THE LADIES' FIELD "CAT GOSSIP" COLUMNS

THE LADIES' FIELD "CAT GOSSIP" COLUMNS - 1908

Cat Gossip column became increasingly sporadic, with no "gossip" appearing in numerous issues. During the following year, Dick Whittington was replaced by a different correspondent.

CAT GOSSIP. The Ladies' Field, Jan 4, 1908. - No Cat Gossip

CAT GOSSIP. The Ladies' Field, Jan 11, 1908, pg 232.

THE whole cat world is in a state of tension, but if we speak the truth we should be bound to admit that "no one knows anything" about what is going to happen. I know of four different factions; two of these have plans cut and dried, but known only to themselves, the remaining two have not yet decided anything except that they mean to spoil everybody else's plans.

A LEADER is badly wanted, and a club with a committee of men only. Women may be fitted to vote and to sit in Parliament, but they cannot run a cat club. The most important business at a meeting will lose interest before the important news that Mrs. Smith's stud cat has eczema or green eyes, and that Miss Brown has bred an absolutely self-silver kitten, which has died. The personal element cannot be kept in the background. Unfortunately, there are very few fanciers who do not sell or exhibit their cats but take sufficient interest to attend meetings regularly, and we have to fall back on persons whose sole object is to arrange everything for their own personal and exclusive benefit.

AT Westminster Show next week much of interest may transpire, and it may be decided if we are to have a National Cat Club, an International Cat Club, an Amalgamated Cat Club, or as many clubs as there are fanciers.

I AM extremely sorry to know that Mrs. Collingwood is parting with all her cats. She has some very good ones, and her short-haired silver tabbies are world-renowned

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.
(For Rules see previous issues.)
MISS N. RYND. - There have been several changes of management, but your letter has been forwarded to the present secretary, though I can assure you that the club does not act as an agency for the sale of kittens. Your best plan is to advertise your surplus stock.
DAPHNE. - Since you ask my advice, I should suggest waiting a few months until things are more settled before you decide which club to join.
KITTY. - Fleas are very troublesome among long-haired kittens, and daily combing and catching is the only really satisfactory remedy. - DICK WHITTINGTON.

CAT GOSSIP. The Ladies' Field, Jan 18, 1908, pg 274.

Owing to luck of space the Westminster Cat Show is unavoidably held over till next week.

CAT GOSSIP. The Ladies' Field, Jan 25, 1908, pg 316.

WESTMINSTER SHOW
THE Royal Horticultural Society's hall in Vincent Square is, undoubtedly, the best hall in which a cat show has ever been held. It is large, light, and airy, without being draughty. The Southern Counties' Cat Club is to be congratulated on having held another successful and well-managed show. There was a good entry and the quality of the exhibits was first-class. Though there were a good many absentees through illness and other causes. Mrs. Sinkins, Mrs. Millar, Miss White Atkins, Miss Swanston and Mrs. Sangster, with other members of the committee, stuck closely to work throughout the show, and contributed largely to its success.

Long-haired cats (white males): First, the Hon. Mrs. Clive Behrens's Swinton Pierrot I thought a lucky cat - his eyes are pale in colour and his nose is his leading feature; second, Lady Decies's Fulmer White Prince, not in good coat, but his eyes are magnificent and his face and shape good; third, Miss Lawford's White Emperor, another beautiful cat with deep blue eyes; reserve, The White Knight, best head, ears and shape in the class, and far the largest, but eyes are a little pale.
White females: First, Mrs. Pettit's well-known Beautiful Pearl, appears to carry her head a little on one side; second, Mrs. Page's Fluff, in nice coat.
Black males or females (all these fail in eye): First, Mrs. Sharp's Copper-Eyed Blackbird, a fine cat, very large and well shaped, good head and coat, but eyes are yellow, not orange; second, Mrs. Norris's My Pet II., eyes rather better, but still not so deep as they should be; third, Lady Decies's Ch. Fulmer Black Bobbie, a grand cat but for his eyes.
Blue males (I could not follow the judging here): First, Miss Soan's Mocassin, a big, handsome, heavily-coated cat, with a broad head, but his eyes are very poor in colour and the colour of his coat is not pleasing; second, Miss Ayre's Struwwelpeter, a magnificent animal, very large and heavily coated, with a perfect head and brilliant orange eyes, but his coat is a little dingy in colour; third, Miss Jay's Holmwood Ray - it was impossible to inspect him, as he was buried in his straw; extra third, Miss Marquand's Ruddington San Toy, head perfect but eyes green; reserve, Mrs. Slingsby's Gervase of Thorpe, a really good dark blue cat with a fine head.
Blue females: First, Miss Lydia Gay's Kuchina, did not take my fancy - she is a very dark blue, with pale eyes and large cars; second, Mrs. Douglass's Oulton Bo-peep, scores in head and coat, but eyes and colour poor; extra second, Miss Lees's Lingmoor Mascot, a very nice cat, lovely face and coat and fair eyes, but a little smoky behind the ears; third, Miss Soan's Melissa; extra third, Miss Chichester's Dollebee, a lovely cat, with huge orange eyes, a round face and neat cars - she is full of quality but loses in colour.
Smoke males: First, Miss Wallis's Norman, a big, fine cat and good in colour, but shows face marking and coat terribly matted; second, Mrs. Sinkins's Teufel I., better in coat and colour, beautiful head, not quite so large; third, Mrs. Harber's Liverpool Rattler.
Smoke females: First, Dr. Pryor's Bowness, a lovely cat, with good head and coat but pencilled on face; second, Mrs. Cartwright's Little Polly Flinders, good colour, lovely face, big eyes; third, Mrs. Clark's Duskiana of Bath, nice colour.
Silver tabby males: First, Mrs. Slingsby's Don Pasquale of Thorpe, very large, full of quality and carrying a nice coat of purest silver with fairly good black markings; he fails badly in face, but taken all round is a beautiful young cat, though I think lucky to win the cup (an umpire had to be called in, as the judges differed over this award); second, Mrs. Bergman's Tam O'Shanter, a nicely marked cat in good coat and showing quality, but ears a bit big; third, Miss Cochrane's Garry Owen, large, fine head and lovely clear colour, but lacks density of marking.
Silver tabby females: First, Mrs. Sharland's Brosie Lass, a lovely cat with a sweet face but dingy in ground colour; second, Miss Cochrane's Sweet Rosemary, a sweet little cat, nicely marked; third, Mrs. Meeson's Rettendon Pansy Face, rightly named, but for a creamy muzzle far the best in the class.
Chinchilla males: First, Mrs. Denyer's Lord Silvercoat of Meadsgate, exquisite colour, no leg marks but dark smudge on head, eyes fair; second, Miss Chamberlayne's Silver Elfin of Ravenor, lovely colour, short nose and green eyes; third, Mrs. Sinkins's Spick, only a kitten, so wants filling out, but the best colour and quality in the class; reserve, Mrs. Wellbye's Sir Radical.
Chinchilla females: First, Miss Ford's Roosalka. beautiful shape and face, good colour and green eyes; second, Mrs. Denyer's May Blossom of Meadsgate, another nice cat: third, Master Thomas's Fairy, sweet face.
Shaded silver males or females: First, Miss Meeson's Seagull Duvals, a very pretty cat, snub nose, nice ears and good colour; second, Miss Bartlett's Holmesdale Daschka, pure in colour; third, Miss Dyser's Silver Glossie, a pale chinchilla, and a good one.
Brown tabby males: First, Mrs. Drury's Peruke, a big, fine cat, with a nice head light on chin and only fair in colour an markings; second, Miss Whitney's Ch. Brayfort Viking - his first defeat, I think - loses in head to winner, but is darker on chin, and better in colour and markings, but as he lost his temper or was seized with panic during the judging and would not be handled he had to pay the penalty; third, Miss Chamberlayne's Russet Boy, loses in colour and markings.
Brown tabby females: First, Miss Whitney's Brayfort Tip topper, lovely sable ground colour with exquisite markings, capital face and shape; second, Mrs Drury's Miss Wuzzer, nice colour; third, Mrs. Butler's Lucerne Mick ground colour too cold, lips and chin white, markings good.
Orange males: First, Mrs. Norris's Ch. Kew Red Comyn brilliant colour, good head and tiny ears; second, Ch. Kew Red Spider, loses in face; third, Mrs. Maxwell's Aldeboran, loses in face and colour.
Orange females: First, Miss W Beale's Romaldkirk Penelope nearly self-coloured but very washy, a round face but very small; second, Mrs. Slingsby's Auburn of Thorpe, much better in colour and larger, but longer in nose; third, Mrs. Bevington Smith's Polly, another washy would-be self colour.
Cream males: First, Mrs. Norris's Ch. Kew Ronald, huge, massive cat, fine head, eyes and coat, very sound colour; second, Mr. Helmer's Ch. Wildon Wily, pressing him close, clearer in colour but not so dead level, his equal in all other points - a matter of taste which wins; third, Mr. Helmer's Wildon Wilford, smaller but lovely colour, good head and eyes.
Cream females: First, Mr. Helmer's Wildon Witch, lovely colour, wins easily; all the others show markings.
Tortoiseshells: First, Miss Chamberlayne's Gipsy Queen of Ravenor, a very good cat, colours bright and well broken up; second, Mr. Furze's Beauty of Birmingham; third, Mr. Cannel's Leachmore, both nice cats.
Tortoiseshell and whites: First, Mrs. Slingsby's Rosette of Thorpe; second, Mr. Woods' Minette, both well known.
Blue neuters: First, Mrs. Palmer's Oscar; second, Miss McCheane's Adel Tiddles; third, Miss Tomlinson's Diccon of Ouseburn, all big fine cats, the first with orange eyes and the last with green.
Tabby neuters: First, Miss Lees' lovely orange Lingmoor Tom, looking well; second, Mrs. Corner's Red Roy of Eversley, another big fine orange with a good coat; third, Mrs, Mayeur's Toddles, a fair brown tabby.
Any other colour neuters: First, Miss Lees' Lingmoor Cream Cat, a lovely big cream, but round eyes and muzzle; second, Mrs. Boutcher's Omeewoo, a glorious shaded silver; thirds, Mrs. Morton's Stamford Don Q, a nice silver, and Mrs. Corner's Tweedledum, a fine self orange.
Blue male kittens, four to seven months: First, Mrs. Bergman s Youn'g Lochinvar, glorious coat and colour; second and third, Miss Hodges's Blue Bob and Blue Joe of Minley, good eyes and sound dark colour.
Females: First, Mrs. Wise's Khatum, nice eyes, fair colour, out of coat; second, Miss Savoury's Regina, glorious eyes and face, dark colour; third, Mrs. Watson's Barry Iola, lovely eyes, coat and colour.
Males, seven to nine months: First, Mrs. Norris's Kew Brushwood Boy, huge, heavy bone, fine head and good eyes; second, Mrs. Slingsby's Lubin of Thorpe, a fine cat; third, Mr. Smith's St. Anthony, loses in eyes and colour.
Females: First, Mrs. Steel's Worton Milly, pretty face, nice eyes and coat; second, Mrs. Wynn's Antonia di Padua, glorious eyes; third, Mrs. Fisher's White Honoria of Highgate, lovely colour, nice face, loses in eyes.
The winning smoke kitten, Smoke Pearl, is lovely in colour, with a nice face and ears and good eyes.
The chinchilla kittens were distinguished for their lovely colour and sweet faces. Miss Tyser, with Binfield Jim, Lady Tina and [Mrs.?] Bartlett, with the exquisite silver Olah, won the chief prizes, and Mrs. Welbye's Count Robert was second.
In silver tabbies first went to Miss Cochrane's nicely marked Artful Dodger, and second to Mr. Maynard's clear-coloured Horndean Garry.
Brown tabby kittens: First, Miss Whitney's Brayfort Tigerine, grand colour and markings, good face, sound chin; second, Miss Cochrane's Jenny Wren, ground colour wants warmth, and chin and throat light, but markings perfect and head good; third, Miss Cochrane's Cock Robin, lovely red colour and good face, but markings want density; extra third, Mrs. Lynwood Palmer's Maid Marion. lovely colour and coat, fair marking, white chin and very peaky face.
Orange kittens: First, Mrs. Bevington Smith; second, Miss McCheane; third, Miss Fawcett - all nice kittens.
Cream kittens: First, Miss Lees' Lingmoor Dan, good colour, coat and eyes; second, Mrs. Vidal's Tapioca, very pale; third, the Hon. Mrs. Clive Behrens, nice face, but shaded in colour.
Short-haired cats: Mrs. Carew Coxes' well-known Fancy Free headed the Abyssinian class.
Blue males: First, Lady Alexarder's Ballochmyle Bumping Still, a big, fine cat with orange eyes; second, Lady Decies's Fulmer Blue Tune, smaller, paler in eye and barred on tail.
Blue females: First and cup for best short-hair, Lady Decies's Fulmer Blue Love in a Mist, exquisite face and shape, tiny ears, good eyes and beautiful colour; second, Fulmer Copper queen, better eyes but not so good in face, and a very bad shower; third, Mrs. Tom Fletcher's Brunswick Bess, nice colour, loses in eyes.

