Life, 1912-04-04 · page 57 of 80
Life — April 4, 1912 — page 57: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains **not a cartoon but a sentimental animal-welfare piece**: "Prayer of the Horse to His Master." Written from a horse's perspective, it's a plea for humane treatment—requesting adequate food, water, shelter, kind handling, proper veterinary care, and a merciful death rather than abandonment or sale to cruel owners. The piece reflects **early 20th-century animal-rights activism**, attributing human emotions and moral reasoning to animals to appeal to readers' conscience. The religious framing (prayer, biblical references) was typical rhetoric for Progressive Era reform movements. The surrounding **advertisements** (Surbrugh's Arcadia tobacco mixture, Kodak cameras, Estona wall paint) are incidental. **For modern readers**: This represents a historical moment when animal welfare became a middle-class moral concern, expressed through sentimental anthropomorphism rather than scientific argument. The horse's "voice" was a persuasive rhetorical device common to 1910s-era advocacy journalism.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Prayer of the Horse to His Master My Master, I offer my cd me, water and care for cn the day’s work is done, provide me with shelter, a clean, dry bed ard © stall wide enough for me to fe down ia comfort. Always be kind to me. Talk to me, Your voic= often means as much to me asthe reins. Pet me sometimes, that ] may scrve you the more gladly and Iara to love you. Do not jerk the rns, an! do not whip me when going vp bill. Never ike, beat or kick me when Ido not soderstand what you want, but five we 1 chance to understand you. Wat and if I fail to do your bid- dieg, so» if something is not wrong with my harness or fect. Do nv. check me so that I cannot free use of my head. If you insist ¢ I wear blinders so that IT aannot sec behind me as it was in- tended | should, I pray you be care- Diinders stand well out Preparatios overload me, or hitch me where water will drip on me. Keep me 1 my tecth when I cat. T may have an ulcerated J that, you know, is very pain- New You fix my head in an unnatural or take away my best defense cs and mosquitoes by cutting tail, t tell you when I am thirsty, e me clean, cool water often, I SuRBRUG'S ARCADIA MIXTURE co with a regret. ia that you have wasted 90 many years be n smoking ARCADIA, rotherhood of pine smoLers, who appreciate 4 meditative pipe, and are, try tisten perfectly, wil Gad thekr teal a x MIXTURES ave never had the luxury of smoking Send 10 Cents 2a. THE SURSRUG CO., 204 Broadway, New York es) FOR WALLS AND CEILINGS PAPER; YOU CAN WASBIT. yrs and Photographs sent colo: to the © BROOKLYN, N.Y. Kodak Simplicity Every step in photography has been made simple by the Kodak system. Loading in daylight, focusing without a ground glass (no focusing at all-with the smaller sizes), daylight development and Velox printing—these are Kodak features. ‘The Kodak Film Tank means more, however, than the mere doing away with the dark-room—it means better results. All the guess work of the old dark-room methods of tentative development is done awrey with, Certain ready prepared powders are dis- solved in a certain amount of water of a certain temperature ; development then continues for a certain length of ime, It’s all by rule, and thereby gives the best possible result from every exposure. The Experience is in the Tank, EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY, ROCHESTER, N. Y., The Kodak City. Complete Kodak Cataloru reat the heaters or ty mak, cannot tell you in words when I am useful strength is gone, do not turn sick, so watch me and by signs you may me out to starve or freeze, or sell me know my condition. Give me all pos- to some human brute, to be slowly tor- sible shelter from the hot sun, and put tured and starved to death; a blanket on me, not when I am work- Thou, My Master, take my life ing, but when I am standing in the cold. Never put a frosty bit in my mouth, First warm it by holding it,a moment in your hands. : And finally, © My Master, when my 72 kindest way, and your God will reward you Here and Hereafter. You will not consider me irreverent if I ask this in the name of Him who was born in a stable. Amen. —From Our Dumb Animals,