Life, 1921-10-27 · page 14 of 34
Life — October 27, 1921 — page 14: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
**"While China Slept"** by Lord Insaney depicts a scene on a Chicago-New York train. The narrative follows a well-dressed man entering a smoker car, observing the passengers with detached superiority. He encounters another man and they exchange pleasantries about business and professions—one claims to be a burglar, the other a judge. The story appears to satirize class pretension and the hypocrisy of social hierarchies: a "judge" and "burglar" sharing cigars suggests moral equivalence among supposedly different social classes. **"The Fish Story"** below is a visual joke showing someone discovering something in the ocean, then asking its name, followed by the discoverer being attacked—a humorous take on exploration and naming conventions. The overall page reflects early 20th-century American social satire about class, morality, and urban life.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“One of the trustees of Uncle Jake’s estate was held up the other night in Central Park.” “Indeed; how much did he get?” Useful HE: I won that five-hundred-dol- lar prize for the best article against using cruel traps to catch wild animals. He: And what will you do with it? “Buy a mink coat.” (a + b)’ MarrtacE is the square of a plus b In other words a? + b? + 2ab Where 2ab (of course) Are twins. LIFE While China Slept By Lord Insaney (Scene: Pullman Car on a Chicago. New York Limited.) T is dead of night in China, which makes our story all the more inter- esting because it is somewhere around early afternoon in Chicago. The train had left Chicago hours ago, but that doesn’t make any difference. Many trains leave Chicago. They are always leaving for destinations unknown. A man enters the crowded smoker and sits down. He finds himself alone. He is facing the mirror in the door across the room and perceives that he is’ well dressed. Funny he hadn't no- ticed it before, but now he sees pros- perity delineated in every line. He articulates the phrase—delineated in every line. He turns from the mirror to the passing panorama outside, but is less interested. (He’s a man.) A stranger enters the smoker and takes the chair opposite. They give each other the psoo (the pullman smoker once-over; pronounced siouw.r), “H-m-m-m. Not so bad,” each thinks, The checked-suit individual's cigar is half gone. The newcomer sticks a slick-looking stogie in his mouth, He begins feeling in the empty—as always—match box on the window sash and rummaging through his pockets. “Gotta match?” ventures the new- comer, “Nope. Here’s a light.” They smoke. Tue NEWCOMER: Tue C-S. L: yours? Tue NEWCOMER: Pause Tue } Tue CS. L: I'm a professional burglar. . What's yours? Tue Newcomer: I'm a judge. Curtain. How's business? Opening up. Iow’s Fine! The Fish Story—A Page From History “I discover dis ocean in de name “What name, please.” Oc Oct: Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. comicbooks.com