One very amusing variation of the countless imitations, which the
success of this trick gave rise to, was the “cat hoax” at Chester,
in August, 1815. It was at the time when it had been determined to
send Napoleon to St. Helena. One morning, a number of hand bills were
distributed in and around Chester, stating that, owing to the island of
St. Helena being invested with rats, the government required a number
of cats for deportation. Sixteen shillings were offered for “every
athletic full-grown tom cat, ten shillings for every adult female
puss, and a half-crown for every thriving kitten that could swill
milk, pursue a ball of thread, or fasten its young fangs in a dying
mouse.” An address was given at which the cats were to be delivered;
but it proved to be an empty house. The advertisement resulted in the
victimisation of hundreds of people. Men, women, and children streamed
into the city from miles around laden with cats of every description.
Some hundreds were brought in, and the scene before the door of the
empty house is said to have baffled description. When the hoax was
discovered many of the cats were liberated; the following morning no
less than five hundred dead cats were counted floating down the river
Dee.