Life, 1914-10-15 · page 7 of 48
Life — October 15, 1914 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes the difficulty of balancing competing demands in life. The top cartoon shows a tug-of-war with a figure labeled "YOU" in the center, pulled in opposite directions by "YOUR WIFE & DAUGHTERS" on one side and "YOUR BOSS" on the other, captioned "TRYING TO MAKE BOTH ENDS MEET." The poem "To Her" below appears to be a romantic/adventurous declaration, with dramatic imagery of crossing rivers and deserts. The photograph labeled "THE MODEST MODEL" shows a man in a field with surveying equipment—likely illustrating the poem's themes of arduous labor and travel to reach an objective. The overall message satirizes the male worker's impossible position: pulled between domestic/family obligations and professional demands, with the implication that meeting both is unachievable—hence "both ends meet" as financial and personal metaphor.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Lifé T loose a hundred rivers, Roaring across my trail Swift as the lightning quivers, Loud as a mountain gale. I build me a boat of slivers; T weave me a sail of fur. And ducks may founder and die, But I Cross that water to her! Bunch the deserts together, Hang three suns in the vault; Scorch the lizards to leather, Strangle the springs with salt. I fly with a buzzard feather; I dig me wells with a spur, And snakes may famish and fry, But I Cross that desert to her! Murder my sleep with revel; Make me ride through the bogs, Knee to knee with the devil, Just ahead of the dogs. I harrow the Bad Lands level, I teach the tiger to purr, And saints may wallow and lie, But I Go clean-hearted to her! ” Wanted: A Home! Refer to Dove of Peace, care of A. ; Carnegie, U. S. A. THE MODEST MODEL ew AW ED PIP TNE GOP IEE LIA comicbooks.com