Life, 1915-05-27 · page 13 of 44
Life — May 27, 1915 — page 13: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains two distinct articles with illustrations: **"The Last Neutral; May Be"** discusses Colonel McCombs, described as possibly "the last of the neutrals" regarding the European war. The text suggests he maintains neutrality while others take sides, and notes he's being photographed for film purposes. **"The Deadly Preventive"** addresses a public health controversy: vaccination against smallpox in New York State caused approximately fifty deaths, while the disease itself caused only three deaths during the same period. The article questions whether vaccination prevention is worthwhile compared to the disease risk it poses. The small illustration labeled "First Aid" depicts a nurse or medical figure. The page reflects early-20th-century medical and wartime debates, questioning both military neutrality and vaccination safety practices.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
The Last Neutral; May Be “T am absolutely neutral in the European war."—Chairmon — Me- Combs, the day after the Lusitania sunk. COLONEL MeCOMBS may he the last of the neutrals. As chair- of the Democratic National Com- he is like one of those travelers who fall into an Alpine glacier and come out perfectly preserved long fter, when the glacier delivers its He has got to be a neutral and look natural and lifelike until the Democratic glacier moves along to some new position. As a possible last survivor of the once numero! he of . Colonel McCombs is interest- g. The hoys will he around to snap- shot him for the movies. FIRST AID The Deadly Preventive T has been estimated that there were at least fifty deaths from vaccina- tion in New York State in rong. i there were that many fatal results from this man-inflic disease, how much illness and st and) permanent weakness did it cause in those which were not fatal? In the ne period there were only three deaths from smallpox in the e tire State of New York. Thus we s: that the prevention caused seventeen times as many de the ec. Instead of using vaccination to pr vent smallpox, wouldn't we be better off if we could find some way to use smallpox to prevent vaccination? comicbooks.com