The Wasp, 1913 · page 309 of 364
The Wasp — 1913 — page 309: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains prose narrative rather than a political cartoon—it's an excerpt from a serialized adventure story about piracy. The passage describes a character named "Trimmer" (likely a pirate captain) rallying a ragged crew to attack an unarmed merchant brig ("trader"). The narrative depicts the crew's degraded state—many are drunk, ill, or dead—and their excitement upon discovering the target carries minimal defense: no guns and only ten men. The text emphasizes the brig's vulnerability ("dull and helpless commerce") and the crew's predatory anticipation. Without additional context or visible illustrations, it's unclear what specific social or political critique *The Wasp* intended here. The passage may satirize maritime lawlessness, naval incompetence, or American merchant vulnerability during a particular historical period, but the page alone doesn't reveal *The Wasp's* satirical target.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
302 THE WASP but a numbness of heart and mind made him in- capable of clear thought or decisive action. At news of the trader in the offing Trimmer took heart. He flew signals summoning his crew to as- semble and come aboard. Many were too ill, or too far gone in rum, or too mutinous, to answer the signals save by oaths or shouts of derisive laughter from the shore. A few were dead who had been alive yesterday. Forty came aboard at last. The anchors were walked up, the sails hoisted, and the schooner towed out of her berth. Outside the reef the wind filled her great sails. A mile to seaward crawled the brig, a perfect picture of dull and helpless com- merce. Trimmer thrust his belt full of pistols and knives, flashed a cutlas, and strutted in his old manner. A few of his fellows cheered. Some one went aloft with a glass to spy upon the brig’s deck, and announced that the trader showed no guns and only ten men. The whole forty cheered at that. ~ The unfortunate brig cracked on sail, and her flutter of fear excited yells of derisive laughter Comichooks.com