Life, 1910-09-01 · page 20 of 48
Life — September 1, 1910 — page 20: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains three satirical pieces: **"Illiteracy in Spain"** mocks journalistic unreliability. Life admits it prints unverified claims about foreign countries (Spain's illiteracy rate), then contradicts itself when a reader provides statistics. The piece satirizes how newspapers casually publish conflicting "facts" without personal verification—humorously suggesting even President Theodore Roosevelt couldn't be trusted to tell the truth about such matters. **"African Logic"** is a racist dialect comedy sketch depicting a Black carriage driver using exaggerated speech ("Yas, marm," "ca'ige"). The "joke" plays on supposed Black illogic: the driver charges the same fare ($1) whether customers take his carriage or the cheaper hotel bus, since both involve transport. The humor relies entirely on ethnic caricature. **"Lagging Mental Processes"** satirizes how readers' minds work slowly—when seeing a newspaper headline about the Mayor being "seriously hurt," readers' thoughts instinctively jump to Oyster Bay (Teddy Roosevelt's home) before correcting course to Beverly Hills, revealing how current events get mentally filtered through recent scandals.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Illiteracy in Spain And Spain's population, we read, is still seventy per cent. illiterate—Lire, Au gust 18 S° we read in one of the news- papers, but have since read in the Evening Post a letter of Mr. A. J Shipman, who says that the percentage of illiterates in Spain in 1900 was thirty per cent., and is less now. Mr. Shipman goes into details and quotes many statistics, and his assertions carry much more conviction than those we read before, so we are going to believe this week that Spain is not more than twenty-five per cent. illit- crate, instead of seventy per cent We confess, and hereby record, that owing to press of business we have not had leisure personally to examine, by a house-to-house canvass, into the condition of religious morals and education in Spain, France and Italy, SCHOOL OPENS and have had to pick up our informa- tion about them, along with the rest of our knowledge, from the news- paper and periodical press. There is nothing that is hidden about the re- ligious, educational and political ac- tivities of these countries that is not frequently revealed by persuasive writers, and very little that is re- vealed that is not promptly denied by writers equally persuasive. We wish that some veracious and respon- sible observer—Colonel Roosevelt by preference—would inspect these said countries and tell us the whole truth about them, and make affidavit. be- fore a notary that it is so African Logic (Virginia Vintage) USKY DRIVER (ushering ladies from steamer): Yas, marm— dis way, marm; ca’ige to de hotel! First Lapy (hesitating at step): And what will you charge? D. D.: One dollar, marm! Secoxp Lavy: Half a dollar apiece, when the hotel is barely a block away? Why, we’d just as lieve WHAT FLIES AND FASHION CAN ACCOMPLISH Convivial Gentleman: you MIND Your OWN BUSINES D. D. (interrupting): Would yu jest as lief go in de hotel ‘bus ?—dey charges a quarter. Lapies (in chorus) : Just as lies D. D. (ceith flourish): Den ster into de ca’ige, marm, an’ I'll take de same as de "bus—dey is some perfers de ca’ige and I has to chary« cordin’ Lagging Mental Processes UR lazy minds, how slow they times are in readjustment! instance, when the eye lights on s newspaper heading as this: PRESIDENT MUCH INTERESTEY HE 1S PLEASED TO RECEIVE LATE TINS INDICATING THAT MAYOR SERIOUSLY MURY. What does the miscrable mi likely do? One is ashamed to tel wretched mind skips instantly to Oys! Bay, checks itself there, grunts, and makes a slant across lots to Beve Miserable! And it is a year and 2 half since March 4, 1909! Comicbooks.com