Life — August 10, 1911 — page 28: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

Unjust to Florida? A Correspondent Declares that Recent Statements are Untrue—Man Who Promised to Die Still Alive—That Humorous Number—Bishops Dear Lire: On July 13, 1911, you published an article entitled “ Little Shrimp Pluckers,” in which you ask “Is it true that ‘an army of children,’ from five years old upward, are employed in shrimp can- neries of Florida, as told by Collier's, to pluck the heads off of shrimps, and that ‘a poisonous acid from this portion of the fish eats constantly into the baby fingers destroying nails and flesh? To your readers and to the whole round world, / say it is not true, for the simple reason there is not a shrimp can- nery on our Florida soil. In your issue of Lire, June 8, 1911, a letter to you under the caption “ Oyster or Children,” by Owen R. Lovejoy, gen- eral secretary National Child Labor Committee, making this statement: “That we have abundant records and photographs of children from ten (10) years down to four (4)"—he didn’t stop at (5) five—“working in oyster and shrimp packing houses along the Gulf.” Then, on July 3, 1911, Mr. Lovejoy in a letter, of which a copy was pub- lished in the Florida Times-Union, to Mr. J. G. Ruge, an oyster packer of Apalachecola, Fla., in which he charges Collier's with making the uncalled for error concerning children working in shrimp canneries, which Mr. Ruge in a letter published in the Times-Union, June 30, 1911, denounces as utterly truthless, he makes this statement : “Tt is to be regretted that a paragraph so full of errors, for which we are not in any way respon should have been permitted to appear in a magazine usu- ally so accurate as Collicr’s Weekly, and I wrote the editor on June 30 pointing out the various errors in the paragraph, including the fact that, so far as we know, no shrimps are canned in Florida, and further fact that this picture was not taken in Florida nor by me.” What are we to think of Mr. Love- joy? Are we to put any faith in his future photographs and _heartrending stories of the Florida working babies? We don't work our babies very hard, brother Americans and foreign cousins; even the cash boy system is being rapidly done away with, And if you could spend a week or so on our farms and groves you would sincerely wish that you could send your five-year olds down here in the winter to escape the bitter cold and in tlic summer to escape the intense heat, and, best yet, to breathe our ever in- vigorating ail Respectfully, Nest W. TyLer, Jacksonvitte, Fia., July 14, 1911. Too Many Crowns ‘Tue Eotror oF Lire: Dear Six—Some two years ago I wrote you a letter from Arkansas about coats-of-arms. You published it, and, owing to your widespread influence, I mark a great improvement in. America heraldry. This emboldens me to write a few words about crowns. Only kings and queens have crowns. * Peers have coro- nets which they never wear. Coroncts differ from crowns in many ways, but especially in having no arch over the top. They are just puffy velvet caps, with a silver-gilt band round the “brim.” In American illustrated papers, British peers usually pursue heiresses in regular royal crowns, with arches on top. This ought to be stopped. Further and apropos of nothing, Lord Charles Bercs- ford was not made a pecr for his distin- guished services as admiral, as stated, passim, in your papers. He is not a peer at all, He is called “lord” by courtesy, because his father was a marquis. In my last letter to you I promised to die soon, and must apologize for not having done so, And remain, faithfully yours, Laserrt Boxp. Vancouver, B.C. June 11, 1911, Second Place for Us? Eprtor or Lire: Drax Eptrox.—Come to New York. We have more different ways of getting your money than any other city in the United States —Lrri You are mistaken. Evidently you have never been in Los Angeles, Cal. Yours truly, “A Boy. Los Axcetes, Cat, July 12, 1911. Reaching for the Unattainable (It is rumored that Lire may publish @ humorous number.) What? Humour in a comic sheet? (Ah, yes, the “u” is meant, Our sign of pride in ancestry, Our glory in descent, For we are British, don’t you know, Our “‘u’s” are all protected ; We still enjoy the letters that Your spelling board rejected.) What? Humour in a comic sheet? Pray pause, good friend, be wise. ‘Tis such a wild Utopian plan, "Tis madness in disguise. stick to ction, vac- Cination and the Jew, For Lire cannot accomplish that Which Punch has failed to do. Some parts of Punch are humourous, (Another “tu” we pray), And Lire has published clever jokes (We're sending one to-day). But, think! Good fun in every line? The story can’t be true, For humour is the gift of God (Proofreader: Save the “u"). As Arnold Bennett has declared, “Life's page is toned in grey. —That wasn’t it. Good gracious, no —What DID the beggar say? No matter. We have never been A creature of precision. He meant you could not realize Your beatific vision. /. gar Middleton. Bishops Eprtor or Li Kindly correct error in your issue of July 6 regarding Bishop Walsh, of Il his right reverend brethren are not Irishmen, ian. The Catholic Bishop of Vermont (Michaud), who died about two years ago, was a French Cana as was his predecessor, Bishop de Goise- brand. Bishop Spang, of the Fall River, Mass., Diocese (who died a few years ago), was a German. If the Catholic Church made it a question of nationality we might expect to find a few Italian bishops in New England, as Rome de- cides. Respectfully, W. V. Mack. 6 Wargex Sr., Boston, July 16, 1911. comicbooks.co