The Wasp — 1891 — page 473: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

The top cartoon depicts a park officer confronting someone about an illegible sign. The joke plays on the phrase "snipe hunting"—a classic prank where inexperienced people are sent on a fool's errand to catch a nonexistent bird. Here, the officer's inability to read the sign suggests someone has deliberately made it illegible, turning the park itself into a site of mockery toward authority. The surrounding text criticizes various San Francisco Bay Area issues: drunkenness, commerce, property disputes, and census inaccuracies. The magazine takes a satirical stance on local governance and social problems, using humor to comment on urban mismanagement and civic incompetence.