Life, 1918-01-17 · page 11 of 40
Life — January 17, 1918 — page 11: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This cartoon satirizes the Navy Department's response to complaints about inadequate clothing for sailors. The scene shows what appears to be a Navy official (at the desk) dismissing concerns from visitors—likely Mrs. William K. Hamilton and others advocating for sailors' welfare. The satire centers on bureaucratic dismissiveness: officials claim sailors don't need blankets or sweaters, citing that ships have stoves. Mrs. Hamilton's reply—"It is as it was with the sweaters"—suggests previous promises went unfulfilled. The cartoon mocks how government authorities ignore practical hardship, instead offering excuses while citizens attempt to address soldiers' genuine suffering. The title "Great Expectations" implies hollow promises to those serving the country.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
My) mii i i “OF WHAT 1S THIS WOMAN ACCU “PEMININITY, YOUR HONORES: | | “SIX MonTHS!"” Great Expectations R. JOSEPHUS DANIELS, the head of our Navy Department, scems to be unfortunate in his capacity to antagonize people who are trying the best they can to serve their country. In a controversy with the Navy Club, which, through Mrs. William Kk. Hamilton, sent out an Mr. Daniels declares Tn a letter to the appeal for blankets for the sailor: that our sailors do not need blankets. Times he says: “The na highly appreciates all comforts provided for the sailors, but does not wish it advertised that sailors need Dlankets when we are so well supplied with them that we are able to contribute a large number to relieve the suffer- ing in Halifax.” To this statement Mrs. Hamilton replies as follows: “It is as it was with the sweaters. At first Mr. Daniels said the men didn't need the sweaters. He knows differ- ently now. The men on the big ships do not need blankets, but the men on the submarine chasers do, These boats are heated with only oil stoves, and the government gives the men only one pair of light blankets, half cotton, . . . I know the men on these chasers do need blankets because they have told me.” The broad fact is, of course, as many of us know (for many of us have either friends or close relatives in camps and at sea), that there has been a general lack of warm clothing for our soldiers and sailors. Why should not this be so? No nation can equip a vast army in the short space of nine months without encountering immense dif- ficulties. Instead of treating with contempt the practical efforts of hard-working people to help out the men, why would it not be a good idea for Mr. Danicls to use a little tact? comicbooks.com