Life, 1911-03-23 · page 15 of 44
Life — March 23, 1911 — page 15: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains two satirical pieces from *Life* magazine: **"Bulls and Bears"** mocks Wall Street's volatility and traders' tendency to rationalize market movements through absurd logic. The text describes prices fluctuating based on nonsensical factors—"Montauk acreage," "Pragmatism," even "Alimony Preferred"—satirizing how brokers invent explanations for market swings rather than admitting random chaos. The humor lies in depicting financial markets as fundamentally irrational. **"Historic Affinities"** (the illustration above) appears to reference political figures as "Uncle Joe" and "Marie Stuart," though the specific identities remain unclear from the image alone. The cartoon satirizes historical or political parallels. **"Difference Between Fire and Water"** is a domestic comedy sketch where a wife refuses to evacuate a fire because she's wearing only a bathing suit and won't be seen publicly in it—prioritizing modesty over survival, a joke about Victorian-era social propriety.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Bulls and Bears P to a late hour on Monday, Wall Street was still unsettled. This. was very discouraging, and many went so far as to claim that no settlement could be expected. Others, however, are more hopeful. These aver that, in a short time, output will be so adjusted to rumors that exports can be entirely divorced from consumption. This con- clusion was reached at a quarter past two and prices fluctuated promptly at a quarter to three, On Tuesday matters took an entirely new turn. It was said that significance of remoteness would no longer be a fac- tor on the bull side and its place would be taken by the conflicting features of the Montauk acreage, as shown by the cotton prices. This would make Judge HISTORIC AFFINITIES “UNCLE JOE” AxD “ MARIE STUART” Hawley the leading figure of the street and possibly settle all outstanding South American revolts. At this, the Harri- man group of stocks sat up and took a little nourishment. On Wednesday an effort was made to reconcile the gold shipments with Prag- matism. If this can be done it is claimed by the police that all will be well and Wall Street can proceed. On the strength of this, prices fluctuated throughout the whole of Wednesday and thus many calculations were upsct. On Thursday prices threatened to do the same thing, but the movement was checked on advices from Reno that Ali- mony Preferred was in good demand. This evidence of domestic liquidation quieted many of the brokers. Then sud- denly, before a reason could be assigned, every one got excited. The brokers seemed to have lost their heads. Some who had intended to sell on bulges, sold on sags. This compelled those who were going to buy on bulges to buy on sags. Pandemonium reigned and clos- ing time came without result. On Friday it was decided to begin all over again. They agreed to let by- gones be bygones, which insured smooth sailing for the bank statement on Satur- day. Difference Between Fire and Water “H URRY, dear!” exclaimed the hus- band. “The fire is gaining. We must get out. Haven't you got your clothes on?” “Oh, I can’t go out this way,” she screams. “I couldn't find anything to put on but my bathing suit, and I'm not going to face all that crowd in it!” comicbooks.com