The Wasp, 1913 · page 44 of 364
The Wasp — 1913 — page 44: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains prose narrative rather than a political cartoon. It depicts a castaway named Burnham spotting a approaching ship (a "brig") and desperately attempting to signal it using oars and canvas. The passage emphasizes Burnham's physical desperation—he's weak with hunger, fantasizing about coffee and stale bread aboard the vessel. The sailor crew is mockingly described as "hairy-handed, foul-mouthed fellows in tarry breeks" (typical sailor stereotypes). The narrative appears to be serial fiction, likely a shipwreck or survival story. Without additional context about *The Wasp's* publication date or Burnham's identity, it's unclear whether this references a specific historical event, real person, or is purely fictional satire. The ornate, romantic prose style was typical of 19th-century magazine serialization.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
THE WASP 43 and gleam, that coffee was even now being brewed in the galley of that fairy bark for the consumption of hairy-handed, foul-mouthed fellows in tarry breeks. It was hard to believe; but the castaway knew that it was so. Best of all, to him, was the thought of the coffee and stale bread aboard the brig. He stood at gaze until his eyes convinced him that the vessel was heading his way. Then he turned, took up the little oaken breaker, pulled the plug with his teeth, and drank deep. All the east now was awash with gold and rose. Burnham stood on a thwart and flapped the square of canvas several times at arm’s length above his head. He sat down, manned the oars, and pulled in the brig’s direction with all his strength. His strokes soon lagged and faltered, for he was weak with hunger. The sun cleared the horizon,-the sails of the brig lost their tints of rose and the hull its opalescent quality. The heavens shone blue from sea-rim to sea-rim. Comichooks.com