Life, 1907-07-18 · page 7 of 28
Life — July 18, 1907 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes medical and scientific authority through two pieces: **"His Yacht"** (poem by Mary S. Saxe): Romantically describes a man's yacht coming in, using sailing metaphors that resolve with him arriving "with another girl." **"A Nameless Traitor"** (main cartoon): Criticizes bacteriology as a new commercial enterprise. The text sarcastically suggests a "prominent physician" should face punishment for promoting germ theory, which has allegedly caused panic about disease transmission. The accompanying sketch ("A Dash for the Pole") shows figures fleeing, likely mocking the public hysteria over newly-discovered bacteria. **"Balance of Powers"** (boat illustration): Shows figures precariously balanced in a canoe, captioned as a woman rowing while a man attempts to manage competing demands—likely satirizing gender dynamics and the difficulty of maintaining equilibrium in relationships or social structures. The overall theme appears to critique both romantic entanglements and the social disruption caused by emerging scientific knowledge.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
His Yacht FAR out on the deep sea sailing Where soft winds dance and spin, Beyond the reach of her eager hailing, Over the breakers’ din; Out where the soft gray clouds go drifting, Out where filmy fog is lifting, Out where sails are ever shifting— His yacht is coming in. In where the sun is brightly shining, Where land birds swoop and swirl; In where a soft church-bell is chiming Over the water's whirl; In where the mist will yet come drifting, In where the tide is ever shifting, In where the breeze is ever lifting His yacht—with another girl. Mary S. Saxe, “BALANCE OP POWERS" A Nameless Traitor “Bacteriology is becoming a great commercial en- terprise, and what has it done during these thirty years?" asks a prominent “What has it done for cholera, but increase the death toll ? What has it done for tuberculosis, but bei discoverer? What has it done for plague, but nea create a revolution among the natives of what has it done for hyd the mortality? What has it has mised the death rate {rom 200 per million living for the ten years before its introduction, to 285 per million for the ten years since."—Daven, AS “BACTERIOLOGY” is part of the med. creed, it does seem that some specially painful punishment should be devised for this “prominent physi- cian.” Who knows what he may say next? He may speak irreverently of vac- discredit upon the cination, which is not only still with us but is compulsory. “A DASH POR THE POLE” comicbooks.com