Life, 1915-09-30 · page 30 of 45
Life — September 30, 1915 — page 30: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
The cartoon depicts a doctor presenting his bill to a patient who is shocked at the cost. The patient exclaims, "Heavens! I had no idea I was so ill"—the joke being that the doctor's exorbitant fee reveals the severity of the illness more than the actual medical condition did. This satirizes the common complaint about doctors' inflated charges, suggesting their bills are disproportionate to services rendered. The accompanying text includes philosophical commentary on avoiding total victory in conflicts (referencing Germany's 1870 success and its consequences), plus brief notes on railroad corruption and banking failures. These articles represent typical *Life* magazine satire of early 20th-century American business and political abuses—ICC investigations into corporate looting and financial instability.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
SS SNCS SSS THE DOCTOR'S BILL “HEAVENS! I HAD NO IDEA I WAS SO ILL” War Note EAR contentious friends, for whatever you are fight- ing, do not insist upon a complete victory; be content with a sufficient advantage. Contention is the natural state of man. If you destroy one adversary another is sure to meet your needs. Con- sider Germany's excessive success in 1870 and its awful consequences! Consider the complete success of the Roman Catholics in France in driving out or killing off the French Protestants and the kind of opposition to all religion that finally resulted. Keep along a good adver- sary and fight him fairly, Make him mend his ways by all means, but be forbearing with him in his need. You may need his help sooner than you think to fight some one worse. Revenge is a dirty business. Best leave it to the Lord. Hopeful 'HE Interstate Commerce Commission has made a report on the looting of the Rock Island Railroad by the Reid-Moore syndicate. The report confirms many of our worst suspicions, and perhaps some day something adequate will be done about it. At any rate, we are all glad to sec that progress is being made; although, of course, every precedent requires us to go slow in such matters. When it comes to punishing an A-1 financier for pirating on the high financial seas, or trying to make him disgorge his loot, the snail can always be expected to be the pacemaker. BANKS reverse the general order of things in that they burst because they are too empty, while nearly every- thing else bursts because it is too full. comicbooks.com