The Wasp — 1890 — page 396: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

The top cartoon depicts a disheveled U.S. Mail Messenger on the Fast Overland Express who "cannot write on terra firma without some one shaking the outfit"—satirizing the poor postal service reliability on western routes. The "Photographia" section contains a cartoon about Baltimore needing a "wild, western sabbath"—likely mocking the city's perceived stuffiness. The page's articles critique various issues: census population anxiety in Seattle, Democratic Party leadership choices, and a scandal involving Henry Haynes and a woman of "doubtful character" at Minister Reid's Paris ball. The final discussion concerns San Francisco's handling of lepers and rural county patients, with The Wasp arguing the state should establish a dedicated leper hospital rather than burdening individual counties.