The pit and the pendulum - Political cartoon, public domain image

Illustration shows a man labeled "Consumer" tied to a bed with cords labeled "Graft Tariff", watches as a pendulum labeled "Cost of Living" with a sharp blade afixed to the bottom swings over his body, coming closer to cutting him in half.

Caption: "The pit and the pendulum," by Edgar Allan Poe, tells of a victim of the Spanish Inquisition doomed to watch a knife-like pendulum that swung nearer and nearer to his heart.
Illus. in: Puck, v. 65, no. 1682 (1909 May 26), centerfold.
Copyright 1909 by Keppler & Schwarzmann.