Life, 1914-04-30 · page 36 of 44
Life — April 30, 1914 — page 36: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This article satirizes the enormous wealth amassed by Frederick Weyerhaeuser, a German immigrant who became a timber magnate controlling thirty million acres. The piece uses ironic tone to expose what the author sees as unfair land acquisition: Weyerhaeuser simply "reached out" for timber resources "lying around," much like Rockefeller and J.J. Hill. The satire targets government generosity—public lands distributed cheaply to railroads and private citizens willing to exploit them. The accompanying cartoon of the child with Washington's hatchet (George Washington's famous cherry tree legend) reinforces the irony: the "honest" immigrant narrative masks aggressive accumulation of public resources. The article's central point: Weyerhaeuser's success wasn't exceptional virtue but rather shrewd opportunism capitalizing on government-subsidized natural wealth, challenging the Gilded Age myth that great fortunes reward only hard work and thrift.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Don't Take Chances! with acid-filled, eather. destroying, cheap-costly shoe “ polishes”, Gially if your shoes are good, ones, Use only" The World's Best", MELTONIAN CREAM for black shoes LUTETIAN CREAM for tan shoes Made by E. Brown & Sons, Ltd., and used in Europe foi 60 years, these famous dres ings impart a smooth, rich, lasting lu: without injury to the finest leather, but the, same by making it soft and pliable. NOT IN ANY. WAY LIKE ORDINARY DRESSINGS. At all in better class shops and depart- ment stores. We will be glad to send you the name of a dealer in your locality. SALOMON & PHILLIPS, American Agents 174 William Street New York A Joke on Us T was rather a joke on us that Frederick Weyerhaeuser, born in 1834, a German farm laborer, should have come in 1 to this country, and died the other day in possession of a vast fortune and in control of an esti- mated area of thirty million acres of timber lands, Weyerhacuser was a thrifty soul who lived sober and worked hard. He got employment in a lumber mill, made money and saved it, raised a family of hard-working children, and just reached out, like other persons of his kind—Mr. Rockefeller, Mr. Hill and all the rest—for what he saw lying around, He needed the raw material of lumber, so he bought timber lands; bought, bought, bought them; cut the wood, ( ABI ED (except the the’s and and’s) sawed it up and sold it and bought more lands. EVERY There was lots of timber land. The government had given it by the million acres to railroads, and gave it or sold WORD it for little or nothing to anybody elsc who was smart enough to want it. Weyerhaeuser not only wanted it, but IMMEDIATELY things began to warm up in was rich enough, and diligent and able Ireland, we cabled Chesterton for a special article on the situation. If there’s any writer living who can do justice to such a subject, Chesterton’s the man. Of course we knew he’d rather have written something about Tulips or Dancing or Seaweed, but after a little persuasion he saw things our way. In the May EVERYBODY'S you will see his article—whimsical, witty and wise as ever. Himself in every line. Time was short, so he cabled the story. You'll get it sizzling and fresh, straight from the scene of action, in MAY (Sverybody'’s GILBERT K. CHESTERTON “FATHER, I CANNOT TELL A LIE, Dib IT WITH MY LITTLE HATCHET” Father: GroRGE, YOU'RE A LIAR