Judge — April 5, 1902 — page 18: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This Judge magazine cartoon satirizes boxer **Bob Fitzsimmons**, likely from the 1890s. The humor plays on Fitzsimmons' reputation as a powerful fighter by imagining his fighting techniques applied to a burglar-catching device. The cartoon depicts a safe-cracking scenario where a burglar ("Jack Wellin") attempts robbery but gets caught by an explosive or mechanical trap—the "Fitz Patent Burglar-Puncher." A character (possibly a security guard or safe owner) reacts with amazement, joking that the violent response resembles Fitzsimmons' famous boxing training quarters on Wall Street. The satire mocks both: (1) Fitzsimmons' extreme fighting ability, treating it as dangerously excessive, and (2) the era's fascination with mechanical security innovations. The joke conflates the boxer's knockout power with an over-engineered defensive device, suggesting Fitzsimmons-level force is overkill even for stopping criminals.