The Wasp, 1918 · page 29 of 330
The Wasp — 1918 — page 29: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page appears to be **serialized fiction** rather than political satire or cartooning. It depicts a shipboard conflict between characters named Burnham, a mate, and Captain Hobkirk. The scene shows Burnham—apparently a gentleman passenger or officer of "breeding"—violently responding to insults from a common sailor. When the captain discovers them fighting, he sides with Burnham, chastising the mate for being "too ready to pick a quarrel with yer betters." The satire here is **social commentary on class**: the narrative validates Burnham's violent response and the captain's class-based favoritism, treating the working sailor's insubordination as deserving punishment. The "gentleman" logic—that insulting someone's feelings justifies brutality—is presented matter-of-factly, satirizing rigid class hierarchies aboard ship and the assumption that "breeding" excuses violence against social inferiors.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
20 | THE WASP Boyle takes no such talk as that from no man, be he common tar or lord’s son! ” : Burnham, who was seated on a locker, did not look up, but the muscles of his shoulders twitched slightly. The big mate leaned far across the table with his big hands fisted upon 1t. “Ye don’t look so keen for a fight yerself, just now,” he sneered. ‘“‘ Be ye returnin’ thanks ~ to yer Maker for yer safe delivery from the pirates?” _ Burnham sprang without a sound, vaulted ~ the table, gripped. the mate by the wind- pipe, and drove him against the larboard ‘bulkhead. And ‘so Captain Hobkirk found them half a - minute later. Burnham loosened his grip, and the mate slid limply to the deck. Burnham ~ smiled at the shipmaster. s “The fellow insulted me,” he Sone coolly. “The lout does not compre tend the nice feelings of a man of breeding.” _ Hobkirk dragged the half-choked and utterly cowed mate to his feet. _ “Ye be too ready to pick a quarrel with yer betters, my lad,” he said. “I trust this here will larn ye a lesson. A man who raises the ~~ comic ooks.com