These appear to me to be obvious satires of two events in history where the timing of a message was important. The first is Custer's request for reinforcements

These appear to me to be obvious satires of two events in history where the timing of a message was important. The first is Custer's request for reinforcements not resulting in help arriving in time. See: https://www.nps.gov/libi/learn/historyculture/custer-s-last-message.htm https://www.nps.gov/libi/learn/historyculture/custer-s-last-... The second appears to be a flip of the story about Columbus leaving Spain for France, only to be called back at the last minute: https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/art/artifact/Painting_33_00007.htm https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/art/artifact/Painting_3...