Life, 1924-07-17 · page 9 of 36
Life — July 17, 1924 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This cartoon satirizes skeptics who test whether "a barking dog never bites" by having a dog bite someone. The humor plays on the irony: the theory being tested is immediately disproven by the experiment itself—the victim becomes proof the dog *does* bite. The cartoon mocks pseudo-scientific thinking and overly literal hypothesis-testing. The "skeptics" are shown conducting their dubious experiment in what appears to be a confined space, with the unfortunate test subject experiencing the painful results firsthand. The satire targets people who claim to be rational investigators but reach absurd conclusions, or who test common wisdom in ways that produce obvious (and uncomfortable) answers. It's a jab at pretentious skepticism divorced from common sense.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Famous Endings “put out the cat and come to bed.” “—And they lived happily ever after And so they were married.” “—T'll be a sister to you.” -Nine, ten and out. Wood alcohol. Efficiency Minus V HAT'S worrying you, dear?” “I've just figured out a way of tting down to the office ten minutes rlier, but I won't know what to do shen T get there.” ERTAIN of his Republican sup- porters seem to regard Mr. Coolidge s their best Cal and severest critic. - LIFE: Recipe for Starting a Golf Club GATHER together : Three millionaires who have never broken one hundred but who are foolish enough to part with $30,000 a year for the privilege of trying to do so; Three par players who are willing to pay as high as $0.00 a year for the privilege of making and breaking new course records; Three hundred average piayers eager to contribute $1,000 to $3,000 for the privilege of playing on a course that will never (?) be crowded ; One professional who once won the Open Championship (but never will again) and who will accept $10,000 a year in return for lending his name (but not his services) to your project. THE SKEPTICS’ SOCIETY THEY TEST THE THEORY THAT “A BARKING DOG NEVER BITES.” HOT DOGS w call in a flock of realtors and ask them to trot out two brooks and a duck pond, plenty of long grass and marshland, two fair-sized hills and one mountain, with rocks, boulders underbrush to suit. and From this assort- ment select the highest-priced piece of property that is at least a two-dollar taxi ride from the nearest railroad station. When the clubhouse is built, eng a high-grade bootlegger as steward, with two boys in the locker room as assistant bootleggers. Open up on Yom Kippur with an exhibition match. Allow the president of the club (one of the three million aires) to make a few remarks at the banquet that night. Then install a few bridge tables and a Mah Jong set—and you have done your bit for the promotion of athletic sport. Torrey Ford. These Americans The Pennsylvanian E can demonstrate that in Pitts- burgh black is really white. He believes that the story of the Phila- delphian who shot the letter carrier for a Confederate soldier is only a joke. He thinks that the idea of an hour in Chestnut Hill containing one hundred and twenty minutes is a delusion. He can explain the political position of Gifford Pinchot while he longs for the good old days of Boies Penrose. He is never surprised at any turn in the relations of Billy Magee and young George Oliver. He can account for Vance McCormick, A. Mitchell Palmer and Hampy Moore. He believes the Pittsburgh Pirates will win the pennant. He can pro- nounce Wilkes-Barre and = Mauch Chunk. McC. H. comicbooks.com