The Wasp, 1918 · page 99 of 330
The Wasp — 1918 — page 99: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page is **narrative fiction rather than a political cartoon**—it appears to be from a serialized story in the satirical magazine *The Wasp*. The passage describes a character named Burnham at a social gathering, deliberately avoiding alcohol to maintain steady hands for "clipping Stanton's comb" (likely a euphemism for fighting or defeating a rival named Stanton). The text satirizes 19th-century gentlemanly drinking culture, where heavy alcohol consumption was socially expected and women tolerated men's intoxication without shock. Burnham maintains composure while exchanging smiles with "Elizabeth," though internal despair gnaws at him. He recognizes that defeating his enemy Stanton would financially ruin him, yet wounding him wouldn't silence the threat—a strategic dilemma. The satire targets both masculine social conventions and the constraints of honor-bound society where personal vendettas carry catastrophic consequences.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
90 ) THE WASP . the lady. His motive for avoiding the spirits and wines was not a tender or sentimental one. He was simply considering the steadiness of his eye and his hand, with a view to making a neat job of clipping Stanton’s comb. _ sg Gentlemen were expected to drink more than was good for them in those robust days, and in this matter they usually did what was expected of them. Mothers, wives, daughters, and sweet- | hearts were not shocked unduly by flushed §& faces, thick voices, and meandering feet. Every well-conditioned householder familiarized him- _ self with the pattern of his dining-room carpet: by frequent inspections of it at close range. Burnham chatted agreeably with the men at his elbows, ate heartily, and drank three cups of tea. He smiled frequently at Elizabeth, — and she never failed to meet his glance and | return his smile. He showed an unruffled coun- | tenance to the company at-large, but despair, chagrin, and even a vague sense of regret gnawed his heart. 4 Even if he could bring San to a fone he would gain but little, for he knew that to kill his enemy would be to shatter his own for- : tune. He might wound the ensign ; ‘but hoy ; would that silence him? comicbooks:con