The Wasp, 1913 · page 41 of 364
The Wasp — 1913 — page 41: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This appears to be a literary excerpt rather than a political cartoon. The text describes a nightmarish scene: a character named Burnham repeatedly throws a corpse into a flaming sea, but the body persistently returns to his boat. The corpse—described as "wide-eyed, purple-faced"—seems almost sentient, deliberately avoiding his oar strikes. The final line reveals this is a dream sequence ("awakened him"), suggesting the narrative is exploring guilt, psychological torment, or obsession through surreal imagery. Without seeing the magazine's publication date or additional context, the specific political or social satire remains unclear. However, *The Wasp* was a San Francisco-based satirical publication known for commentary on local politics and social issues. This passage may allegorize a public figure or scandal that contemporary readers would recognize, but the literary nature of the text—rather than visual caricature—makes the specific target impossible to determine from this page alone.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
40 THE WASP and gold and orange of the waves cruised the black fin. He stooped and grasped the body of the dead man with both hands. His strength was as a giant’s strength; and he lifted the limp clay and flung it far out into the flaming sea. The black fin veered away from the splash. The body sank, then re- turned slowly to the surface and floated upon that flaring field, dark, shapeless, and inertly sinister. It drifted in upon the boat. It bumped against the boat’s side, ponderously, persistently. Burn- ham cursed it and pushed it off with an oar. It sank beneath the flaming sea at the thrust; it surged to the surface again, and again drifted boatward, wide-eyed, purple-faced, and thumped dully Pons the boat’s starboard side. Burnham cursed it again, and again attacked it with the oar; but it seemed to avoid the long blade, sluggishly but certainly. It struck upon the boat’s thin planking with knee and hand and head. Burn- ham screamed curses at it—and-the sound of his Own screams awakened him. Comichooks.com