Life, 1908-10-22 · page 8 of 24
Life — October 22, 1908 — page 8: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
The top cartoon satirizes wealth inequality and financial speculation. Three men in suits juggle large money bags labeled "$260,000.00" and "$27,000.00" while a central figure balances precariously—the caption reads "IT MAKES A DIFFERENCE WHOSE OX IS GORED," meaning consequences depend on whose interests are affected. This appears to mock how wealthy financiers manipulate money while ordinary people bear the risks. The lower section contains a letter debating tuberculosis treatment, arguing that germ theory is irrelevant and that "fresh air and natural mode of life" cure disease better than doctors. The accompanying cartoon shows a person sleeping in the rain, humorously illustrating the impracticality of this folk-remedy philosophy. Both pieces use satire to critique contemporary misconceptions and power imbalances.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
© THE EDITOR OF LIFE Nothing could better illustrate the one-sidedness of the medical point of view than the statement that the remark able fall in mortality in tuberculosis is due to vivisection ven admitting that the discovery of the bacillus of tuberculosis is due to ex- periments on animals—a statement 1 very much doubt—to the fact of this discovery is not due the fall in mortality. The only thing that has been demon- strated is that in tuberculosis these germs are always present, and that they do not affect normal persons. If they did, the entire race would soon die out, for the reason that it has been pretty thoroughly demonstrated that they are everywhere. They have been discovered in large quantities in the mucous mem- branes of healthy people; they are in the dust of every room, they float in. the air, and they are to be in timothy gras: And what is the method of curing a even said MAKES A. DIFFERENCE WHOSE tuberculous person? It is precisely the same as it was in the day of Hippocra- It consists of fresh air and com- mon sense nutrition, and the living of a natural life—that is to say, giving the individual a chance by bringing him back to a state of nature, so that he may be strong enough to overcome the effects of the disease. The knowledge that there is a germ has absolutely nothing to do with the matter. And experiments with serums on this di would be a laughing stock if they had not been of such a serious nature and cost so many lives People who are below par are likely to get tuberculosis at any moment. Pe ple who are above par are “ immune,” because they are strong enough to resist its effects. Medical science has done absolutely nothing toward reducing the mortality. On the contrary, this result has been brought about by the wide- spread diffusion of knowledge among the masses of the people about this dis- case, They are learning that fresh air and a natural mode of life are necessary to withstand or cure d they have learned this in spite of the doctors x——_.. tes. New Yorx. ox IS GorED”’ Disputed ER: Is the lady of the house in? L Wartre (who has been given notice): She's in, but she’s no lady! Mr, Bug: Gee, w ONE OF THOSE KANSAS RAIN MAKING MA= CHINES WE'VE READ SO MUCIt ABOUT