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I see this photo of the Capitol cats pop up every so often, but did you know the cats' names were Dirty and Mary?
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Mary (below) mysteriously appeared in the office of David Lynn, Architect of the Capitol, sometime before 1927.
She would sleep in the office of the AOC's clerk for most of the day before beginning her mousing around 4 p.m.
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She would sleep in the office of the AOC's clerk for most of the day before beginning her mousing around 4 p.m.
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Apparently no one had ever observed Mary the cat catching a mouse in House-side basement, but it was almost entirely rodent-free while she was around.
She also had a cat boyfriend??
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She also had a cat boyfriend??
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Dirty, on the other hand, was a Senate kitchen cat who was new to the Capitol in 1927.
For some reason, the mousers in the Senate kitchen would be kept around for a session of Congress and then sent to a permanent home.
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For some reason, the mousers in the Senate kitchen would be kept around for a session of Congress and then sent to a permanent home.
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Dirty was found in the Senate subway and subsequently put to work.
She would always lay her captured rats at the feet of G.R. King, the Senate restaurant's assistant manager. They also locked her in the larder at night to guard the potatoes.
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She would always lay her captured rats at the feet of G.R. King, the Senate restaurant's assistant manager. They also locked her in the larder at night to guard the potatoes.
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Apparently the Supreme Court was opposed to hiring cats as mousers because they all nearly died when one got stuck in a ventilation shaft to the courtroom??
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If you'd like to read more about Dirty and Mary, the Capitol cats, here's the January 23, 1927, edition of the Evening Star from which this story was taken:
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1927-01-23/ed-1/seq-12/
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https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1927-01-23/ed-1/seq-12/
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