The Wasp — 1896 — page 947: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page contains three distinct sections: **"On the Brain"** (top left cartoon): Two men at a table discuss marriage. One asks what the other will have, offering "a ham sandwich and an airship—I mean—ah—a schooner of lager." The joke plays on "schooner" (a large beer glass) sounding like a ship, satirizing confused thinking about marriage proposals. **"My Fortune"** (right): A poem about a fortune teller's predictions, with accompanying illustration. It mocks both fortune-telling fraud and gullible seekers hoping for romantic promises ("the diamond ten"). **"The Latest Plea of the Impecunious"** (bottom): A beggar approaches a well-dressed man asking for money, claiming to be an inventor with a patent. The satire targets both panhandlers' creative excuses and the era's proliferation of dubious patent claims. The remaining text discusses California irrigation politics and newspaper business practices.