Life, 1908-12-17 · page 19 of 28
Life — December 17, 1908 — page 19: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
The main cartoon critiques American railways' indifference to human casualties in pursuit of profit. The caption "HERE Y'ARE, MISTER—UXTRA—ALL ABOUT YER OWN WEDDIN'!" suggests a newsboy hawking papers about a wedding, but the imagery shows a darker reality. The "Moloch" section argues that while Americans believed themselves civilized Christians, railways perpetuate human sacrifice comparable to the ancient god Moloch—killing workers and passengers through cheap construction to maximize shareholder returns. The satire equates capitalist greed with pagan bloodlust. The secondary content includes aviation-themed parodies (mocking the 1910s trend of parodying older literature through new technologies like airships) and a humor piece titled "Origin of the Stomach" with classical theology wordplay. This represents Life magazine's muckraking tradition—using sharp satire to expose industrial negligence and corporate immorality as fundamentally immoral, not merely practical problems.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Moloch OBODY who stops to long doubt that our wealth largely due to the en- hancement of real estate, or that the en- hancement of real estate, in its turn, very largely due to the railways reaching think will surpassing is very out to annex new territories to the em- pire of commerce. But the railways haven't wrought such a miracle by being squeamish about tak- ing life. On the contrary, only as they resorted to the cheapest possible con- struction are they able to pay fixed charges on a capitalization sufficiently in excess of the cost of the enterprise to yield the necessary financial brains have “ WERE Y’ARE, MISTER—UXTRA—ALL ADOUT YER OWN WEDDIN’! the rewards to which they are tomed. By becoming Christians we fancied we aceus- were rid of the inconvenience of offer ing up human sacrifices, but it appears that Moloch and easily outwitted. Rar Origin cf the Stomach HE. stomach, ceclare sundry of the obscurer but by that no less inter- his crew aren't so esting rabbinicals, was an afterthought Not, runs the commen- tary), until He was taking the rib from Adam’s side, and there came to him indry reflections concerning the nature an, as it was likely to develop, did the Lord particularly foresce the need of something of the sort indeed (so 705 “Of course there ought now to be some way to the fellow’s heart,"’ He, and having the rib cleverly out He put a stomach in R By Way of Prophecy NCING over the zines and on-parade, as it the parodies of ten years ago ran stron; to the bicycle. “ Maud Muller,’ celsior,”” “ Hiawatha,” “T Life," “ Break, Break, Br old stand-bys were done to deat years ago the auto It was “ Come Into the Tonneau, Maud and “Leave Me Here, And When You Want Me, Sound Upon the Auto Horn,”* and “We Were neau, Not a Soul Would Dare to Le and so on ad infin No great power, no egregious ability quoth s—the were—of newspapers, one notices obile parodies began. Crowded in the Ton- to dip into the future is needed to fore- see the next few years’ parody To the Parodists’ Legion a few ints are hereby offered Thou too sail on, Airship of State— Longfeil A knight was plane.—Spencer I shot an airship into the air rth, I knew not where—. When swift Camilla scours th crop. bare pricking on an zxro. fell to xto- n't give up the airship.—Olic Hazard Perry As idle as a pointed airship —Co. The judge rode quickly o'er the lane in his latest model sroplane.—IWhittier Tam flying, Egypt, fly Lyth Not to mention the boy standing on the airship's deck, a life on the rolling 1 space-filling rides of Messrs. Gilpin, Revere and Sheridan, clouds, the var and one or two more that are really too good to be given away Franklin P. ¢ ARKE whén you rig yourself up as Santa Claus? Lane: Oh, yes, but they are very nice about it, They pretend they don’t Do your children know you, rhs Ne WIENER WALTZES comicbooks.com