Life, 1908-02-06 · page 13 of 36
Life — February 6, 1908 — page 13: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
The main illustration depicts a disheveled man in a top hat walking through snow, captioned "BEGORY! OI'VE (HIC) BEIN' FOLLERED!" This appears to be a satirical commentary on Irish immigrants or Irish-American stereotypes—the phonetic spelling "Begory" and "Bein' follered" (being followed) suggest drunkenness and Irish dialect. The accompanying dialogue between "Socrates" and "Erysmachus" debates whether surgery operates on flesh or something else—likely a metaphorical discussion about class and wealth. References to "pauper" versus "millionaire" suggest social satire about medical treatment differences based on economic status. The "Preposterous Suggestion" section critiques Henry James's novels as derivative rewrites of earlier works, dismissing them as unoriginal.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“pEGORRY! ore (111) BEIN' I think that is so, Socrates. And does the method of sewing cloth, or the cut of the cloth, or the eye of the maker, differ from the method of surgery ? It seems to. For one thing, flesh is more valuable. You surprise me greatly, Eryxim- achus, because I was‘ of the opposite opinion. I was down by the Academy yesterday and a workman was run over y a motor chariot whose owner had in- sured himself against such annoyances by paying a small sum. And the man was taken into an ambulance, and shortly he died while the surgeons were smoking and laughing. And the next day I looked in the papers, but his name was not re- corded. He was a common laborer, Eryximachus, whom possibly you would not have treated. You have said that flesh is valuable. FOLLERED!” I do not mean all flesh, Socrates. Oh, now I begin to see. You should have been more careful in your state- ment. There is then a difference. There is the flesh of the laborer. Cheap flesh. And of the millionaire. That is valuable. But is it valuable because it is fle Not necessarily, Socrates. It is able because it is valuable. ‘Then when you are bidden to go somewhere, Eryximachus, you go not to the calls of flesh but to something else? Yes, Socrates, it is something else, now that you are condescend- ing enough to say so. I am not saying so. I am only asking you whether it is so or not. And when you operate, you do not 143 ly operate on flesh, but on something se besides flesh. You must know, Socrates, you appear to be so wise. But is it flesh, Eryximachus, or is it something else? It must be flesh. How can it be some- thing else? But if it was the flesh of a pauper, there would be no operation, so far you are concerned. I think not. And if the flesh of a millionaire, there would be. I should try to make it so. What then is the difference between them? I should say, money. Then, O Eryximachus, do you operate on money or flesh ? It seems that I operate on money. So it would seem. And this puts me in great trepidation, for there is none so poor as I; therefore, I would have to die without you operating on me, and surely, Eryximachus, this would be a calamity; nevertheless, I should try to bear it, being a philosopher. as Preposterous Suggestion NEW edition of Mr. Henry James’snovels is heralded, and Mr. James is accused of intention to rewrite the earlier ones and make them harmonious with the latest. Awful thought! We hope there is no truth in it. Some of the earliest stories are still read, and ifi—— But he can’t mean to disturb them, They don’t be- long to him, anyhow. They belong to Time, Youth and the Seventies. If Mr. James should set out to smudge them with the fog of his latest period, there would be just ground for belief and asser- tion that he is really in possession of only such faculties as one would infer from x, his recent writings. na \ Tat Y ar ~ comicbooks.com