Life, 1915-02-25 · page 40 of 44
Life — February 25, 1915 — page 40: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page mixes advertising with political commentary about World War I. The main satirical content attacks **Dr. Dernberg**, identified as a German emissary and advocate for the Kaiser. The text presents his argument that Germany's loss of sea commerce costs America $500 million—then refutes it, arguing the real cost is Germany's disruption of Allied trade (valued at "half a billion"). The commentary suggests Dernberg is either deluded or deliberately misleading about Germany's culpability. The piece subtly mocks his competence: while acknowledging his intelligence, it implies his "normal functions" are compromised by loyalty to German interests. The final barb suggests his actual mission is simply German propaganda—"to clean up after Germans and try to mend what they have smashed." This reflects America's pre-1917 neutrality debates, when German diplomatic efforts to influence American opinion were active and controversial. The left side advertises Owen Johnson's novel "Making Money."
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
ee, | SPRING STYLES Celebrated Hats NOW ON SALE 178-180 Fifth Avenue = 181 Broadway New York Chicago Philadelphia F Agencies in All Principal Cities of —— — li eo W se Dr. Dernberg, the German ot Palliative nx ‘The stopping of the German com- ar petition on the sea means a loss of it five hundred million dollars to the people of the United States fo —Dr. Deruberg, in Minneapolis. Bi m IVE hundred millions is a lot of pa money to lose, but not so much ha as we should lose by Germany's sue- tic cess in driving from the seas the do 6é ; 99 commerce of the Allies. Br | is the emissary and advocate of the mi a sensational new novel Kaiser and his cause, and must argue : accordingly, but some time, after the na bs war is over and the resulting transiers m - have all been accomplished, it will be to interesting to read what he really a thinks of the German policies which — | have resulted in the retirement of Ger- | | man vessels from the surface of the | ; 7 _ . ocean and involved us in these trade | More dramatic than “The Salamander.” More stirring losses which he puts at half a billion. | than “Stover at Yale.” A powerful, absorbing romance. | One thinks of the minds of almost The best thing this brilliant young American writer Es the Germans, and of the Rev has yet done. How four Yale men tackled New York tomas C. Hall and some others, as d what N York did to th temporarily unable to perform. their pnIeNeakaiwe Wes.0F! een’ normal functions, But one docs not ged think of the efficient Hebrew mind $2.00 pas of Dr. Dernherg as so incapacitated. PURITA 9 | No doubt he sees and realizes. the = ver Oo Ss situation, and is hy so much better ¢ qualified to talk for the Kaiser. Let ap us remember always that his of Big stu for March here and now is what it has been in — Germany for years past—to clean up ‘ns aiter Germans and try to mend what READ they have smashed. > comichooks om