Life, 1907-09-19 · page 5 of 24
Life — September 19, 1907 — page 5: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
The illustration depicts classical/mythological figures in a satirical scene. The caption references "Mme. Venus, the Star of the Evening" and "Signor Mercuruso," personifying planets as operatic performers. A small figure (possibly representing a critic or observer) sits with a notebook at lower left. The accompanying text discusses "Euthedore" and focuses on Mrs. Sage's philanthropic activities—particularly her million-dollar donations to Troy Polytechnic and the Emma Willard School for Girls. The article mocks Wall Street's crude materialism ("O stay, kind Wall Street said, 'and rest / Your weary head upon this breast'"). The satire juxtaposes refined classical imagery with American commercialism, critiquing both wealthy benefactors and financial culture through allegorical comparison.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
SHOWED GREAT ARTISTIC TEMPERATURE. WELL IN THEIR MINOR ROLLS. Extheodore (With apologies to Longfellow) HE shades of night were falling fast As through a young republic passed A youth, who bore, mid snow and ice, A banner with this strange device: “ Fakers!”” His brow was sad, his tecth beneath Glanced like a falchion from its sheath, And like a silver clarion rung The accents of his unknown tongue: “Liars! “0 stay,” kind Wall Street said, “and rest Your weary head upon this breast.” ‘The youth but showed his teeth the more; While prices fell they heard him roar: “Grafters!” THE MUSIC OF THE S! 5, APPEARED TO GREAT ADVAN MME. LUNA ECLIPSED HERSELF ID SPHERES For Manners and for Beauty RS. SAGE is getting on slowly with thedistribution of her late husband’s surplus effects. She lately gave a million to the Troy Polytechnic—a fine old school with a great record—and another million to the Emma Willard School for Girls, in Troy. What would Mrs. Sage think of giving about a million to provide a fund for the prosecution of persons who carry lighted cigars into street-cars in New York or smoke on the car-platforms? To do that would be to help in raising the standard of manners, a thing that is more neces- sary to be done than even to promote ed- = Cae County ~ E IN CONJUNCTION WITH SIGNOR MERCURUSO, WHO A SHADOW DAN AND THE OTHER PLANETS DID ucation; the more so because education is constantly endowed, and manners— which are a vitally important branch of it—never seem to get a cent’s worth of encouragement from any benefactor. Please do something for manners, Mrs. Sage, ma’am. And another thing: give beauty a lift, too. The stub of the Sixth venue Elevated which protrudes into Fifty-ninth Street is as ugly as sin. Mr. Sage, when he owned it, always meant to beautify it, and never got around to it If you would just beautify that stub a bit, and make it more stylish and worthier of Mr. Sage and not quite such an eye sore, that would be nice. comicbooks.com