Life, 1918-04-25 · page 10 of 40
Life — April 25, 1918 — page 10: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page presents a satirical poem titled "Destiny" alongside ink sketches of various figures. The poem humorously catalogs life's inevitable troubles—from "bacilli" and "promises" to "wars, invasions, stocks, excitement" and "gastronomy excesses." It suggests that if one threat fails to kill us, another will inevitably arrive: taxes, bad entertainment (mentioning "Chaplin," "Billy" Sunday), or disease. The accompanying sketches appear to depict personified abstract concepts or caricatured figures representing these life obstacles. The lower section includes "Helping H. Hoover"—likely referencing President Herbert Hoover—with a wordplay list of tongue-twister phrases. The final dialogue references "Senator Chamberlain," possibly discussing war prospects. The overall message mocks life's inescapable hardships with dark humor characteristic of 1920s-era satire.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Destiny JF it swt a bacits, Comes some other foc to kill us— Ptomaines, benzoates, torpedoes, Cars that skid, love, nicotine, Wars, invasions, stocks, excitement, Variotis forms of mad delightment, Gastronomical excesses, Worry, wealth or gasoline. If the microbe fails to pot us, Comes some minor fiend to swat us— Income taxes, cost-of-living, b Torpid livers, politics, Slapstick Chaplin, “ Billy” Sunday, Mister Vee-ya, Mrs. Grundy, Cubist art—or something twisted Where resides one’s ap-pen-dix. If the germ omits to nab us, Comes some sterner foe to grab us— Verse-that-doesn’t-rhyme, the movies, Potted dinners @ la carte, Millionaires that make munition, Lahor troubles, prohibition, Reno widows, Hiram Johnson, Teddy and Tobacco Heart. Why evade when all is fated, | Fixed, foredoomed, predestinated, Preordained, decreed by forces With a superhuman trend? Dodge howe'er we may bacilli % Fate o'ertakes us willy-nilly, 4 And we know we're booked to get it “ Somewhere, somehow, in the end Irving Dillon. Helping H. Hoover ceding j terbert I oover’s F ealth } [p= | omilies ] elps asten cllish ohenzollernism’s Legira “QENATOR CHAMBERLAIN cer- tainly stirred things up, didn't he?” “He certainly did. Perhaps through him we may yet et the war over a year or so earlier.” comichock sama