Life, 1914-08-06 · page 34 of 40
Life — August 6, 1914 — page 34: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This two-panel satirical dialogue mocks upper-class hypocrisy about valuing quiet contemplation. Two women on a suburban train discuss their love of silence, yet the younger woman talks *constantly* and *loudly* throughout—even screaming about how much she adores silence. The joke's irony is straightforward: she claims to cherish quiet and deep thinking but demonstrates the opposite behavior. When the older woman suggests trains are good for practicing silence, the younger insists she practices it "all the time"—while literally shouting over train noise. The satire targets pretentious attitudes: the younger woman adopts fashionable ideas about mindfulness and inner reflection while being completely oblivious to her own contradiction. Her final scream about adoring silence (precisely when the train stops) delivers the punchline. The cartoon reflects early 20th-century satirical humor about modern affectations and shallow enthusiasm for intellectual or spiritual trends among the leisure classes.
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Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
EVIESE A Case of Lubrication In The Highest Degree 2 HAVOLINE OIL HAVOLINE HE “It makes a difference” because it prevents frictional losses, promotes maximum efficiency in the motor and increases its serviceability. The Facts in the Case ‘AVOLINE fs refined only from one uniform base crude oil of correct gravity and high quality. By our special process of = manufacture the floating carbon and impurities are entirely removed, yet the life of the oil is preserved and its lubricating value enhanced, because the indiordual molecules are left intact. \t burns up cleanly and evenly. The Motorist’s Verdict Proper Lubrication! Recause tt forms an equally thick "* cusboa "of ofl between the moving metals, decreas Ing the trictioeal loss and enabling the motor to generate I's masimum power. the eit in the Blue Can, Telt us gour mabe ant se Gallen Cans {9 the Case te litell you your grade. 1 dealer cannot supply you get It from us direct! Ask your, Carageran or wre direct be teyimenals of whine wsers owning your make of cat. They're the Indian Refining Co. Dept. I NEW YORK Too Expensive Tue Mactsteate (to the offending motorist): You are fined forty shillings. Tue Motorist: All right, old man! You must take it out of a fiver. Tne Mactstrate: You are now fined five pounds. Anything more to say? Tur Motorist: By Jove, sir, no! You're too quick at repartee. —London Opinion. Susunsax Resivext: It's simply fine to wake up in the morning and hear the leaves whispering outside your window. City Man: It's all right to hear the leaves whisper, but I never could stand hearing the grass mown!—Tit-Bits. a eyton The Beauty of Silence ENE—Suburban train, People—Two women going to their country club. ToceTHER (sighing): Well! We got it Exper One: What noise! Youncrr One (shrugging her shoul- ders and raising her voice as train noises increase): Yes—and I love silence. FE. 0.: Do you? Y. O.: And I think we talk too much, E. 0.: Quite so. O.: What does it all amount to? O.: What? Y. O. (yet more shrilly): V've al- ways loved silence. I love to go away to some quiet place and think, and think, and think. E. O.: Really. Where do you go? Y. O.: Oh—er—anywhere. E. O.: Tell me the place. 5 Y. O.: Oh—er—er—I've never really done it yet. E.0.: Ah! Y. O. (screaming): But I adore it?) Why should we chatter idly all the time? E. O.: Why? Why not think more? . O.: Where did you get the idea? dare zy ton ly cape laiemmn coord e.O.: Um! fepbert Tas in request. Herbert- . O.: Besides, it is suggested in . O.: Oh, it’s quite original, Tareyton S8We pestasts, Street New York.= WANTED—AN IDEA! Sto sinsn'thise to patent! Protect your ideas, they may Dring you wealth. Write for " Needed Inventions” and How to Get Your Patent and Your Money.” RANDOLPH & CO., Fatent Attorneys, Dept, 128, Washlogten, D.C. the new thought. E. O.: It’s one of the good old thoughts, however. Y. O.: But it is quite my own idea, T assure you. E. O.: And you practice it often? . O.: Of course—all the time. (her mouth at the young one’s ear): A train is a good place to try the silence part of it. Y. O. (importantly): You can do it anywhere. E, O. smiles. Y. O. (screaming at the top of her lungs): At any rate, I just love to think and (train stops suddenly) 1 adore silence! Wheat for Democrats T is a hard, hard job to run an anti-administration newspaper on a basis of impending calamity, with the crop reporters of the United States Department of Agriculture putting in estimates for a 900,000,000-bushel wheat crop. That is 137,000,000 bushels more than this country ever grew before. Kansas is smothered in wheat. And _ there's going to be corn, too, and cotton and hay. It is enough to make a deacon swear! Tt is true that the Democrats are in full control of the Department of Agriculture, but it is no great help to point that out, for the estimators are probably hold-over Republicans. It is rough for wheat to cut up so after all the sound Republican pros- perity that Republican wheat has brought to this country! But, after all, dollar wheat beat Bryan in '96, and it is no more than fair that wheat should square accounts with the Democrats by doing something for Wilson. How to Remove Hair ‘You cannot remove hair permanently without injuring your skin. But an occa- sional application of £vans's Depilatory Powder will keep the skin entirely free of objec- tionable or superfluous hairs. Does not injure the skin. 50 cents * drug- and department-stores, If your dealer hasn't “ Evans's send us his name and so cents and we'll send you a package postpaid. Your money back if you want it. GEORGE B EVANS 1108 Chestnat St Philadelphia