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Life, 1923-03-15 · page 29 of 36

Life — March 15, 1923 — page 29: what you’re looking at

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Life — March 15, 1923 — page 29: Life, 1923-03-15

What you’re looking at

This page contains three distinct pieces of satirical/humorous content: **"The Literary Clown"** — A poem mocking pretentious readers who borrow books without care, read frivolous novels to appear cultured, skip classics, and treat literature as mere decoration or gossip fodder. The satire targets social climbers who feign intellectual sophistication. **"The Reflections of a Mother-in-Law"** — A humorous anecdote about marital compromise. A mother-in-law observes her daughter Minnie's "compromise" tactics with her husband Harold actually being manipulation—she claims to want his independence while engineering outcomes favoring her desires (the limousine purchase). The joke is on wives' strategic negotiation skills. **"Why They Stick"** — A lengthy advertisement for Bell Telephone System praising employees' dedication during a flood emergency. It describes telephone operators and maintenance workers remaining at their posts despite danger, framing this as exemplifying selfless "spirit of service." The page mixes genuine satire (literary pretension, marital dynamics) with corporate propaganda advertising commitment to public service.

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Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

is first choice with the Connoisseur. Its Pre-eeminence rests on its Distinctive Excellence Apollinaris “The Queen of Table Waters” The Literary Clown Preserve us from the literary clown, Who borrows books and turns the pages down; Who reads because he’s nothing else to do, And then reads something that there’s nothing to! Who simply buys to decorate a shelf So trashy novels, frivolous as mself ! Who skips a classic in an hour, and views All literature as if news; Who thinks to lettered circles he'll elong By knowing little, wrong ! *twas merely and that little La T. H. 3: Is Roberts guilty ? If he isn’t, why did he hire a iawyer? Tiere are more fur-bearing animals in the cities than in the woods. An Easy Way to Remove Dandruff If you want plenty of thick, beautiful, glossy, silky hair, do by all means get rid of dandruff, for it will starve your hair and ruin it if you don’t. _The best way to get rid of dandruff is to disscive it. To do this, just apply a little Liquid Arvon at night before retiring; use enough to moisten the scalp, and rub it in gently with the finger tips. By morning, most, if not all, of your dandruff will be gone, and three or four more applications should completely re- move every sign and trace of it. You will find, too, that all itching of the 2 DHS Ee 27 The Reflections of a Mother-in-Law “T Guess Harold must be going to get the closed car. Minnie has been talking for two days now about how wives should not make unreasonable demands on their hus- bands. They probably compromised the way they did the time they built the sun parlor. Harold wanted a fire- place in it and Minnie didn’t. So they compromised on new rugs downstairs and new living-room furniture, and Harold soon cut out the fireplace on his own account. “T’m learning a little late in life. I remember the time I wanted gas lights put in, back in Peoria. La- mech didn’t want them, so I decided to have it out with him. I did; and we kept on using oil lamps. “Minnie often says, ‘Mother, I believe a man ought to have his own way as much as possible. It pre- serves his self-respect.’ And when the limousine is delivered, Minnie will have Harold believing that he forced it on her.” McC. H. Why they stick On the ground floor of the tele- phone building a man worked at the test board. It was night; flood had come upon the city ; death and disaster threatened-the inhabitants. Outside the telephone building people had long since sought refuge ; the water mounted higher and higher; fire broke out in nearby buildings. But still the man at the test board stuck to his post; keeping up the lines of communica- tion; forgetful of self; thinking only of the needs of the emergency. On a higher floor of the same building a corps of telephone opera- tors worked all through the night, knowing that buildings around them were being washed from their founda- tions, that fire drew near, that there might be no escape. Tt was the spirit of service that kept them at their work—a spirit be- yond thought of advancement or re- ward—the spirit that animates men and women everywhere who know that others depend upon them. By the nature of telephone service this is the every-day spirit of the Bell System. The world hears of it only in times of emergency and disaster, but it is present all the time behind the scenes. It has its most picturesque expression in those who serve at the switchboard, but it animates every man and woman in the service. Some work in quiet laboratories or at desks; others out on the “highways of speech.” Some grapple with prob- lems of management or science; some with maintenance of lines and equip- ment; others with office details. But all know, better than any one else, how the safe and orderly life of the people depends on the System—and all know that the System depends on them. “BELL System” AMERICAN TELEPHONE AND TELEGRAPH COMPANY AND ASSOCIATED COMPANIES One Policy, One System, Universal Service, and all directed toward Better Service scalp will stop, and your hair will look and feel a hundred times better. You can get Liquid Arvon at any drug store. A four- ounce bottle is usually all that is needed. The R. L. Watkins Co., Cleveland, Obie, comicbooks.com