Life, 1909-10-28 · page 9 of 36
Life — October 28, 1909 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page critiques the era's casual, overly familiar speech patterns. The article laments that serious language has lost dignity due to people using slang and colloquialisms indiscriminately. The text references "Commander Peary" (likely Arctic explorer Robert Peary) and "Walt Whitman" as examples of figures whose serious language carried weight—contrasting with modern speakers who use frivolous remarks. It mentions a scandal involving "Miss Emma Guldman" in a Philadelphia town, suggesting minor local incidents received exaggerated attention. The cartoons illustrate this theme of linguistic degradation: one shows children encountering what appears to be a ghost with casual dismissal ("See a ghost?" / "Gosh! That's only Freddie Firefly"); another titled "A Happy Medium" depicts a spiritualist séance, likely mocking both supernatural claims and careless speech patterns.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
A FOURTH AT BRIDGE The Words of Soberness LAMENTABLE tendency of our day is to ignore the dignity of words and so imperil the digni deeds. Sydney Smith's ever-famous re about the man who would have spoken disre- spectfully of the equator shows how far we have when there Walt Whit man, whose moods of jocoscness were always re , hailed the carth as “old Top-knot ’* : old Top-knot, what do you want?" But it was felt by his less ardent admirers that this familiarity was, on the whole, unwarranted. When Commander Peary cabled from the far north that he had “the old pole" in his pocket, and other gamesome remarks, there were those among his countrymen who held that serious words befit a great traveled since his well-balanced a was a standard of taste to off “om —1— 1--see A cnost!” “pos! THAT'S ONLY FREDDIE FIREFLY.” 577 achievement, and who would have liked to dilate with more correct emotions than Comm: Peary's language and behavior have permitted On the other hand, and perhaps by way of re- adjustment, the resources of the E are taxed to the uttermost to describe the deptt and delicacy, the fire and force, the power. and brilliancy of some forty or fifty epoch. novels, each one of which stands for supremacy glance at the publishers’ lisis reveals the presence of masterpieces which would make Scott gasp and Thackeray hang his head. We take refuge in the thought that no mere human genius could produce anything so wonderful as the least of these autumn novels. And on the same principle we try and steady our nerves when an excited gentleman pro: claims from a Philadelphia platform that “ the greatest crime of the century has been committed —which crime turns out to be the refusal of local authorities to permit Miss Emma Goldman to pratile of fire, famine and slaughter to that quict and peace-loving town. Poor little cen- tury! A child of nine, to be sure, but to have sinned no more stoutly than that! There are things of great importance and things of no importance in this world, but it is hard to classify them corr all alike have missed their me words. A MArPY MEDIVat comicbooks.com