Life, 1916-03-09 · page 8 of 44
Life — March 9, 1916 — page 8: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains an article titled "How Came It That We Missed Him?" about Russell Herman Conwell, described as "America's most famous living preacher" at age 74. The article notes that despite his prominence—founding a university with 3,000 students, writing a dozen books, giving away a million dollars—few have heard of him. It questions why Philadelphia, home to famous merchants, doctors, and lawyers, hasn't promoted this notable Unitarian minister. The cartoon below depicts two well-dressed figures (likely representing Art Editor and Popular Artist) in what appears to be an office, discussing cover design costs—satirizing the gap between artistic ambition and practical budgets. The small illustration titled "The March Hair" appears separately, unrelated to the main content.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
URIOUS how the chains of matri- mony fail to prevent skidding. HAL BURROW 5. Art Editor: +L FE How Came It That We Missed Him? Russell Herman Conwell, Ameri- ca’s most famous living preacher, will be 74 years old to-da —" Girard” in the Philadelphia Public Ledger. EVER heard of him before. Girard says he preaches to the largest Protestant congregation in the United States; that he is the last sur- vivor of the galaxy of lyceum lecturers to which Beecher belonged; that he founded a university thirty years ago which now has three thousand stu- dents; that he has written a dozen books and given away a million dol- lars. Yet we never heard of him before. That argues, perhaps, that we don’t know what is going on. True, but it also argues a deficiency in the public appreciation of great preachers. If Dr. Conwell is so great a preacher every- one should have heard of him. Every- one has heard of Phillips Brooks, ev- eryone of Beecher, everyone of Billy Sunday, but Dr. Conwell must be like Little Bobs in that 'e does not advertise. We know that John Wanamaker is a great Philadelphia merchant, that Weir Mitchell was a great Philadel- phia doctor and a good writer; that John G. Johnson and Philander Knox are great Philadelphia lawyers; that Dr. Furness was a notable Unita- rian minister and his son a great editor of Shakespeare. Why, then, haven't we heard of Dr. Conwell? Is Philadelphia big enough to absorb so great a light? Or is it that the calling of a Protestant preacher is no longer distinguished? WHEN a man gossips as much as a woman his friends say that he is an interesting conversationalist. HOW MUCH DO YOU WANT TO MAKE A GIRL’S HEAD FOR A COVER DESIGN? Popular Artist: WELL, HOW MUCH HAVE YOU GOT? comicbooks.com