Life, 1914-10-15 · page 41 of 48
Life — October 15, 1914 — page 41: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains anti-war poetry mocking military recruitment propaganda. The poem "Filling the Gaps" uses bitter repetition of "Come out, boys! Come out and be shot!" to expose how authorities demand ordinary citizens—peasants, clerks, apprentices, schoolboys—sacrifice themselves to replenish depleted military ranks. The verses systematically strip away recruitment rhetoric: rulers claim honor, glory, and patriotic duty, but the poem reveals the actual transaction—citizens' lives exchanged for cannons' ammunition and national prestige ("the glory...will fall to our lot" belongs to rulers, not soldiers). The page appears from WWI era (references to "fathers have fought," destroyed towns). The satire's point: recruitment propaganda masks brutal mathematics where common people provide the bodies while elites reap benefits. The accompanying advertisements for whiskey and razors create ironic contrast with wartime sacrifice appeals—consumerism versus cannon fodder.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Filling the Gaps AY the rulers that be: “ We have need of more men. The ranks are depleted. them again, We have taxed you to buy the muni- tions of war. Now come and behold what our can- nons are for, Come, stand to the colors. The battle is hot, Come out, boys! Come out, boys! Come out and be shot! Come, fill “We have sent all the regulars into the fight, And the need is for more tor the cannons to smite. Come, peasant and artisan, merchant and clerk, Come, 'prentice and school-boy and join in the work. Lay by your ambitions and haste to the spot. Come out, boys! Come out, boys! Come out and be shot! “Your fathers have fought for our fathers of yore, And now we are calling the sons to the fore. For you is the battle, for you is the A Little on the Side 'O he well fortified is half the battle— and look at the reserve ammunition right in hand. It may well be that no man is a hero to his valet, but who says he’s not a friend to his butler? When a real EXTRA FINE drink ask for WHISKEY and then make sure you get it. If your dealer hasn't, Old Saratoga in stock write us and we will see that you are supplied. Rosskam, Gerstley & Co., Philadelphia = (HfLd Saratoga KNOWN THE S\ Te “Bulldog” Safety Razor with stocky bulldog handle, extra A new idea of the greatest interest—this Gillette weight, generous grip and fine balance. Brought out less than a month ago, and already creating more excitement and a quicker success than any new model since the first Gillette came out. Contained in an oval case of Gray Antique Leather, with Blade Boxes to match, containing 12 double-edged Gillette Blades (24 shaving edges). $5.00; with Gold plated Razor, $6.00. dealer’s anywhere. With Triple Silver plated Razor, See it at your Gillette GILLETTE SAFETY RAZOR COMPANY, BOSTON For us are the crowns that your valor may gain. What glory is gathered will fall to our lot. Come out, boys! Come out, boys! Come out and be shot! “Your towns are in ashes, your meadows are brown; But our honor demands that your lives be laid down. Our cannons have waited and thirsted for long, And now they must drink of the blood of the strong. From city and hamlet, from mansion and cot, Come out, boys! Come out, boys! Come out and he shot!” Walter Guy Doty. The Main Trouble Ah wus thinkin’,” said Rastus John: sing, “what a nice, peaceful-laike world dis here universe would a’ been if it wasn't for de movements of de human underjaw."—Philadelphia Ledger. comicbooks.com