Life, 1915-12-23 · page 32 of 40
Life — December 23, 1915 — page 32: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
**"Shall Percy Sparkhead Live or Not?"** mocks both sensationalist debates and the literary establishment. Percy Sparkhead appears to be a fictional author caricature representing prolific but artistically worthless popular writers of the era. The satire targets physicians debating whether such writers deserve to live, sarcastically suggesting society would benefit from their "chloroforming." It's dark humor criticizing: (1) best-selling authors who churn out commercial trash; (2) publishers enabling mediocre work; (3) contemporary obsession with eugenic debates and "fitness." **"Reversion to Type"** (top cartoon) depicts a man physically controlling a woman, captioned that "cave-man" instincts appeal to women—a sexist jab at both male dominance and female nature. **"Left On a Siding"** references Charles Mellen, New Haven Railroad director, using railroad metaphor: Mellen ran his business in outdated ways and was "signalled to a siding" while progress moved forward on the main track—he failed to modernize. The page reflects early 20th-century anxieties: literary standards, corporate management, and gender dynamics.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
*LPPE* REVERSION TO TYPE 11's THE CAvt WOME: Clarence: AN IN US THAT APPEALS TO THE AFTER ALL Wanted: A Tariff Commission RO. BIRD'S paper, the Boston Advertiser, wants a tariff commission. It says: There is one way—and only one—in which the United States can prepare itself to await with confidence what- ever comes. And that is, by the ercation of a tariff com- mission, able, impartial, absolutely possessed of the essen- tial facts, The demand for a tariff commission was one of the effects of the Bull Moose party, recently deceased. Some of the decedent's effects are valuable. This one will prob- ably appreciate in value. We would want an infallible commission, and would not get it, but we might easily get one that was less fallible than Congress. It's worth talking about. A Big Difference “[ THOUGHT the old man left all of his money to charity.” “Qh, no—to charitable institutions.” Shall Percy Sparkhead Live or Not? Alienists Disagree on Question Which is Now Absorbing Attention of Entire Country ERCY SPARKHEAD, the prominent author, is now resting quietly in the Chicago Hospital, where he was taken after he was caught trying to write another best seller. The question as to whether he shall be permitted to live or not is one which lies at the base of our civiliza- tion, Ought he to be chloroformed? The physicians claim—and their claim is not disputed— that Percy Sparkhead is a defective; that he has never done anything for the good of society; that, on the con- trary, he has, aided and abetted by certain publishers, got- ten into the habit of writing best sellers and that he will never be of the slightest use for anything else. This being the case, they argue, they owe a duty to society to put him (and us) out of misery. Left On a Siding CHARLES MELLEN’S testimony in the New Haven directors’ case makes one realize more than ever that he was a man who did not keep up with his times. While he was running the New Haven in the good old way (though with some improvements) he was signalled to a siding, and his generation went by on the main track. But he never knew what passed him. THE YOUNG FATHER NAMES THE BABY