Life, 1909-05-20 · page 10 of 36
Life — May 20, 1909 — page 10: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains three distinct pieces: 1. **"College Youth"** - A sketch labeled "A YAF IS A FUNNY LOOKING ANIMAL" shows two tall, thin young men in hats and coats, satirizing the physical appearance of college students of the era. 2. **"Miracles"** - A humorous piece about an inventor named Elbert Hubbard, accompanied by an illustration of a scholarly figure surrounded by books and papers. The text discusses Hubbard's philosophy. 3. **"The Paucity of Adjectives"** - An essay satirizing how modern language lacks sufficient descriptive words to capture human emotions and experiences. It critiques both everyday speech and literature for relying on overused, vague adjectives. The page also includes whimsical cartoon illustrations of children and light-hearted domestic humor pieces like "Just as Well," demonstrating Life magazine's blend of social commentary, literary criticism, and family-oriented comedy.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
College Youth: a YAP 1S A FUNNY LOOKING ANIMAL Miracles LBERT HUBBARD defines a miracle ‘as something that has never been done before. He is entirely wrong. It is something that has never been done since. A UNIVERSITY PRESS ‘LIFE: How We Do It Giuseppe Androgna, who was said to be a member of a Black Hand gang, was sentenced yes- terday by Judge Swann, in Gen- eral Sessions, to serve not less than four years and six months, nor more than five years in State prison, for sending threatening letters to Salvatore Scarita, a barber, at 5 Rivington street, demanding "$3,000. | Androgna was once arrested on a kidnap- ping charge-—Daily Paper. Y ES, Giuseppe deserves en- couragement. If he behaves well at Sing Sing he will get out in three years, when he can renew the Black Hand business. If we develop another Petrosino, Giu- seppe may be just the man to kill him. And there was talk at one time of stamping out the Black Hand! The Paucity of Adjectives We are living so fast that not enough adjectives Young ate being coined to keep up with us. The small boy, when Mr. Rockefeller goes by is limited to “Gee!” No fit term can ex- press the peculiar feeling of awe that fills him. At one time the words “Honey,” “ Sweet,” “ Precious,” ete, expressed perfectly the fecling of a lover, But now what adjective, or sct of them, can express the fecling of a young man on four thousand a year, who wants to marry a girl whose expenses are about fifteen thousand, and who is so sophis- ticated that to compare her with such a common product as sugar, merely. be- cause it happens to be pleasant to the taste, is crudeness itself? The young man, therefore, falls back on vague terms. He says “You're great,” “I'm crazy about you,” ete. In literature, matters are just as bad, if not worse. Every known adjective has been worked to death, and for even the most enthusiastic advertisement writer to attempt a book announcement is impossible. To say that a book is “compelling” or “absorbing” is like sounding a death knell. The most embarrassing thing about the whole matter is that although we have no new adjectives, we have new feclings, and nothing to describe them with, unless we do it in a roundabout way. How, in one word, could we describe an E. H. Harriman? To say that he is Little Bo-Peep She lost some sleep In a college dor-mi-tory. For little Co-Ed Roomed overhead— But that’s another story. an “astute grafter” would not cover it. He is a new species. It is the same way with our feeling For exat when some morning w wake to find that the price of ice is doubled, what single adjective can we Gscover that shall exactly express our meaning? HE longest line in the dollar mark is crooked. Just as Well! ALMIST (to man and his wife pass- shispering) : V'll be around I don't want my wife to know it. comicbooks.com