Life, 1914-05-07 · page 41 of 52
Life — May 7, 1914 — page 41: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains a poetry contribution ("Spring Song" by Martha Haskell Clarke), advertisements, and satirical commentary typical of Life magazine's format. **The main joke** appears in the Englishman/New Yorker dialogue: When an English visitor asks about "deserted villages" in America, the New Yorker answers "Reno"—a reference to Reno, Nevada's reputation as a divorce destination. The implication is caustic: Reno is characterized as a place people visit and abandon, populated by those obtaining quickie divorces. This is satire on both American divorce culture and the transient nature of certain American towns. **The "Canals" section** critiques government spending on infrastructure projects (the New York Barge Canal and Panama Canal), questioning whether massive expenditures ($140 million mentioned) actually produce value. It's skeptical commentary on ambitious public works undertaken on faith rather than demonstrated utility. The Chickering Pianos advertisement and Boston Garter hosiery ad are standard period marketing.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Spring Song There's a whisper in the street Through the din of passing feet, Just a fragrant, vagrant murmur on the spring wind borne along, Breathed from fern-wet forest bushes Where the frail arbutus blushes, Mingled clear from swamp-sweet rushes With a distant thrush’s song. There's a smoke-spread sun-warmed haze On the dingy city Just a lazy, hazy veiling in a blue-in- folding blur; Crept from reedy lowland sedges Through the white-starred wayside hedges, Past the hemlocks on their ledges, By the edges wind-astir. Spring has loitered in the street Mid the throng of heedless feet, Blossom-laden, gypsy maiden, through the grimy buildings’ train; Mid the cries of hucksters vending, City tumult never-ending, Song of forest reaches blending Woodland-wending through the rain. —Martha Haskell Clarke, in Ainslee’s Magazine. NGLISHMAN: What have you in the States in the way of a de- serted village? New Yorker: Well, Reno is about what you're looking for. Holds Your Sock Smooth as Your Skin Men who wear the better things for the satisfaction they afford, buy the sik Boston Garter at 50 cents, GEORGE FROST CO., MAKERS, + > BOSTON. 00 pepe REED ES HON O a piano years of history are nothing; honors and medals and awards are nothing, if that piano has not today the quality or group of qualities which make it greater as a musical instrument, greater as a musi- cian’s musical instrument, than at any time in its past history. Literature mailed gladly O@iikerit Mt Tye Chickering & Sons, Boston Division of American Piano Co, cer Soon We Shall Know More About Canals NE of the things that some people wish to live to find out is whether the New York Barge Canal is of any considerable value. Very positive assurance has been given for the last ten years that all the money spent on it, $140,000,000, has been thrown away. Against this assurance the faith of the canal’s abettors has prevailed and the money has been, or will be, spent. Pretty soon we shall find out whether it bought anything of value. And pretty soon we shall learn, too, what we have got for our moncy spent at Panama. Also what profit, if any, there has been in cutting a ditch across Cape Cod. There is a lot of very interesting information coming to us about the value of canals. comicbooks.com