The Wasp — 1893 — page 471: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This is a short story titled "A Lurid Tale of the Thanksgiving Season," featuring a character named Monsieur Joseph A. Deacon. The narrative satirizes San Francisco high society during the Thanksgiving period. The story depicts Deacon—apparently a wealthy, respectable man—being tempted into an evening adventure involving "pretty girls" and various social establishments. The satire mocks the hypocrisy of supposedly upstanding citizens who engage in morally questionable behavior while maintaining respectability. The piece appears designed to expose the gap between San Francisco's public social facade and private conduct among the city's elite, using humor and narrative irony to critique their duplicitous behavior. The "masquerade ball" reference suggests themes of hidden identities and deception.