Life, 1918-12-05 · page 49 of 76
Life — December 5, 1918 — page 49: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
The top half contains three cartoon vignettes depicting Christmas domestic scenes with children and adults. The captions reference a "Fate" breaking a spell and a cat, suggesting humor about holiday chaos and pet mischief. The main article, "The Great Force," is a personified monologue by **Music**—presented as a character claiming indispensable wartime service. Music boasts of lifting morale in WWI military camps, trenches, and ships, arguing it was essential to winning the war alongside food and shelter. At bottom, "Business" is a brief joke about Mrs. Newrich (a caricature name suggesting a newly-wealthy person) who walks her prize-winning dog primarily for publicity purposes, with the dog being more famous than its owner—satire of vanity and status-seeking among the nouveau riche.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Christmas See what Abdull The Colliwopsis Polyglot!” The Great Force \M the soul of the joy of life—the companion of its orrows. I moods are mine. 1 am hilarious, Iam frivolous, 1 gay, I am serious, Iam sad. 1 spin out the silver bread of happiness, the golden thread of comiort and ce. On wings of melody I bear the dreamer off to ‘© the wanderer, I sing home. -In the despondent I renew resolve. To the Lespairing I bring hope. In the child I engender pure cs, refinement and inspire noble thoughts and high nge places and stranger lands. m ever ready, I never tire, Iam a well-spring of spiration, relaxation, recreation. I am at home in the elling of the richest or the most lowly in the land— cre religion reigns or under the roofs that know not do, In peace I had ever been at the service of man, In war was T to be found wanting? Was I to be thoughtlessly brushed aside in the tremendous rush to arms? Many there were who would have stilled my voice till peace Life wld break the spell! ut three is—hell, should come again, But 1 was put to the test, Twas not iound wanting. I proved my worth, I found my niche, for Tam full of cheer, of undying, unflickering resolve— of the spirit that knows not defeat Day and night found me on civilization—in the camps, on the ships, in strange foreign right up to hell’s partition ty with the saviours of villages, in dugouts, in trenche: everywhere where death and danger were commonplace, soothing tensed nerves straining at the leash, singing of victory amid the battle’s roar—restoring the balance of upset minds—chanting the dirge of deviltry In war, as in peace, food, clothing and shelter come first in sustaining morale and rendering comfort. 1 come next. T helped to win the war. Tam Music Business MBS: GRAMERCY: That's a very handsome dog Mrs. Newrich takes out walking with her. Mrs, Park: Yes; she uses him for publicity purposes He's a prize winner and much better known than she is. comicbooks.com