Life, 1919-10-02 · page 9 of 48
Life — October 2, 1919 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page from *Life* magazine contains two distinct pieces: **Top illustration** ("Over the Hill to the Poorhouse"): A sketch of a woman in classical dress walking toward a distant poorhouse, carrying a bundle. This accompanies "Autumn Portents," a poem by Harvey Allen about aging and hardship—a sentimental piece, not satire. **Bottom section** ("Why Not Abolish Travel?"): A satirical article mocking spiritualist claims about travel. It references "Sir Oliver Lodge" and "Conan Doyle"—prominent spiritualists of the early 20th century—who allegedly claimed spirits could provide the benefits of world travel without leaving home. The satire ridicules this notion, suggesting spiritualists promote immobility while claiming transcendent experiences. The accompanying illustration shows two figures, likely representing these spiritualist advocates. The satire targets pseudo-scientific spiritualism popular in that era.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Tag “OVER THE HILL TO THE POORHOUSE ” Autumn Portents HE amber foam creams from the cider flagons Backward the shadow of the ground-hog shrinks, The lanes creak with the laden harvest wagons, And the fur thickens on the owl-eyed lynx The hunter sees cold mist about the moon, And in the bottom-lands, at morn, The print of tiny, thievish, fairy hands Where the raccoon last night went stealing corn. Hervey Allen. Why Not Abolish Travel? N EW tours of the world in fairly first-class steamers (those that are left) are now being adver- tised at five thousand eight hundred dollars, which does not, however, guarantee board and lodging en route at all first-class hotels. For the present, one may go from New York to San Francisco at only about a fifty-per-cent. in- crease over former rates. This benevolent rate, however, it is explained, is only temporary. The idea of staying at home permanently is one that has never been agreeable to Americans, Yet it would un- doubtedly solve most of our problems. If nobody traveled there would be less of that than before. why anybody should ever go anywhere. The proof of this is that people who do almost invariably come back. It is true that we don’t come back here when we die, but that is because we don’t want to come back, and really proves the nothing but freight to move, and much There is really no logical reason This never seems to have occurred to Sir Oliver Lodge, Conan Doyle, and other gentlemen who are trying to wig- wag spirits. These gentlemen are obsessed with the travel bogie. Why shouldn't they be content to leave the people on the other side alon into returning? instead of constantly nagging them Surely there is still profit for authors in writing—other than spiritualistic. here, know what i These people have been s like, want no more of it, have gone away, and are now having the time of their lives resting up and settling down in one place. That is what we The travel idea is responsible for wars a other ills that the flesh is heir to ould do. nd most of the comicbooks.com