CAT GOSSIP. The Ladies' Field, Feb 1, 1908, pg 353.

ATLANTIC CAT CLUB'S SHOW IN NEW YORK
THE sixth annual show of the Atlantic Cat Club was held, as usual, at the Madison Square Garden, New York, and its great success was due to the indefatigable energy of the secretary, Miss Laura Hopkins, who worked early and late in the interests of the members of the club as well as the exhibits. The entries numbered nearly 300, and the quality of the animals shown was distinctly above the average. Among the judges was Mr. Louis Wain, who divided his attention between selecting prize-winners and making cartoons for the New York papers.

The judging was conducted in a systematic and speedy manner, so that by the end of the second day - the show lasted for four days - there was ample opportunity for the crowds who flocked to the garden to admire the pretty creatures undisturbed. The awarding of the more important specials took place during the afternoon of the first day, and Miss Hopkins was made happy by receiving the prize for the best blue-eyed novice in the show, as well as the best blue-eyed female, White Aigrette. The best blue-eyed white male was judged to be Romeo Y. Brenin Gwyn, belonging to Mrs. H. S. Dykehouse, while the cup for the best blue-eyed white of either sex was won by Miss Ava L. Pollard of Elizabeth, N.J., who won also the prize for the best yellow-eyed variety with her White Monk. A prize for the most artistically-arranged cages having been offered, considerable interest, and some excitement, was occasioned during the official inspection of the temporary homes of the cats. After due consideration the prize was accorded to Miss Hopkins, who, in spite of her duties as secretary, had found time to make her exhibits very artistic.

Some rarely coloured blues were exhibited by Mrs. R. Ottolengui of Saratoga, and with her Saratoga Kew Iris she won the special for the best female and with her Saratoga Fatima the cup for the best novice. These cats were "between coats," so that the genuinely solid colour which they possess was not so apparent to the casual visitor as to the judges. Nevertheless the awards were popular with everyone.

The honour of being the best chinchilla went to Abdul Zaphir, a beautiful creature belonging to Mr. J.W. Kaestner of New York, one of the most enthusiastic members of the Atlantic Cat Club. The best male silver tabby was Earl of Airlie, belonging to Miss Kroeh of Orange, N.J. The best male brown tabby hailed from Noroton, Connecticut, being entered by Mr. Frank O. Pratt, another enthusiastic gentleman member of the club. Miss Ruth Ward of Brooklyn, who divides her attention between cats and the stage, is known throughout the States as the possessor of the finest "oranges" in America. It was, therefore, not surprising that for the best orange tabby shown she should be awarded the prize.

Mrs. Ottolengui was successful in winning the prize for the best cat in the show with her Saratoga Kew Iris, a long-haired blue, which, as fanciers are well aware, is perhaps the hardest of all colours to obtain. Mrs. Champion succeeded in carrying off the prize for the best male in the show with her Argent Glorious, winner in the class for shaded silvers. K. There was some little discussion regarding this award, as it was pointed out that Argent Glorious was a mixed instead of a solid colour.

The best black was next considered, and the prize was awarded to Columbia Patrick, belonging to Miss Eleanor Burritt of Washington. This cat was greatly admired, and many considered that he should have received the prize for the best male. His coat was devoid of even a suggestion of "rust," very solid in colour and thick. The cat that ran him very close was Saratoga Johnnie Fawe II., an animal that has won blue ribbons at almost every show in the States since he was first exhibited. But unfortunately his coat was not in good condition, and there was a touch of bronze due to the old under-coat not having been removed.

In the classes for smoke-coloured cats Mrs. G. B. Brayton of Brighton, Mass., and Miss Agnes V. Williams of Orange, N.J., were the winners. For orange tabbies Miss Ruth Ward carried away most of the ribbons, her only rivals with chances of success being Mrs. Helen Castro and Mrs. Elizabeth Norton. The "pick" of the creams was judged to be Matthew of the Durhams, belonging to Mrs. L. A. Woodward, who had brought her all the way from New Orleans, Louisiana. By the time Durham Matthew got home again he had done close upon 3,000 miles, but as he is used to travelling he probably did not suffer any ill effects, especially as he slept nearly all the time. In tortoiseshells Miss Ellen Van Benthuysen carried away the prize with her Terrace Dolly Varden.

CAT GOSSIP. The Ladies' Field, Feb 8, 1908, pg 395.

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS
DICK WHITTINGTON will be pleased to give advice on all matters concerning cats and their ailments, and will be glad to receive for insertion any interesting items of cat news that her readers may send. Queries must be written on one side of a separate sheet of paper, and must be signed with a pseudonym only for publication, but a letter giving full name and address of sender must accompany each query. A postal reply will be sent if the fee of 2s. 6d. is enclosed.. Letters should be addressed, "DICK WHITTINGTON, care of Editor, THE LADIES' FIELD."
DAPHNE. - If you comb and brush your white cat regularly you will be surprised to find how much cleaner he looks. I do not advise you to wash him, but when he really requires cleaning rub him thoroughly all over and well into the roots of his hair with prepared white fuller's-earth and then give him a good brushing.
BOBBY. - There is certainly no diet better for kittens than newly-killed sparrows if you can get them, and as you live near a large farm this should be easy. Moreover, you are doing the farmer a good turn by helping to rid them of sparrows. Let the kittens have cold water to drink.
BETHIA. - The cat is nearer to a state of nature than any other domestic animal and, if allowed to follow her own instincts, a normal cat accustomed to having its liberty will generally take care of itself pretty well. Cats discovered before human beings did that fresh air was good for diseased lungs and that starvation was the best treatment for disordered stomachs and bowels, and, therefore, I think you may safely allow your cat to know how best to rear her own kittens. She has made a great success of it so far so why interfere?
PAMELA. - You should write in the first instance to the secretary of the club: but, of course, you must realise that there will be rules and regulations to conform to. With regard to sales, these are concluded through the secretary of the show, naturally, but, of course, there is no compulsion to sell. With regard to general care and diet, you cannot do better than follow the advice given in these columns from time to time. Fame is not won in the cat world any more quickly than in other spheres of life, but you will soon gain experience, and the cat fancy is certainly a very fascinating hobby.
JEREMY TAYLOR. - Give the kitten a teaspoonful of warm castor oil and feed on scraped raw beef for a time. I think he will get all right as he grows older.
MRS. B. W. A. (Suffolk). - In any case of acute illness it is wise to call in a skilful veterinary surgeon for treatment at once. I need hardly remind you that all long-haired cats shed their coats in February or March, and do not regain them till the following autumn. Do not give fish or vegetables, but let the diet consist chiefly of meat, and in another month or two you will find that there is very little wrong with your cat. - DICK WHITTINGTON.

