Life, 1917-03-29 · page 11 of 42
Life — March 29, 1917 — page 11: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains two distinct pieces: **"This Way, Please"** (top right) is a humorous dialogue about phone confusion—someone repeatedly tries to reach "8290 Murray" but keeps getting wrong numbers, creating escalating frustration for both the caller and the recipients. The joke satirizes early telephone systems' inefficiency and the annoyance of wrong-number calls, a common modern inconvenience that was apparently novel enough then to merit satirical treatment. **"A Plan of Relief"** (bottom left) argues that economics classes should teach poor people about export trade and commodity markets, suggesting that education about trade mechanisms could address poverty and high living costs. The accompanying cartoon shows a crowded telephone exchange scene. Both pieces reflect early 20th-century concerns about economic inequality and communication technology growing pains.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
GERTIE FRASER’S COUSIN (?) VISITS HER AT BOARDING-SCHOOL A Plan ‘HERE. would be less outcry against the high cost of living in this coun- try if our political economists organ- ized classes to teach the poor how wonderfully they are benefited by our export trade. Of course it isn’t neces- sary for us who are educated to under- stand all the details of the thing, but the less keen-witted and more selfish poor are more exacting. They have not had the advantages which will al- low them to feel the proper sense of elation over the reports of enormous export shipments of foodstuffs and other commodities while prices at home are soaring. Tf our educators haven't time to form classes along this line, let them get up of Relief little explanatory tracts to pass out to food rioters and others, demonstrating with mathematical precision that the more a country sends away to other peoples, the more it has left for its own people. It is only by some such systematic work as this that the poor man can be made to realize how constantly they are on.our minds and in our hearts. EB. Osd. Pals URATE: Shame on you for beat- ing up Mike that way. Don’t you know you should pray. for your ene- mies? Denny: But he ain't me inemy, father; he’s a friend uv mine. 515 This Way, Please One man has already had his tele- phone removed, the action being sus- tained by the courts, because he was impolite to Central.” The following method is suggested for use when trying to get a number? “LJELL-O! Pardon me; is this Cen- tral? Good morning, dearie. Awfully sorry to trouble you. Would you care to get me 8290 Murray?” “Did you say the line was~ busy? Dear! I’m afraid I've put you to a lot of inconvenience. Will you please forgive me?” “Will you call me when the line isn’t busy? I really couldn't think of put- ting you to so much trouble. You in- sist? A thousand thanks!” “Ts that 8290 Murray? You say it is 820? Will you kindly pardon my intrusion?” “Central, dear! I’m so ashamed to tell you! Yes, it was the wrong num- ber. And it was all my fault. A thou- sand apologies. I did want 8200 Mur- ray, but if it's going to give you the slightest trouble, I beg that—" “Ts this 8290 Murray? Dear! Dear! You say it’s 0298? How perfectly irre- sistible! A thousand pardons!” “Central, dear! I must have asked you for the wrong number ‘again. My poor brain! Dreadful of me, isn’t it? No! No! Thank you. I won't try any more to-day. I only wanted to talk to my dying mother, but it doesn’t matter, I realize that I have been a perfectly dreadful bore to you. Some other day, thank you. Some other day, thank you, thank you, thank you!—" Point of View ILLIS: Pleasure is all in point of view. Gitis: That's right. A man goes to a dance, leaves at twelve o'clock feeling fine and fresh, and calls it a good time; but a woman doesn’t have a good time unless she stays until four o'clock, spends the last three hours in agony, and goes home feeling as if a steam-roller had run over her. the comicbooks.com