Life — February 25, 1909 — page 10: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis The main cartoon depicts a chaotic urban street scene filled with automobiles, pedestrians, and various activities. The caption references Nahum 2:4 ("The chariots shall rage in the streets...they shall jostle one against another...they shall seem like torches...they shall run like the lightnings"). This is satirical commentary on early 20th-century automobile culture and urban congestion. The biblical comparison treats cars as a modern plague—chaotic, dangerous, and overwhelming to city life. The dense, frenzied illustration emphasizes the disorder and collision hazard automobiles introduced to previously pedestrian-dominated streets. Below are three brief sections: "Whose?" (questioning Professor Slosson's views on scientific life), "Quite Appropriate" (a joke about a telegram from Professor Ferrero), and "Sporting Item" (a poem about winter sports by William R. Benét).