CAT GOSSIP. The Ladies' Field, Feb 15, 1908, pg 434.

MISS LIVINGSTONE'S CATS.
MISS LIVINGSTONE of Glencairn, Lanark, is well-known as a most successful exhibitor of neuter cats. She has in all ten cats, six of which, a long-haired white, a short-haired white, an orange, a cream, a chinchilla, two Siamese and a white Manx, are neuters. There are but two female cats, Dolly, a large blue daughter of Mark Antony, and Phyllis, a pretty orange-eyed white. Both these were bought from Mrs. Longwill about six years ago, but Miss Livingstone does not go in for breeding, as she does not care to part with her pets. The two Siamese are Eoin and Togo of Drayton, and are from the Royal Siam and King Kesho strain. Togo is perhaps the better marked cat, but he has a badly kinked tail, while Eoin's tail is straight. These cats have won a number of firsts, specials and medals, but Miss Livingstone does not intend to risk them at any more shows. Sam was once a beautiful blue-eyed white, but many thrilling adventures and misfortunes have rubbed the polish off a little. Once when on a visit he disappeared from Sunday until Friday night, when he was discovered by the organist concealed in the organ in church. On another occasion he tried conclusions with an express train and lost half his tail, one eye and all but one of his teeth. Since then a gathering [boil] in his ear has caused it to shrivel up; so, though strong and well, he presents a somewhat battered appearance. Monxie is an imported white Manx, winner of four firsts, two seconds, two medals, some specials and the S.H.C.S. cup for best neuter at Edinburgh, though he has only been to five shows. He could not be exhibited last year, as he was then recovering from an attack of inflammation of the lungs. Glencairn Chrystal II.,. is a lovely long-haired blue-eyed white. He is by Ch. Lord Abercorn ex a daughter of Ch. White Friar. Glencairn Frederick is a fine orange, very sound in colour, and winner of many firsts and specials. Alphonso, his brother, a pale cream, has not yet been shown. Muffy, the chinchilla, is also a winner, but rats and mice are his speciality. Miss Livingstone's cats and dogs are, as may be seen, great friends. The cats have a very varied diet, which includes raw and cooked meat, fish, milk, porridge, arrowroot, vegetables, etc. The cats all sleep indoors, and have as much liberty as possible during the day. They have little outdoor houses and runs, but these are never used during bad weather. Miss Livingstone believes in washing her cats; she also cleans them with hot bran or with fuller's-earth.

CATS AT THORNTON HEATH.
A PLEASANT little function was held on Thursday in the public hall, Thornton Heath, where the Fanciers' Association gave ten cat classes in conjunction with their Poultry Show. Mr. Jeffries, an enthusiastic fancier and moving spirit in the feline department, presented a handsome cup in each class. Mrs. Kyle Battley received and entertained at luncheon the judge, Mrs. Balding, and hon. stewards, Mrs. De Morgan, the Misses Bartlett, Miss Hill Shaw and Miss Rose. Of the 100 entries twenty-six were sleek local cats "to be judged by condition only." Special prizes numbered thirty-two. In long-hairs Mrs. Norris scored with Ch. Kew Roland for best cat present, and for best tabby with her equally famous red, following whom came Mrs. Sharland's young sable queen, grand ground and markings, but, as at Woolwich, still too short of coat; third, Romaldkirk Ringdove. Miss Beal also won third with her smoke in the class for that variety. In chinchilla and silver, Ravenor Cap and Bells' unmarked chinchilla coat would not be denied, though she shows age, which is not wonderful at nine years. Mrs. Dee's Earlsfield Detta, second to Kew Ronald in self-colours, won as best black. Blues were best represented by kittens. Mrs. Watson won easily for best present with Barry Iola, who throws back to her Blue Ruin blood, wide and low; she has good eyes, while seldom is a coat of such length and texture seen. His clear light shade is sound to the roots. Mrs. Wise and Miss Atkinson showed high-class blues of a bright, even shade, both shapely with good eyes. Miss Bartlett's fine kitten Olah, the best chinchilla shown, had to be content with second to Iola in the mixed class. Miss Sargent's blue, nice in colour and eye, is off coat. In short-hairs three orange tabbies gained chief honours, all being richly coloured, with fine eyes. First and third, Hanley and Oliver, are most definitely, and second, Morley, most fully marked. Best silver tabby was Miss Rose's nice female. Best Manx, Miss Hill Shaw's brown.

A RETROSPECT.
WITH the close of the show season comes the desire to know whether we, as cat fanciers, have made satisfactory progress during the past year. In the long-haired varieties I think we have done fairly well on the whole; some classes are at a standstill, but others have made undoubted progress. Blacks are slowly but steadily improving. The eyes are the difficulty, and though I have rarely seen the true dark orange eye there are certainly plenty of cats with good bright yellow eyes, which are a step in the right direction and, with patience and perseverance, another two years should bring the desired result. In head properties and general physique the blacks are excellent; colour might in some cases be better, but when the eye colour is settled that will doubtless receive attention, and it is a matter easily rectified in this variety. Whites have not, I think, altered much in the course of the last year, but the previous year produced such perfection that but little remains to be done. We have splendid material to work upon and, if breeders will avoid cats with large ears, long noses and pale eyes, the whites are safe.

Blues have made gigantic strides in all points save colour, and here I find them badly wanting. Unsound colour in a blue is a serious fault and one difficult to put right, so let breeders give their attention to this point before it is too late. At any of the recent shows I could have picked out a dozen or more cats with sweet, round faces, tiny ears, big orange eyes and grand in shape, bone and coat, but everyone of them unsound in colour and, therefore, unsafe for the novice to breed from. These cats are so beautiful in all other points that their blood must not be lost, therefore let experienced fanciers, with memories of the past to guide them, select cats from strains - and these still exist - which have always been celebrated for their clear, sound colour and avoid those which, though pure in colour, are descended from black, smoke or silver cats. Let these pure coloured cats and no others be mated with the unsound ones, and if their progeny is sound coloured we may conclude that the danger may be easily and quickly averted; but I fear that some generations of careful breeding will be necessary before we can depend upon the colour. Meanwhile we must be careful not to lose the other points which have been gained - eyes, coat, head, etc.

I do not think smokes have improved very much, but they are in so few hands that they have very little chance of doing so. Brown tabbies forge steadily ahead; white chins are fading away and markings are getting clearer, but we must beware of losing the massive head and bone which are characteristic of the breed.

The silver tabby gains in popularity, and many lovely cats are shown. I do not think the markings have improved, but a larger proportion of the cats shown are fairly well marked. The ancestor of all our best silver tabbies had a long, narrow face, but I think in all these years greater improvement might have been made in this point. Without losing anything in quality the silver tabbies have gained greatly in size and bone.

Of chinchillas I hesitate to write much; the females and the kittens appear to improve, and their colour, which is, of course, their leading feature, is beautiful. In the males I own I am disappointed. I have seen some beautiful in colour, but they were not strikingly fine cats, and certainly could not be named in the same breath with Silver Milord, Ardpatrick or Silver Tod Sloan.

Orange males leave little room for improvement, though the same cats are winning as last year; but in orange females I think things seem rather slack. For the creams I have unqualified praise. In every generation a few giants appear, and in each case they overtop those which have gone before. The cats which won a few years ago would not be looked at now, and I am particularly glad to see that the hazel eye, which I was so fearful at one time was being neglected, appears now to be a fixed point. Now that there is so much good material to work upon I think breeders should steadily avoid the blue or blue tortoiseshell cross. Though it levels the colour, there is no doubt it spoils the tone, and I can easily pick out cats which show blue ancestry.

Tortoiseshells and tortoiseshell and whites hold their own; but, as no-one breeds them systematically, they wax and wane from time to without showing any permanent alteration. Of late they been "waxing"!

Manx are going ahead rapidly, Abyssinians appear to be on the increase. Of Siamese it is impossible to write a satisfactory report, as many owners who own and breed good cats will not show them. Their constitutions are certainly greatly improved since the days of fresh air and raw meat dawned for them, as opposed to the days of fish and rice and stoves.

The British short-hairs appear to be completely at a standstill. When the old champions appear they win, and when they stay at home younger and inferior cats win. This looks like a downhill tendency. Short-haired blues are the better for no longer being called "Russians," as the degenerate specimens do not receive the encouragement which was bestowed upon them as foreigners. There are some magnificent males, and some first-class females have been bred.

