Life, 1909-08-05 · page 24 of 44
Life — August 5, 1909 — page 24: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a humorous domestic narrative satirizing over-cautious husbands and safety obsession. Mr. Maltby, portrayed as methodical and anxious, becomes fixated on fire evacuation procedures after waking at midnight. His practical, sensible wife Mrs. Maltby dismisses his concerns—a common marital dynamic the satire exploits. The joke: Maltby conducts an unauthorized "fire drill," shouting "Fire!" to wake the female servants upstairs, timing their evacuation. His success vindicates his worry. The accompanying portrait of "Slapson Banggs, Esq." mocks sporting gentlemen who excel at leisure activities (polo, tennis) but lack practical sense—contrasting with Maltby's earnest preparation. The satire gently ridicules both masculine anxiety about catastrophe and the dismissive responses from practical women, reflecting early 20th-century gender relations and contemporary debates about household safety standards.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“Lr E “Go to slecp!"” “Do you smell smoke?" asked Maltby, hoping to wake her up. Mrs. Maltby refused to be aroused P~ ‘0, 1 don't,” she snapped. “ Stop your fussing." It’s the only logical way. You'll remember what I have said some ind see that I am right."’ Mrs, Maltby vouchsafed no answer. Maltby thought on The more he thought of it the more serious the problem was. Two human lives in constant danger! It was terrible. And he would be responsible! long as he lived it would always haunt him As a matier of ordinary precaution he must do something Suddenly there came, out of the in- tense darkness, a brilliant idea. He would have a fire drill. They always had it in schools. If it worked once, that would settle the whole matter. If it didn’t work, then every one would bless him for making the discovery It took courage, of course, to do i To go against the force of public opin- ion—represented by Mrs. Malthy—was no small thing. But Maltby, lying there in the dead of night, realized perfectly site: “NRLONCOLIG “navk that this was no time to be a coward. ARE COME, THE SADDEST OF He got up stealthily, and put on his tae year bath robe. He got his watch, in order to take the time, And then, watch in hand, he stole upstairs “ Ready,” he said to himself in front of the girls’ door “Go! He pounded on the door and at the same time shouted ire!"" Silence. He -repeated the experiment. There was a slight noise inside. Once more he shouted fire He was answered by a loud shrick, In about a second and a half two white-robed figures bounded out of the door, shrieking at the top of their voices PORTRAIT OF 1, SLAPSON BANGGS, ESQ., THE ALL ROUND SPoRTS- Maltby followed them downstairs. At the door he tcok the MAN. AS A POLO PLAYER THERE 18° NOT A CHAUFFEUR Living — time. WHO CAN EQUAL HIS SKILL ON THE LINKS. ITS SCORE AT THE “One minute and a half!"" he shouted. “Great! 1 had LAST TENNIS MATCI HAVING EEN NINETY-EIGHT TROUT OUT OF — no idea that it could be done in that time. Girls, you did A POSSISLE HUNDRED BULL. EYES. fine.” “Fire!” HEN the Maltbys took their cottage at the seashore, they naturally took their two servants with them. The servants had the two rooms on the top floor. To reach them you had to go up a long, narrow pair of stairs Maltby was methodical, humanitarian and cautious. The first night he woke up about midnight and got thinking about fire. “ Suppose,’ said Maltby to himself, “there should be a fire, how would we get-those girls out in time?" He woke up his wife and told her about it Nonsense said Mrs. altby sleepily But it’s a serious thing.” said Maltby. "It's lack of precaution, this want of intelligence beforehand, that is responsible for great loss of life. Isn't that so?” “ Very likely,” drowsed Mrs. Maltby. “How would we get them down? How would we make them move quickly enough——"’ POT-LUCK comicbooks.com