Life, 1916-06-22 · page 11 of 48
Life — June 22, 1916 — page 11: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page features a satirical illustration titled "Always Harping on One String" depicting a skeletal figure playing a harp-like instrument. The skeleton appears to represent Death or mortality itself. The accompanying text discusses **James J. Hill**, a major American railroad magnate and political figure. The satire critiques Hill's relentless pursuit of power and control—he "put his mark deep in the Northwest" and was "one of the great American rulers of his time." The "harping on one string" metaphor suggests Hill was single-minded and obsessive about his goals. The page also includes a poem titled "Strife" about conflict between old and young leadership, likely commenting on generational power struggles in American business and politics during Hill's era.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Strife HE King of my Heart went forth To battle with the Day; "Twas a hard, hard fight From morn till night, But he triumphed well In his strong, fine might, For he was young and gay. The King of my Heart goes forth To battle with the Day; But, alas, he is old, And the young and bold Are filling the ranks, And those who are old Must fall along the way. Katherine Park Lewis. James J. Hill HERE is no hurry about saying the last word about Jim Hill, Talk about him will go on, off and on, for a long time. Stories about him will if outlast his generation. With him it is not at all a case of dead and done for. He put his mark deep in the Northwest, and it will stay there. He was one of the great American rulers of his time. If we had the British habit of putting handles to the names of eminent men, he would have been Duke of St. Paul, or something like that. He was very interesting. His in- grained democracy so lubricated his autocratic methods as to make them tolerable. He was feared a good deal, liked a great deal, hated very little. In life he lasted long and accomplished a vast deal. Dead, he will still last long. T! 2 exploit of the Kansas preacher who preached an entire sermon to just one man is not unusual—the aver- age married woman does that every ALWAYS HARPING ON ONE STRING day. comicbooks.com