The fact that there is no sale and, therefore, no means of disposing of short-haired kittens is, I think the reason the breed does not progress. Breeders naturally breed few kittens if they have to keep them all, and therefore there are less to select from. - DICK WHITTINGTON.

CAT GOSSIP. The Ladies' Field, Feb 22, 1908. - No Cat Gossip

CAT GOSSIP. The Ladies' Field, Feb 29, 1908. - No Cat Gossip due to Crufts Dog Show.

CAT GOSSIP. The Ladies' Field, March 7, 1908. - No Animal Gossip

CAT GOSSIP. The Ladies' Field, March 14, 1908. - No Cat Gossip

CAT GOSSIP. The Ladies' Field, March 21, 1908, pg 81.

MY annual advice to breeders will not come amiss now, when kittens are arriving daily. Do not worry or interfere with your queens, more particularly if they are young and inexperienced. Nature will teach them all they require to know, and interference on your part will make them over anxious and fussy, and may possibly cause trouble. Let them imagine, even if it is not so, that they have selected and made their own nests. Do not overfeed your cats when in kitten. A little extra food, if they appear to want it, may be given, but do not press them to eat. After the kittens are born do not handle them more than is absolutely necessary. Of course, they must be kept clear of fleas and their eyes must be inspected every day. Some flowers of sulphur dusted over the inside of the box and a lump or two of camphor under the bedding will help to keep fleas away. Be sure you put the camphor under the bed, as a friend told me that her cats ate it.

DO not fall in to the error of thinking that a cat must be fed on milk when she is rearing kittens. I have never heard of giving cows milk to encourage them to yield a good supply of milk. On the contrary, it is found that grass, their natural food, is the best milk producer. The same rule applies to cats - give them plenty of meat. When the kittens are three weeks old let them have a bit of meat to suck. When they are about a month old give them a little scraped raw beef - a bit the size of a pea - twice daily. This amount may be gradually increased as their digestive capacity permits. If a kitten gets too much it will go off its feed. A day's starvation and a teaspoonful of warm castor oil will put it right. I know many lady fanciers will tell me that this is brutal treatment, but I have proved many, many times that it is efficacious. Castor oil does not, as some people would have us believe, apparently cause cats of kittens any discomfort or undesirable after effects, and my system has the advantage of being delightfully simple.

MR. HALLY, in a contemporary, writes at length on the subject of my review of 1907, and quite endorses my opinion as to the progress, or want of progress, of the year. In the matter of blues I knew he would agree with me, as he has been for long past sounding the same warning to Scottish breeders.

LADY DECIES has decided to give up chinchilla cats. It is strange how this breed, at one time the most popular among fanciers, and nearly as popular with the general public as blues, has gone out of favour. Without wishing to say anything to the detriment of a famous and beautiful cat or of her mistress, there is no doubt that Ch. Zaida killed the chinchilla fancy. She appeared at all the large shows, and, at last, it became such a matter of course that she should carry off all the best prizes that other breeders thought it hardly worth while to enter their cats. This, of course, showed great lack of pluck and perseverance on their part; but there it is, and all the more credit is due to those few fanciers who stuck to their guns. Had Zaida retired six or eight years ago the breed might have revived, but I fear it is now too late for it ever again to become so popular as it once was.

SOMEBODY is, again, writing about that, as yet, unknown animal the Dutch-marked cat, and makes one statement, the accuracy of which I question. She says: "Only in the last two years has any effort been made to breed to a standard in Dutch-marked cats." What I want to know is if anybody has attempted to breed Dutch-marked cats. My own impression is that one or two people have seen and purchased, or picked up white and black cats which they thought were Dutch -marked, and that one or two other people have been presented by the kitchen cat with kittens which they thought might "pass in crowd." Did I see anyone devoting any time, money or attention to producing the required type of animal I should endeavour to help and encourage them, even though I thought their efforts were misguided; but it seems to me that the object is to get, not win, prizes. At my own back-door dwells a black and white cat far better marked from a Dutch point of view than any that appeared at Westminster. Her head is evenly marked with broad white blaze. She has a good white collar and forelegs, and her saddle mark is quite even on one side and fairly so on the other, but on one shoulder in front of the saddle mark she has a black spot the size of a shilling, and her hindlegs are white half-way up her thighs. Last year she had five white and black kittens, two or three of them more or less like herself.

DID I wish to breed Dutch-marked cats I should cross this cat and her kittens with white cats, with black cats, with white and black and black and white cats until I found which mixture was most satisfactory, and then I should inbreed the progeny till I got what I wanted. It would take some years, and at the end of that time I would be rewarded by winning a few insignificant prizes. There would be no profit and a good deal of trouble, besides the drowning of innumerable misfit kittens, and many disappointments. Does any cat fancier feel willing to take it up seriously? I doubt it.

A CERTAIN person, at one time well known to the cat fancy, has lately, under the name of "Sheena," been witing some very able articles in a contemporary. With most of "Sheena's" views on the cat fancy I am in complete accord, but he, I am sorry to say, finds great fault with me for my suggestion that the National Cat Club should have a committee composed entirely of men, and appears to consider the fact that a committee in which there are more men than women has been a failure proves that a male committee would also be a failure. I cannot see this point. We have never yet tried a committee of men in the cat fancy, and we have never yet had a thoroughly satisfactory committee. "Sheena" holds up the committees of various specialist and county clubs as examples of what can be done by a mixed committee; but is it possible that he is really unaware of the troubles and difficulties which have been, and in some cases still are, disturbing the work of these clubs and causing valuable members to retire. The Southern Counties' Club is mentioned particularly, but it is too young a club to prove anything, and even it has had its difficulties. The Kennel Club is ruled by men, and herein, to my thinking, lies its strength. The committee simply assumes superiority and ignores all attacks. It does not condescend to assert its authority or to endeavour to prove it, but simply assumes its existence, and it exists; and the Kennel Club has made the dog fancy, and its authority could not now be seriously questioned. What committee of women could do this? I fear there would always be a tendency when some important measure was under discussion to enquire, "Have we the strength for this?" and that want of certainty alone would be fatal to success. Again, women seldom, if ever, contrive to totally eliminate the personal element; nor do I think they have the calmly judicial minds of men. Their intuition is, no doubt, quicker, and, possibly, more correct, but intuition is not recognised in a court of law.

MISS SIMPSON'S Persimmon II. is a fine specimen of a long-haired brown tabby cat. His strong points are a wonderfully large, broad head and good bone and size, points in which some of our present-day cats are rather weak. As may be seen in the photograph, Persimmon is white on the lips and chin; but, notwithstanding this, his other good points make him a most valuable sire when suitably mated. A large number of his kittens have done well in the show-pen.

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS
DICK WHITTINGTON will be pleased to give advice on all matters concerning cats and their ailments, and will be glad to receive for insertion any interesting items of cat news that her readers may send. Queries must be written on one side of a separate sheet of paper, and must be signed with a pseudonym only for publication, but a letter giving full name and address of sender must accompany each query. A postal reply will be sent if the fee of 2s. 6d. is enclosed.. Letters should be addressed, "DICK WHITTINGTON, care of Editor, THE LADIES' FIELD."
WOOLLY BEAT. - There is no fee for answers in this column, but it is impossible for replies to appear in "the next issue." For a postal reply the charge is 2s. 6d. You do not tell me how you feed the cat, which is a pity, as that is the essential feature of the case. If her food is milky and sloppy, that quite accounts for her disorder. Please stop the flour and water at once and give the cat, as her sole diet, 2 oz. of raw lean beef sprinkled with carbonate of bismuth twice daily. Give no other food or milk - only water to drink. If this does not effect a cure, or if the cat is already being fed on meat, you had better write again giving further details.
CATO. - In the first place, it is of no use to tell me that you cannot spare time to attend to the cat and then to ask me for advice. To cure the vermin a good deal of time and trouble are essential, say half-an-hour every other day for a fortnight, and after that twice a week until the cure is complete. If you cannot spare this time, either destroy the cat or else take him to the local veterinary surgeon and ask for his terms for treatment. All bedding must in the first place be destroyed. Get a powder consisting of equal parts of milk of sulphur, powdered camphor and powdered magnesia and rub well into the cat's skin and coat every other day and then brush him thoroughly. This, if regularly and thoroughly done, will cure him. With regard to diet, porridge invariably and dog biscuits frequently cause this ailment. Feed the cat, for a time, at any rate, entirely on meat, raw beef for preference, and for the first week place on the back of his tongue, before feeding, a pinch of carbonate of bismuth.
TOPSY. - By crossing a smoke with a silver tabby, you cannot expect to get first class specimens of either breed. This cross was resorted to in bygone days, when there was no choice, for change of blood; but we are more particular nowadays, for there are several good strains of both breeds to select from.
PENELOPE. - I am glad to hear that my prescription was successful. I should advise you to continue giving the powders until the cat has quite finished moulting, and then stop them again for about a month if she appears to be all right during that time, but start them again at the least sign of a spot. If she keeps right during the month I should give her a short course of two or three weeks and then another interval, but you must regulate the treatment according to the cat's health. I do not think you need fear any ill effects from continuing the medicine over a long period, but, for various reasons, I should recommend long or short intervals at times. The only trouble you need fear is constipation, and apparently your cat does not suffer from that. I do not know if you intend breeding from the cat, but if so I should not let her rear more than one kitten and that only for the sake of her own feelings, as her kittens would not be very desirable possessions, as they would be likely to show a hereditary tendency to her complaint. - DICK WHITTINGON.

