Life, 1912-08-15 · page 7 of 40
Life — August 15, 1912 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page features a political cartoon titled "PURIFYING POLITICS" with the subtitle "WILL SHE BE ABLE TO PUT ANY WHITE SPOTS ON HIM?" The cartoon depicts a woman (appearing to represent reform or civic virtue) attempting to clean a corrupt politician—shown as a man in a top hat covered in grime. The visual metaphor suggests efforts to remove corruption from politics through reform movements. The accompanying text includes poems and an article about "The Passing of the Soul," discussing the decline of spiritual values in modern society. The satire targets political corruption and the challenges of reform—questioning whether any amount of "cleaning" can actually purify a thoroughly compromised politician. This reflects Progressive Era concerns about machine politics and the need for governmental reform, likely early 20th century.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
PURIFYING POLITICS WILL SHE BE ABLE TO PUT ANY WHITE SPOTS ON HIM? Acrostic Virginal cycs she lifts to mine, a smile Across her sweet lips plays a little while In sudden tenderness she lays her hand Near minc—I catch the fingers—under- stand. Like flame, what scems at last affection dear— Of which I dreamed so long, my old-time fear Vanishes and I take before we part Even for love, the kindness of her heart. Leolyn Louise Everett. The Passing of the Soul OULS are now practically extinct. One occasionally hears of them at revival meetings and the like, but they have entirely disappeared from cities, summer resorts, shopping district financial centers and other where humans are wont to gather ha- bitually. The oldest living resident at Newport has probably never seen a soul on the premises. Souls first be- gan to show signs of senile decrepi- places tude and rigor mortis when their locus was transferred from the solar plexus to the pocketbook. As one never looks into a pocket- book for anything but money, souls have become dull from neglect, blind irom the absence of light and crabbed from the lack of human companion- ship. If the next world depends for prosperity upon continued immigra- tion of souls, it is in for a pretty big panic. E. 0. J. comicbooks.com