Life, 1913-01-09 · page 28 of 100
Life — January 9, 1913 — page 28: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes Charles Sanger Mellen, president of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad. The article's deadpan tone mocks Mellen's conservatism and inaction—it sarcastically suggests that his mere continued employment is newsworthy enough to stabilize stock markets. The humor lies in absurd understatement: rumors of modest improvements (slightly longer crossovers, replacing wooden cars) are presented as tentative possibilities "in the course of a year or so," implying glacial progress and corporate stagnation. The bottom cartoon, captioned "If Taken Literally / She: But I Have Nothing to Wear," shows a woman responding literally to a man's statement (likely "take off your clothes" or similar), illustrating the comedy of misunderstanding everyday conversation. This is unrelated to the Mellen article—a typical magazine format mixing news satire with comic vignettes. The "Seeing Nellie Home" automobile illustration evokes nostalgic Americana, contrasting with the railroad industry critique above.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Still There U P to a late hour last night Mr. Charles Sanger Mel- len was still president of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad. The market closed gently under the circumstances, but it is hoped that to-morrow morn- ing an upward movement may be observed if Mr. Mellen should signify his intention of ing ‘on for a little while longer. No accidents were reported yesterday. The cause of this has not yet been ascertained. In the course of a year or so, it is possible that sev- eral things may happen. For instance, the cross-overs between New York and Boston are liable to be lengthened several inches. veral wooden parlor cars may be re- placed by celluloid cars, but this is not authoritative. It is rumored that benches may be provided for passengers who have to wait for missing relatives at the Grand Cen- tral Station. This, however, is not official. No steamboats, trolley car systems, hotels or legisla- tures will be sold for some time by the New Haven road. Mr. Mellen declares that he believes in being conserva tive, and sober second-thought will govern everything he does. In case he resigns, the news will be imparted gradually in order that the shock will not be too great to many in New England who respect him for his intimate knowl- arsTen bbe >. AND TRE MEW SEEING NELLIE HOME” edge of human nature, his charity toward the passengers he carries, and the feeling of altruism which governs all his actions. IP TAKEN LITERALLY She: nut 1 WAVE NOTHING TO WEAR comicbooks.com ——