Life, 1915-11-18 · page 9 of 52
Life — November 18, 1915 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains several WWI-era satirical pieces. The main cartoon "Man and the Lower Animals" depicts a soldier sheltering against a tree during combat, contrasting human and animal behavior in war. Below, "To Make Us Kinder" argues Germans shouldn't be demonized despite the war, citing a German essay suggesting mutual understanding. The piece "General Moritz Ferdinand Von Bissing" references the German governor-general of occupied Belgium, notorious for executing Belgian civilians including Edith Cavell (a British nurse shot in 1915). The satire notes his name is now "secure"—history will remember him infamously. "The Ghetto" and "Unsung Heroes" appear to be additional satirical sections. The page reflects 1915-1916 attitudes toward Germany and WWI conduct.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
tae aN gsealaadin MAN AND THE LOWER ANIMALS To Make Us Kinder OST of us need to read something now and then to make us feel more kindly toward the Germans, and to remind us that, after all, they had, and doubtless still have, qualities we once thought well of. Nothing, probably, written by a Ger- man would have this effect, but pas- sages in Gardiner’s essay on Lieb- knecht in “ War Lords,” and parts of Wister’s “ Pentecost of Calamity,” will do it. Cautious people who fear that such readings might make them too in- dulgent to Germans need not worry. For whenever, in spite of the war, one begins to warm to them a little, they get to work somewhere and do some- thing perfectly outrageous. The trouble is the Germans do as they are told, doing good or bad, and both in all degrees, with the same sub- missiveness, General Moritz Ferdinand Von Bissing HIS is the governor-general of Bel- gium, the man who caused Miss Edith Cavell to be shot to death at two o'clock in the morning by sol- diers who are said to have shed tears as they performed the act. This gentleman's name is now se- cure. He will not have to sit up nights worrying whether he will be remembered, or whether history will do him justice. General Von Bissing was undoubtedly wise in his choice. Murdering thousands of non-combat- ants is so common a feat that there is little distinction in it. General Von Bissing took only one woman. To her he will owe his immortality. HE GHETTO: to Yonkers. From the Battery 941 Girl Soldiers? NO! A full battalion of girls, physically vigorous, well balanced and able- bodied, prepared and trained to fight and thoroughly armed, would be a great asset to our country. —Mrs. Putnam at Vassar College. N asset in the show business, but in war a liability, like the Prince of Wales at the front. “There is no such thing as sex inferiority,” says Mrs. Putnam, and in the large sense that is true. But in details, like soldiering, there is inferiority, and she tells some of the reasons for it: Because “a man has a stronger physique . . . and more nervous and emotional stability than a woman.” Why train first-rate girls to make second-rate soldiers when there are enough men for that industry? In an extremity, when men are scarce, there is something to be said for it. All on the Surface “BRIDGET, what do you clean the silver with?” “Silver cleaner, youse be askin’?” “TI thought from the looks of the cloth that maybe you did it with stove polish.” child!) Why do UNSUNG HEROES UNFORTUNATE HUMANITARIAN WHO KNOWS THAT FLOWERS HAVE FEELINGS comicbooks.com