Life, 1910-03-31 · page 40 of 46
Life — March 31, 1910 — page 40: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page combines advertising with satirical poetry. The left side advertises *House & Garden* magazine's April "Gardening Guide" issue, promoting practical horticultural advice for home gardeners. The right column presents "The Doctor's Story," a satirical poem mocking conventional medical practice. A doctor treats Mrs. Rogers—critically ill and covered in bandages—by throwing out bottles of medicines (calomel, catnip, boneset tea) and instead opening blinds and windows to provide light, water, and air. The satire targets late 19th/early 20th-century medical over-treatment. The doctor's radical approach—rejecting pharmaceutical interventions for basic health elements—is portrayed as eccentric (visitors call him "crazy"), yet effective. The poem ridicules both excessive medicinal remedies and society's resistance to simpler, healthier solutions. This reflects contemporary debates about "nature cure" versus pharmaceutical medicine.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
APRIL, NUMBER @ No one who reads this superb issue of eighty pages, beautifully illustrated, need fear an unsuccessful garden this year. The whole subject of both flower and vegetable gardening and planting the grounds is covered from A to Z in articles filled with prac- tical information and suggestion from which anyone can work. It tells you what to plant in various locations and what to plant for special effects. Don’t you want to know the best quick-growing vines for shading your veranda? Don’t you want to know just how to make a velvety lawn? Don't you want to know the best plants for growing in the sun and shade and the flowers you can grow with the surest success? @ = Allthese things the Gardening Guide will tell you—and more. It contains plant- ing tables of vegetables and flower seeds, showing when to plant, how deep, how far apart, time of blooming and ripening so explicit as to make your Spring planting a revelation in simplicity. There are articles on landscaping and garden effects with scores of pictures showing successful gardens and grounds, all of which will be of i mense aid in helping you to make your place beautiful from frost to frost. With this Gardening Guide in your hand you simply cannot fail. gq HOUSE & GARDEN is the one necessary periodical for the home-builder and gardener. Devoted to the home—its planning, building, furnishing and decoration and to the planting and care of the garden and grounds—it is filled with inspiration and interest to every one who wants to make the house, its garden and its grounds notable in their good taste and attractiveness and for all those who love the country. Special Offer to New Subscribers. If you are not now on our subscription list we offer ! McBride, Winston & Co., Publishers. you (as a means of introduction) six months of HOUSE £ & GARDEN, including the great Gardening Guide, for $1. Gentlemea:— I accept you This will bring you the important Spring and Summer | geripl S°GEP*_ YOU" Special offer to, new sub: numbers with their wealth of practical interest. The : for six months, including the Great Gardening appended blank .s for your convenience. In the acceptance : Guide. I enclose $1 in payment. of this special offer this announcement must be mentioned or the blank used. 449 Fourth’ Avenue, New York. SPARKS Fron | ol ANVILS F The Doctor’s Story Mrs. Rogers lay in her bed, Bandaged and blistered from foot head. Bandaged and blistered from head « toe, Mrs. Rogers was very low. Bottle and saucer, spoon and cup, On the table stood bravely up; Physic of high and low degree; Calomel, catnip, boneset tea— Everything a body could bear, Excepting light and water and air. I opened the blinds; the day wai bright, And God gave Mrs. Rogers some light T opened the window ; the day was fai And God gave Mrs. Rogers some ai Bottles and blisters, powders and Catnip, boneset, syrup, and squills, Drugs and medicines, high and low, I threw them as far as I could thro “What are you doing?” my patie cried ; “Frightening Death,” I coolly rept “You are crazy!” a visitor said. [flung a bottle at her head. Deacon Rogers he came to me; “ Wife is comin’ round,” said he, “T relly think she'll worry through; She scolds me just as she used to é All the people have poohed 2 slurred— And the neighbors have had the word; "Twas better to perish, some of ‘ say, Than be cured in such an_ irregu! way.” “Your wife,” said I, “had God's 5% care And His remedies—light and wa! and air. All the doctors, beyond a doubt, Couldn’t have cured Mrs. Rose without.” The deacon smiled and bowed 4 head ; “Then your bill is nothing.” “God's be the glory, as you say God bless you, doctor, good day! 5% day!” If ever I doctor that woman agait Tl give her medicines —Medic comicbooks.com