Life, 1910-11-03 · page 24 of 72
Life — November 3, 1910 — page 24: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
**The Cartoon:** "The Original American Bunco Steerer" depicts anthropomorphized rabbits dressed as humans in a forest setting, satirizing con artists or swindlers ("bunco steerers"). **"The Other Side of It":** This piece sardonically defends General Funston's decision to leave a Kansas City hotel because a bellboy wore identical clothing. The author argues that while Funston had the right to leave, his public complaint set a dangerous precedent. The satire escalates absurdly: if workers could object to customers dressing like them, society would collapse—waiters refusing to serve diners in suits, cab drivers refusing suited passengers, etc. The piece mocks Funston's pettiness by showing how ridiculous such logic becomes when universalized. **"Modern System":** A Kentucky mountaineer explains his rubber stamp, used "whenever I shoot onc o' th' Tollivers," stamping papers reading "Guaranteed Under the Poor Feud Laws." This satirizes rural feuding culture by presenting violence as regulated by official procedure—mocking both mountaineer lawlessness and bureaucratic absurdity. Both pieces employ exaggeration to critique social pretension and illogical behavior.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
tar ere UR owt THE ORIGINAL AMERICAN BUNCO STEERER The Other Side of It HEN General Funston left a Kansas City hotel the other day because the bellboy happened to duplicate him as to clothes, he was undoubtedly quite within his rights. As a hotel is a public place, a man may Jeave a hotel even for the most trivial reasons. Indeed, hundreds of people leave hotels every day without assigning any reason. whatsoever. Wouldn’t it have been better, therefore, if General Funston had gone away quictly without saying why? Has he not set us all a dangerous precedent? Suppose, for instance, it had been the bellboy who took offense. Suppose he should have said he would not work at a hotel where the guests dressed as bellboys. What would have become of the other guests whose throats were burning up for the want of a little ice water? Suppose our cabmen should refuse to drive customers who dared to imitate them in the matter of silk hats. Suppose the waiters in our hotels should object to serving people who wore dress suits. Where would we be? Our whole business and social sys- tem would have to be readjusted and a new Sartor Resartus written. Franklin Gayforth. Modern System A ND what is this rubber stamp for?" we ask of the Ken tucky mountaineer, at whose humble home we are stopping over night. “ That?" he smiles. “ Well, friend, that's somepin’ I use whenever I shoot onc 0° th’ Tollivers. Hev to conform to th’ statoots.”” He stamps upon a piece of paper with it and we read: “Guaranteed Under the Poor Feud Laws.”* comicbooks.com