CAT GOSSIP. The Ladies' Field, March 28, 1908. - No Animal Gossip

CAT GOSSIP. The Ladies' Field, April 4, 1908. - No Cat Gossip

CAT GOSSIP. The Ladies' Field, April 11, 1908, pg 233.

MRS. BERGMAN'S beautiful blue kitten, Young Lochinvar, whose portrait appeared in connection with our report of the Westminster Show, has, I am sorry to hear, left England, his new home being in Cape Town. His new owner is, of course, delighted with him. It is very seldom that one of our best cats or kittens is sold for export, though, as has often been remarked, sellers expect to get about four times as much for a cat that is to go abroad as they would if it was sold in England. In addition to this, the purchaser has to pay a large sum for shipping the animal, and possibly heavy duty also. It seems very hard after all this to receive an inferior or unhealthy cat.

I ONCE possessed a very indifferent, though fairly well bred, chinchilla male cat, and another very good and very well bred. The latter I bred, the former was given to me by a friend who had tried and failed to sell him. A certain well-known fancier wished to buy one of these. I asked £10 for the good cat and £5 for the bad one, which she had seen and knew well. She demurred at both prices, and finally gave me a good deal less than I asked for the inferior animal. Within a month the papers were full of the fact that she had sold him to go to America for £15 15s.

APROPOS of the foregoing, a correspondent writes from New York: "In spite of the 'financial crisis,' bigger prices are being paid for prize cats in the States than anywhere else, and there is a lot of money being made by the amateur as well as the professional in selling kittens at fancy figures. It is, as everyone knows, a difficult thing in England to get mor¢ than 5 guineas for a kitten, however beautiful and perfect it may be; but in America - and especially in New York - £20 is considered but a very ordinary price. Miss Alva Pollard, a young lady who began taking an interest in cats some five years ago for her own amusement and, later on, was so successful that she continued the hobby to her own profit, has several cats for which she has refused £100 apiece. Of course, the danger of this is that ladies who began as amateurs - that is, breeders of cats who only part with their stock to their friends - develop into professionals, and then, of course, half the charm of the hobby is gone."

IT IS time that a genuine new breed of cat was introduced. How truly thrilling were the days when a new colour appeared frequently, and was at first, no matter how it was entered, almost invariably marked "wrong class." The Dutch marked cat and the Russian blue have made bold bids for favour, but I doubt their success, and they can hardly claim to be novelties in the true sense of the word. Since the creams and fawns came things have been very dull. Why has not Mrs. Davies's isolated specimen of a chocolate cat not been followed by others of his race, or was he really only a peculiarly rusty blue? Another genuine novelty of which I have often written was a real tiger-marked cat. He was shown by a butcher in the village of Dunlop, Ayrshire, and was orange with black stripes and a white chest and paws. He was a short-hair, and, unfortunately, a neuter. Circumstances prevented my making enquiries about his breeding.

I AM quite in accord with the writer in a contemporary who inveighs against the "yellow-white" chinchilla cat. This extremely ugly and unnecessary animal has done more harm to the true chinchilla than I can say. Many years ago, in the days of the Cat Club, these animals first appeared and began to win over the true chinchillas, and it was to protect the latter and save them from extinction that I originated the idea of classes for shaded silvers. No one ever really grasped the real idea, and the result was far from what I anticipated, for the pale chinchillas and the "yellow-whites" still met in competition in the unfortunately-named "self silver" class; while dark chinchillas and badly marked silver tabbies masqueraded as shaded silvers. As a matter of fact, very few people knew where to draw the line, and on one occasion the lady who was at the head of the club and presumably ought to have known what the club committee meant, actually awarded first prize to a cat in the shaded silver class and then gave it a special as the palest chinchilla!

I CERTAINLY think that any tinge of yellow on a chinchilla cat should at once condemn it as unsuitable for breeding, as this is the most difficult of all faults to get rid of. It is a curious fact that some chinchilla cats are quite sandy when in full coat, and pure colour when they have moulted.

I HAD a cat once which showed this fault, though her brothers and sisters and her sire and dam were all pure coloured, and, so far as I know, bred from pure coloured cats. I considered it to be merely un accident until I began to breed from her, and found that she threw a brown tabby kitten in every litter! Further enquiries convinced me that a certain paternal ancestor some generations back was to blame. This queen bred some beautiful kittens which did a lot of winning, but a keen critic who knew their origin could usually find a brown stain on some part of their coats.

MISS SAMUEL is, of course, the leading authority on Manx cats. She has stuck to them manfully through good report and ill, and still has the largest team of prize-winning Manx cats in the country. We do not often see her judging, but the reason for this is that her entries cannot be spared. Miss Samuel's recently-published opinions on the points of the Manx cat will be of much interest. She, as all good fanciers do, considers shape and absence of stump to be the most important points. She requires cats to be very short in the back and high and broad in the quarters, broad but rather long in face and pointed in ears. Miss Samuel possesses a wonderful strain of black Manx cats which excel in all these points; but, unfortunately, some of them have been very shy in the show-pen, and therefore have not advertised the breed as they might; for who can see the shape of a cat which burrows under its straw and hides its face in a corner? On the other hand, Sir Claud Alexander's white cat, Lord James Dumps, probably the best of his breed now in existence, stands in the centre of his pen and slowly turns round and round, giving everyone a good chance to admire him.

DOES it not occur to anyone that, in the interests of the cat fancy, their time might be more profitably employed than in arguing about what was, or was not, said or done at a certain most unsatisfactory meeting? It is obvious to us all that the proposals of the N.C.C. committee were not pleasing to the other clubs, and that the N.C.C. did not see its way to accepting the suggestions of the other clubs, but the "whys and wherefores" of all this are not very interesting or very essential; in fact, they only seem to cause ill-feeling. Cannot we start afresh with new suggestions? I fear there is no question that if the N.C.C. elects to stand alone and give battle to the other clubs, what little power and authority is left to it will soon vanish, but the other clubs can never hold the same unassailable position as they would do if they were affiliated to a properly-constituted and well-managed "head" club. Each party will be benefited by the assistance of the other.

I HAVE endeavoured to write in a strictly impartial manner and to point out what is "constitutionally" the best course. I have not the least hope that it will be followed, as the history of the cat fancy shows plainly that fanciers will neither pocket their pride nor give up their schemes for self-advancement for the good of the fancy. It is no use one side giving way if the other does not, it is no use for the N.C.C. to build upon its imaginary authority in the past or for the younger clubs to boast of their - still more imaginary - authority in the future. An excellent scheme, in my opinion, would be for each club, the N.C.C., the N.C.C.C. the M.C.C.C. and the S.C.C.C,, to send an equal number of members to form one large ruling committee, and then we could be sure that no one club could have greater influence than another.

MRS. DOYLE of Brighton has returned to the cat fancy after some years absence. She was at one time most successful in breeding blue Persians, Hazel and the invincible Ch. Ayrshire Ronald being the most prominent representatives of her cattery. She now possesses a handsome younger brother of Ronald in St. Quentin. This cat was sold by Mrs Doyle, when a kitten, to a friend who, though living in Brighton, let him run free. Naturally, the cat eventually strayed and was lost, and only through a chapter of coincidences was he recovered. For fear of further wanderings he was presented to Mrs. Doyle, and by this means she has been brought back to the fold. Mrs. Doyle tells me that St. Quentin is "a perfect king of cats," and I can well believe it if he is anything like his illustrious brother. Other good cats in the same cattery are Lusitania, a chinchilla queen, which Mrs. Doyle says is paler in colour than Ch. Zaida, and has a head like the Mighty Atom - she must, indeed, be a wonder! - also a very nice smoke queen.

MISS ROSAMOND WHITNEY informs me that her beautiful Brayfort Tigerine has arrived safely in America, and that her new owner is delighted with her. So she well may be, for Tigerine is one of, if not the, best brown tabby queens ever bred. A young male of the same stamp, but broader in head, is to follow Tigerine in June. Miss Whitney, who is always a most reliable judge of her own stock, says that she has this year bred a male kitten which is, in all points, the best she has yet bred. I trust he may live and prosper.

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS
DICK WHITTINGTON will be pleased to give advice on all matters concerning cats and their ailments, and will be glad to receive for insertion any interesting items of cat news that her readers may send. Queries must be written on one side of a separate sheet of paper, and must be signed with a pseudonym only for publication, but a letter giving full name and address of sender must accompany each query. A postal reply will be sent if the fee of 2s. 6d. is enclosed.. Letters should be addressed, "DICK WHITTINGTON, care of Editor, THE LADIES' FIELD."
SKYLARK. - Your cat and kittens are suffering from dry eczema, and that and the lice are caused by poverty of blood. You say nothing about feeding. The cat must at once be put on a raw meat diet, and the kittens weaned immediately and got on to a raw beef diet also. You do not mention their age. To the spots apply daily a little sulphur and white vaseline ointment. For the lice, rub well into the skin every other day a powder composed of equal parts of milk of sulphur, powdered camphor and magnesia, and then brush thoroughly.
VENETIA. - The five drops of oil of male fern is the best dose, but as your previous attempt was a failure try as follows: Fast the cat for twenty hours, then give a dessertspoonful of castor oil; after four hours give the male fern in a gelatine capsule. Any chemist will supply you with this. The method of administration is as follows: Hold the cat by the scruff of its neck with your right hand as it stands on floor or table and gently tilt the head back till the mouth opens, then drop the capsule in as far back as possible and poke it down with a paper spill, which you must have in readiness.
VALENTINE. - It may be done at any time now, but about seven months is, I consider, the best age. I certainly advise you to have it done. A Siamese is often not so objectionable as a cat of another breed, but you would find him very troublesome in various ways.
TREFFGARNE. - From what you say it seems to me very probable that the trouble is inside your cat's ears, and that the sores outside are caused by her scratching. Take equal parts of methylated spirits and warm water and thoroughly clean out the ears. Dry them carefully - this can be done with cottonwool - and then work in a little boracic ointment. If there is any accumulation of brown stuff in the ears this should, at first, be done every day. To the external sores apply a little sulphur and white vaseline ointment. Let me know how she is in a week's time. I do not think she has mange, but this can only be proved by a microscopical examination. If she has it will be necessary to clip her hair off and dress her all over every other day with the sulphur ointment, and all her bedding, etc., should be destroyed, and she should be kept from contact with all other animals. - DICK WHITTINGTON.

