Life — December 21, 1928 — page 8: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "The Main Stem" by Walter Winchell This page discusses New York's Algonquin Hotel dining room, a famous gathering place for writers and intellectuals. Winchell defends the venue against criticism that it attracts "log-rollers" (people who mutually promote each other's work). He argues the Algonquin actually hosts serious literary figures, not merely self-interested publicity-seekers. The top cartoon shows a taxi with "FARE 4/60" — satirizing inflated New York taxi fares as unreasonable. The bottom cartoon depicts three men at a beach discussing college honor systems. One admits a "sneak" betrayed their system by informing authorities — suggesting honor codes relied on mutual non-reporting, making them fundamentally flawed.