Life, 1909-02-04 · page 15 of 40
Life — February 4, 1909 — page 15: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
The main cartoon depicts a gentleman in winter attire reading a posted notice about a lecture on "The Spirit of the World." The caption jokes about supernatural phenomena—Professor Psyche's pseudo-intellectual rambling about mysterious forces suggests mockery of spiritualism or occult pseudoscience popular in the era. The accompanying text is a satirical medieval allegory where "Lady Columbia" (America) observes various figures: "Sir Theodore" (appears to be Theodore Roosevelt) departing, "Sir Bil de Taft" (President William Howard Taft) arriving as his successor, and corporate kings like Rockefeller and Carnegie ("holy grafters") who doubt Taft's ability to combat corruption and graft. The "Comparative Forgetfulnesses" piece satirizes education philosophy—a Yale News quote about college education preserving foundational skills is challenged with ironic questions about forgetting arithmetic in "higher realms of thought," likely mocking pretentious intellectualism divorced from practical knowledge. The valentine cartoon at bottom appears unrelated social commentary.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
THERE ARE MORE THINGS IN HEAVEN AND EARTH— AND NOT A SOUL IN sIcHT! ING OVER AREA OF CONSCIOUSNESS, NOT Professor Psychs: aX UNMISTAKABLE IMPACT AS OF A BLOW FROM A LAND! ABLE ANSTANCE OF PHENOMENA—OR SHALL 1 SAY NOUMENA—EXT Priori, NOR FROM INTUITION, ALONE, BUT SEEMINGLY TRANSCENDENTAL. Most EXTRAORDINARY! Then Sir Theodore departen him from the country and gathering himself to- gether he traversed the sea. And he was passing overloaded with deadly raiment to work evil against wild beasts. His armour full girt upon him, was hung with everything that a general store in the backwoods contains; and there was much rejoicing over his departure; while the Knight Sir Benjamin de Till- man led back his good horse Honour- bound, much for-jousted, and thinking to restore him to his oats once again, which meseemeth was in good dow And all this the Lady Columbia saw and beheld and her heart waxed sore within her, when behold there came a goodly Knight of very gentle and cour- teous bearing, the same dubbed Sir Bil de Taft, and he was fair girt round about and with mickle weight, and the Lady Columbia looked to him fairly, and he smiled upon her and she smiled back, as was her wont with every new comer. Right so came King Rockefeller, and King Carnegas du Pittsburg, King Gary and Sir Thomas de Ryan, with the rest of the holy grafters round about, and they gave her the merry Ha Ha, and on the side they mocked and japed at the courteous Knight, for, said they, we wot full well he may joust with us all, but he may not save Graftland from such a quest as we be on, this many a day. Thomas L. Masson Comparative Forgetfulnesses A college education will be a great hel Lin railroading) if the man in going throug! college has kept. the foundations of bi school learning firmly fixed. hand, if he has neglected handw and forgotten his arithmetic in higher m matics, nothing could be worse for him.— Mr. Harriman in the Yale News. UT suppose, sir, he forgets his arith- metic in the higher realms of thought? What were Mr. Cromwell's words about that? Will that be good or bad for him, sir? LOVELY MOST REMARK- APPARENTLY @ comicbooks.com