Life, 1919-08-07 · page 12 of 44
Life — August 7, 1919 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This 1906 *Life* magazine page satirizes aviator Seth Bone's claim to have "discovered" Chicago. The text mocks the absurdity: Bone escaped police, placed himself in the hands of criminals, and conveniently "found" Chicago—a major American city that obviously already existed. The cartoon's central joke: treating an inhabited place as newly "discovered" echoes colonial-era rhetoric. The proposed monument caricatures this pretension. The illustrations labeled "Native Filipino" and "Native Chicagoan" appear to mock Bone's boasting by sarcastically presenting Chicago's inhabitants as exotic "natives"—inverting the colonial "discovery" narrative. The satire critiques both Bone's self-aggrandizement and American imperial attitudes toward newly-acquired territories like the Philippines (then a U.S. possession).
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
‘LIFE® Chicago Discovered at Last LIFE’S Dirigible P.D.Q-4 Makes the Greatest Flight in the History of Aviation Meanwhile messages of congratulation from all over the world have been pouring into this office. Luire’s dirigible P. D. Q.-4 is now being exhibited in various parts of the East. Many people along the Atlantic sea- board have hitherto been in profound igno- rance that there was such a place as Chicago. Now that it has been located, however, a spontancous desire to make it a part of our civilization is evident. This will be difficult, but nothing is im- possible to the American people. The Philippines will shortly be self-gov- erning, many of these people having shown intelligence. Why cannot the same thing be done with Chicago? eth Bone declares that when at last he succeeded in escaping from the police and placating them by letters of introduction from the big criminals in the East, he found the population quite well disposed. CHICAGO ATHLETIC CLUB one or two of the guests at a Chicago PROPOSED MONUMENT TO DISCOVERER OF F CHICAGO He has brought some of them author's reception, Even these, he sayy back with him, They will return he doesn’t despair of. They will te ETH BONE, Lire’s aviator, has to their people later on. Thus Chicago educated and sent back as missionaries performed the greatest featof mod- will gradually learn. In the interests of Democracy, andia ern times. He has discovered Chi- Seth Bone succeeded in capturing order that all of our people may te cago, and is home again alive. aroused to a desire to help The story of his marvelous this recently discovered trip, his narrow escape from region, we give the following death at an afternoon reception preliminary facts: at the Chicago Athletic Club, the asphyxiation of three poets from Green- wich Village in a Chicago beer cellar—all this, and more, will appear in his new book, consisting of eight hundred pages, which he is now writing and which will be ready in a week. Seth Bone is now living for one week at a New York hotel. .t will be re- membered that Lrrr, as a fitting prize, offered to do this for Seth Bone if he reached Chicago and got away alive. Money is no object to us. We are sending food and drink to our aviator every day, and, all things considered, he is doing well. NATIVE PILIPINO NATIVE CHICAGOAN Chicago is situated on the shores of a great lake, which, in honor of our first visit, we have named Lake Bolshevik It has a great number of inhabitants, who have com from all parts of the world At one time, according to tradition, there were eve said to be Americans there, but they have long since dix appeared. i Chicago has no gover f ment, being presided over » the mayor and police, and it this respect somewhat ft sembles New York. Tracts of art have been discovere! in its ancient buildings. has a distinct language of own, which is used, howeves, only in the form of adver tisements. There is no ev dence that the inhabitast comicbooks. gma