Life, 1918-02-28 · page 36 of 40
Life — February 28, 1918 — page 36: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This satirical page contains several distinct pieces: **"The Rumor and the Truth"** adapts Longfellow's poem to mock how lies spread faster than truth. The satire suggests that in wartime society, falsehoods gain immediate acceptance while factual corrections are dismissed—a commentary on propaganda and public credulity during WWI. **"Losing Count"** is a dark military joke about casualty figures. Soldiers discuss inflating numbers of enemy killed versus captured, with the punchline implying the arithmetic becomes absurd when exaggerating combat success. **"The Manor"** satirizes British hospitality conventions, playing on awkward dinner-time formality between American guest and English hostess. **The Belshazzar reference** alludes to the biblical king who couldn't read the "writing on the wall"—here used to criticize someone's inability to understand obvious warnings or signs. The advertisements (Egyptian Deities cigarettes, Allen's Foot-Ease, Corlez Cigars) are typical period marketing, while the caution about subscription fraud addresses common magazine-sales scams. Overall: wartime cynicism about truth, military casualties, and social pretension.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
| “The Utmost in Cigarettes Plain End or Corkip BR e Tape cilrarfaet PREFER. Deities to any other cigarette ¢ I breathed the truth into the air; \ TA { 25 It fell quite Rat nearly everywhere; F %) Se Bb “or who in these days cares, forsooth, The Rumor and the Truth (After Longfellow I breathed a rumor into the air; It was accepted everywhere ; For so swiftly it spread that 1 Could not explain it was a lie. Makers of the cand Egyptian For a thing so stale as the simple truth? hes Goad Trksh | rettes in the Merl For long months afterward—oh! how i long !— I found the rumor going strong; But the truth, from beginning to end, Was hotly denied by my dearest fri —London Passing Sh “THE MANOR” Asheville, North Caroli IN AMERICA—AN ENGLISH INN—Perfect Cauter (salting for an invitation): Two o'clock! [ fear [ am keeping you from your dinner. = - = Hostess: No, no; but I fear that we = are keeping you from yours. —Boston Transcript. Carmen-Act2 Se Losing Count ELSHAZZAR couldn't read the Half of ‘em we got with | hand-writing on the call. He couldn't read anything—not the copy of Lire te which the royal as- trologer Tony machine-gun fire, half of ‘em with the ritle. then we fixed bayonets and killed another half of ‘em! Funxxy Man: the rest? form As Mrs. Fiske Presents a Character So does Rebecca West present th story of “ The Return of the Sol- dier “—as tensely, as delicatel complete! This new story boun pile has a Oh, we took ‘em prisoners! ing a —London Opinion, she « | house | ALLEN’S FOOT-EASE for Soldiers and Sailors. sixty The Plattsburg Camp Manual suggests the daily CAUTION a wo sili Mari ase of Foot=Ease in the Shoes. gentl make sa regular, annnal sub- And what happened to seriber, prybody knows what hap- rome pened to Belshazzar She Meant All Right of the finest things in contempo- rary literature. he plot, so far as the publish-} ers know, is unique in fiction. It is not morbid, shocking. queer; it) is simply a situation seized by the} author from a juncture of cir-| cumstances impossible before the} Great War. | “The Return of the Soldier” is| a love story of a poignancy and splendor that one rarely has the good fortune to know about even in books; and in its development there appears one of the most lovable and memorable women that have beautified recent fiction. The situation of “ The Return of the Soldier” is thrilling with emotional possibilities, every unit of which the author f and realizes in her telling. It is pub-| lished by The Century Co., New York, and is sold at all bookstores. Illustrated. Price $1.00. hurrying to tell you this,” hastens. : “ A woman came into our Red Cross branch, looked at the surgical dress- and asked, ‘Is all this gauze cauter- ized?" "Christian Register Some Endurance Knicker: must have the will to endure. Bocken: Well, they certainly have the William to endure—New York Sun. The Kaiser says Germans Jane Goreece “weet! weit! How DID YOU GET NINE MEDALS?" “FOR SAVING LIVE TEN FROM DROWNING.” 1 RESCUED A KIT- LIFE employs no direct travel- ing subscription solicitors; it does not offer prizes, college courses or other inducements for agents to canvass for subscriptions. Anyone soliciting subscriptions on any such basis should be turned over to the author- ities as a swindler. Be sure to place your order with a reliable bookseller, news agent or solicitor, if you do not mail it to an Sra MES a LIFE PUBLISHING COMPANY 17 West 31st Street, New York OF BRAINS IGARS “MADE AT KEY WEST= thertt times pany