Life, 1914-03-19 · page 19 of 44
Life — March 19, 1914 — page 19: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
**"The Meanest Crime"** condemns unethical medical practitioners—quack doctors who exploit vulnerable patients (the poor and sick) by performing dangerous "experiments" under the guise of treatment. The piece argues these doctors are worse than assassins because they betray trust while hiding behind professional authority, yet face no legal consequences. **The cartoon below** satirizes "Dr. Quacks" and his "Get-Thin-Quick" scheme, depicting a line of overweight patients waiting to buy his bogus weight-loss tonic. It illustrates the text's point: charlatans prey on desperate, vulnerable people seeking quick fixes, profiting from false promises with no accountability. **"Feminist Contest"** announces Life's call for 500-word submissions on feminism, offering $300 for the best entry—positioning the magazine as a forum for debate on this emerging 1914 social movement. **"Control"** disputes Samuel Blythe's claim that non-drinkers master their time, sarcastically suggesting married working men are controlled by obligations rather than alcohol—a commentary on modern constraints on personal freedom.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
The Meanest Crime THRE assassin who shoots you in the back does a cowardly thing. But he does it frankly as an enemy, and he takes chances of punishment. He knows there are legal penalties for that kind of murder. But when a doctor in a hospital tries his latest “ dis- covery”—a surgical trick, or the injection of a fatal disease into a confiding patient—he does it, not openly as an enemy, but pretending to be a friend. Unlike the assassin who shoots you in the back, he has no fears of punishment. He is doubly safe, because he selects his victims among the poor, the sick, the helpless. Such victims, always the weak ‘and friendless, whose only hope is in health and strength, are indeed fortunate if they escape with no more diseases than when they entered. No law protects them, There is no punishment for this meanest of crimes. re, Quacs | || "GET=THIN- QUICK” Sy LARS A QOTTLE Feminist Contest ‘OR the best article on Feminism in five hundred words or less, Lire will pay three hundred dollars. The con- tributions as they are received will be passed upon and such as are accepted for publication will be paid for at five cents a word. The one which the editors of Lire consider the best of all the contributions accepted will receive the prize of three hundred dollars. The competition begins at once. The accepted manuscript will be published in the Feminist Number of Lire, to be issued the first week in June, 1914. This number will present the case for and against Feminism from Lire’s own standpoint. The conditions of the contest are as follows: No manuscript shall exceed five hundred words in length. Any number of manuscripts on the subject can be sent in by one contributor. The name and address of each contestant should be placed upon the manuscript, which preferably should be typewritten. All those manuscripts which are not acceptable will be returned, if accompanied by postage. The contest will close on Saturday, May 2nd. No manu- script received after noon on that date will be considered. All contributions should be addressed to the Editor of Lire, 17 West gist Street, New York City; and “ Feminist Contest” should be put in the lower left-hand corner of the envelope. Envelopes addressed in any other way will not be con- sidered as belonging to the contest. Control A non-drinking man is the master of his own time. Samuel G. Blythe. WE agree with Mr, Blythe in his advocacy of abstinence, but we dispute his statement herewith. No man in these days is master of his own time, especially if he is married and has to earn his own living. What Mr. Blythe means is that a non-drinking man is controlled by things that may be better than alcohol. We guess he is. LIVING ON THE FAT OF THE LAND comicbooks.com