Life, 1922-09-28 · page 14 of 36
Life — September 28, 1922 — page 14: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
**The Cartoon (top):** A woman customer asks a shopkeeper for an alarm clock that will wake only the maid without disturbing other household members. The shopkeeper replies that no such product exists—all alarm clocks wake everyone. The joke satirizes an absurd, self-centered consumer demand: the woman wants technology to solve a problem that requires reasonable behavior instead. **The Article (bottom):** "Protection for Scotsmen Needed" discusses Scottish-American organizations seeking tariff protection and federal support. The author mocks their complaints, noting Senator Williams made a joke that "only a Scotsman could" understand the new tariff bill's complexity. The satire targets Scottish-Americans' perceived lack of humor and their perceived oversensitivity to slights, while critiquing their lobbying efforts for special economic treatment.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“I want to buy an alarm clock that'll awaken the maid without disturbing the other mem- bers of the household.” “Sorry, madam, but that kind is not yet on the market. We only have alarm clocks that awaken everyone in the household except the maid.” IRACTICALLY every race, na- tionality, and country is repre- sented in the United States by or- ganizations, societies or associations of some kind, formed for the pur- pose of securing American support, endorsement and funds, for pro- moting a race or nationalistic pro- ject. From the Abyssinian Home Rule League to the Zulu Fund for Aged and Infirm Witch Doctors, these societies appeal for sympathy and contributions for their down- trodden countrymen, and bombard Congress with petitions for national homes, or territorial concessions. In the long list of racial and tribal charitable and political associations, one country is conspicuous by its absence; there is no Scottish Home Rule League, nor Society for the Relief of Bagpipe Players. This lack of a Scottish movement can Protection for Scotsmen Needed only be explained on the theory that the Scots have become Americans without a hyphen, and are so accus- tomed to self-help that they are not inclined to trouble their neighbors with homeland affairs. In justice to the Americans of Scottish ancestry who, because of their natural modesty and lack of conceit, have not received the recog- nition that their merits deserve, it is high time for the formation of a Society for the Prevention of Un- kindness to Scotsmen. The need for such an organization was recently made apparent by the attack of that wicked Welshman, Senator John Sharp Williams, on Senator Mc- Cumber, author of the tariff bill. Referring to the slander that the Scottish race is devoid of a sense of humor, Senator Williams unkindly avowed that only a Scotsman could have the hardihood to beg the manu- facturers of the United States not to increase the prices of their products to the full extent that the new tariff rates will make such action possible. With all allowance for the fact that the Welsh people are notoriously ill- tempered and contentious, it must be admitted that Senator Williams has gone too far. When he finds a brother Senator struggling with the task of reducing the cost of living by putting heavier taxes on all kinds of merchandise, he should not imply that a touch of humor might have lowered some tariff rates. Senator McCumber sees the joke concealed in a tariff that professes to put up prices for the producer and reduce them to the consumer, but the joke is not on the statesmen who framed the new tariff bill. It is on the Ameri- can people. W.G comicbooks.com