Life, 1919-05-08 · page 16 of 46
Life — May 8, 1919 — page 16: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains three satirical pieces typical of Life's editorial humor: **Top cartoon**: "The Office Holder Who Was Too Small for His Job" depicts a tiny bureaucrat struggling with oversized equipment—mocking incompetent political appointees. **"From a Bowl of Incense"**: A poetic piece personifying incense smoke as a "genie of dreams," offering escapist fantasy. This likely satirizes the period's interest in orientalism and the use of exotic goods as distraction from mundane reality. **"The Difference"**: A dialogue between Willis and Gillis about railroad government ownership. Gillis cynically notes that whether private or public, the corrupt patronage system remains unchanged—friends of politicians still get soft jobs instead of merit-based appointments. **"Is It So Bad, After All?"**: Sarcastically defends illiteracy by questioning whether educated congressmen actually benefit society through better policy or lower taxes, ironically suggesting ignorance might be preferable to reading sensationalist newspapers. The page overall reflects early 20th-century American cynicism about political corruption and institutional incompetence.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
‘LIFE ° From a Bowl of Incense Lam the Spirit of the Incense. From my squar black prison you release me with a match. [ain th Genie of Dreams BRING you dreams of temples, dim and old, Where mystic idols, fraught with gems and gold, are solemnly thr wreaths of smoke From eastern climes my frag ¢ shall invoke Dim memories of the lives you lived of yore, Of joy and beauty on the Nile’s green shore, While loves long turned to ashes shall revive And in the smoke rings move once more alive. So rising a starling to the, sky, The drabness of reality shall die. Your soul rides on the smoke where fanci Loosed from the petty trials of every day. At last the vapor fades, the red coals die, And in the ashes gray our lost ¢ ILLI of th Gusts: Not much changed. In the old days the rei tions of the presidents of the roads got the soft jobs, now the friends of the politicians get them, The offieeholder who was too sinall for his job WHEN HE VOTES Is It So Bad, After All? ROFESSOR BLISS PERRY is very much concerned over the English language as it is practiced upon in this five per cent, of the drafted men could not read or write it He says there are in this country eight and a half millions / of persons over ten years of age who ¢ English and four millions who can’t rea langu But perhaps, after people are to be congratulated, and in- stead of deprecating them, a general movement to increase their number might be beneficial. We understand that some of our congressmen can read and write, but does this do any good? Does this put money in our pockets Does ¢ our taxes any less? Think of the advantage of not be able to read the Hearst papers, or libre, or best sellers! A NARCOTIC bureau has been started in New York for the treat- ment of drug addicts. Why not wait until July 1st? Cautious Groom: 1 WONDER IF THIS THING IS REGULARLY INSPECTED! comicbooks.com