Life, 1907-06-27 · page 9 of 25
Life — June 27, 1907 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains two distinct pieces: **"Abate the Fury of the Ambulance Drivers"** critiques New York ambulance services. The article argues that ambulance drivers prioritize speed and showmanship over patient safety, recklessly racing through streets to entertain the public. It advocates for hospitals to enforce stricter controls on driver behavior and speed limits, warning that current practices endanger both patients in transit and pedestrians. **"The Work-Horses Are Decorated, Too"** reports on New York's Decoration Day horse parade, celebrating 1,800 horses and nearly 900 trucks in a festive event with prizes across 47 classes. The author praises it as beneficial for promoting work-horse welfare and public interest. The illustration shows a satirical dialogue between two figures—apparently a "skye" (Skye terrier) and a "fide" (possibly the magazine's mascot), making a pun about "skye-light."
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Abate the Fury of the Ambulance Drivers 'T SEEMS sometimes as if there was a little misapprehension about the pur- pose of the ambulance service provided by the hospitals of New York. Properly conducted it is an exceedingly useful serv- ice and, indeed, practically indispensable. But its primary value lies in its ability to convey sick or injured persons promptly and safely, and as comfortably as possible, from the place of sudden illness or injury to the hospitals. When this service is duly performed, as it doubtless is in the majority of cases, all that can be expected of the ambulance service is achieved. But very often the ambition of the am- bulance drivers prompts them to efforts to make the service useful and popular by undertaking a number of supplemen- tary labors. They are prone to try: 1. To contribute to the entertain- ment of the public by making an exceedingly noisy and perilously rapid progress through the streets. 2. To make business for the hos- pitals by running over folks. 3. To illustrate the effects of sudden PRESIDENTIAL TIMBER U, S.: “THE woop’s FULL OF 'EM’? shock on injured patients by running into street cars and other conveyances. 4. To induce liveliness of movement in citizens by putting them in peril by reckless driving. These ambitions may possibly be worthy in themselves, but they do not combine well with the every-day duties of the ambulance drivers. Ambulances should not dawdle on their errands. They should be as prompt and as rapid in their goings and transportations as the safety of the public and the patient admits. To Skye: YoU KNOW 1'M SOMETHING OF A LITERARY LIGHT MYSELF ! Fide: & SORT OF SKYE-LIGHT—EH? be any more prompt than that is a mis- take, and ought to be constituted a misde- meanor. It is better to consume two min- utes more in carrying a patient to a hospi- tal and get him there comparatively un- agitated than to smash him up, or shake or scare him to death in transit. Whatever means the hospital authori- ties have for selecting and controlling their ambulance drivers, they do not seem to be adequate. The city authorities should help the hospitals out by prescrib- ing the speed at which ambulances may travel and setting the bicycle policemen to see that the drivers keep within the limit. The Work-Horses Are Decorated, Too EW YORK’S work-horse parade on Decoration Day was a glorious suc- cess. Eighteen hundred horses and nearly nine hundred trucks were in the parade, and prizes and ribbons were awarded in forty-seven classes. It is likely now to be- comean annual event, and soitshould, for it is an excellent means of promoting the welfare of work-horses, and keep- ing alive interest in their quality and weil-being. It is another good thing that has come to town from Boston. comicbooks.com