g is a list of the specifica- ar as I can make them c The main body of the apparatus is a closed cylinder, with the working parts attached around it, all in the same A small piston can be heard -LIFE- SNAP SHOTS IN HADES. Megaphone Orator : THE FELLOWS MOPPING MOUSAND YEARS IS FART OF THIELE PUNISHMENT FOR STEPPING ON PEOPLE'S FEET AND NOT APC inside the cylinder, The lar- yest of the working parts is a head, uped like a small watermel red, entire apparatus, with what appears to ther or untanned ki on, and just as bald. It is cov is the be undressed is is wrinkled and reddish brown, like a sprouted pink ¢ potato, No eyelids, brows nor lashes are visi- ble, be couple of slits open occa- ed blue sionally, showing a pair of b nose that I S just mmion, with two little out, A dear little rosebud of a mouth" is the It is holes where the stones c unanimous verdict of the famil. AKOUND ON ONE LEG WN THERE TO YOUR CT LIRR THAT T CARS, TO JUMP an ocr: however, a moss rosebud, like mine, but some variety not listed in the florist's catalogue. It is fitted with an exte device, which enables it to eng There is a full compl If the whole of a rather large fist ent of arms and legs, the latter slightly bent, and The hands all several sizes too short and feet are abc app: rr the parts seem ve ta size too large. The cd set up, tus. and, though carelessly y selected, the assembling is perfect. The joints all work freely, and there is no friction of any kind discoverable anywhere. ‘The entire apparatus was thoroughly oiled on arrival, though this seemed comicbooks.com