Life, 1905-06-15 · page 15 of 32
Life — June 15, 1905 — page 15: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains four separate satirical pieces typical of early 20th-century American humor: **"A Successful Operation"** mocks doctors who declare surgeries "successful" even when patients die—the operation succeeds while the patient fails. **"Togs and Trouble"** references General Miles's proposal to dress Massachusetts troops in Revolutionary War-era Continental uniforms, including knee-breeches. Irish regiments object on principle (seeing them as monarchical), while the Ancient and Honorable Artillery complains they already have too many uniforms to manage. **"Always the Same"** is a one-liner joke about a wife whose irritability is so consistent it's predictable. **"Natural Delay"** satirizes an ambitious playwright who won't write in a starring role until knowing which actor will play it—putting the cart before the horse. The cartoons mock military logistics, medical pretense, and theatrical practicality—standard targets of satire across any era.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
LOOK OUT, OLD WoRLD! A Successful Operation. TT" patient die His widow c His childrea join t But science s. Despite The opera crowd distressful ; death, S most successful The loss of life Reneath the knife ils not the doctor's reputation ; Whate'er befalls, The case he calls A most successful operation, D. A, McCarthy. Togs and Trouble. G RAL MILES proposing to at- tire the} achusetts troops in the old Continental uniform, not omitting the knee-breeches, natural obstacles. Almost at once, the Irish Ninth are crying out that small-clothes smack of monarchical servility, but 1 crux lurks in the fact of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery hav- ing alrcady quite as many uniforms as they can change into, in the face of the re THE GATES ARE OPEN AG. an alert and aggressive enemy, with- out impairing their mil It has been suggested, as ent likely to serve the chief purpose of ation, while the contemplatec avoiding all its di be passed a sp Court, authorizin: ve his picture ta George Washington tact of the General General Miles to en dressed up 1 Always the Same. * DILDER’S wife a very even disposition, hasn't she ?"” . Her irritability never varies.”” Natural Delay, HE MANAGER: This manuscript is all very well, of course ; good plot and construction, and all that sort of thing. But I don’t see any star part. Amuttious PLraywricut : Ob, that's all right. I thought I'd better not write that in till I knew who was likely to be the star. Faded. * DOOR Grigsby is only the ghost of his fermer self.” “That so? What “Ho's been dead a week.” ails him?" “SEE BY THE PAPER THEY EXPELLED DEACON RUG FOR HUMMING IN CHURCH.” comicbooks.com