Life, 1916-08-24 · page 35 of 42
Life — August 24, 1916 — page 35: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This story mocks unethical medical experimentation and scientific fraud in early 20th-century medicine. Dr. Paupersterror and Dr. Cureham O. Bosh represent quack physicians who conduct lethal experiments on vulnerable patients (here, a Swedish woman with a broken leg). Both doctors' "cures" have "always killed the patient," yet they publish fraudulent success claims in medical journals like the fictional "Fakirs' Monthly" and "New York Chimes." The "joke" is that when the woman dies anyway from an unknown cause, Bosh falsely claims credit for "warding off fatal diseases," while his rival Paupersterror publishes first, stealing his glory. The humor derives from exposing how corrupt doctors fabricated results and raced to publish dubious medical "discoveries" — a real problem of the era. The cartoon shows Cupid asking "Where to?" — presumably directing these charlatans somewhere appropriate, likely Hell.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Cupid: witerr 10? An Amusing Incident T was really a good joke on Dr. Cure- ham O. Bosh. The superintendent of the female ward, Dr. Mohr Sufferen, had courteously turned over to Dr. Paupersterror a young Swedish patient for experiment. She had a broken leg, but was a perfectly healthy person—an ideal subject for “ material” So Dr. Paupersterror inoculated her with his pet serum, a sure cure for heart fail- ure. Now it happened, funnily enough, that Dr. Curcham 0, Bosh mistook her for one of his own patients and inocu- lated her with his favorite serum, an unfailing dispenser of paralysis. Both of these “cures” had, so far, always killed the patient, but, while in this case A MIXED drink depends for its flavor on the goodness of its ingredients. Old Overholt Rye “Same for 100 years” blends excellently with other iquors making i sovaluable for mixed drinks, Possesses ag distinctive flavor and a rare aromatic boquet that serves to enrich cocktails and other mixtures. Aged in the wood, bottled in bond. A. OVERHOLT & CO, Pittsburgh, Pa, The HLA. Twelve 'HE apparent fact that the “H. A. L. TWELVE” is designed, primarily, to realize the fullest measure of motor- ing comfort will impress you. The long wheelbase and deep, wide seats, luxuriously upholstered, provide comfortable roominess for the seven pas- sengers. The spring suspension gives you a floating motion on the roughest roads. The vast power and flexibility are easily controlled and shifting of gears is virtually never necessary. You will find, upon inspection, that the “H. A. L. TWELVE” is a car with all the character, worth and merit that have been claimed for it. Twelve Cylinders, Seven Passenger Touring Car Price $2100 f. 0. b. Cleveland Roadster, $2300 f. 0. b. Cleveland Wheelbase 135 inches The H. A. Lozier Company Cleveland, Ohio there was no possibility of recovery, the manner of death might prove an inter esting study. And then—along came the joke on Dr. Bosh. When the unsuspecting young woman died three days later from an entirely unknown cause, Bosh felt that his serum had warded off all the fatal diseases with which we were already familiar. He lost no time in darting for the ladder of Fame, and got Medikall Tyrms, M.D., to write a thrilling account of his dis- covery for the Fakirs’ Monthly. But when he found that Dr. Paupersterror not only claimed the glory, but had al- ready published the joyous tidings in the columns of the ever-ready New York Chimes, under the heading “Hope for the Hopeless ""—well, his face fell a yard His fury was comic. Merry peals of laughter are still reverberating through the halls of Devil's Own Hospital, Purtantnuoric Visitor (to jail-bird) My friend, may I ask what brought you here? Jan-Bino: The same thing that brought you here—the desire to poke my nose into other people's business. Only I used generally to go in by way of the basement window.—Tit-Bits, comicbooks.com