Life, 1914-08-06 · page 23 of 40
Life — August 6, 1914 — page 23: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
The top cartoon mocks an absurdly idealized railroad—the K.C.R.R.—by describing its impossibly courteous service: conductors who volunteer information, brakemen trained in elocution, porters treating elderly ladies and bank presidents equally, and gatemen grateful for customer questions. The satire works by contrast: this fictional railroad treats passengers with dignity and transparency—posting accident details, maintaining readable timetables, handling ice with clean gloves—practices that were apparently rare enough to warrant mockery. The fictional president "O.O. Nemo" (Nobody) from "Weisnichtwo" (German: "I-know-not-where") emphasizes the fantasy. This satirizes real railroads' notorious indifference to passenger comfort and safety during the early 20th century. The small "Truthful Statements" joke critiques pretentious doctors, while the bank-balance exchange mocks financial uncertainty.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
YAEL AGHES ACCORDING TO THEIR STATIONS “THIS TRAIN FOR GARDEN CITY, QUEENS, LITTLE NECK, WADING RIVER AND SPEONK!” The K. C. R. R. HE K. C. R. R. is the most re- markable railroad in existence. When a train is stalled, its conduc- tors and brakemen voluuteer informa- tion as to the reason, When an express is late, the ticket- agent finds out how late, and whether you'd better take a local. When there has been an accident, full particulars are posted in the wait- ing-rooms along the line and furnished to the newspapers. Its brakemen receive lessons in elo- cution, and announce stations as plainly as print, Its conductors say “Thank you” when they take your ticket. Its cars are kept at seventy degrees in winter, and are not frizzled in the hot sun of the yard in summer. Its ice is handled with clean gloves and kept in a clean water-cooler. Its porters pay as much attention to a fussy old lady with four children to look after as to a bank president with a half-dollar tip in his pocket. Its time-tables do not seck to sec how little paper they can use, but how much information they can give. Its gatemen are grateful to the pub- lic for the questions which enable them to earn their salaries, Its entire force is selected as care- fully with a view to their pleasing people as a set of dry-goods clerks would be. This remarkable K. C. R. R. runs “between the cities of Kindness and Courtesy, and its president is O. O. Nemo, 1 Dream Street, Weis- nichtwo, N. G. Address him for fur- ther particulars. Amos R. Wells. “DAPA, why do they call money you have in the bank a bank balance?” “To show the great range of the English language, my boy. They call it a bank balance because it is the most uncertain thing there is.” Truthful Statements OCTOR PILLEM: My dear sir, it is a miracle that you are alive to-day. Patient: Yes, that’s what . my friends said when I told them you were attending me. “RIA, LeT Co! THE TRAIN'’S STARTED!” comicbooks.com