The Wasp — 1888 — page 253: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page contains two main sections: a lengthy serialized story titled "The Way to a Fortune" (left column) and a poem called "Despair to Death" (right column), with advertisements below. The fictional narrative describes a man's path to wealth through various schemes, including organ-grinding and real estate speculation in San Francisco and California. It appears to be satirizing get-rich-quick narratives and American economic opportunism of the era. The accompanying advertisements mention the Fredericksburg Brewing Company and the Safe Deposit Company, suggesting this is from the 1880s San Francisco business community. Without visible political caricatures on this particular page, the satire operates through narrative—mocking how easily fortunes were claimed to be made in late-19th-century America.