The Wasp — 1892 — page 502: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This is the cover illustration for *The Wasp*, a San Francisco satirical magazine. The cartoon depicts Death (a skeleton) as a grim reaper scattering coins from a sack labeled "HOPKINS" onto three bags labeled "HOPKINS," "BLISS," and "J.G.O." (likely representing wealthy individuals or their estates). The caption reads "DEATH SCATTERS THEM." The satire appears to mock the distribution of a wealthy person's fortune—probably referring to a recent death of a prominent San Francisco figure (possibly Mark Hopkins, a railroad magnate). The cartoon suggests Death's indiscriminate scattering of riches undermines the deceased's carefully laid plans for wealth distribution. This reflects 19th-century anxieties about inheritance, mortality, and the futility of accumulating vast fortunes.