Life, 1910-01-27 · page 7 of 36
Life — January 27, 1910 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains two satirical pieces about ambition and failure in American business. **"A Credible Ambition"** mocks the *Troy Press* newspaper's claim to ethical independence, suggesting it actually compromises principles for profit—a common critique of press integrity. **"The Tragedy of Finkelstein"** presents a darker cautionary tale: a man named Finkelstein attempts to tunnel from a cellar to a jewelry shop across the street, planning theft to get rich. He's discovered, dies in the attempt, and his body is sold to newspapers for profit. The accompanying cartoon shows authorities or creditors literally profiting from his corpse. The satire highlights how desperation drives people to crime, and how even tragedy becomes commodified by institutions seeking financial gain—a critique of American capitalism's ruthlessness toward the desperate poor.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
IS A THING OF BEAUTY ALWAYS A JOY FOREVER? A Creditable Ambition s, with one exception, the only free and independent journal in America.” It is not controlled by trust, creed, advertiser, p sl party, millionaire or anybody or any: K except its own conscience.—Lire. The Troy Press feels very grateful to Lire for not forgetting the other excep- tion. We shall be happy to reciprocate on the first favorable opportunity that presents itself—Troy Press. The esteemed Troy Press apparently is tempted to identify itself as the ex- ception referred to in Lire’s paragraph. To confirm or deny the assumption of our contemporary would be showing our hand prematurely. It will be no- ticed that the Press does not flat-foot- edly claim to be the exception. There- fore, Lire is glad to put the Press's statement on record as something in the nature of a hope, an aspiration, or a desire. The Tragedy of Finkelstein HINK of Finkelstein, who dug, un- taught, with a screwdriver and a trowel a tunnel thirty feet long from a vacant cellar toward a full jewelry shop across the street. His burrow fell in on him and buried him alive, and his poor corpse was dis- interred at the public cost to the profit of the newspapers. In him, evidently, were the energies of an August Belmont or a McAdoo, but, alas! how misdirected, how mis- applied ! The checks of underwriters to command, To bond each dint of cach progressing pick, To scatter dividends with timely hand, And eect his stockholders to get rich His lot forbade Poor Finkelstein! He had the spirit of a true tunnel builder. He saw riches ahead and yearned for them, He hit the right town at the right time, and yet it went wrong with him. There was a lot of tragedy in his case and a good deal of pathos. “DO YOU PLEAD GUILTY OR NoT GUILTY?“ The VICM 1S DER CHEEPEST? comicbooks.com