The Wasp, 1918 · page 276 of 330
The Wasp — 1918 — page 276: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page appears to be from a serialized adventure narrative rather than a political cartoon. It depicts a violent naval boarding action between two vessels—a schooner attacking a brig. The text describes a character named Trimmer leading an assault. The schooner's crew is portrayed unfavorably: poorly armed, sick with fever and rum-induced delirium, physically unfit for combat. The narrator sarcastically comments on their moral depravity ("the evil one had laid hold of their bodies"). Trimmer, appearing to be the protagonist or antagonist depending on perspective, leads the charge and is apparently killed in an explosion when armed men hidden on the brig's deck detonate gunpowder and fuses. Without additional context about *The Wasp*'s publication date or this story's arc, the specific satirical target remains unclear—though the vivid depiction of naval violence and moral decay suggests social or political commentary typical of the era.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
THE WASP 267 flutter of fear excited yells of derisive laughter from the schooner. Every man of- the forty was armed to the teeth, though several of them could not stand up under the weight of their weapons. Not more than a dozen of them were in first-class fighting trim. The faces of some were as yellow as lemons, of others as purple as grapes. Fever had their bones and rum had their nerves—and the evil one had laid hold of their bodies while waiting for their souls. Here was a text for a sermon, if you like. The schooner overhauled the brig in short order and ran her aboard. The grappling-irons were thrown. The brig’s rail stood four feet higher than the schooner’s. With a wild shout the boarders massed and scrambled in the lee scuppers, with Trimmer in the front rank. The sides of the vessels ground together. Trimmer sprang to the schooner’s rail, with his. cutlass in his teeth, and up and over the side of the helpless trader. For a fraction of a second he saw a score of armed men crouched under the brig’s bulwarks, caught _ the scent of burning powder and the splutter _ _ of fuses—and then his soul was torn free of his horror-stricken body in brief, terrible agony. ~ Down unon the heads and shoulders of the comichooks.com