CAT GOSSIP. The Ladies' Field, April 18, 1908, pg 265.

W E have patiently waited for a long time, and at last the first move in the match between the clubs has been made. As everyone expected, the Southern Counties Cat Club, as the most enterprising and energetic (the youngest cat club is always first!), takes the lead. The S.C.C.C. secretary has sent out the following circular to all the clubs and societies now in existence:
Dear Madam, - A strong feeling has arisen among fanciers that a representative central governing body composed of the clubs and specialist societies has now become a necessity for the welfare and prosperity of the cat fancy. The S.C.C.C. has consented to the request of numerous members that it should initiate a movement to this end, and I have been authorised by my committee to submit the following proposals for the consideration of your club. I shall be glad if you will call a committee meeting for that purpose, acquainting me with its decision as soon as possible. - Yours, (Signed) P. MILLAR, Hon. Sec.
1. That an association be formed to be called the (National?) (Imperial?) (British?) Cat Fanciers' Association. (Name to be finally settled by its committee.)
2. That the association shall consist of all cat clubs and specialist societies in the United Kingdom desirous of affiliation.
3. That a committee of the said association be formed, consisting of representatives elected by the committee of each club or society in the proportion of one delegate per fifty members or part of fifty.
4. The said committee shall be a supreme court of appeal, promulgate show rules, decide any question arising out of shows, and act as an arbitrator in all matters of dispute.
5. That the said committee shall award championships and have full power to decide the conditions regulating the same.
6. The said committee shall decide age limits, also the conditions under which registration is necessary for championship shows.
7. That the committee shall regulate registrations and see that they and the studbooks are issued regularly and accurately.
8. That the secretary of the said committee be a person not officially interested in either of the clubs or societies.

The programme is an excellent one, and, granted that the clubs and societies respond, as I feel sure they will, success is certain. I cannot say that I am sorry for the N.C.C. It could have prevented this secession if it liked by meeting the other clubs in a friendly spirit, but now, it seems to me, it has dug its own grave.

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.
(For Rules see previous issues.)
WHITE MOUSE. - Cats very often suffer from that nasty brown scurf in their tails. The best cure I know of is to powder the skin thickly twice a week with boracic powder. This does not spoil the hair, but if it fails a dressing consisting of equal parts of paraffin and olive oil thickened with sulphur must be applied. One dressing is usually sufficient, and when a cure is effected the tail can be washed.
JUMBO. - As you know that the kitten has worms you must be doubly careful in feeding her. On no account give worm medicines or you will probably lose the kitten, but a teaspoonful of extract of malt and cod-liver oil twice daily will help her. Small meals of scraped raw beef three times daily cannot improved upon. On no account give porridge and milk. It is the free use of that unsuitable diet which has caused all the trouble. The powder you refer to will cure the lice. Please let me know how the kitten gets on. She must have no worm medicine till after she has changed her teeth. Then you may give her a dose, but I expect you will find that the worms have gone by that time.
KITTIMORE. - I am very pleased indeed to hear that the kitten's eyes have recovered. Boracic lotion is the best lotion at all times for weak or inflamed eyes.
ANXIOUS. - I certainly do not approve of the exhibition of kittens, but then I have never kept cats with a view to profit but because I liked them. Show promoters provide kitten classes because they pay, and exhibitors show their kittens because they consider it to be a good advertisement.
DAPHNE. - I have promised to write an article on "alternative diet for kittens" when it is impossible to feed them entirely on meat; but remember I do not recommend this if it can be avoided, and it is decidedly risky for delicate kittens. I have never tried the preparation mentioned for kittens, but you might give yours a small quantity and see how it suits them. I have heard some good reports of it, and I should certainly use it in preference to cow's or goat's milk. - DICK WHITTINGTON.

CAT GOSSIP. The Ladies' Field, April 25, 1908, pg 301.

OCCASIONALLY some new prophet arises in the cat world and tells us uncompromisingly that all our ideas as to what a cat should or should not be are entirely wrong. These prophets are, as a rule, newcomers in the fancy, though many of them inform us that they have "kept cats" for years, as if the possession of a solitary mongrel qualified them to judge at the Crystal Palace. We have for long been given to understand that deep, dark orange eyes were desirable in a blue cat, but that an animal with copper eyes was even better. Now we are confronted with an assurance that the copper eye is, "from an artistic point of view," entirely wrong. What I want to know is exactly what is an artistic point view and why the critic's eye is more correct than the judge's. Personally I know of no more pleasing contrast than a dark copper eye in a blue cat's head, be the blue light or dark.

ANOTHER severe critic has decided that cat judges do not know their work, and, in proof of this fact, he relates how his cat has won at one show and been put down at the next. His remedy for this is point judging, and thereby he betrays his ignorance of everything connected with the fancy.

I BELIEVE it is a fact that many years ago a certain party of Scottish terrier fanciers were seized by a desire for point judging, and, their leader was asked to judge two well-known dogs by awarding marks to each dog and then adding up the totals. He accepted with joy, and after an hour's hard work tore up his paper and refused to have anything more to do with the business. It is an accepted fact that point judging does not work out right. Anyone experienced in showing expects their animals to be up one day and down the next. If it were not so there would be no advantage in having a number of shows and a variety of judges.

ONE judge prefers one type of cat and another judge a different type, both being, perhaps, equally correct. I, when judging self colours, consider the correct eye colour to be one of the five most important points, and in judging tabbies I consider the markings to be the most important point; but there are judges who apparently consider eye colour in self colours a minor point, and size and shape in tabbies before markings. We cannot all think alike, but it is very narrow-minded to insist that every one who disagrees with us is wrong.

ANOTHER bone of contention is being picked between various show reporters and judges. The judge accepts a position which lays him open to public criticism, and he should endeavour to take all that was said in good part and only remonstrate when some manifest injustice is being done. On the other hand, the reporter should remember that the judge has probably had a better chance than he has of examining a cat properly, and that a tabby can certainly not be properly seen unless it is stood on a table at a little distance from the judge, so that its markings may be seen properly. For this of course assistance is necessary. A certain judge, who takes criticism very ill, some time ago reported some classes which I had judged. In them was a very fair specimen of a breed which this judge had never had anything to do with in the way of breeding, owning, or judging at good shows. I had taken especial pains with this class and knew I had done rightly, and experienced judges and reporters did not find much fault with me; but my friend selected this cat as an example of my incapacity and expatiated on its beauties at great length, even going the length of suggesting that it was the best cat in the show. The animal was a tabby, and this clever judge and reporter was seen to examine it holding it up by the forelegs and gazing into its face! I took no notice of the report, I cared nothing for it; but I quote it as an example of inconsistency.

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.
KITTLES. - The feeding is certainly at fault. Lights contain little or no nourishment, and oatmeal produces great irritability of the skin. Sound lean beef or mutton, or even horseflesh, are the best substitutes we can find for the cat's natural diet. which consists of rabbits, birds, mice, etc. Milk and farinaceous foods are unnatural.
JOS.- Wash the cars out twice daily with equal parts of methylated spirits and warm water, dry well with cotton wool, and work in a little boracic ointment. If there is no improvement in a week write again, as different treatment suits different cases. Substitute meat for the fish you now give. This disease is sometimes contagious. - DICK WHITTINGTON.

CAT GOSSIP. The Ladies' Field, May 2, 1908, pg 337.

THE Southern r Counties Cat Club has clearly shown that it wishes the new club which is being organised to be a truly representative one, for I understand that the N.C.C. is to be invited to send representatives. If it is arranged that each club shall send representatives in proportion to the number of its members - only members whose subscriptions are paid up will, of course, be counted - then some curious results may be anticipated, and it will be rather amusing if the N.C.C. finds that it is not entitled to send as many members as some of the despised specialist societies.

MISS WINIFRED BEAL has written in a contemporary an interesting review of the orange and cream Persians. but - as is, perhaps, natural - she sticks rather closely to her own well-known strain, and does not tell us much of the experiences of other people in breeding these colours. Miss Beal condemns the use of a blue sire for breeding cream females, but says that good males may be bred in this way, and she goes on to write of the value of the blue tortoiseshell female for breeding cream females. This is all very well, and in bygone days when cream females were practically unknown we had to breed from blues, and the blue tortoiseshell, being bred from a blue and a cream or orange, was, of course, one step in advance of the blue for this purpose; but Miss Beal should add that when a cream queen is available her kittens will be far purer and clearer in colour than those bred in any other way.

