Life, 1913-08-28 · page 24 of 40
Life — August 28, 1913 — page 24: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is satirical commentary on the New Haven Railroad's notorious safety and management problems. The cartoon depicts an editor of *Life* magazine offering sardonic "advice" to Howard Elliott, the newly elected president of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad. The satire targets the railroad's documented failures: passenger deaths, poor service, and public distrust. The editor's "solutions" are deliberately absurd—suggesting Elliott simply "run the road in the interests of passengers" and replace the infamous motto "The Public Be Damned" with "The Public Be Informed"—mocking how obvious these fixes should be yet apparently weren't implemented. The bottom cartoon appears unrelated: a figure observing fish swimming systematically into a can, likely a separate joke about German immigrants ("Schvim," "dER"). The page ridicules both corporate mismanagement and the railroad's callous indifference to public welfare—a major Progressive-era complaint.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
A HINT Sanctum Talks “C.OOD morning, Lire.” “Why, good morning, Mr. Howard Elliott. What can I do for you?” “Well, as you know, I have just been elected president of the N. Y., N. H, & H. R. R., and—” “Why, is that road still running?” “T think so; at any rate, if it isn’t now it will be soon, and I thought I would just drop in to see you.” “T hope you don’t want any advice, Mr. Elliott. I have so many railroad presidents who are depending upon me for advice at present that, really I—" “Couldn't you just add me to the list? You see, Lire, the New Haven road is really a very important road. It’s a very important road.” “That's true, Mr. Elliott; well, what do you want to know?” “T want to know how we can reduce the number of passengers being killed on the New Haven and still keep up the public interest in it.” “That is a problem. For one thing, you might run the road in the interests of the passengers.” “Good! I'll put that down.” “Then you might take the public into your confidence. Instead of ‘The Pub- lic Be Damned,’ you might say ‘The Public Be Informed.” “Splendid! I've got that.” “Then you might keep the road separate from New England; that is, run the road, but not all the legisla- tures in the New England States. “Yes, Lire. Go on.” “You might begin by adding a few steel parlor cars to your rolling stock, with real electric fans, just to show you mean well, Mr, Elliott.” “Anything more, Lir “ Nothing except to shake hands with you and bestow upon you my blessing. I'm going to believe in you.” “That's a great help, Lire. But it's a big job.” “That's why we've put you on it. Good morning.” “G-g-good morning, Lire.” $ ME ISS HOW DOSE LITTLE FISHES KIN SCHVIM INTO DER CAN SO SYSTEMATIC! comicbooks.com