Life, 1913-08-28 · page 15 of 40
Life — August 28, 1913 — page 15: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
**Main Cartoon:** The top image depicts a beach scene with the caption "Zachariah! Remember You Can't Swim." This appears to be dark humor about child endangerment or abandonment—a parent warning a child who cannot swim before leaving them at the water's edge, likely satirizing parental negligence. **Left Article: "Getting Rid of Your Children"** Satirizes Harvard College's establishment of a kindergarten as part of a broader societal trend toward institutional childcare. The piece mockingly suggests that parents are eager to offload children to institutions—first kindergarten at age four, eventually Harvard by eighteen. It jokes that mothers can then vacation in Europe "guilt-free," having delegated parenting to "the State" and "science." The satire criticizes both parental abdication of responsibility and the growing industrialization of education. **Right Article: "Something to Arbitrate"** Praises eastern railroad workers for bringing grievances to arbitration rather than using purely defensive labor tactics. The satire suggests employers previously claimed there was "nothing to arbitrate," making this workers' initiative revolutionary for labor relations. **Bottom Cartoon:** A "nautical term" joke depicting a cat as a "twenty-foot cat," likely visual wordplay.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“ZACHARIAH! REMEMBER YOU CAN'T SWIM.” Getting Rid of Your Children Something to Arbitrate ie 1E recent news that Harvard W* share the universal glee over the attitude of the College is about to establish eastern railroad lines in the latest labor difficulties. \ a kindergarten is only another They were not content to follow the old-fashioned purely step in the process of getting rid defensive tactics, but came forward in an aggressive man- of children. It will soon be pos- ner with grievances of their own which they desired to sible, according to the reports, to submit for arbitration, This is epoch-making and, if send a child to Harvard at four generally adopted, bids fair to revolutionize labor disputes. years of age and to turn him out It will at least silence forever that premonitory statement at eighteen or twenty with his de. of the employers that there is “nothing to arbitrate.” gree. In the meantime people who are rash enough ‘to . have babies will, at least for the present, have to wait for four years before they can get rid of them. We predict, however, that it is now only a question of a short time when Harvard will have a lying-in hospital and an infant nurses’ department, supplementary to the kindergarten, Happy mothers can then start for their annual trip to Eu- rope each spring as usual in the proud consciousness that having done their full duty by the State, science still makes it possible for them to indulge in their normal pleasures. Nautical Term—“ 4 TWENTY-FOOT CAT” comicbooks.com