Life, 1915-03-18 · page 7 of 40
Life — March 18, 1915 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page combines a poem about spring with an illustration titled "Even the Subway Crush Has Its Advantages." The poem celebrates spring's arrival—lengthening days, painting and putty work, plumbers and stores bustling—while humorously acknowledging the seasonal chaos ("high mislemenor," typos for "misdemeanor," suggesting spring's disruptive nature). The illustration depicts a crowded subway scene where people are pressed together uncomfortably. The caption's joke is that even unpleasant situations have silver linings: the subway crush (crowded conditions) offers "advantages," likely meaning romantic or flirtatious proximity to strangers. This reflects early 20th-century urban humor about metropolitan life's simultaneous inconveniences and unexpected social opportunities.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
A Spring Song SEASON of lengthening twilights. Of gusty inspiriting gales— Of putty and painting of skylights, Of size and distemper in pails— When the poet of Spring has his high lights, And the stores have their fabulous sales! The winter is over and done with; We traffic in Springtime Deferreds; And the whiff of the plumber’s at one with The pipe of the earliest birds, As he heralds the sun of the sun with A song that is not without words. There's a savor of paste that is sour, «A rustle of paper unrolled, \ posing of purpose and power, And energies well within hold; And the work that is done in an hour Is a record that cannot be told O Season of high misdemeanor, Tyrannical cult of the clean, When painter and plumber and cleaner Preside over chaos serene,— You have woes of your own that are keener Than winds of the North that are keen. RICHARD CucteR- @ 50 +ac EVEN THE SUBWAY CRUSIL HAS ITS ADVANTAGES