The Wasp — 1881 — page 173: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

The masthead illustration depicts **a wasp attacking what appears to be political/social figures**, symbolizing the magazine's satirical mission to sting public targets. The page contains primarily **text commentary rather than cartoons**, addressing San Francisco civic issues. Topics include: - **Speaker Park's $18/day salary** and Assembly conduct - **Census data** on San Francisco's female-to-male ratio imbalance - **The Land League** and Irish reform efforts - **Revival meetings** and their social influence The brief poem **"The Angler"** appears to be unrelated satirical verse. The satire targets **local politicians, moral reformers, and social pretension** through witty editorial criticism rather than visual caricature. Without identifying specific individuals in accompanying images (if any exist), the focus is civic accountability and social hypocrisy in 1880s San Francisco.