The Wasp — 1879 — page 376: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This is the cover of *The San Francisco Illustrated Wasp* from June 14, 1879. The cartoon depicts a bull labeled "W.P.C. CONVENTION" causing destructive chaos among question marks and various objects in a shop setting. The title references the classical idiom about recklessness causing damage in delicate situations. The W.P.C. Convention appears to be the "Workingmen's Party of California" convention. The bull symbolizes this political organization as a destructive, uncontrolled force—suggesting the cartoonist viewed the convention or party as chaotic and dangerous to the established social order. The scattered question marks likely represent confusion or uncertainty resulting from their activities. This reflects 1879 California political tensions during the anti-Chinese labor movement era.