The Wasp, 1913 · page 304 of 364
The Wasp — 1913 — page 304: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page appears to be from a serialized pirate fiction narrative rather than a political cartoon. The text describes the aftermath of a ship capture ("the Virtue"), detailing casualties and the consolidation of crew under a leader named James Burnham. The passage depicts Burnham as a charismatic pirate captain who recruits new crew members through persuasive rhetoric about the appeal of a "gentleman of fortune's" lifestyle. The narrative emphasizes his reputation and ability to convince "ignorant and unscrupulous mariners" to follow him. Without seeing accompanying illustrations, it's unclear if this contains satirical commentary on contemporary figures or events. The page reads as straightforward adventure fiction—possibly satirizing pirate romanticism or 19th-century tales of outlaws as "gentlemen"—rather than topical political satire typical of *The Wasp* magazine. The referenced figures (Burnham, Jones, Todd) appear fictional rather than historical references.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
THE WASP 297 it can be told, and lunged with all his weight behind the silver hilt. That was the end of the Virtue’s gigantic cook. The fire in the shattered deck-house was extin- guished. The brig had been taken with compara- tively little bloodshed, thanks to the mutinous con- dition of her crew. In all, only seven of her origi- nal company had been killed, including Smith, Winch, the cook, and the fellow whom the cook had crushed with the stove. One of Burnham’s fellows was dying from a scalded face and throat, and two were slightly wounded. So the brig’s company now numbered twenty—ten old pirates and ten new. James addressed all hands. He had a trick of argument that never failed to convince ignorant and unscrupulous mariners that the life of a gentle- man of fortune was the only one worth living, and that the sure way of succeeding as a gentleman of fortune was to follow James Burnham. He spoke briefly, touched lightly on a few of his most amazing deeds, and referred his new comrades to David Jones, Henry Todd, and others for further - Comichooks.com