Life, 1911-08-03 · page 7 of 40
Life — August 3, 1911 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains two satirical pieces: **"No Smoking"** (left): A humorous attack on Lord Rosebery, who claimed smoking provided no pleasure. The caricatured faces stacked vertically mock him. The text defends smoking as a harmless, meditative practice—contrasting with anti-cigarette campaigns. It notably defends boys smoking cigarettes as less harmful than other influences on youth. **"Reciprocity"** (right): References Mr. W.T. Stead's proposal to honor George Washington with a statue in Westminster Abbey, suggesting Anglo-American friendship. The satire proposes reciprocal placement of a statue in Chadham Square. The accompanying illustration titled "Love's Labor's Lost" depicts what appears to be a romantic or military encounter. Both pieces employ caricature and absurdist logic typical of Life's satirical approach to contemporary social and political debates.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
No Smoking Cats may have had their goose Cooked by tobacco juice ; il, why deny its use thoughtfully taken? —Calverly. ORD ROSEBERY, defying doctors and science in the foolish manner that men of genius sometimes have, re- cently said that there was no pleasure in the world like com- bined reading and smoking. We are inclined to believe that Lord Rosebery is right. One of the greatest satisfactions that comes from indulg- ing in the nicotine habit, is that all the arguments used against it are probably truc. Imagine the feelings of the Governor of Massachusetts, who was one of the officers of the anti-cigarette league, on being discovered by a lady mem- ber on the steps of the Capitol, smoking one of those rep- rehensible articles! It should be emphasized, however, that this number of Lire, while it is intended to be a glorification of smokers, is not intended to uphold the habit of smoking cigarettes, which we believe to be distinctly bad for all boys, and which are doing more harm in their way to disintegrate our young men than perhaps any other influence. Your true smoker, however, scorns the nervous cigarette His is a deliberate pastime, conceived in right-mindcdness and controlled by wisdom. With him, smoking is a ceremony, to be preceded by prayer and meditation and always in com- pany with kindred spirits. And it is to this idea that this number is dedicated Reciprocity R. W. T. STEAD, in a London Fourth of July speech, allowed that George Washington was “the greatest glishman of the cighteenth century"; that the British Em- pire owed him a great debt, and that there should be a noble statue of him in Westminster, the unveiling of which would come handy to celebrate completion of a century of Anglo- American peace. All right, Mr. Stead; you fix it up and we'll reciprocate by putting up an effigy of Chatham in Chatham Square, just as soon as it is possible to expel the elevated railroads from that historic center 'S LABORS Lost”