Life, 1910-11-17 · page 35 of 44
Life — November 17, 1910 — page 35: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page mixes advertisements with editorial content typical of early 1900s Life magazine. **Main Content**: An essay titled "The Need of Worse Writers" satirizes the *New York Evening Post*'s complaint that college undergraduates write poorly. The author argues ironically that truly talented writers should be *excluded* from improvement efforts—they earn more money doing other work anyway. The piece suggests that bad writers are actually becoming scarce, and that poor writing has "inestimable advantages" because there are "so many ways" to write badly. This is satirical commentary on education debates and the paradox of talent allocation. **Advertisements**: The page features prominent ads for Lewis & Conger (house cleaning supplies), Rad-Bridge playing cards, and notably a large Waverley electric automobile advertisement showcasing the vehicle's transmission and shock absorption technology—typical early automotive marketing emphasizing mechanical superiority. The Rad-Bridge ad oddly opens with a playful verse about a "Bishop of North Carolina," suggesting whimsical, light marketing typical of the era.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
HOP OF NORTH CAROLINA ‘Then up sp ike the good Bishop Strange, There's nothing in my mental raugo Which brings us more pleasure Of Innorent measuro ‘Than *Rad-Brigo" 1p socal exchange.” K VELOUR PLAYING CARD: ine quali, se, colors aod pre aa ost farnous bem: ‘cards caly difference design of back, “it's @ beanty.” bs “camps Gest than coat) sererea cer Ramdsome aumple wallet Welt arremevien with pew fiamiraied catalog. Dept. L.. RADCLIFFE & CO. The Need of Worse Writers The Muses themselves must weep at the repetitions of the complaint in the New York Evening Post that the un- dergraduates in our colleges do not write well. It entreats both Yale and Harvard to turn their bad writers into good ones. The fundamental fallacy underlying the reasoning of our classical contem- porary is twofold. First and fore- most we are led to infer that the un- dergraduates write badly, that their English is wretched. It is not. Any one who has looked through a set of class themes at Yale, for instance knows that the lads write well. In the second place the argument for good English implies that it stands a better chance of being read than if it were bad English. For the purposes of this discussion, the man who can write thesbest Eng- lish should be eliminated from it en- tirely. The man who writes the best English can make so much more money by doing something else that “House Cleaning fEwis® @oNnGER HOUSE FURNISHING WAREROOMS Established 1835 Every Utensil and Material for House Cleaning and Renovating Brooms, Brushes, Dusters, Chamois, Cieansers and Pollshers tor Floors, Furniture, Glass and Metal. Carpet Sweepers, Vacuum Cleaners Geaning Cloths and Material, &c., &c. Correspondence Invited 130 & 132 W. 42d Street New York | Perfect Power Transmission 1 nomical electric made, the friction, the famous gear-expert, in anarticle in “The American Machinist." in which he places herringbone gears first in point of efficiency and says that gears con- necting parallel shafts as in the Waverley are the most efficient, | 152S EAST ST. ft was demcnstrated that the herrin: electric _vehicles—developed 98.7% of This conclusion is en= > dorsed by Mr. C. HLogue, Wie Sdont he never becomes a classic. Nor need we worry ourselves about the man who must either write or starve. He will do both, The subject that con- cerns us is that of the man who writes badly, Few realize how scarce he has be- come. The man who writes ill has certain inestimable advantages over the man who writes well. The most conspicuous of these advantages is the accident that there are so many ways 879 Perfect Shock Absorption in the Waverley That is why the Waverley is at the same time the easiest running and most eco- In a series of testa made recently at the works of the Westinghouse Electric Company bone gear—such as used on the Waverley among power efficiency with a saving of one-seventh in The Waverley Springs are extra heavy, full elliptic The advantazes of these as shock absorbers over the usual half or three-quarter springs are apparent. Wa- verley full elliptic springs ELECTRIC tren minimum of wear on the car itself. The Waverley is equipped with either solid or pneumatic tires, as you prefer. Of the beauty, the finish and the craftsmanship of the car you will be the best judse yourself, And there is a Waverley representative near you who is anxious to demonstrate the car to you. We will gladly send you his name on request. Exide, Waverley, National or Edison Battery. Beautiful rort Art Cataloz on request. We are now delivering strictly 191t Models, | THE WAVERLEY COMPANY INDIANAPOLIS, IND. of writing badly and so few ways of writing well. Hence, all kinds of good English resemble one another suffi- ciently to impart an effect of monotony to the best literature generally. But the bad writer—who is born and not made at college—has the inimitable originality of his characteristic de- merits. The boy who has learned to write well at Harvard or Yale—he does learn, in spite of The (Continued on page 880) comicbooks.com