Life, 1910-05-19 · page 11 of 40
Life — May 19, 1910 — page 11: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
The main cartoon depicts "Life's Ark"—a vessel packed with animals and people, referencing Noah's Ark. Lightning strikes above, suggesting divine judgment or crisis. The satire appears to critique American society by showing various social types boarding a metaphorical ark, implying the nation needs salvation or escape from current conditions. The accompanying articles address social concerns: "Soldiers" argues soldiers deserve better compensation than drilling wages; "Not Proven" questions whether a Harvard graduate's education actually matters if he lacks common sense (referencing drink-proofing). "A Firecracker-Less Fourth" and the "Things to Be Desired" list mock what Life considers absurd modern wishes—smokeless cars, silent ministers—suggesting satirical commentary on contemporary American preferences and social anxieties.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Scldiers I F it is necessary to maintain a stand- ing army, why not pay the soldiers good wages and have them do useful work when not drilling? A short time each day would certainly be enough for drilling; the rest of the time let them be employed on work of national importance—conservation and reclamation projects, improvements of landways and waterways, ctc. This would make of them intelligent, efficient, patriotic citizens instead of the paid idlers they are now. Not Proven A Harvard graduate has just died in Chi cago a pauper, which shows that there must be something behind an education to insure success in life,—Rochester Union and Ad: vertiser. T does not show it, unless there is rea- son to believe that the Harvard graduate was educated, Graduation and education are not synonymous terms. If the Chicago graduate was educated perhaps the trouble was he was not drink-proof. Trovste will meet any man half way. 915 Things to Be Desired A FIRECRACKER- 1 S Fourth. Advertisementless scen- ery. Cigarbuttless men in cars. Smokeless motor cars. Suffragetteless women. Noiseless ministers. Lieless newspapers Salaciousless novels. A Cannonless Congress. Rights HE American people undoubtedly are en- titled to a great many rights, and, if the truth were known, it would show these rights to be worth having. But the trouble with these rights is that they are never around when they are needed. They are either in cold storage or in safe deposit boxes or in litigation or in soi ward heeler’s vest pocket. Inaccessible rights are worse than no rights at all Books They Might Have Written HROUGH One <Ad- ministration—Presi- dent Taft. Trial by Jury—John D. Rocketeller, Jr. The Conquest of lond—The German Kaiser. Lives of the Popes— Theodore Roosevelt. Gulliver's Travels—Dr. Cook. If I Were King—J. P. Morgan. How Words Grow— William J. Bryan. A FOUR-TO-ONE CHANCE comicbooks.com