Captain Billy's Whiz Bang #19 — page 43: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page contains two poems from *Whiz Bang*, a satirical magazine. "The Hell-bound Train" is a cautionary moral tale in verse about a drunk named Tom who dreams of traveling on a train to hell. A devil-figure condemns Tom for bullying the weak, robbing the poor, and turning away starving people—listing specific sins of moral corruption and cruelty. Tom awakens terrified and vows to reform, renouncing drink and sin. The poem appears to be temperance propaganda using hellfire-and-damnation rhetoric common to early 20th-century moral crusades. The satirical framing—presenting this overwrought morality tale—suggests *Whiz Bang* is mocking such preachy, melodramatic reform messaging rather than endorsing it.