Life, 1913-04-10 · page 42 of 48
Life — April 10, 1913 — page 42: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains **satirical commentary on child labor in Alabama**, not a traditional cartoon. The central article, "Prisons and Factories," mocks Alabama's State Prison Inspecting Department for a report that inadvertently compares the state's prison system *favorably* to its child labor factories. Life's satirists find this absurd: prisons shouldn't be considered better places than factories. The joke is bitter—Alabama's child labor conditions are so deplorable that they make prisons look attractive by comparison. The article highlights the hypocrisy: inadequate laws, parental and employer disregard for children's welfare, public apathy, and "filthy conditions" in mills. The closing line sardonically suggests those protecting prisons' reputation should protest this unflattering comparison. The page also contains period advertisements (Pears soap, Nuyler's chocolates, Kelly-Springfield tires) and a small cartoon labeled "Percy Pinhead's First Experience in an Office"—unrelated to the main satire. The satire exposes Progressive Era concerns about industrial exploitation of children in Southern mills.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
op) Lay gl 3 hg Nothing goes to Waste when you use It is of such complete PURITY and of such incomparable quality that every particle of it comes into use as Soap Prisons and Factories For the Evening| WW. are a bit puzzled over a clipping that comes to us from Alabama. It epitomizes a report of the State Prison Inspecting Department, which scems to have charge of inspecting all the factories. Surely Alabama’s prisons are not so unattractive as all that. We have seen prisons that had a great many unde- sirable qualities, but never any that were bad enough to be compared with a well-equipped factory for the em- ployment of child labor. And the report shows that Alabama's child labor system is no pusillanimous, dilettante affair. It is full fledged with all modern conveniences, such as in- adequate and ambiguous laws, disre- gard of the letter and the spirit of the laws by both parents and employers, a public which is apathetic toward child labor, and, says the report, “it is im- possible to give any idea of some of the filthy conditions which exist in the mills.” Those who have the best interest of our prisons at heart should immediate- ly rise up and protest against this at- tempt to besmirch their fair name. There is no surer way to please her than by taking along a box of the sweets all women love— Chocolates The high quality and assured freshness of all <44¢ candy make it the pia gift to one you admire. If she hasn't tried <Aete Beverly Chocolates, take her those next time —they're unusual and delightful. Sales Agents Everywhere » 64 IRVING PLACE lon. W YORK PERCY PINHEAD'S FIRST EXPERIENCE IN AN OFFICE Kelly- Springf eld There's only one way to cut down tire expense. Pay real money in the first place, and pay it for a tire with both a reputation and an actual record. No other tire has more of either than the Kelly-Springfield. KELLY-SPRINGFIELD TIRE COMPANY, 20 Vesey Street, New York Branch offices tn New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, St. Louls, Detroit. Cincinnat, Sac Fraselsea, Los Angelea, Cleveland, Baltimore, Seattle. Atlanta, Akron. The Hearn Tire & Rubber Co.. Columbus, Ohio. ibber Co. Boss Rubber Co., Deaver, Cold. Todd Rubber Co., New Haven, Cuno. Southern Hdwe, & Woodstock Co.Ltd. New Orleans, La, Atkinson Tire & Supply Co..Jacksoavile, C.D, Fran ‘Charl c. Rubber Supply Co., Indiana; Ind. fife Olmmtead & Sou, Syracuse: N.Y comicbooks.com