Life, 1916-02-17 · page 12 of 52
Life — February 17, 1916 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains satirical content about early 20th-century diplomatic and social issues. **"Tariff Needed" section:** Uses dark humor to propose a "tariff on Americans"—listing financial penalties for killing civilians (plain citizens, women, children). This appears to satirize U.S. military intervention or warfare, suggesting the government should charge fees for American-caused deaths as it does for imported goods. The sarcasm critiques military policy. **Top cartoon:** Shows two uniformed figures discussing aim with a woman, captioned about being "too close to the target"—likely mocking military incompetence or friendly-fire incidents. **Bottom cartoon & photo:** "The Sunken Ship—A Raid on the Jam Closet" shows domestic chaos, captioned about a husband's homecoming. This satirizes marital discord and domestic life disruption. The overall tone is cynical wartime satire.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Our Helpful Literary Department H OW to Avoid Reading Books Which Tell Yau How to Read Other Books: This is by no means so easy as it seems. Many people go on for years putting off read- ing certain books they want to read, because they cannot catch up with all the other books telling how to read those books. There is only one rule, and that is, Be firm in the beginning. If, for example, you want to read the “ Iliad,” do not turn aside from your aim. After you have once read it, you will not want to read any introductions to it or what any one else thinks about how it should be read. How to Talk About a Book Without Having Read It: Say anything you want about it, but do this first. Then the one with whom you are talking (who hasn't read it cither) will have to follow your lead How to Meet a Celebrated Author at an Afternoon Re- ception: Make a mistake in the date and come the same hour the next day How to Acquire Reputation for Being Well Read: Al- ways listen carefully to those people who think they are, and say nothing yourself. “stop, OTTO, THAT SPORT 18 NOT.” YOU TOO CLOSE TO THE TARGET ARE Tariff Needed ovr diplomacy would be simplified by a tariff on Americans, something like this: Plain citizens, ma shot, hanged or drowned, each . . «$5,000.00 With torture + 7,000.00 Women killed, plain, each seeees 3,000.00 Women killed, with maltreatment Children drowned, shot, starved burned, each Terms, 60 days. WIFEY'S WELCOMING ARMS, AS HURRY SOMETIMES. THE SUNKEN SHIP FEELS THEM A RAID ON THE JAM CLOSET comicbooks.com