Life — February 25, 1915 — page 12: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

ge) Uo cl HEAR MAMIE TROWED YOU DOWN” “AW, SHE NEEDN'T BRAG, I BEEN TROWED DOWN BY DETTER GIRLS DAN MAMIE” The Generation of Jests ND these are the generations of jests. First, there was the mother-in-law. And the mother-in-law begat the late husband, who came home night after night and was lectured until his jest was firmly established in the land of his fathers. And the late husband begat the fish lic and the bargain counter and the woman's age, the same that is used in all the courts even unto this day. And the woman's age begat the intelligence-office cook, and the intelligence-office cook begat the policeman, and the policeman begat the flint biscuit; and this was one of the mightiest jokes of all. And the beginning of the kingdom of jests was the bright children’s saying and the singing daughter and the truly-rural. And truly-rural begat the back-door tramp, the tramp begat the neighbor's hen, and after that the cold-storage egg jest lived for three hundred years and said, Blessed he the land of my fathers, for my age is beyond all reckoning. Wanted to Know THE whereabouts of a few million prayers addressed to the Almighty by Germany, France, Austria, Eng- land, Servia, Russia and Montenegro. To the person who can furnish information as to the direction taken by said prayers or their present biding place a handsome reward will be given. Let "Em Alone 'HE custom of starting a foundation appears to be growing upon us, and if the idea is to be advertised in the future as much as it is being advertised now, it will become a popular pastime, like fox-trotting or getting a divorce. Anyone who wants to get into “ society” will be required to establish a foundation. Instead of keeping your superfluous wealth in your waistcoat pocket or the nearest Federal bank, you will hand it over to a collection of friends, instructing them to use it in the way that will do the least harm. One great beauty about the foundation idea is that you don’t have to wait until you're dead. Your presence will stimulate your selected guardians to do their best work; also they will not be likely to spend the money at variance with your ideas ; but, then, you would not be likely to give the job to anybody who would be will- ing to spend it otherwise. Mr. Rockefeller would not have been likely to put Messrs. Gompers or Mitchell or Bernard Shaw (if that gentleman were an American) upon his foundation staff. There are at present three principal foundations; namely, the Rockefeller, the Carnegie and the Russell Sage. Re- cently a gentleman in the employ of the government undertook to criticize these foundations, and said, in effect, that he thought they ought to be investigated and super- vised; otherwise, in his opinion, they might do a great deal of mischief. That is a horrible thought. Here is an experiment going on, liable to spread, and, if it is permitted to continue, calculated to give us an object-lesson in the uselessness of giving other people money. And some gov- ernment man wishes to nip it in the bud! Roller skating has had a chance. Child labor has had a chance. Alcohol has had a chance. Why not give the foundations a chance? GETTING AT THE REASON Farmer: po YoU HAVE To DO THAT? comichooks.gom