The Wasp, 1913 · page 323 of 364
The Wasp — 1913 — page 323: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This appears to be a **serialized fiction excerpt** rather than a political cartoon. The passage depicts a domestic violence scene: a man named Stanton is about to strike his wife with a "supple-jack" (a flexible West Indian cane) when sailor James Burnham interrupts. Burnham intervenes by tripping Stanton during a confrontation. The text emphasizes the woman's suffering—she's thin, pale, weeping, with a torn gown—portraying her as a victim of abuse. The scene's dramatic staging (candlelit, frozen moment) suggests this is from a serialized melodrama or adventure narrative. Without seeing the original publication date or surrounding context, it's unclear whether this is genuine fiction or satirical commentary on domestic relations, but the visceral depiction of spousal abuse suggests *The Wasp* may have been running serialized dramatic stories alongside its political satire.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
316 THE WASP don, or a few short months ago in Nevis. Her plentiful hair streamed untidily upon her shoulders, her small face was thin and pale, her eyes were dim and her lids swollen from much weeping, and her gown was torn. She was on her feet beside an overturned chair, trying to wrench herself free from her husband. Stanton held her by one thin wrist, with his left hand, and in his right hand he grasped a stick of that flexible West Indian plant called supple-jack. His hand was raised to strike at the instant of James Burnham’s entrance. The two became mo- tionless as figures of wax at the opening of the door ; and so they stood for a time, as if spellbound, staring at the bearded and intoxicated mariner. The scene was illuminated by two tallow dips which stood on a table near the over-turned chair. Stanton was the first to move. He dropped the woman’s wrist and rushed unsteadily at the intru- der with a volley of oaths. The bearded seaman stepped aside with amazing agility for one in his apparent condition and shot out a long leg. Stan- ton came to the uncarpeted floor with a crash. Comichooks.com