AT one time, I went in for breeding creams, and my experiences may be of interest. I mated a tortoiseshell queen, bred from orange and tortoiseshell parents, with a pale orange sire; result, three orange males, two pale cream females. These in due time were mated with a cream sire and all their kittens were pale cream. I then mated an orange queen, bred from orange parents, with a cream male; result, two orange males, three cream females. I then mated an orange queen from the same parents as the last mentioned, with an orange sire and all her kittens were orange. I mated her next with a blue sire and her kittens were orange and tortoiseshell.

THE celebrated Kew Ronald, perhaps the best cat of his colour ever shown, was bred from blues and creams, I think. Mrs. Bagster bred two of the palest coloured cream males and the darkest orange queen I have ever seen, from the cream male Ripon and a brown tabby queen by the cream male Cupid Bassanio. Ripon and Bassanio were both beautiful cats, and the former was exactly the same shade of colour as Romaldkirk Admiral. I believe he was bred from a blue sire and an orange dam, and he was nearly, if not quite, the first cream to be shown. Miss Taylor of Parkstone, then bred some beautiful creams from her tortoiseshell Tawney by blue, smoke and cream sires. After this Miss Beal's kittens appeared at the Palace, priced at about a guinea and 25s. each, and several of them were sold. I bought the best of them, but unfortunately he died. The following year Admiral and Midshipmite appeared, and by that time Miss Beal realised their value, and kept them for herself, and they quickly made her name. For some years these cats were invincible; then younger cats, mostly their descendants, appeared, and the heavenly twins began to show age, and had to take a back seat. Since then Miss Beal has not been so successful in showing, and has not produced any sensational cat, though many from her strain have done brilliantly. I hope she may soon have better luck, and that we may once again see the Romaldkirk cats at the head of the cream classes.

CAT GOSSIP. The Ladies' Field, May 9, 1908, pg 403.

SOME time ago I promised to write an article on feeding kittens when an entirely meat diet was impossible. I wish it to be clearly understood that the meat diet is the only one I recommend; but I quite admit that it is possible, if kittens are strong and healthy, to rear them without meat by exercising an enormous amount of care and trouble. There are few, I may say no, households in which one meat meal for a single kitten, or even one litter, cannot be provided, and, therefore, I suggest that this should be made the principal meal of the day. Sloppy feeding is, for various reasons which must be obvious to those who have tried both systems, most objectionable; but there is difficulty in getting kittens to cat any dry food except meat. The best plan is to moisten bread-crumbs with just sufficient gravy to make them palatable, or to give very dry rice, sago or tapioca pudding or thick arrowroot or cornflower. Brown bread scalded with boiling milk and strained may be given, or Force treated in the same way. The chief objection to these foods is that kittens must overload their stomachs to obtain a sufficient supply of nourishment from them; but if one good meat meal can be given in the middle of the day, a small morning and evening meal of other food will suffice. A tablespoonful of milk food 1S as much as it is safe to give at one meal to a kitten of three to six months. Lentils boiled to porridge, with sheep's-head, are very much appreciated by most cats, and are a fairly good article of diet, and a very small quantity of fish may be given occasionally, but when freely used often causes eczema.

I have made various experiments with the object of obtaining reliable information, and the result of my experiments is this - a very strong kitten fed on milk diet, though apparently well, suffers from a very relaxed state of the bowels. When fed entirely on meat these symptoms disappear, but one meal of milk food causes an immediate return of the symptoms. A delicate kitten from the same litter when fed on milk food alone, or meat and milk alternately is never well, always dull and moping, appetite poor and shows general symptoms of debility. When fed on meat, he immediately gains weight and quickly recovers his health. He is always eager for food, and romps and plays all day. An occasional meal of milk food does not, strange to say, upset him quite so much as his brother.

These kittens, when they have reached the age of eight months, thrive well on two meals a day of raw beef, about 4oz. in all, and one small meal of thick milk pudding, which is immediately omitted if they do not appear to be quite well. The common habit of leaving a saucer of milk always with kittens is to be avoided. The "milk fooders" are, as a rule, those persons who advocate treating kittens as babies, why, I never can see, but I wonder if they are in the habit of leaving a baby's milk all day in an open jug on the nursery floor.

There is one point which I would like to impress upon my readers - a milk-fed kitten should be weaned as soon as it can eat, but a meat-fed one may be left with its mother as long as she can feed it. I have noticed with both dogs and cats that there is a tendency among mothers to wean their own young at the age of about six weeks, if the latter are fed on meat. This, to my mind, suggests that the mother is satisfied with the progress of her offspring, which certainly do not worry her to the extent that milk-fed puppies and kittens do.

CAT GOSSIP. The Ladies' Field, May 16, 1908,. - No Cat Gossip

CAT GOSSIP. The Ladies' Field, May 23, 1908, pg 510.

A GOOD fancier who is loyal to her favourite short-hairs is Lady Alexander, whose entries are sufficient to ensure the success of the short-haired section at any show which she supports. Lady Alexander at first depended upon ready-made winners, but now home-bred winners can be depended upon. Blue, orange and cream cats are the favourite colours, and of the latter, Lady Alexander could show half-a-dozen or more better than any I have seen elsewhere. Her attention is next to be turned to short-haired smokes, which she considers might be made into a very attractive variety.

THAT interesting writer, "Sheena," takes exception to my reference to her as "he," and appears to think that I am attempting to solve her incognito. I can assure "Sheena" that I had no thought of trying to place her. A friend, usually well informed, remarked to me casually, "Sheena is Mr. -- ." I had not considered the matter myself, and did not know it was a secret; therefore I accepted the statement without question.

ANSWER TO CORRESPONDENT.
(For Rules see previous issues.)
ANTIQUE. - I always use carbonate of bismuth, but some of my correspondents found the other preparation more convenient, so I mentioned it. I fear you will lose the tiny kitten; its mother's milk must be at fault. Next time I should make her exchange kittens with a reliable foster-mother, and see how she gets on. She may be all right, and probably will if you give her an entirely raw meat diet; no milk or vegetables, and plenty of liberty. Worms would cause the eye trouble, and insect eating does, I fear, sometimes cause worms. A meat diet and no milk is the best antidote. In the day 2 oz. of meat is ample for kittens of the age you mention I gather that yours have 2 oz. three times a day, or 6 oz. in all. This is quite sufficient, and the bulk should be made up with brown bread or biscuit-crumbs, or something of that kind. Do not give milk unless to very strong hardy kittens. Freshly-killed sparrows and raw rabbit, with the fur on, are the best possible food for cats and kittens. I noticed the mistake to which you refer. The second title was correct, I think, and was intended as a correction, though this was not clearly stated. It had nothing to do with me, and when the error first occurred I thought it was some unknown pet and the error a clerical one. My "Cat Manual" should suit you, but it is unfortunately out of print. - DICK WHITTINGTON.

CAT GOSSIP. The Ladies' Field, May 30, 1908, pg . - No Animal Gossip

CAT GOSSIP. The Ladies' Field, June 6, 1908, pg 37.

THE postponed general meeting of the N.C.C. has at last taken place. The committee and officers having resigned en masse were re-elected with the addition of Mr. Little. Mrs. Robinson was unable, though elected, to accept office. The much discussed "kitten age" rule was rescinded for the summer show. The suggestion that judging should be in public was not supported and the club subscription was not reduced.

PREPARATIONS for the N.C.C. show in June are well under way, but though we now learn that the club will have no rent to pay I still consider that it would have been wiser to wait until the club was out of debt. A cat show rarely pays even when it is a very successful winter one, and Botanic Gardens shows in the past have usually been financial failures. To those who have the welfare of the fancy at heart it was distressing to read the new rule that kittens shall not be eligible to compete for championships or as "best cat in show." If a kitten is good enough it should certainly be allowed to beat the older cats; but it is very rarely that a kitten is good enough to do so. He must, indeed, be an incapable judge who puts an inferior animal first merely because of a heavy coat and a baby face.

CAT-LOVERS from time to time endeavour to get a tax levied on their favourites, as they think that would greatly improve the cat's position in life. No doubt it would; but there are almost insuperable difficulties in the way of collecting such a tax. Its owner can rarely locate the common house cat at any given moment, so how is the Revenue officer to identify and run it to ground. Even if the tax could not be collected, the fact of its existence would, no doubt, help the cats a good deal, as many more miserable and unwanted kittens would be destroyed. I think the tax should be a small one - sixpence or a shilling - as many a poor family loves and carefully looks after a cat, but could not afford to pay a higher tax. I think an excellent plan would be for a proclamation to be issued saying that all cats found at large after a particular hour or a given date would be destroyed. The result would be that all cats whose owners cared for them would be secured and shut up and all the poor ownerless strays would be removed.

My criticism on the colour of present-day blues, though supported in some quarters, has not met with Mr. Mason's approval, as he considers our blues are good in colour. I am glad someone is pleased. I have not Mr. Mason's letter by me, but I think he referred to the blue cats in Scotland, and compared the present-day winners unfavourably with those of the past. In my opinion, Mr. Mason is wrong in writing of the Scottish blues as if they were a different breed to the English ones, as an examination of pedigrees will show him that, "as the English cats are, so are the Scottish cats likely to be." The two cats Mr. Mason selects are unfortunate examples, for Ayrshire Ronald and Bluejacket were both English-bred cats, and, as I was instrumental in their purchase, I know all about them. Both were good in colour and head. Ayrshire Ronald's eyes were orange, and he carried a heavy coat. Bluejacket's head and colour were extraordinarily good, but his eyes were green, and he was very short of coat. Ayrshire Ronald won first prize at the Crystal Palace, and could do so again if he appeared in the same form; as, when he won, our blues, both in Scotland and England, were at their best. Bluejacket was second at the Crystal Palace some years earlier, but he would not have a place now. Since his days our blues have improved and relapsed again to a certain extent.

