Life, 1915-09-30 · page 41 of 45
Life — September 30, 1915 — page 41: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page primarily features **advertisements and a literary contest**, not political satire. **Main content:** - A **Mark Twain book promotion** comparing him to Abraham Lincoln as embodying American ideals (humility, common sense, hatred of sham). Harper & Brothers advertises his 25-volume collected works at $1.00/volume—remarkably cheap for the era. - **Life's Short Story Contest**: Life magazine invites submissions under 1,500 words, offering $1,000 first prize. The twist: authors are *paid for words they don't write*. A 100-word story earns $140 (ten cents per unwritten word), incentivizing brevity. This satirizes the economics of publishing and editorial preferences for conciseness. **Other advertisements:** Rythmodik music rolls and Hartford auto jacks appear on the right. The cartoon "The Secret of His Birth" (bottom) shows a figure discovering something in curtains—its meaning is unclear without additional context.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
d_ people einforced healthy, chemists e. sturdy rting ker € perfect ws? milk make it of other } colored be will try new free Nihal ePrE lupe Athan igaeahn Mark Twain sprang from humble parentage and obscure surroundings and, like Lincoln, Mark Twain typifies Americanism. He be- longs not merely to Americans. His hu- manity, his sound common sense, the ripe philosophy underlying his humor, his hatred of sham and pretense—all tend to make him the friend of humanity —to belong to all mankind. His writ- ings will live on forever and forever— to help make life better and pleasanter for all of us. You may obtain Mark Twain at the lowest price at which the copyrighted works of an author of his reputation have ever beea sold. The price will never be less It can never be less. There will be another edition at a higher price. Now the price is only $1.00 per volume for the twenty-five volumes, containing everything that is in the most expensive set (170 stories, essays, sketches, great books of fiction, famous books of travel). Now you pay only $2.00 monthly and obtain subscription to HARPER'S MAGA- ZINE. The set is a desirable acquisition to your library. If you haven't lark Twain's Works, why delay and pay more? Send for the 25 volumes THE HARPER WAY at our expense to examine for ten days. There's a coupon below awaiting your signa- ture to bring your set to you. You risk noth- ing by sending it, for if you do not like the books, just send them back “* collect. % ‘Send no money. You pay only $1.00 after examina- tion, if satisfied, and then $2.00 monthly for 12 months. NOW is the most favorable time to send for YOUR MARK TWA! HARPER, z & BROTHERS, ranklin Square, New York City. Send, propald, MARK TWAIN'S WORKS, tweaty-fve volumes, cloth binding. and enter my name subscriber for one year to HARPER'S MAGAZINE. I may retain the and then if I do not care for IfT keep the Books T wil remit $1.00 and then $2.00 @ month until the full Bre of the books end the MAGAZINE, $25.00, has been paid. Life, 9-30 Signature Send books to aesionee A Portfolio describing our Standard Sets will be sent upon request Life’s Short Story Contest First Prize $1000 Second Prize 500 Third Prize 250 OW short can a short story be and still be a short story? Lire would like to know. So would every writer, and, therefore, all writers are invited to join with Lire in making a practical test. Lire invites contributions of original short stories. For the best ones re- ceived before noon of October 4, 1915, it will award three prizes—$1,000, $300 and $25 CONDITIONS No story must exceed fifteen hundred words in length. There is no restriction placed upon the kind of story to be submitted. It may be humorous or tragic; but jokes, anecdotes, epigrams or verses do not come within the scope of the contest. All manuscripts which are accepted for publication in Lire will be paid for at the rate of ten cents a word for every word under fifteen hundred words which the author does not write. To illustrate: if the accepted story is one hundred words in length, then the author will receive $140, or ten cents a word for the fourteen hundred words which he did not write. For what he does write he receives no pay. If, on the other hand, the accepted story is fourteen hundred and ninety-nine words in length, the author will receive ten cents. This story, however, will stand an equal chance of winning the prize with one which is very much shorter (say, one hundred words), as THE SECRET OF HIS BERTH Don’t Miss This Unusual Music Roll Offer— HIS offer is unusual, But we feel safe | in making it, because RYTHMODIK Rolls are unusual rolls. We know that every roll thus distributed will bring us a per- manent customer. That if you once hear YTHMODI RECORD MUSIC ROLLS you will always use them. If Rythmodik rolls were no different from other rolls, this would not be true, and we couldn't afford to make this offer. But they are different. They are made a different way;— cut, recorded, like a talking-machine record. ‘The pianist plays acomposition on the recording piano. Every element of his Playing is transmitted to the roll—bis beautiful phrasing and tone-color effects—his touch. Adore all, dve to a femarkable Invention controlled by vs. the desing tne —wlthout Rythmodik Roll Raver, Busoni, Hoffman, Hambourg and Godowsky are amongst those who make records for Rythmodik rolls, Atthe same time Rythmodik ro! personal faterpretation They because they catch all the irresistible fag-time artists pot Into their mi To prove these points, we are of Sample Rythmodik rolls for 20 ceats: celled for danciag. that the leading ited number of of packing and the coupon belows check the piece you wish (only one wed each person) Rythamodik rolls are told at all mosic dealers, Prices upto $2 AMERICAN PIANO COMPANY 437 Fifth Avenue New York CAPITAL $12,000,000 Check the name of the piece you wish Detach the eoepon and mail with 20 cents in coin or stamps. Only oae roll allowed each person. () Erede Op (3) Lallaby trom Erminie, play layed by B ed by Keita, G@) My Hooolota Hela Girt, fox trot for dancing. played by Pete Wendling (2) Homoresque. Op 48 Frind, played by Volary Name... 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