Life, 1921-10-13 · page 10 of 34
Life — October 13, 1921 — page 10: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
The top article humorously argues that tiny physical differences—a fraction of an inch—can have enormous consequences. It references Woodrow Wilson's chin length, William Jennings Bryan's mouth size, and the noses of De Valera and General Smuts, suggesting these minor variations could have altered World War I's outcome, taxation rates, and Irish independence negotiations. The comic strip below titled "Those Entangling Misalliances" depicts domestic mishaps caused by telephone miscommunication: a man forgets to call the telephone exchange; someone asks a stranger to "mind a reel" (fishing line), resulting in tangled chaos. The satire mocks how easily everyday entanglements occur through simple oversights or misunderstandings.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
A report spreads through Darktown that the big molasses tank near the river has exploded Those Entangling Misalliances LIF ¢E We Give It Up EOPLE who wonder what makes some men better than others vill find the answer in certain measure- ments applied to Caruso and Babe Ruth, In the case of Caruso, it was discov- ered that his vocal cords were one-sixth of an inch longer than average. In the case of Babe Ruth it was discovered that his eyes respond to the stimulus of light in 160 one-thousandths of a second, while the average man responds in 180 one-thousandths of a second. When any individual, in any particu- lar respect, is better than the normal, or average, only by the fraction of a minute or an inch, the application of his advantage may result in his becom- ing world-famous. Enormous ultimate success lies in the initial splitting of a hair. If Woodrow Wilson’s chin had been shorter by a sixteenth of an inch, the war might have been shortened by a twelvemonth, and our taxes by one- quarter what they are now. If Mr. Bryan’s mouth had been re- duced say one-half inch (an infinites- imal fraction of the whole) Germany might have surrendered at the first in- timation that we were going to declare war. If the difference between the length of De Valera’s nose and General Smuts’ nose were divided in two and then transferred from De Valera to Smuts, would the Irish question now be set- tled? We give it up. It’s no fun for a woman to tell a se- cret to anyone she thinks will keep it. “Oh! I forgot to call up the ex- change. “Sonny, will you mind this reel for me? I'll only be a few minutes. was tiful Mati mov of ¢ 8,001 gave gart tive coat who a gi fam of wer your comicbooks.com