Life, 1905-03-16 · page 11 of 28
Life — March 16, 1905 — page 11: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
The main cartoon depicts a heavily armored "Uncle Sam" (representing the U.S. government) wielding a large axe labeled "Anti-Trust Bill," confronting a small, fleeing figure labeled "Teddy" (President Theodore Roosevelt). The satire critiques Roosevelt's trust-busting policies as overly aggressive government intervention in business. The accompanying article, "The Lady and the Egret," discusses the egret plume trade and feather fashion. It argues against wearing egret feathers in hats due to environmental concerns—young egrets starve when mothers are killed for their plumes. The piece advocates for conservation while acknowledging the plumes' commercial appeal and high price in the fashion industry.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
le Sam: The Lady and the Egret. N old friend and ccrrespondent writes to this paper : “T want to get Lire to. stir omen about their habit aring birds’ feathers (es- pecially the egret’s) in their hats. If you could hear Blank tell about the horrible havoc that has been wrought in the Florida mangroves among the poor egrets, it would really rouse your ire. I have known for a long time how bad it has been, but Blank’s story stirred me up more than ever before."” bo'T TOUCH ME{ KEEP ON WITH TEDDY. We ha all known for a long time how bad it has been, how the egret’s coveted plume is at its best when its nestlings are too young to shift for themselves, and how killing the mother bird at that. time involves the starva- tion of the young ones, This sort of bird “murder has been prohibited by a heavy fine—five hundred dollars, we believe—but the law that forbids it is not enforced, and it goes on because the pretty feathers bring a great price. ‘The reason why the price is so tempt- ing is that the egret plumes look pretty in women’s hair, and in women's hats. Lire would be glad to exhort the fair HF’S MORE YOUR SIZE. not to buy or wear the egret plumes if it seemed likel do any good. It does hereby respectfully exhort to that. intent, in the faint hope that possibly it may do a little good, But our impres- is that the average woman does not really care whether there are any egrets left in Florida or not, or whether the little egrets starve to death or not. When it comes to serious business like buying a hat ora hair ornament, she puts aside sentimental considerations, and buys the prettiest and most becom- ing thing she can afford. The plume in the hand means more to her than scores of birds in Florida, It is sad to have sion comicbooks.com