Life, 1919-04-17 · page 7 of 46
Life — April 17, 1919 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page features an illustration of two dogs examining an open book or map, titled "Reminiscences." The accompanying article, "What Big Brother Bill Did in France," describes military exploits during World War I, including capturing a flying grenade, surprising sleeping Germans, and impressing General Pershing through pinochle games. The cartoon appears to be satirizing a soldier's wartime memoir or reminiscences. The dogs looking at the book suggest a humorous commentary on the subject matter—possibly mocking exaggerated war stories or suggesting the account is "dog-eared" from frequent telling. The specific identity of "Big Brother Bill" is unclear without additional context, but this was likely a recognizable military figure to contemporary readers.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
REMINISCENCES “AND RIGHT THERE, COMRADE, 1S WHERE 1 SWAM THE RIVER WITH THE DISPATCHES AND COT THIS BULLET IN MY SHOULDER” What Big Brother Bill Did in France (if You Can Take Liitle Bobbie's Word for It) LED a whole regiment of Germans with his bare fists, and had them all securely hound by the time they came conscious enough to be marched into camp. Caught a flying grenade with one hand and hurled it lock, demolishing the enemy's trench—incidentally turning the tide of battle. Headed an early morning expedition to the enemy’s lines sud surprised several thousand Germans still asleep in their ig-outs. Shot the tip of the Crown Prince’s nose off one day from a tree-top in the Argonne forest Became the personal favorite of General Pershing and played game after game of pinochle with him after the day's heat of battle. Captured von Hindenburg strolling through the woods, but was forced to relinquish him when he began to exhale poison gas. Made his personal exploits reach the car of the ser, who thereupon lapsed into protracted periods of melancholy and shortly afterwards abdicated. comicbooks.com