Life, 1917-12-20 · page 35 of 40
Life — December 20, 1917 — page 35: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains **two distinct elements**: a book review section on the left and a **Pullman Company advertisement** on the right. The left side mocks author John Galsworthy, suggesting his literary voice has been "possessed" or stolen by "the sentimental soul of a lady novelist"—a satirical claim that his new novel *Beyond* lacks his usual authorial strength and instead resembles work by a female writer of the "Baroness von Hutten school." The cartoon shows a woman at a train window; the caption's joke about identifying "yourself" by "a mole on my left shoulder" plays on the supernatural possession theme. The right side is straightforward corporate advertising for the **Pullman Company**, emphasizing the hygiene standards of their railroad sleeping cars. It lists specific cleaning practices—vacuum cleaning, sterilization, linen laundering—to reassure travelers about health and sanitation. This likely responds to early 20th-century public health concerns about disease transmission in shared public transportation.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
man, pro- He > the nner ! ting- Vhen ager tear aste- the hief. back ught his man boy two ange h. be- but! the Jo? (rom book. Hed froe_| addressed tof unto. HERE are said to be automobile thieves on the “other side embodied spirits that hang around, wait- ing for a chance to slip into the driver's seat of any momentarily tenantless car- cass whose soul-owner has carcless! parked it and gone off on some spiritual errand. Tt must be a dreary fate to find one’s self thus pussy-wants-a-cornered into the void while someone else goes joy riding around in one’s bones and blood! Fven to think of its happening to a friend is a ercepy idea! But just suppose— however, why beat about the bush? The attention of the Society for Psychical Research is called to the case of John Galsworthy, author of “The Country House,” “The Man of Property,” “ The Pigcon,” and so on, whose physical and artistic equipment—body, brains and type- writer—seems to have been purloined by the sentimental soul of a lady novelist. ~dis “REYOND™ (Scribner's, new novel that bears name, is the story of an irregularly born to a couple who loved “beyond measure—beyond death,” and who, after living “ unawakened ” through some years of marriage with a tempera- mental brute of a musician, makes an abortive experiment (humanely ended by the author with a timely accident) in the same brand of boundless affection, It is a perfectly good novel of, say, the Baroness von Hutten school. But of (Continued on page 1065) “WAVE YOU ANY WAY OP IDENTIFYING YOURSELF, MADAM?” “WELL—THERE'S A Mi SHOULDER, BUT REALLY— ON MY LEFT OUR thousand workers are employed and three hun- dred and eighty-three yards maintained by the Pullman Company throughout the coun- try, for the cleaning of the cars, and stocking them with fresh supplies. At the end of every trip all seats and cushions are unlim- bered, and every cranny is vacuum cleaned. Mattresses, blankets and pillows are hung in the open air and sunlight. All used linen is removed and fresh linen neatly stocked; water coolers are sterilized with steam; the washrooms are cleansed with disinfectant solu- tion. At frequent intervals carpets are removed and renovated and Safeguarding the Publics Health THE PULLMAN COMPANY ~ Chicago the monolithic floor thoroughly scrubbed; the walls and ceilings are washed with soap and water. The polished steel in- terior of a Pullman is easily kept clean, and cannot shelter germs. Thorough fumigation is given every car segularly. The laundering of bed linen and blankets is done according to the most exacting standards; the smallest permanent stain or scorching causes them tobe dis- carded. Mattresses, pillows and all upholstery are frequently emptied and their contents renovated. There is probably no other public place where health and cleanliness are more vigilantly guarded than in the Pullman car. comicbooks.com