Hey, history lovers. I'm Mike Rosenwald with Retropod, a show about the past, rediscovered.

In early October of 1898, the Washington Post reported on a truly frightening development in Congress.

The Demon Cat was back.

The post wrote that, after many years of absence, this is a truly horrific apparition.

Given how the paper described this feline spook of the capital, the word horrific might have been

an understatement. It has the appearance of an ordinary pussy when first seen, the paper said,

and presently swells up to the size of an elephant before the eyes of the terrified observer.

These days, only lobbyists are capable of turning into similarly scary and fat cats.

From the mid-1800s to well into the 20th century, the demon cat was the top dog of Washington ghost stories,

which is rather remarkable considering other ghostly legends of the

nation's capital, like President Abraham Lincoln greeting Winston Churchill as he stepped out

of a White House bathtub.

Good evening, Mr. President, Churchill reportedly said, half-naked. You seem to have me at a disadvantage.

But as for the cat, one of the earliest accounts of its origins

comes from a Washington Post story in 1935.

One day, the story said, a capital policeman whose integrity is better than

his markmanship reported taking a pot shot at a big black cat. From his description, the cat

grew as he looked at it. The policeman told the post that the Stygian feline appeared to have the eyes of

Eddie Cantor in the generous proportions of May West, plus the disposition of Bella Legosi.

When I shot at the critter, it jumped right over my head, explained the guardian of capital

traditions and decorum.

The 1935 post story included new characteristics of the demon cat that for unknown reasons

...