The Wasp, 1918 · page 297 of 330
The Wasp — 1918 — page 297: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page depicts a violent street crime narrative rather than a political cartoon. The text describes a brutal murder: a disabled beggar (identified by crutches and missing teeth) accepts payment ("yellow boys"—gold coins) from an unnamed employer to kill a man named Stanton. The beggar feigns vulnerability, provokes Stanton into attacking him, then fatally stabs him multiple times. He collects his payment and flees before dawn, later examining the body with dark satisfaction. The passage reflects late-19th-century crime fiction common in *The Wasp*, a San Francisco satirical weekly. Rather than political satire, this appears to be sensationalist entertainment exploiting period anxieties about urban violence, class conflict, and criminality. The beggar's disability is used as narrative camouflage for his deadly role—a disturbing literary device typical of the era's lurid storytelling conventions.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
288 : THE WASP gure kk cy for pore old ’Odge what lost *is leg a servin’ o’ ’is king!” He hitched himself across Stanton’s course ; and just as Stanton cursed him and struck at him with a stout stick, he thrust one of his : crutches between Stanton’s feet. Down crashed the bully in the gutter. The cripple instantly dropped the crutches, flung himself-upon the — prostrate sot, and drove a knife hilt-deep into — the quivering back again and again. He sprang — to his feet at last, recovered the crutches, | and returned ean to the old fellow in the | doorway. ! . = 2 | “And here is another yellow boy for you, | mate,” he said. ‘‘ Now take my advice and stir — your stumps. You want to be a long way from here before morning ! ” With this he turned and walked bricks away. i The real cripple bit the third guinea with his ~ two remaining teeth by way of a test, then stowed it and the other two ina place of conceal ment among his rags. Hechuckled. He fixed his crutches under his arms and hitched himsel across the footpath to where Stanton’s lifeless form sprawled in the gutter. el The old man prodded the body with one of his” crutches and chuckled again. At last he left | Scomicbooks: