Life, 1921-06-23 · page 26 of 36
Life — June 23, 1921 — page 26: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains three separate satirical pieces typical of *Life* magazine's humor: 1. **"N.Y. to Los Angeles"**: A dramatic critic reviews a cross-country train journey as if it were a theatrical production. The satire mocks both pretentious theater criticism and mundane travel—treating Iowa and Ohio towns as "poor scene work" while praising the Rocky Mountains as expertly staged drama (referencing David Belasco, a famous theatrical producer known for realistic staging). The joke is applying high-art critique to ordinary transportation. 2. **"Spare This Young Man"**: Social commentary on the Prince of Wales being overexposed in newspapers through sports coverage (steeplechase riding). The author suggests Britain is unnecessarily risking injury to the royal heir for publicity, while other, less important people could more safely do dangerous activities. It's gentle criticism of overexposure and the public's obsession with royalty. 3. **"Under Orders"** (cartoon): A chauffeur ensures punctuality not from duty but from fear of his wife's disapproval—satirizing domestic dynamics where wives control husbands through threat of consequences.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
918 “N. Y. to Los Angeles” A Dramatic Critic Reviews His Own Tour Across the Continent. “NJEW YORK to Los Angeles” is listed in the travel booklet as a fast tour in four days and three nights. Too much talk and commonplace scenery make the first two days absolutely dull. Frankly, we sat in our scat bored, and went to sleep when the berth was made up. But on the third day the tour reached dra- matic heights in crawling over the Rocky Mountains. It was here that the deft hand of David Belasco was seen in the realism of the snow-capped mountains and the impressive jaggedness of the canyons. An avalanche was also effective, nearly stop- ping the show. The final scenes are laid in Los Angeles, an anti-climax after the strong third day and certainly not a happy cnding. 4 The tour has some elements of success, however, and the Moonbeam Limited can run every day for many months with its accommodations constantly crowded. The scene shifting needs speeding up at va- rious points, as, for instance, going through Iowa; and the route should be rewritten for the first two days, omitting such incidental stuff as Ashtabula and Toledo, where the interest is sure to sag. The Los Angeles finish will doubtless re- main, since that seems to be what the public demands. The tour on the whole was handled by a train crew that was fairly adequate. In declaiming the more difficult parts of the Middle West, the brakeman’s enuncia- tion could have been clearer, but that is a minor defect. After this season’s surfeit of historical trips such as “New York to Boston,” “Seeing Washington in Three Days” and “The Round Trip to Gettysburg,” it should serve as a welcome relicf to the tired traveling man. Neal R. O'Hara. UNDER ORDERS LIFE Spare This Young Man THERE are pictures in the papers of the Prince of Wales as rider of the win ning horse in a steeplechase. Are not the good English overworking and overadvertising that excellent young man, so cheerful, so willing, so good. natured in the best sense? It would net do, of course, to coddle the heir to the British throne; but still, some y can be better spared to ride than others, and for choice those are rea- sonably preferred who can break their necks without too much derangement of hopes and expectations. More or Less 'EACHER: Class, attention! What do we mean by plural? Britttant Purtt: By plural we mean the same thing, only more of it. HE original one-way traffic is along the road paved with good intentions. Visitor (in early morning after week-end, to chauffeur): DON’T LET ME MISS MY TRAIN. Chauffeur: NO DANGER, SIR, MISSUS SAID IF I DID, IT’D COST ME MY JoB, comicbooks.com