The Wasp — 1893 — page 77: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page from *The Wasp* satirizes a proposal to build a tall shot tower (a structure for manufacturing ammunition) within San Francisco's new City Hall. The cartoon depicts the tower looming incongruously above the civic building, with tiny figures and cannons firing from it. The accompanying editorial mocks the absurdity of locating such an industrial, dangerous structure at the city's ceremonial center. The text criticizes this as lacking "atrocity" (in the sense of civic dignity) and suggests the city needs better judgment before approving major construction projects. The satire targets San Francisco's civic planners and their apparently poor urban planning decisions during this era of rapid development.