Life, 1910-11-03 · page 40 of 72
Life — November 3, 1910 — page 40: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a satirical attack on vague political and religious rhetoric. Life magazine announces a two-million-dollar reward for discovering "the Ultimate"—a mockery of the era's tendency toward grandiose, meaningless platitudes. The cartoon depicts various groups (Presbyterian and Methodist churches) submitting their candidates for "the Ultimate," each offering hollow documents: the Thirty-Nine Articles and newspaper sermons. The satire suggests these institutions traffic in empty abstractions. The letter then ridicules prominent figures—likely **Theodore Roosevelt**, **William Howard Taft**, and **Lyman Abbott** (a reformist editor)—whose public statements are presented as interchangeable corporate-speak: "Our vast responsibilities," "True righteousness," "Spirit of Power." The joke is that these dignified-sounding utterances are actually meaningless platitudes masquerading as wisdom. The sidebar cartoon about "a plane woman" appears unrelated wordplay humor.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
LL over the country the search for the Ultimate, recently inaugurated by Lire, is now going on. No trouble is too great to take. Last week we be- came satisfied that one million reward was not enough. We shall now pay two. No matter in what condition the Ulti- mate is, we shall positively pay two mil- lions for his capture. All you have to do is to bring him here. Yesterday we were waited upon by a delegation from the Presbyterian Church. The leader, a well-known cler- gyman, bowed confidently as he said: “Sir, we have the Ultimate.” With this he handed us a small packet which proved on inquiry to be a sheet containing the thirty-nine articles. At this moment several Methodists ap- proached and their leader said: “ Excuse me, sir, but we have the Ulti mate."” We opened up the box he gave us and it proved to be a copy of his sermon published on the editorial page of the New York Herald. All persons hereafter applying at this office must respectively understand that we cannot be imposed upon in this man- A POET THINKS We’S FOUND IT *LIFE: Life Raises Its Reward Will Now Pay Two Million Dollars for the Ultimate, Captured Alive or Dead o _ i ae, = Fe (A EWA (| 1) a) i Ui ner. We know an Ultimate when we see one. We are after the real thing. When it arrives, the money will be cheerfully paid. The only thing this country needs is an Ultimate, and the moment we get possession of it we shall turn it over to the proper authorities. We have just received the following : “Dear Sir: “IT note with much pleasure your search and reward for the Ultimate. I feel quite sure that when it is finally discovered it will be accidental, and the whole affair will be simpler than you now suspect. I make the following sug- gestion: Why not get together all of the utterances each week made by our most prominent men and search among their platitudes? I feel sure that amid such humble surroundings the Ultimate m: at last be found. I was looking over Roosevelt's vade mecum the other Me Taft's speeches, Lyman Abbott's edi- torials, and a number of other works on theology and psychology, and in fifteen minutes I came across a lot of rich ma- terial. For example: “* Our vast responsibilities. Not Being is the All.’ We are coming to another Uplift.’ True righteousness is destined to Spirit of Power.” The life to come i “Why not try among these things? “Yours, We will, we will, In the meantime, no household is too humble in this grand land, rich with its varied possibilities and full of the promise of everything you can think of to come—in this grand land, we say, no place is 100 commonplace for the Ultimate to be in hiding. Two millions for the right Ultimate! Line forms on the right! Vibrations x ‘AS the Outlook come this week?’ “T haven’t heard it yet." oy the coward is a pessimist; op timism requires courage. AERONAUTICALLY SPEAKING JUST A PLANE WoMaN.”? comicbooks.com