Life, 1917-08-30 · page 32 of 40
Life — August 30, 1917 — page 32: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
The page contains two satirical pieces mocking contemporary American concerns: **Top cartoon**: A visual pun on "family trees" in hotels. Mr. and Mrs. Backbone joke that hotels must display actual trees because divorce is so common—the "family trees" are literally just trees, since families no longer stay together. The frieze above shows couples repeatedly divorcing and remarrying, satirizing the prevalence of divorce in society. **Lower section**: Commentary on repetitive newspaper headlines. The author (Louis C. McCarthy) laments that papers constantly recycle the same sensational stories—political corruption, suicides, missing persons, crime—without real resolution. **Andrew D. White passage**: A response to the ambassador's fears about American anarchy. The writer argues that if young men's rebellious energy can fuel military organization, why not political reform? It's a pointed critique: anarchic impulses aren't inherently dangerous if properly channeled into civic participation. Together, these pieces satirize American social instability, media sensationalism, and generational anxiety in what appears to be the early 20th century.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
sou Mr. Backbone: 1 CAN’T MAKE OUT WHY THEY HAVE SO MANY TREES IN A HOTEL. NOW, HENRY, YOU KNOW VERY WELL THEY MUST BE FAMILY-TREES. Mrs. B.: DESIGN FOR FRIEZE POPULAR WITH DIVORCES TO BE REPEATED AS OFTEN AS NECESSARY Their Welcome Worn Out OW pleasant it would be to be able to pick up a newspaper some morning and not encounter some of these hardy perennials in the guise -f news: Promises End of Tammany Rule. Suicides in Death Pact. Police Investigation Ordered. Woman Strangely Missing. Needed Legislation Held Up by Congress. Hearst May Be Candidate. Society Women to Teach Masses Economy. Blames High Prices on Middlemen. Rt s Cathedral Bombarded. White Slave Traffic on Increase. Career of Crime Due to Adenoids. Goose Bone Prophet Predicts Hard Winter. Louis C. McCarthy, HE venerable Andrew D. White, once ambassador to Germany, is quoted in the papers as expressing some regrets about the war, some rather kindly dispositions towards the Kaiser, and the opinion that the future danger here in the United States is anarchy. He thinks that many people are becoming impatient of the re- straints of republican government. But Dr. White rejoices in the spirit of our young men, and thinks it augurs well for military organization. Does it not augur just as well for political organization? It is the young men who are about to take charge of this coun- try. They will live in it. Why should they put up with any such nonsense as anarchy?