Life, 1920-07-15 · page 9 of 40
Life — July 15, 1920 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page features a poem by Arthur Guiterman celebrating yacht racing, with an accompanying illustration. The poem celebrates competitive sailing—"sloop yachts / Racing for a cup"—praising the sport's thrills and the skill of sailors and captains. The lower illustration shows a beached rowboat with a standing figure pointing seaward, captioned with a quote from "In th' Lunatic Asylum, Mississippi": "Oh, Captain, if I were to start and swim straight out into the ocean in that direction—and keep on and on and on—where would I land?" The joke contrasts the genteel sport of cup racing above with this asylum patient's absurd geographical question, satirizing either mental illness or profound ignorance about world geography. The humor relies on the patient's inability to understand basic directions or ocean navigation.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Yachting Number A Cup Racz Ditty ING a song of sloop yachts Sing a song of tops'ls, Sing a song of Racing for a cup, Spinnakers and booms! True and keen 3 Every man to windward, Nothing like a sca wind Watchful of the n All the canvas up, To chase away the glooms! Careful of the Threshing toward the seamark, Spill us out a capful, Luck to both the captains, Swinging round the buoys; Deal us out a gale, Luck to both the crews, When they cross the finish line Send us any wind at all All the luck to all of them, There'll be a lot of noise. To fill the flapping sail! Good fellows, win or lose! arthur Guiterman. “OM, CAPTAIN, IF T-WERE TO START AND SWIM STRAIGHT OUT INTO THE OCEAN IN THAT OIREC- TION—AND KEEP ON AND ON AND ON—WHERE WOULD I LAND? “IN TH’ LOONATIC ASYLUM, MIssis.” comicbooks.com