Life, 1919-08-28 · page 30 of 40
Life — August 28, 1919 — page 30: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page critiques American military incompetence during WWI. The main article attacks defective aircraft supplied to American pilots, drawing a parallel to an X-ray exhibit revealing hidden flaws in British aeroplanes. The author argues American planes were so visibly shoddy—"The Flaming Coffin"—they didn't need X-rays to expose problems. Pilots called it obsolete and deadly, yet manufacturers marketed it as "The Evolution of the American Eagle." The satirical point: American soldiers died not from enemy action but from criminal negligence and stupidity by manufacturers and military planners who failed to equip troops properly. The lower cartoon, "A Testimonial," is unrelated slapstick: it advertises a "Physical Culture" course transforming a scrawny weakling into a muscular man. The humor is the exaggerated before-and-after transformation, common in period fitness advertising.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
372 The Cussedness of Human Nature A a recent exhibit of the Royal Society in Eng- land “there was shown a ies of X-ray photo- PB e020 illustrating the a detection of de- fects in aero- = R plane construction. c These photographs brought to light some examples of the most miserable dishonesty — pieces of knotted and cracked wood hidden between the layers of laminated spars, axle tubes with erroneous rivet holes craftily plugged up, unauthorized joints in sup- porting parts hidden by veneer, high- tension wireless cable with defects covered by insulation, multiple-ply boards with glaringly defective inner layers, In our country a similar exhibit would probably show examples just as sad. But we should have no need for the X-ray. However subtle may be crimes of craft, those of stupidity are the business of the naked e¢ We do not need to probe the delicate weak- nesses and structural faults of our aerial equipment, when on its very face it could not have been worse and been at all. The plane selected and con- structed by the wisdom and efficiency of our Air Service was two years 0 solete when it appeared for the busi- ness of fighting on the Western front THE PISUERMAN’S CELLAR Its manufacturers called it “The American Battle Plane"; our press American Air Service en for, N° wonder we grown-ups look back hailed it as “The Evolution of the not by X-raying scientists, With fond recollection to the days American Eagle”; our fliers on the — maimed and slaughtered victims. And — of our childhood, for then we amount- Western front cursed itas The Flam- the true victims of this cussedness did ed to something in the family and ing Coffin.” The cussedness of the not wear the German uniform. every word we said counted. A TESTIMONIAL ) pi 5a feos awe “1 was a physical wreck— “Until I took your course in Physical “And now I am a new man Culture— Yours very sincerely, Hixxy Peck.” comicbooks.commy}