Life, 1924-07-10 · page 5 of 36
Life — July 10, 1924 — page 5: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page from *Life* magazine features a poem titled "Life: Olympic Games—1924" celebrating athletic competition as noble human endeavor, contrasting sports with the brutality of war. The accompanying illustration shows a female diver mid-leap, watched by spectators below—visualizing the poem's theme of athletic prowess and graceful human achievement. Below are three brief satirical pieces: "Motive" describes a suicide note; "He Got the Job" mocks psychological testing of an infant; and a husband-wife dialogue jokes about punctuality. These represent *Life*'s typical format of mixing serious commentary with humor about contemporary social absurdities—here targeting bureaucratic testing methods and domestic stereotypes rather than specific political figures.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
JC Olympic Games—1924 FLASH; a rush; and the race is done, speeding youth through the tapeline shears ; \ flag gleams forth in the summer sun * And the grandstand storms to its feet and cheers. An upward thrust and a form careers Over the bar to a twisting fall While a hero’s welcome thrills in his cars: Sport for the sport of it—comrades all. The young men leap and the young men run; The finger of victory shifts and veers, But Life's are the triumphs that here are won, It is Life that is lord of the circling spheres. Yet out of the limbo of Time one hears The last faint notes of a bugle call— nd it disappears: Sport for the sport of it—comrades all, Aye, death walked here when the rumbling gun Rolled to the front with its cannoneers— To strangling gas and bullets that stun— But they sang to the sky and banishe-l their fears With “Madamozell from Armentiers,” Laughing youngsters—sturdy and tall, Mocking at death with good-natured jeers Sport for the sport of it—comrades all. LEnvoi Spirits of sportsmen, the war cloud clears— The Spirit of Sport breaks its shrouding pall; Life carries on through the mist of years. Sport for the sport of it—comrades Baron Ireland. SHE STOOPS TO CONQUER Motive , He Got the Job HEY found the column conductor beside his desk— 'HE Precocious Infant was being submitted to the psycho- a suicide. A note in his typewriter explained his act. logical tests in order to determine the degree of his It read: genius. He had already picked out numbers, arranged “Please forg ve me fordongths. couldn'thelp t. broke blocks, and distinguished colors. Then came the supreme the letter eye n my mach ne.” test, the identification of various coins. The investigator tossed a nickel on the floor. The Precocious Infant hent over it while the proud parents held their breath. Then HE Skeptics’ Society is experimenting with various ‘he P. I. winked at his dad and cried exultingly, “Heads!” methods of prolonging life, in the hope that some of its members may live until the world finally freezes up. They USBAND: I've waited an hour for you. want to test the theory that “all's well that ends well.” Wr: But I said I'd be five minutes late comicbooks.com