The Wasp — 1878 — page 432: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page is primarily a **letters column** rather than a political cartoon. The masthead illustration shows two figures at a desk labeled "Answers to Correspondents," depicting the magazine's editorial response section. The letters address various 1890s-era topics: counterfeit currency circulation, San Francisco's bell tower, a Moscow bell, pension eligibility for soldiers' widows, and acquiring animals for knowledge. One correspondent asks about convicting someone, prompting a legal dialogue about witnesses and court procedures. The final item mocks what appears to be a **newly-coined euphemistic term** ("Old Beeswax") for calling someone by insulting names—suggesting social pretension or linguistic evasion. The tone is characteristic of satirical magazine humor: irreverent, gossipy, and poking fun at reader inquiries and contemporary social oddities.