Life, 1923-05-17 · page 23 of 46
Life — May 17, 1923 — page 23: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains two distinct pieces of satirical content: **"A Lesson to Doctors in Anatomy" by Will Rogers** mocks medical professionals through a true incident: a Michigan girl fooled doctors by placing a hot water bottle under her bedding, then placing a thermometer on it to fake a 114-degree fever. Rogers uses this to satirize doctors' incompetence, suggesting they know less about human anatomy than chorus girls from the Follies. The final jab—wondering why doctors are being sent to the Senate—implies politicians are equally clueless. **"Things LIFE Would Rather Like to Know"** lists satirical questions about current events: Harding's presidency and travel plans, naval secretary Denby's organizational abilities, and bootlegging on ships—all poking fun at government inefficiency and Prohibition-era corruption. **"Nocturne"** is an atmospheric poem about a steamship (the Providence) and Fall River Line, with onomatopoetic descriptions of shipboard sounds and activities. The page represents early 1920s American satire targeting government incompetence and social absurdities.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
A Lesson to Doctors in Anatomy By Will Rogers OMEN have been trying for years to find a new way of fainting so it wouldent look so fakey. But it fell a short time ago to the lot of a Michigan Girl to find a new way of running her fever up. You remember it registered 114 degrees for days and Drs. from all over the country come there to examine her, and all the time she had a Hot Water Bag hid in bed and she would slip the Thermomitor on to that and then hand it to the Drs. and they couldent understand the high Fever. 114 degrees that is about as hot as one of those things ever got I guess, ordinarilly you have to take one to bed with you to keep it warm. The whole thing sounded to me like an Add for some rubber Co, I don’t know which was the craziest, a Girl that pulled a thing like that or the Doctors that fell for it, Can you imagine a Dr. that don’t know any more than when he’s got his Thermomitor on a Girl or a Hot Water Bag, No wonder they are sending Drs. to the Senate, when a Dr. don’t know any more about anatomy than that that’s where he ought to go to, to the U. S. Senate. Even audiences who come to the Follies know more about Anatomy than that. Things LIFE Would Rather Like to Know UST what was the idea of the Kansas man who engraved Presi- dent Harding’s portrait on the head of a pin. xk* Whether George J., in suing Frank J. for $10,000,000, is trying to knock his brother for a Gould. **e* If the supply of Follies girls will ever fall below the journalistic de- mand. ee What will happen when the un- quenchable thirst meets the inex- haustible supply. +k What effect adrenalin would have on dead campaign issues. *** If Mr. Harding’s summer plans, when laid end to end, will reach from Lasker to Alaska. *e* Whether Secretary of the Navy Denby needs a guide to find his office in Washington. eee What is the price of the bootleg- ging concession on the steamer Leviathan, Nocturne OLL! ye bones, in the bunks of the Providence. (Cold black water swelling under by the ton.) Sleep! ye brains, to the music of the window-weights. (Foghorns bawling as the night boats run.) Tramp! ye feet, on the drippy, slippy upper-deck. (Shiver-shaking, grinding, quaking engines on the make.) Slam, ye! Damn ye! Doors in the passage-way. signal-bell—captain's (Clang! wide awake.) whangs the Wheeze, ye! Sneeze, ye! Drummer with a sample-case. (Whistle of a passing boat roars through the night.) Snap-crack! Sizzle-snack! wireless rips a message out. (Flash in the blackness—it’s the Point Judith Light.) Dream, ye! Lean, ye! Sleepers on the Providence. (Jing-jang! Time to dress. Sun’s out fine.) Hustle-bustle. Tug and tussle. Boston train’s a-puffing there. (End of your voyage on the Fall River Line.) Mark Huntington Wiseman. Heaven as You Like It The Pessimist Puts Up in Paradise ) comicbooks.com