Life — May 25, 1916 — page 7: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Explanation for Modern Readers This page from *Life* magazine contains two separate items: **"Alike" (left):** A brief dialogue joke where Willis accuses someone named Bump of lying for money. When pressed on the specifics—whether it's politics, diplomacy, or war-corresponding—Gillis responds that all three are essentially the same thing. The humor relies on cynicism about how politicians, diplomats, and journalists essentially engage in the same dishonest practices. **"Intensive" (right):** A quip about an author named Dasher who increased productivity by adopting "efficiency methods"—saving discarded phrases from drafts and reusing them in multiple stories, selling them as *Vers Libre* (free verse poetry). The satire mocks both modernist literary trends and hack writers recycling material. **Main illustration:** Shows a man attempting to sell a baby carriage to a couple, captioned as "selling the other fellow a baby carriage for his former sweetheart's baby"—satirizing opportunistic salesmanship and moral compromise.