Life, 1917-08-09 · page 30 of 42
Life — August 9, 1917 — page 30: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains WWI-era American political satire attacking German credibility and institutions. **"The Kadaverwertungsanstalten" article** (left): Denounces alleged German "Corpse Utilization Establishments"—facilities supposedly using human remains. The text catalogs German press lies (Liberty Loan denials, atrocities, poison gas use, Belgium's neutrality violation), arguing the German military's documented order to track corpses sent to these establishments proves their indignant denials are false. The "Ananias Club" reference invokes a biblical symbol of dishonesty. This reflects real WWI propaganda about German body-processing facilities. **"Giving the Devil His Due" cartoon** (top right): A man in a hat places a suitcase before a devil figure at a "Recruiting Office" and "Join the Army" sign, while the devil greedily reaches for it—suggesting military recruitment cynically exploits patriotic young men. **"Senatorial Camouflage"** (lower right): Satirizes senators as deliberately misleading the public through false reporting to deceive the enemy—implying wartime secrecy masks actual governmental incompetence or scandal. The final dialogue jokes about domestic financial strain.
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Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
230 The Kadaverwertungsanstalten HE German press is denying indignantly that the great German Kadaverwertungsans- talten, or Corpse Utilization Es- tablishments, use the corpses of at anything but ani- An indignant denial by Ger- rwhelm- mals, man press has come to be o' ing proof of the correctness of that which is denied. The German press denied indignantly that the Liberty Loan had been taken up, that the Ger- man army had ever met with a defeat, that Germany had anything but friend- ly feelings for the United States, that Rheims Cathedral was fired on except from military necessity, that atrocities had been committed anywhere except by French, British, Belgian and Rus- sian soldiers, that the German fleet had been defeated in the Battle of Jutland, that the German army was the first to use poison gas, that the German army was the first to violate Belgium's neu- trality, and that Germany started the war. In every case the German press has lied with the utmost fluency. The German press shouldn't be believed under oath; for the last. three years have proved that an oath means noth- ing to a fighting German. That the German press lies again when it denies indignantly that the Corpse Utiliza- tion Establishments use anything but the corpses of animals is demonstrated by an order issued by the headquarters of the Sixth German Army Corps de- GIVING THE DEVIL HIS DUE manding that when corpses are sent to the Corpse Utilization Establishments, returns be made regarding the units to which the corpses belonged, the date of their deaths, and the sicknesses or dis- THE EMBAKCO eases, if any, which killed them. The Ananias Club is emphatically over- shadowed by the German Press Club. Kenneth Roberts. Senatorial Camouflage ALLY the Senate can’t be so bad as the papers make out. The pub- lished reports of what it does must be in the line of camouflage to deceive the enemy, Of course Stone, La Fol- lette, Gronna and that ilk will do what they can to hobble the » but as for the generality of the senators, what has really been going on of late can’t have been what appeared on the canvas. ILTON: Aren't you spending too much? Mrs. Bitton: No, dear; you don’t make enough for me to do that. comichooksieenmy