The Wasp, 1918 · page 16 of 330
The Wasp — 1918 — page 16: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This appears to be a literary excerpt rather than a satirical cartoon. The text describes James Burnham's downward social trajectory—from gambling losses and association with disreputable characters in Swan Alley to losing his companion "Kitty" to a young ensign named Stanton. The passage uses period slang ("hell-rakes," "fools") to depict vice and moral degradation. Burnham's anxiety about his fate—wondering if he'll end up "on his way to the plantations—or the gallows?"—suggests colonial American consequences for debt or crime. The reference to John Trimmer in "that gang" implies criminality and social ruin. This appears to be serialized fiction using social satire to critique moral failings rather than a political cartoon addressing current events.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
THE WASP 7 and the lodgings in Swan Alley rang with mirth ~ provoked by sound vintages. Kitty became a toast with a certain set of hell-rakes and its following of harmless young fools. Then Burnham’s luck changed suddenly, and he was forced to make use of loaded dice with _some of the young fools. He did it clumsily, and the plucked fools took offence. On the heels of this, a more skilful hell-rake played the same game on him, plucking him to the hide; and on the day following that dismal night the youngest of the fools, an ensign by the name of Stanton, _ took Kitty away from him. This last was the shrewdest cut of all, though he would not admit it even to himself. He was fond of the girl, though he had not entertained any delusions about her even before her desertion. James Burnham sat for a long time in grim thought. Pictures of his past and the picture of the daunting procession he had seen that very morning trailed through his mind. How long, he wondered, before he, too, would be on his way to the plantations—or the gallows ? The sight of John Trimmer in that gang had touched him keenly—not with pity for John, ‘but with consciousness of the peril of his own position. He sat in a padded armchair, limp, comichooks.com