Life, 1905-04-06 · page 56 of 62
Life — April 6, 1905 — page 56: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This satirical story mocks Victorian moralism and hypocrisy. A well-dressed young man on a trolley impresses a clerical gentleman by stoically enduring pain without cursing. The clergyman congratulates him and learns the youth neither smokes nor drinks—behaviors the clergyman praises as virtuous restraint. The punchline reveals the real reason: the young man avoids dissipation because he runs a faro bank (illegal gambling operation) and needs to stay sharp for that work. He's not morally upright—he's simply prioritizing criminal enterprise over vice. The joke satirizes how easily respectable society misjudges character based on surface virtue, and how the "model young man" can be fundamentally dishonest while appearing exemplary. It critiques both naive moral judgment and the corruption beneath genteel appearances.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Advantage, in combination with an _ unrestricted use of the ground glass, is found in the NEW SCREEN FOCUS KODAK. You can focus on the Screen when using Kodak Cartridges Showing Extension Led. EASTMAN All Dealers. Equipment of the highest grade: Long draw, rack and pin- ion, rising and sliding front, Kodak Auto- matic Shutter, high speed Rapid Rectilin- ear lenses. Instantly convert- ible to a plate camera. Price, $30.00. KODAK CO. Rochester, N. Y. If you wish to make photographs equal to the best you have ever seen, use the same lens that made them— te Goerz thebest photograph- ic lens in the world. Room 53, 52 E. Union Sq., N. Y. BERLIN LONDON PARIS A Model Young Man. : “ IDN’T that hurt you, sir?” The clerical looking gentleman in the rear seat of the trolley car turned inquiringly to the micely dressed and clean cut young man who sat be- side him, as that individual winced slightly, for his foot had just been stepped on by a portly man who was leaving the car. “Yes, sir—it hurt very much,” he said, sim- ply. “I thought so,” said the clerical man. “Al- low me to congratulate you on your control. I observed with pleasure, sir, that no oath sprang to your lips. Great pleasure to meet a young man like you. Have a cigar?” “Thank you, I don’t smoke,” said the young man, “Splendid!” exclaimed the clerical interrog- ator. “I smoke myself,” he said, “because I lead a sedentary life. But I glory in a young man who doesn’t. Ma: inquire, sir, if you know the taste of liquo: “No, sir, never touched a drop.” His new friend clssped him by the hand. There were t in his eyes. “Remarkable!” he exclaimed, “In these un- regenerate days it is indeed soul-sctisfying to gaze upon such a model. May I ask, my dear friend, what high motive impels you to ab- stain from these’ influences, that are sapping the lifeblood from the nation?” The young man smiled. “Certainly,” he replied. “The fact is, I find that I can’t dissipate and deal a faro bank at the same tim Collier's, N the course of time maybe the Standard Oil Company will contend the States are in a combine to restrain its trade—The Dallas News. comicbooks GH |