Life, 1918-07-11 · page 14 of 34
Life — July 11, 1918 — page 14: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains anti-German WWI propaganda. The poem "The Navy" boasts about American naval superiority, mocking German claims about their "battle-fleets" and "submarines." It asserts American confidence in sinking German vessels and submarines, attributing this to superior American naval tactics ("we know how to sink them"). The cartoon below depicts a German military officer (identifiable by uniform) leading a line of horses toward what appears to be military supply containers. The caption "POSITIONS WE HAVE NO DESIRE TO FILL: HORSE DAPPLER FOR A THREE-WING CIRCUS" sarcastically suggests Germans are fit only for circus work—a contemptuous jab at German military competence. The "Americans" section discusses American character as instinctive rather than learned. This reflects American wartime morale-building and anti-German sentiment.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
LIFE The Navy HEY brag about their battle-fleets They brag about the submarine As if you was a farmer, And how it comes a-sneaking. And ships that wear a million sheets You'd think that we was awful green; fe) Of nickel-plated armor. But when our guns are speaking But armor-clads they ain't so much, The submarine had better scat ] No matter what they think them. As quick as it can splash it! Why, it was us invented such— Why, it was us invented that— And we know how to sink them! And we know how to smash it! They brag about torpedoes, too Paul Jones was pretty nearly right, (Until you know they’re lying), That hero, lion-hearted : ‘ Yea That swim, the way they ought to do, Before he'd started in to fight Or even come a-flying! The fighting hadn't started. But let them come on fins or wings A war is always kind of tame = As fast as they can send ‘em! Before us folks are in it, "> oe tN Why, it was us began them things— Why, Victory’s our middle name— 20 \ We'll find the way to end em! Let's show them how to win it! ‘ : Arthur Guiterman, ° \ fe ‘ TER —~ eA a | } ‘ | 1 ° ' DIAGRAM COMPARING THE SITUATION OF THE SOUL IN THE BRAIN OF CIVILIZED MAN AND THE PRUSSIAN ANTHROPOID, Americans HAT makes Americans is not b something written, and open to. dispute. L It is feelings, and acquired political —— instincts. It is not something printed, POSITIONS WE HAVE NO DESIRE TO FILL or taught, or told, but something lived, HORSE DAPPLER FOR A THREE-RING CIRCUS comicbooks.com