The Wasp — 1890 — page 72: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page contains two main editorial cartoons with accompanying satirical commentary on California politics and infrastructure. The left cartoon titled "Phonographia" appears to satirize Democratic Party organizational practices, mocking what the text calls a "hoodoo" campaign strategy in San Francisco involving a "Tammany Society" (likely referencing New York's notorious political machine). The right illustration depicts water infrastructure issues, specifically criticizing engineer Schussler's mismanagement of the San Mateo dam project. The text attacks his negligence in dam construction and suggests massive water waste through evaporation—a genuine engineering failure costing hundreds of millions of gallons daily. Both cartoons target incompetence: Democratic political bungling on the left, engineering/corporate negligence on the right. The magazine positions itself as a watchdog exposing institutional failures affecting California.