Life, 1921-04-21 · page 15 of 36
Life — April 21, 1921 — page 15: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a satirical illustrated poem by W.E. Hill (drawings) and Roger Burlingame (verses) depicting social annoyances in public spaces. The two panels show: **Left panel ("The Nemesis of the Ballroom"):** A woman wearing glasses depicted as irritating at social dances—she stares intently, interrupts conversations, and monopolizes partners. **Right panel ("The Playful Little Nuisance"):** A child misbehaving in a railway car, poking passengers' faces, playing roughly, and disturbing other travelers. The satire targets everyday social irritants of the Edwardian era: the socially awkward woman at formal events and the undisciplined child in public transportation. These were apparently common enough frustrations to merit this humorous treatment in a major magazine.
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Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
ntral most The Hall of Infamy Drawings by W. E. HILL Vv. THe person here depicted I Regard with animosity; When I observe her I must say I frankly look the other way; But she is always at her worst, 1 find, when she observes me first. The Nemesis of the Ballroom Whene’er I stand and gaze about, Searching a special partner out The way one does at dances, she Swoops down and introduces me To someone whom it is my fate To specially abominate. Before this person's effigy Within the Hall of Infamy I'll go and dance until I tire With whomsoever I desire. Verses by ROGER BURLINGAME VI. OFTEN love a little child With gentle ways and manners mild, But not in railway trains when he Stands on the seat in front of me And pokes, quite without charm or grace, His little fingers in my face. The Playful Little Nuisance I put my paper in between, Thus making, as it were, a screen, But this, he gathers, means that he Shall play at hide and seck with me, And if I struggle to resist He beats my paper with his fist. So in the Hall this child I'll place Who poked his fingers in my face, And I shall put beside the child The other passengers who smiled, From the Betelgeuse Journal of Science OFESSOR Xarbtyzql, director of astronomy of the Uni- versal Academy of Sciences, has perfected an instrument by which it is possible to measure accurately the diameter of dis- By means of his apparatus the diameter of the Planet Earth has been determined for the first time. It is demonstrated to be about 8,000 miles in diameter, or about the sive of a potato. The Commission on interspatial communica- tan: celestial bodies. von, which has for some time been planning to establish com- munication with this planet, has dropped its project, as it is clear that even if life could exist on such a diminutive sphere it would be of too rudimentary a type to respond to or even understand such signals as could be sent. 'HE most notable achievement in the field of letters is to be observed when an English author pokes fun at an Ameri- can audience and gets highly paid for so doing. comicbooks.com