Life, 1909-10-28 · page 15 of 36
Life — October 28, 1909 — page 15: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains three satirical pieces targeting early 20th-century American debates: **"Shade of His Departed Spouse"** mocks spiritualism and séances—then-popular attempts to contact the dead. The cartoon shows a ghost appearing to a man, claiming to have investigated the afterlife and prove him wrong about it. The text sarcastically suggests spirits need "credentials" and formal training, poking fun at how gullible people accepted unverified supernatural claims without proper verification. **"The Stay-at-Homes Had the Best of It"** jokes about weather prediction failures. Steamship companies are humorously suspected of somehow manipulating weather to discourage travel, since Europe had poor weather while home ports had pleasant conditions. **"Truce"** references famous polar explorers Peary and Cook (who competed bitterly over North Pole discovery claims), plus controversies involving Pinchot and Ballinger. The point: explorers remained friendly only while absent; conflict erupted upon their return home. All three pieces mock contemporary American anxieties: gullibility toward pseudoscience, commercial interests, and ego-driven competition.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
NS Shade of His Departed Spouse JOUN HENRY, N\A Ns tis: GWG S GY y VE BEEN INVESTIGATING THOSE POINTS REGARDING THE PUTURE STATE AT WE USED TO ARGUE ANOUT AND I'VE COME BACK TO TELL YOU THAT YOU WERE WRONG. just to help him keep up the price of Steel, But if she has a personal note from Professor Hyslop saying that she is all right and thoroughly reliable—why, then we should have something to go by There are too many irresponsible spirits wandering about credentials. They ought under strict supervision by these well known gentlemen, Why not organize a training school for spirits and teach them some idea of their civic duty? What right has an Indian control to come butting in on a respectable person with nothing but a Choctaw dialect and a highly developed nerve? Something ought to be done about it at once. The without placed any to be next spirit, we meet—we warn him the proper creden- tials we shall cork up in a stone jus and ship him on to the Society for Psychical Research for proper identifica tion. now—without The Stay-at-Homes Had the Best of It "Tit zeminer that has jt closed has vena exhibition of climate in these parts, which makes it the harder to explain the recent shift of weather bureau sharps at this port. The steamship people are suspected of having a hand in it. It has been-cool ant here most of the time and rainy most of the time in Europe, so that the stay-at-homes have had the best of it splendid That that should have displeased the steamship companies was natura are reluctant to believe that they were able to secure the shifting of the pre dicters. but we Truce Peary-Cook, Pinchot-Ballinger, Peck. Workman, Nevertheless, note the amiability of Hudson-Fulton.—Boston Transcript O it appears to be with all the ex plorers who have gone to the un covered country. They are all at ce But look out when they begin to come hack. So long as Cook and Peary were gone to the pole there was no trouble between them. It was the getting home that did it comicbooks.com