Life, 1905-07-20 · page 7 of 28
Life — July 20, 1905 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page features an illustrated story by Clement Scott titled "The Crew." The top illustration shows an allegorical scene of "Life" personified as a woman with wings, accompanied by other figures in classical dress, playing with a globe—representing life's playful, dynamic nature. The main story below depicts a shipwreck scenario where a ship's crew must survive. The narrative is a moral tale about cooperation: when the captain asks crew members to help save the vessel, they each claim incompetence (one's a barkeeper, another a pastry chef). However, when genuinely needed, they overcome their limitations and work together, successfully mooring the boat safely during the storm. The satire mocks class pretensions and laziness while celebrating human capability under pressure.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
AT PLAY, THE CREW. HEN the great ship had plunged beneath the waves, our hero \, found himself in a life-coat with k Ny seven of the crew, \ “Now, men," he cried, “let us lose no time in ging a sail and heading away from those breakers yon- der.”” Not a hand moved. “Come,” said he to the nearest man, ‘rig up some tackle there."” “I don't know how," re- plied the man; ‘I'm the “Well, then, you with the mus- tache,” Tam vairy sorreé, but I am zee pastry chef."" S 0 va “Next man then, “What der I know about sailin’? I'm der barkeep.”" Our hero turned toward the bow. “You three sitting together, why don't you get to work?" “Ve vill bla aboud der s; On the cap of the one man left our hero saw the word “Seaman,” “Ab, you, at least," he exclaimed, ‘can direct us how to erect a sail."" “Guess again, young fellow only job was to wash the decks. Despair settled on the boat load, but once more our hero was equal to the emergency. Attaching some line to a New York life-preserver, he threw it overboard as an anchor, Thus firmly moored, the boat rode out the storm in safety. y musick as you vish, bud ve know notting came the sad reply ; ‘me Clement Scott. comicbooks.com