The Wasp — 1889 — page 375: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This satirical cartoon depicts a grotesque giant beast labeled "SOLID NINE" being served as a feast to city supervisors. The accompanying text mocks the supervisors' appetite for this "feast," sarcastically suggesting it "cannot, to say the least, / Another twelve-month last." The cartoon appears to critique municipal corruption or mismanagement by San Francisco's Board of Supervisors. The "Solid Nine" likely refers to a voting bloc or faction controlling the board. The beast represents either wasteful spending, corruption, or malfeasance that supervisors continue to consume/enable despite public knowledge of the problem. The reference at page bottom ("BOSS BUCKLEY'S TH...") suggests connection to a prominent political figure, likely Boss Chris Buckley, who dominated San Francisco politics in the 1880s-90s.