Life, 1920-10-28 · page 14 of 46
Life — October 28, 1920 — page 14: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains three separate satirical pieces: 1. **"One Good Turn Deserves Another"**: A poem mocking a poet who writes flattering verses to avoid honest labor. 2. **"Domestic Slackers"**: Social commentary suggesting that certain citizens avoid patriotic duty (voting on Election Day) with trivial excuses, comparing them to those avoiding military service during wartime. 3. **"The Call of the Rails"**: A poem criticizing men who shirk agricultural work during wartime labor shortages, preferring railroad jobs. References a "farmer-boy" avoiding honest farm labor. 4. **"Fired!"**: A cartoon showing a man being dismissed, captioned "AND THE ONLY UNION HE IS A MEMBER OF"—likely satirizing union membership as his only affiliation. The overarching theme targets wartime "slackers"—those avoiding patriotic contribution through work or civic participation.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
One Good Tum Deserves Another HE poet, Love's interpreter, Who meets a maiden fair and trim, Sits down and writes a verse to her. Now should she be averse to him? raid to walk under a ladder probably never the top of it HE man who is g will get to DAVID RECEIVES AN OFFER TO GO INTO VAUDEVILLE Domestic Slackers NE swallow doesn’t make a summer, and one drop doesn’t make a bound- less ocean, and one grain doesn't make a mighty land; and a number of otherwise sane citizens think that these interesting from casting their facts excuse them votes on Election Day. The Call of the Rails HERE they are spread—a silver trail Glimmering white in the sun; And they point beyond the vision’s pale, Teasingly, where they are one, To a shrinking, wonderful land of dreams; To castles that float in the blue; To a ruling of many; successful schemes, And a consequent million or two. It's as ceaseless as that of the babbling brook, Is this silent song of the rails, As they stretch to the land of “On and On"— And scorn on the man who quails! Does he listen, that wistful farmer-boy, As he rests on the prop of his hoe? In a forest fire, is one tree safe When the rest of them blaze in its row? Christy Holmes, The Next Step AYBE it isn’t true, but there have been rumors that, out of three hun- dred thousand disabled soldiers, less than three hundred have been actually taken care of by the government. It seems rea- sonable to suppose that someone in C FIRED! gress may soon be accusing these three AND THE ONLY UNION HE IS A MEMBER OF hundred of profiteering. comicbooks.comiy