Life — December 13, 1906 — page 11: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

AND AS HE MAY BE A Letter AYTON, OHIO. Lire PuBLIsuinc Company: Gentlemen—We are just in receipt of a sample copy of Lirr. You may be inter- ested to know why we discontinued this paper and no longer keep it on our files. We appreciate the fact that in many respects it is an excellent paper and that the material shows thought in its preparation, but the character of the matter contained therein is, inour minds, open to question. ‘The gene attitude as ex} and pictures is decidedly pessimistic, the treatment of religious subjects is flippant and lacks serious purpose, and social rela- tions are subjected to ridicule. The subject of intoxicants is introduced in a large num- ber of the jokes ina way nly not cIpful. A large part of your advertising matter sets forth the excellencies of liquors and tobacco, In the sample copy at hand 141 square inches of space is devoted to advertising intoxicating drinks. We do not wish to be unjust in our criti- cism, but give you the above as our estimate of the paper and the reasons why we do not wish to continue it on our files. You un- doubtedly have a serious purpose in this publication, and we would certainly appr ciate your viewpoint if you care to take the trouble to give it to Sincerely yours, Younc Men's Curistian Assoctatio! By H. J. Martin. November 20, 1906. essed by the various articles is ce We thank our correspondent for his courteous letter. While his objections to Lire are appreciated—and_respected— he will doubtless understand that if an avowedly satirical paper should suddenly adopt a reverential attitude toward all EPEE* matters religious and social, there might be complaint among subscribers. As to our advertisements of intoxicants, —well, that opens a wide field for argu- ment. The Ladies’ Home Journal, we understand, never admits to its pages any allusion to wine, tobacco or playing cards. Lire is not The Ladies’ Home Journal, And yet, in our dissolute way, perhaps we do just as much good in the world. The Unwisdom of the Ancients “QATIN finds mischief for idle hands to do.” He doesn’t. How can he, when every moment of his valuable time is taken up with laying out work for busy hands, with planning and contriving some new invention to keep the industrious going? It has always been as much as Satan could do to run panting along with the active ones of earth, and turn into chan- nels of his own the tide of their activities. Was it idleness that fought the Thirty Years’ War, or sent Napoleon's armies to Moscow? Is it idleness that pokes us out of our comfortable ways into a whirl of dust and progress? Have the gentle hands of idleness fastened the Philippines upon our backs, or sent us down to be a nursery governess to fractious little Cuba? Are the idle rich who eat early straw- berries as devastating as the thoughtful and industrious rich who run up the price of mutton chops? Is it idleness that would snatch from our hands our old familiar spelling books; that, not con- tent with depriving us of our honour and our homavopathy, refuses even to let our cats purr (as if any cat in Christendom could pur!) and that has laid impious hands upon the Decalogue? Societies for badgering the universe have never been organized by the idle, Automobiles and gramaphones were not invented by the idle. Maxim guns and torpedo boats are not the pet playthings of the idle. And if Satan, with all these object lessons on his hands, finds ever a moment to spare, he isn’t going to waste it hunting up some trifles of mischief for idle hands to do. The busy and capable hands of earth await his inspiration. Agnes Repplier. “A ARS. BAKER gave a Christmas party for babies under two years old.” “Was it a success?” “Howling.” The Suburbanite BEHOLD the gay suburbanite, Who tramps the muddy road. He whistles, and his heart is light, Though heavy be his load. The beacon window glow he spics ‘Through snow and rain and sleet. He wipes the moisture from his eyes, And then he wipes his fect. Inside the house he finds it dryer, But cold. He takes a look. ‘The cook has failed to make the fire, And so he fires the cook. ‘The larder’s empty. All the shops Within the neighborhood Are closed. He thinks he'd like some chops, And so he chops some wood. His exercise is quite a strain, With dumb-bells and with hatchet, For he who runs to catch a tr Must train to run and catch it. No breakfast his. With might and main He runs. ‘Time will not wait, For if he’s late to catch a train The train is never late. But when he's carly on the spot, To show its mighty power The 7.10 train, as like as not, Is late an even hour. Sam S. Stinson. A BOOMERANG SHE THOUGHT IT AN EXCELLENT JOKE WHEN SHE YIRST GOT HER HUSBAND TO SMOKE; RUT SHE VERY SOON LEARNED THAT THE MONEY HE nURNED SERVED TO CHEAPEN IER MAT AND IER CLOAK.