Life, 1908-10-01 · page 18 of 44
Life — October 1, 1908 — page 18: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains three separate satirical pieces from the early 20th century: **"All In the Same Boat"** (top cartoons): Two sketches mocking social pretense. The left cartoon ridicules a man posing as educated ("not an A.B.") while running up debts at bars. The right cartoon satirizes a woman overdressed for her social station aboard a ship, though appearing appropriately dressed on stage—mocking the gap between reality and theatrical artifice. **"A Friend in Need"** (middle text): A humorous anecdote about a man who helpfully retrieves his friend's abandoned suitcase from a train, only to discover the friend never wanted it retrieved and was traveling onward. The moral: mind your own business—a common satirical jab at well-intentioned meddling. **"Campaign Expenses"** (bottom): A politician humorously deflects questions about campaign spending to "yer honor," satirizing the opacity and corruption surrounding political campaign finances—a perennial target of satire.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
aleve Rae All In the Same all VER’ RUFFSH PASHAGE! cbler’s not an A. B., kings And when he comes to at the end of His bar hill is $800. 2 sofa he collars, CIRCUMSTANCES ALTER LACES Marie Meringue is a bit overdressed For a gyerl of her station and age; While this statement is true as you see her on board, It's utterly false on the stage! bad, some of them are infinitely worse than others. It is impossible for certain kinds of cheese to be too bad, but it is possible for a libretto to permeate the best music with an odor that would sour the harp-music of the most seraphic Caruso that ever yodled in Paradise. Schubert, Schumann, Mendelssohn, and many other geniuses were debarred the glory and the gain of grand opera through finding no proper librettist, or finding one that was fatal. Beethoven's one opera was produced three times with three different librettos before it could succeed. In America the school of librettists is yet to be created. In comic opera a few book-makers have attained success; one or two of them have been almost artistic at times. Dut the grand opera librettist is yet unveiled. Let us hope that Mr. Barton is he! The Metropolitan will have the glory of beating Mr. Hammerstein's Manhat- tan in this noble task of bringing forth a native opera. A year ago Mr. Ham- merstein offered to pay anybody who would furnish Mr. Victor Herbert with an American gi opera libretto the handsome bonus of $1,000. So far as we are told, it is still uncollected. And we should have thought that American librettists would do almost anything for a thousand dollars. Rupert Hughes. A Friend in Need HE other day a man traveling on a shore line train noticed, protrudin from an overhead rack, a dress suit case which he recognized as belonging to a friend. He knew that his friend always got off at the station which they had just passed, and as he was not in the seat the conclusion was inevitable that he had jumped off the train and for- gotten it The man called the conductor and ex- plained the case to him. After some dis- cussion, and a mild protest on the part of the conductor that it wasn’t a part of his duty, the suit case was put off at the next station, with instructions to send it back on the first train the other way The man, feeling that he had done an aile and friendly act, settled down for the rest of his journey. But not for long! The face of his friend—who had been in the smoker. and who happened, on that particular afternoon, to be going on to New Lon don to attend a dinner party—loomed before him The moral of this is, of course, quite evident. Be sure you're right, and then mind your own business Startling RS. BULLION: I wish T knew something to do that would pro vide me with an absolutely new sensa tion. Me. Bunuioy: for something. Campaign Expenses UCCESSFUL CANDIDATE: Well. Jerry, what did you spend during the’ campaign? Jeney: I'll leave that to yer own judgment, yer honor. Go out and pay cash