Life, 1921-03-10 · page 8 of 36
Life — March 10, 1921 — page 8: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This satirical piece by Wallace Irwin, titled "Letters of a Japanese Schoolboy," presents a Japanese perspective on American crime. The text mocks the "crime wave" sweeping America, listing various criminal activities (burglary, cocaine dealing, etc.) as evidence of American lawlessness and moral decay. The accompanying cartoons show exaggerated figures—likely caricaturing both Japanese stereotypes and American criminality. One illustration depicts what appears to be a woman being robbed, while another shows figures in period dress. The satire inverts perspective: a Japanese observer comments on American violence and disorder, implicitly critiquing American society through outsider eyes. This was a common early-20th-century literary device. The piece also contains period racial caricatures typical of that era's magazine humor.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Letters of a Japanese Schoolboy Tt Editor “ Life” who breaks into every home wearing a comical mask to mur- der people with laugh- able gas: » Dear Sir:— Quite recently of late this U. S. America have fallen into a state of outlawlessness and gunmanship = which makes me sad. So much murdering — oc- curs on every corner that Christian ladies (and some heathens) must put up their umburellas so not to see it, Hon. Burg- lary steal diamond-drops from 5th Ave window and enwrap them in packages to resemble illegal whiskey so that Hon. Police will never notice them. Hon. Monkey Eastman die a hero's death while selling cocaine. Who is safe? 1 am not. Ladies in pink underalls elope from story windows of hotel shooting guns and getting divorces. Midnight in’ Central Park (N. Y.) resemble 4th of July on Western Front. Reno (Nev) and Silver City (Idahoo) have became nearly as wild as New York. Taxi-cabbers in Chicago do Christian ladies must put up their umburellas, The Hon. Crime Wave By Wallace Irwin not wait, as formerly, to rob people when they get home. Anywhere we go it is dangerous to be alive. Crime-wave of delicious horse-power have now swep America from Boston to San Francisco and have almost reached as far as Philadelphia. Why is it? I ask to know. Therefore I shall tell you of one murder at least which happened where I could enjoy it. Yestday while encroaching peaceably down the street with nothing worse than Armenia in my brain, beholt! What was it? I see one Broad- side Lady of 368 Ibs complete beauty fainted against a lamp- post which had not yet fell down, “Hellup! !" She say that with voice full of Lulu Bett. I enrush to her side. “O Mrs Madam,” I say it, “what has deranged you?” “T have been held up,” she narrate. “ Congratulations!" I snag- ger. “ How high was you held?” “Tam not here making sta- sifficiently rich to be very vulgar. I am timid by nature, so I attemp to conceal away my diamonds by putting them ina red silk hand-bag embroidered with yellow roses and real Irish lace. “But I accomplish nothing by my slyness. No more sooner had I stepped from Hon. Jewel Store than eleven (11) masked banditts, dishguised as elevator boys, rosh at me with Bowery banzais and stroke my fashionable hat with dark- jack clubs. “T got indisposed. I stood without feet, tist! for Japanese,” she dib. “ Sifficiently to say, I was held up. ‘if “How do you realize this?” I ask to know, putting Wm J. Burns detective agencies into my eyebrows. “How do I know?” she holla. “ Hold- ups are like any other form of dentistry. You do not know how it is done, but you realize when it happen. O heaven! O earth! O golly! Are there no lynching any more? What have became of law & order? Have every judge gone to Hague to work in Harding World Court? This city are under such rain of terror that drowning is frequent. Frail women, how- ever heavy, cannot go out in street with- out fear of being afraid.” “Only safe way,” I snuggest, “is to stay home and_ be burglarized amidst re- fined sarroundings.” She could not assimilate those words I said it. “Tf convenient, Mrs Madam,” I ask to know, “ what description of crime was you robbed with?” “This a.M.,” she report, “I went to jewelry store to buy 1 pint of diamonds for my widowed mother who loves them dearly. We live in sth Ave and are One broadside lady of 368 poynds of com- plete beauty fainted against a lamp post. All my in tellect seemed to be running out of my cars, Those jewelry was entirely gone, including hand-bag worth 7$ war tax. 0 What shall I do next?” know something.” 1 enjoying great dizz of head. melancholy ! “Hon. Police corrode. “You are very much obliged,” say Hon. Broadside Lady and had. another it. At crossover of street I observe one enlarged blue Police talking to a Pol with a brown derby on his brain. “O Hon. Police!” I snagger. “A lady has been slightly murdered with 2 quart of diamonds.” Hon. Police look up from Hon. Politix to who he had been speaking love and say with peev of tone: “Why do you come to me speaking of diamonds? I am annoyed by other things But if you wish buy tickets for the Police- man’s Benefit Ball, Strawburg’s Pa- villion, Mch 4th I can talk intelligence to you.” “Can you not be carnest?” T snuggest. “Tam bringing you a.crime. Some gang of gunsters overtook this lady to stroke comicbooks.com