The Speaker’s Lobby: Ghosts of the Republic

Edgar Allan Poe wrote that the scariest monsters are the ones which lurk inside our souls.

But what about the souls which lurk in the halls of Congress?

The U.S. Capitol is greater than 200 years previous. And any constructing which has been round for 2 centuries, is stocked with legends and ghosts. This time of yr, folks flock to pop-up haunted homes “on the hill.” But on the subject of Washington, DC, there is just one haunted House (and Senate) on “the Hill.” So enable me to spook you with tales of the Capitol macabre as we descend into the Congressional catacombs.

Four grand staircases occupy every quadrant of the Capitol. But the steps in the southwest portion of the constructing on the House facet inform maybe one of the most grotesque tales in Congress.

10 BEST PLACES TO CELEBRATE HALLOWEEN IN THE US, WITH SPOOKY SPOTS RANKED

Capitol Hill, like some other staple of up to date Americana, has a wealthy historical past of folklore bordering on the macabre. (Getty Images)

And we’re not speaking about one of the massive omnibus spending payments.

Rep. William Taulbee, D-Ky., served in Congress in the late nineteenth Century. And similar to at this time, the Capitol groups with journalists, chasing lawmakers for a citation or details about laws. But Taulbee had an issue. Reporter Charles Kincaid wrote for the Louisville Times. Kincaid penned an article about Taulbee’s dalliances titled “Kentucky’s Silver-Tongued Taulbee Caught in Flagrante or Thereabouts.”

After the article, Taulbee didn’t search reelection however caught round in Washington, pushing numerous causes – lengthy earlier than “K Street” turned a factor. But Taulbee and Kincaid would usually run into each other at the Capitol. Taulbee was quite a bit taller than the diminutive Kincaid and would generally bodily harass the scribe.

The pen could also be mightier than the sword. But it’s actually not as highly effective as a pistol.

In February, 1890, the two males encountered each other close to the House chamber. Kincaid produced his firearm and shot the former Congressman in the face. Taulbee bled profusely as he headed down the marble stairwell.

Many lawmakers come to Washington, intent on leaving a mark on the physique politic. But because it seems, it was Taulbee’s physique which left an indelible mark on the U.S. Capitol.

USER’S MANUAL ON WHAT HOUSE RACES TO WATCH ON ELECTION NIGHT

You see, the composition of human blood and the Georgian, white marble used to make the stairwells of the constructing don’t precisely combine. Splotches of Taulbee’s blood lined the staircase each few toes from the second flooring to the first. Some markings appear like shapes in a Rorschach take a look at. Taulbee died the subsequent day from his wounds. But his plasma is perpetually a component of the U.S. Capitol, completely staining the staircase.

As a end result of his destiny, Taulbee doesn’t assume a lot of reporters. Even to at the present time. And it’s believed that Taulbee generally makes himself identified by tripping members of the Congressional press corps.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited the Capitol in the summer time of 2019. He had simply met with then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. However, phrase broke that day that the attendance-starved Tampa Bay Rays would possibly attempt to work out an settlement to play some of their residence video games in Montreal. The Montreal Expos deserted Canada in 2005 to turn out to be the Washington Nationals.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is a identified Expos fan – there’s even an image of him and his late father, Pierre, watching them play at Montreal’s Olympic Stadium in his youth. (Bettmann / Contributor)

Trudeau was a fan of the Expos. There’s even an image of a boyish Trudeau in the stands at Olympic Stadium in Montreal along with his father, late Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau.

It could be a scoop if the youthful Trudeau weighed-in on the prospects of Major League Baseball returning to Montreal.

Trudeau walked down a spiral staircase not removed from the place Kincaid killed Taulbee. I attempted to get a remark from Trudeau. But for no obvious motive, I tripped over the lip of a step and cascaded in entrance of the Canadian chief. I didn’t drop the microphone. I additionally knew that I might break my arm or hand if I attempted to catch myself.

REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: WITH NO GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN, IT FEELS LIKE CHRISTMAS IN SEPTEMBER

Fortunately, I studied martial arts for years. One of the issues they train you is how one can fall. I rapidly adjusted my weight so I plunged onto my proper shoulder and rolled. My toes flew up in the air. This was all caught on tape by my photographer Robert Fetzer.

“Oh Chad! Chad! Chad! Chad,” yelled Fetzer, as I plopped immediately in entrance of Trudeau.

I used to be unhurt and Trudeau prolonged an arm to help me. But I had already sprang again to my toes. Alas, Trudeau didn’t reply my query about the Rays and Montreal and went on his means.

I could have had my very own run-in with the ghost of William Taulbee throughout an try to interview the youthful Trudeau. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press by way of AP)

But there was no logical motive why I tripped there. I’ve stood by these stairs tons of of instances. I’ve by no means been caught by the lip of the decrease stairs.

A potential rationalization?

Perhaps the ghost of William Taulbee noticed to it that I keister over teakettle in entrance of the Canadian Prime Minister.

CANADIAN PM TRUDEAU SAYS ‘THERE’S MORE WORK TO DO’ AS HIS PARTY LOSES LONG-HELD SEAT IN QUEBEC

However, there is just one Capitol haunting which surpasses the Taulbee tripping story.

But solely by a whisker.

It’s the legend of the demon cat.

Cat pawprints immortalized in the Capitol’s flooring are rumored to be these of the so-called “demon cat,” whose sporadic appearances round Washington have coincided with wars and assassinations. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Capitol Police officers and even nineteenth century watchmen declare they’ve seen a phantasmic feline prowl the hallways of the Capitol earlier than nationwide emergencies. Especially conflict and assassinations.

Purr-portedly.

That mentioned, nobody noticed the demon cat earlier than 9/11 or the 2021 Capitol riot.

CONTINGENT ELECTIONS: WHAT THEY ARE, AND WHAT TO EXPECT IF 2024 TRIGGERS ONE

Maybe the demon cat – like all cats – solely has 9 lives.

But I can take you to a spot the place the demon cat is alleged to have walked.

Go to the first flooring of the “mini” Rotunda on the Senate facet of the Capitol close to the Old Supreme Court chamber. If you be taught towards one of the columns close to that room and look down, you would possibly simply see a number of paw prints completely etched into the flooring. However, the mild should catch the prints excellent. You might stand proper on high of the prints and by no means spy them.

Sometimes, the greatest phantasms one can conceive of in our nation’s capital exist in the thoughts’s eye – the specters of nice males who’ve lengthy since handed, leaving naught however their indelible marks on American historical past. (Tom Williams/Roll Call/Getty Images)

Supposedly the demon cat signed its initials in an obscure Senate stairwell in the basement. Scrawled into the concrete are the initials “DC.”

However, this proof is as much as interpretation. Could the DC stand for “District of Columbia?” How about “direct current?” Maybe even, “Detective Comics.”

I warned you we might descend into the Congressional cat-acombs.

AMERICAN CULTURE QUIZ: TEST YOURSELF ON HIT TV SHOWS, SPORTS STARS AND HALLOWEEN

The Capitol contains a cornucopia of tales about spooky voices, departed staff singing late at night time and even one story of a senator rocking in a chair, studying laws. The Capitol Rotunda and Statuary Hall (the previous House chamber) are dotted with life-life renderings of statesmen, inventors, heroes and scientists. It is alleged that after midnight the statues generally come alive to debate each other.

In the House of Representatives, that’s not a “Special Order” speech however a “Spectral Order.”

But generally the greatest ghosts in the Capitol are the ones you conjure in your thoughts’s eye. Abraham Lincoln sitting at a desk towards the again of the previous House chamber. Lyndon Johnson roaming the Senate flooring. Scenes of presidential inaugurations from years passed by at the Capitol.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The ghosts of the republic the truth is hang-out the halls of Congress.

And in lots of instances, these phantasms aren’t ghosts.

They’re American historical past.