The Wasp — 1887 — page 210: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page contains two sections: a prose article discussing local San Francisco legal and social matters (including Judge Murphy's sentencing of a man for manslaughter, jury composition debates, and commentary on Mr. George W. Merrill, U.S. Minister to Hawaii), and a substantial poem titled "Our Exempts" by W. L. Eyre. The poem appears to be satirical commentary on Civil War draft exemptions and wealthy men avoiding military service. References to "No. 1," "No. 2," and numbered "exempts" suggest specific loopholes or categories of draft avoidance. The text mocks those who escaped combat while others fought, with lines like "When fire came their way" implying these men avoided danger. Without seeing the accompanying illustration, the full satirical intent remains partially unclear, but the tone is clearly critical of privileged draft dodging during the Civil War era.