The Wasp — 1878 — page 130: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

The page contains a small illustration labeled "GOSSIP" showing two women's profiles in conversation—a standard format for this magazine's social commentary section. The surrounding text is a gossip column mixing brief satirical items about contemporary figures and events. The visible references include criticism of a man named Almond (shot by a Mexican near Corpus Christi), editor W.E. Walcott of the Springfield Republican, and various social observations about Georgia boys, pipe-smoking, and Mormon preachers. The main feature is "Bijiah's Reformatory," a longer narrative satirizing a widow's efforts to reform a troublesome boy through strict discipline and moral instruction. The satire targets both social pretension and ineffective reform efforts of the era.