The Wasp, 1918 · page 269 of 330
The Wasp — 1918 — page 269: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page depicts a narrative scene (rather than a political cartoon) from what appears to be a serialized story set aboard a ship. The text describes a confrontation in the galley between a cook and sailors attempting to breach his position. The cook, characterized as a 220-pound bully who enjoyed striking sailors with a skillet, has barricaded himself in the galley. When assailants attempt to storm it, he defends himself with boiling water and hot food. A man named Henry Todd then climbs onto the roof, creates an opening, and fires six pistols through it to drive back the besiegers. The dramatic scene—with characters like "Smith," "Winch," and "James"—appears to be adventure fiction rather than satire. Without seeing illustrations or knowing the story's broader context, it's unclear whether this represents social commentary or simply entertainment. The crude violence and rough sailor characters suggest this is likely popular adventure fiction from The Wasp's pages.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
2005 0 = THE W ASP his treatment of the boy Todd, and knew that the generous offer,.even if genuine, would not apply to him. He was a bully of two hundred aud twenty. pounds in weight of muscle and bone, and a favourite pastime of his had been to clout sailor- men over the head with a skillet when they came to the door of the galley for food. This joke had always amused Smith and Winch. So the cook retired to his galley, and proceeded to defend it against all comers. The galley had one window, and the first man ~ to attempt to fire a pistol through this window received a gallon of boiling water in his face. The door was shattered, but so appalling was the outburst of hot water, scalding food, and iron - that the besiegers drew away from the breach. a The galley filled with smoke. Henry Todd mounted the roof and speedily hacked a hole | through the thin timber. Smoke poured up | - through the rent. Six pistols were passed up to Todd, who methodically dischar eee all of them through the hole in the roof. “He'll ’ave the brig afire!” eee some one. “ He’s upsot the stove ! ” James ordered water to be passed up over the 5 side and thrown upon the galley. Half a dozen — | = comicbooks:com|