The Wasp — 1895 — page 897: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page mixes society reporting with satirical illustration. The main content announces an upcoming wedding between Count Abel Moreau de Bauvière, a French nobleman, and Miss Laura McCune, an American heiress. The text establishes their pedigrees—he from an old French family, she descended from Scottish and Revolutionary War lineage through wealthy San Francisco merchants. The bottom illustration, titled "The Apotheosis of Brutal Murder," appears to satirize literary circles, showing women discussing a writer named "Durrant" who has committed a crime. The caption indicates society figures are gossiping about his guilt in "arranging the girl in the belfry"—likely referencing an actual criminal case that shocked San Francisco society at the time.