Life, 1916-03-09 · page 16 of 44
Life — March 9, 1916 — page 16: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains multiple satirical pieces from WWI-era America: **"To London Punch"**: A tribute poem praising the British satirical magazine *Punch* for maintaining wit and tasteful humor despite wartime bitterness, suggesting that England's ability to laugh at itself demonstrates national character. **"Beyond Harm"** and **"Frost"**: Quick joke exchanges mocking the naïveté of the pure-minded and playing on legal concepts (justice being "blindfolded"). **"The Last Straw"**: A political cartoon showing a camel buckling under accumulated burden—a visual metaphor for reaching one's breaking point. **"Boston Magi Protest Against Brandeis"**: Commentary on Boston lawyers' petition against Louis Brandeis's Supreme Court confirmation. The article notes that the prestigious signatories (including Harvard Corporation members) carried symbolic weight, while cautious opponents avoided public association—referencing "tailors of Tooley Street," an old phrase meaning common people speaking beyond their expertise. **"Domestic Efficiency"**: A brief domestic humor piece about a wife who records her complaints for her husband to hear when fully awake.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
432 To London Punch Most dauntless journal! You who are Your country’s keenest shaft of wit, Despite the bitterness of war You gallantly do not permit Your words to pass the bounds of taste Nor lapse into the mere obscene. Both cleanly-mouthed and _sober-faced, A sovereign jester you have been— This, above all, you dare to do; To laugh at British foibles, too! Perchance, when history is writ, The bul volumes on the shelves Will thus record the end of it: The English won: they had the grit To laugh (when necded) at them- selves! Beyond Harm ROTHER: Say, Sis, do you think we ought to take father and mother to sce that play? : Oh, yes! You see, my are so pure-minded that it would le wasted on them, ROST: What's the difference be- and justice? Any? People are always talking about “in the eyes of the law,” but justice has hers bandaged. THE LAST STRAW : HN “THE TIMES ARE OUT OF JOINT, O BLESSED LIGHT! 1 SEE THAT 1 WAS BORN TO SET 'EM RIGHT.” Boston Magi Protest Against Brandeis HE list of Boston lawyers and others who have forwarded to the Senate their protest against the confirmation of Mr. Brandeis was con- siderably notable for the names that were not in it. That is apt to be the case with such lists. They never in- clude more than a fraction even of the men whose sentiments they express. Cautious persons have heard of the tailors of Tooley Street and are wary of putting their names to documents for publication. This list, however, contained highly respectable names, including those of three out of the seven members of the Corporation of Harvard College. No doubt it helped to impress upon the Senate Committee the duty of making a thorough job of the investigation into Mr. Brandeis’ professional standing. Domestic Efficiency “D°ES your wife scold when you get home late?” “No. She dictates it to a phono- graph and lets me have it the next day when I'm wide awake.” comicbooks.com