Life, 1917-12-20 · page 19 of 40
Life — December 20, 1917 — page 19: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page discusses the WWI Halifax Explosion (December 1917), when two ships collided in Halifax harbor, killing roughly 2,000 people. The accompanying cartoon, titled "Only a Temporary Stimulant," depicts a doctor or official administering medicine to a bedridden patient labeled "AUSTRIA"—representing Austria-Hungary, a Central Powers nation. The satire suggests that whatever temporary relief or stimulus Austria receives will not cure its fundamental ailment. The text discusses Jerusalem's capture from Ottoman control and Constantinople's future status, reflecting American strategic thinking about post-war territorial reorganization. The cartoon implies Austria-Hungary's condition is terminal despite interventions—a dark commentary on the Central Powers' inevitable defeat and the empire's impending collapse, which historically occurred in 1918.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
rhetoric nk car- their ore of think serard € cir- sIdiers | four year, at we eople do so scling f the herib, denly atest The come ining is in ation ntry. such ilize ver- this heir ould one the XUM flag, and ought to have the best Christ- mas he has had since the crusades. The Kaiser had built a church in Jerusalem, and taken pains and spent moncy to impose himself on the attention of that venerated city. Now the English have gobbled it, and William will have to get what comfort he can in shelling Rheim Other considerations make Jerusa- Jem an acquisition to rejoice at. It had been in Moslem hands since Saladin recaptured it in 1187, except for eleven years in the thirteenth century. The Turks had had it for 673 years, and though it interested them for religious reasons and was a sacred city to Ma- homedans, it was not the headquarters of their religion as it was of that of Christians and of Jews. If human life and the religions that influence our end of it are to take a new start and try to do better, it is a proper detail of the great new deal to have Jerusalem re- vert to its proper guardians. And Constantinople also must come back. Mr. Wilson is not ready yet to take on the Turks, but he is clear in his mind that nations great and small must have the access to the sea that their welfare requires, and no control of Constantinople by Turkey is con- ceivable after the war. These two ancient and holy cities will have to be held in trust for all of Christendom. That one of them at last is in Christian hands is a cheering omen. If the world about to be was expected to resemble at all closely the world that was before the war, we might ant pate some spirited rivalries of Chris- tian sects in Jerusalem, and of trading interests in Constantinople, but since the plan of salvation for the world after the war tends to contemplate con- trol of the earth in the interest of all its people by a league of nations, the administration of these ancient cities will be no more than details of the great plan for managing mankind. @ I* ordinary times all other topics would be crowded out of public at- tention this week by the huge disaster at Halif In these times it fits into ‘LIFE: 1047 ONLY A TEMPORARY STIMULANT the great picture of death and desola- tion made by the war, and we put it down as one more thing that it is im- possible to realize, The important practical thing for us in the States is to feel that this mis- fortune has happened to us; that it is our calamity as much as Canada’s; that our grief and sympathy and help are as much due to Halifax as they would have been to Portland or Boston. The explosives were made here and sent on our errand. The two ships were on business that was ours as much as any- body’s. The relief that is needed must be ours to give in the fullest measure we can contrive. First-aid from Boston and New York has reached Halifax at this writ- ing. Funds are being raised. Congress is in session, and will doubtless take the view that our neighbor's material losses are in very large measure a liability of our government. Call it, if necessary, a war measure to restore that desolated city, but do it, gentlemen of Congress, do it liberally and quickly. Halifax of late has been like a port of our own country. Treat it as though it were one. yroper