The Wasp — 1893 — page 123: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This satirical illustration from *The Wasp* mocks San Francisco's park police ("peelers," period slang for police) attempting to patrol on bicycles. The central figure—a pompous, mustachioed officer struggling awkwardly with his bicycle—represents the absurdity of this new enforcement method. The accompanying verses ridicule how these "aisy life" officers, previously sedentary, would be expected to chase troublemakers on two wheels. The smaller vignettes show the practical failures: cyclists escaping on horseback, using bicycles as "patrol wagons," and evading capture—suggesting bikes are useless for actual police work. The satire targets both the incompetence of San Francisco's park administration and the officers' pretentious pomposity when confronted with modern, impractical technology.