Life, 1910-12-15 · page 16 of 44
Life — December 15, 1910 — page 16: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains three satirical pieces reflecting early 20th-century American social attitudes: **"Busy Man" sketch (by L.R.S. Henderson):** A wife announces she's running away with another man, but her preoccupied husband—obsessing over rising sugar prices—barely reacts, telling her not to expect him to handle "details" of her departure. The satire targets the self-absorbed businessman so consumed with work and minor financial concerns that he's oblivious to genuine domestic crisis, rendering his wife's dramatic confession absurd. **"One Advantage":** A brief joke contrasting garages favorably to horse stables (they smell better, don't breed flies), reflecting the automobile's increasing urban presence. **"Ego" essay:** A philosophical piece defining ego as an inalienable human quality independent of morality, social status, or gender. It notes that even women without voting rights possess egos—likely a subtle comment on the suffrage debate of the era, suggesting that ego transcends political rights. The cartoon "When the Swallows Homeward Fly" appears to illustrate romantic sentiment, though its specific meaning is unclear from the visible image.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
1104 Busy Man (svithout glancing up): Of course; of course. (To himself) Sugar has gone up again. His Wire (sitting very straight): AND, JOHN SMITH, I AM GOING TO RUN AWAY WITH HIM!! Busy Man (rising and pushing his chair back): Please yourself, my dear; only don't expect me to see you off or attend to any of the little details of your departure, because, just now, 1 am so busy—haven't_a minute—must rush to the office now. (Turning at the door) - Shall I see you again His Wire (helpless and tearful): Well, if that’s the way you are going to act, John Smith, I shall stay right here— you've just speiled it all! (Exit Jouy.) (Curtain,) LR. S. Henderson. One Advantage ARAGES are superseding stables a good deal in cities, There are some advanta; Garages on the whole smell better than stables. They do in- deed smell of gasoline, but gasoline doesn’t breed flies ¢ ee S[[VE gotten so 1 really dislike to kiss that girl, it’s so casy “Why do you do it “Well, her dying mother asked me to / ‘ 2 <7 be good to her.’” b \ a “WHEN THE SWALLOWS HOMEWARD FLY ™ Ego N ego is a Latinized I. Al! men are created egos and endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable somethings of which neither statute, ukase, edict, injunction, beggar, magnate, book-agent or pro- moter can deprive them. He who steals my purse steals trash, but he who filches from me my ego takes that of which he already has enough and makes me not at all. Women without votes have egos, and, strangely enough, would still have them if they secured the votes. Hence cxos are not a political issue. An ego is what a man is when he has nothing and is noth- ing cise; that is to say, he is then first person singular and no particular gender An ego is neither soul, body, spirit, family, country nor race. It is neither moral nor pathological. A criminal has just as much ego as a parson and no more. Some egos are better than others—chiefly our own. “ROLLING sTOcK” comicbooks.com