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.
(For Rules see previous issues.)
HYDE PARK. - You do not repeat your pseudonym, and as I cannot remember it, I hope you will recognise your answer. Few cats will take pills in their food, as they eat and chew so carefully that they are almost certain to discover them. If a cat is properly dosed there is no mauling about and frightening. Stand the cat on the floor or on a table and take him firmly by the scruff of the neck with the left hand. In the right, hold a spoon containing the medicine to be given. All that is necessary is to tilt his head backwards by a gentle turn of the left wrist and the mouth will open automatically and the dose can be poured down. In the case of a pill, it can be dropped into the throat and poked down with a paper spill.
MAUDE. - It is extremely difficult to advise you in this matter. You appear to have seen the kitten before completing the purchase, and if there was no warranty given or implied, I fear you have no case. Kittens are notoriously risky stock, and develop illnesses so rapidly that the defence would probably be that you let the kitten take cold. I fancy from what you say it has got distemper. Snuffles is a chronic complaint which often follows distemper; feed on raw beef and give a tablespoonful of extract of malt and cod-liver oil daily. If constipated, give castor oil. If it has diarrhoea, give carbonate of bismuth. No milk. A good deal depends upon your veterinary. If he was prepared to give evidence in your case, you might be able to return the kitten. Will you give me, in confidence, the name of the seller, as I might prevent her victimising others. - DICK WHITTINGTON.

CAT GOSSIP. The Ladies' Field, June 13, 1908, pg 73.

(No general cat gossip.)

ANSWERS TO CAT CORRESPONDENTS.
(For Rules see previous issues.)
WALTRIM. - Thank you for your letter. It was evidently an extremely virulent form of the disease, and you are lucky to have saved any. The treatment must have been good or none would have survived. You must rely now upon tonics and a raw beef diet.
INKSPOT. - The only place of which I have personal knowledge is not in the exact district you mention, but it may do. Write to Miss E. Harper, Sunnymount, Haywards Heath. I believe she has recently removed to another house in the same neighbourhood, but no doubt your letter would reach her. I think you could quite rely upon the treatment then.
BLACK PIG. - Meat, not milk, is the proper diet. I am afraid I could not personally recommend the places you mention, as I have no actual knowledge of them. But if you insist on having a personal reference, you cannot go far wrong. - DICK WHITTINGTON.

CAT GOSSIP. The Ladies' Field, June 20, 1908, pg 114.

THE general opinion seems to be that Richmond Show was a less pronounced success than usual. For some reason the local fanciers do not apparently wish to encourage the show; a small classification was given, and consequently an entry of 152 was more than could be expected. Mrs. Norris, as usual, did well, her cats, though out of coat looked remarkably fit, the blue Kew Brushwood Boy, the orange Ch. Kew Red Comyn and the cream Ch. Kew Ronald all easily heading their respective classes, while the only other exhibit from the cattery took third - a good record. Miss Chevers showed some good blue females, exquisite in colour but short of coat, while Miss Jay's and Miss Grau's exhibits failed badly in colour. Mrs. Dee won with a beautiful black female in Earlsfield Daydream, and with an even better black kitten in Earlsfield Sweet Marie, which, I understand, was much coveted by the Hon. Mrs. McLaren Morrison. Miss Harmer showed and won with a very promising sable of lovely warm ground colour named Blynken, Miss Cochrane being second and third with two good silver tabbies. Mrs. Dee showed a grand litter by Mocassin which won first, but as she was not a member of the S.C.C.C. their medal went to Miss Lea's creams, which might well be shorter faced. The thunderstorm the night before the show caused great disaster. Three tents were struck by lightning, and Mr. Cox, the manager, had to remain on duty all night.

MISS MERIEL TAYLOR is organising a cat show to be held at Newport Pagnell on August 5th. Mr. Western and Mrs. Herbert Ransome will judge. Many classes are guaranteed, but where they are not they may be cancelled if there are less than six entries. Cat fanciers will look askance at this rule. The schedule is a generous one, but luckily it is still possible to make alterations, for I think that a good deal of rearrangement is required. In the long-haired section a class is given for orange or tortoiseshell, but the creams and fawns are left to the variety class. I think they might change places with the tortoiseshells. There are three kitten classes. Two for blues are guaranteed, there is one for orange, cream or tortoiseshell, and one for any other colour. This will include the blacks, whites, tabbies, smokes and chinchillas, and is surely rather unfairly arranged. Classes are guaranteed for self-coloured short-hairs, for Manx and for Siamese, and all the others are "lumped together." It is to be hoped that some generous guarantor will do something for the poor short hairs.

CAT GOSSIP. The Ladies' Field, June 27, 1908, pg 164.

NATIONAL CAT CLUB SHOW.
THE National Cat Club Show in the Botanic Gardens was so hurriedly arranged that a large entry could not be expected, but the officials expressed great satisfaction with the entry of 141 cats in forty-two classes. I was surprised to hear that the gate money amounted to a very considerable sum, as on the first afternoon of the show I did not see many people in the tent. This was probably due to the fact that no one seemed to know where the cats were, and it was only after a long search and many enquiries that I stumbled across them.

In long-haired blacks Mr. Powell won second with Stanhope Zulu, a nice cat with fair eyes, Ch. Fulmer Black Bobbie being third.
Whites: First, Lady Decies's Ch. Fulmer White Snow Queen, which has lovely dark blue eyes, a nice head and neat ears; second, Mrs. Bennett's Rokeless Blue-eyed Bloke, nice eyes, but ears rather large and coat entirely absent; third, Mrs. George Wilson's Gwynedd of Arrandale, nice eyes, but also out of coat.
Blue males: First, Mrs. George Wilson's Sir Archie II. of Arrandale, only fourteen months, but will make a grand cat one day; at present he is a little faded, but his colour is quite sound; he has a beautiful head, broad short nose, tiny ears and brilliant red orange eyes; second went to Mrs. Watson's Barry Sir William, a fine-headed cat, which has just been sold to Mrs. Herring for export to America. I liked Mr. Powell's Stanhope Blue Monarch, for though his coat is faded he has a grand head; reserve went to Miss Marquand's Sunny Jim, whose colour is much against him.
Blue females: First went rightly to Mrs. Slingsby's Sonia of Thorpe, a really beautiful kitten of eight months; she is pale and pure in colour, with a sweet face and brilliant orange eyes; second, Mrs. Tabb's Monkey is very bad in colour; third, Mr. Godson's Ducky. Mrs. Kennaway's entry being penned with her litter was accidentally overlooked in this class, though her kittens headed three classes.
Chinchillas: First, Mrs. George Wilson's Rob Roy II. of Arrandale. This cat, though quite out of coat, is perfect in colour and absolutely free from markings. He has a capital head, sweet expression and beautiful large emerald eyes; second, the Hon. Mrs. McLaren Morrison's Silver Bayard, has a nice head, but is darker in colour; third, Mrs. Slingsby's Silver Dragon of Thorpe is smaller, and so much out of coat as to appear a shaded silver.
Silver tabby: First, Miss Cope's Roiall Dame, a very nicely marked cat; second, Mr. Powell's Stanhope Dimple, nice colour, green eyes, snipey in face; third, Mr. Powell's Stanhope Beauty, shows a lot of quality.
Brown tabby: First, Mrs. Butler's Lucerne Mick, lovely in colour and markings; second, Mrs. Sinclair Webb and Mr. Powell, nice face, fair colour and white chin. Signorina Orsini showed two magnificent cats, which, though light on lips and chin, deserved special notice on account of their lovely red colour, broad heads and heavy coats.
Orange: First, Mrs. Slingsby's Red Eagle of Thorpe, a nice bright orange, dead out of coat and overburdened with ears; second, the Hon. Mrs. McLaren Morrison's Puck, and v.h.c., the same owner's Silverdale Lurline, both magnificent dark red tabbies (which are very rare nowadays), and full of quality; third, Miss W. Beal's Romald Kirk Ringdove, a fine cat and a good colour but badly shown.
Creams were very disappointing. First, the Lady Decies, a nicely shaped cat of good colour, but light on lips and chin; second, Miss W. Beal's Romald Kirk Midshipmite Junior, very much out of coat and shaded in colour; third, Miss Lea's Ruckholt Algy is level but dingy in colour and pale in eyes.
Tortoiseshell: First, Miss W. Beal's Romald Kirk Pallas II., well patched, but washy in colour; second, Mrs. Burt's Creamtoes, brighter in colour but not quite so well broken
Tortoiseshell and White: First, Mrs. Slingsby's well-known Rosette of Thorpe; second, Mrs. Spofforth's Orient Ruby.
Neuter: First. Mrs. Nelson's Dusky King I., a fine big blue; second, Miss Chamberlayne's Buzzwig Fuzzwig of Ravenor, a well-marked brown; third, Signorina Orsini, another fine brown.
Mrs. Kennnway's lovely blues won in the litter class, and in the self-colour other than blue Mrs. Dee got in first with some blues and blacks which, I think, should have given place to Miss Lea's nice creams, as being more correctly entered. In tabby litters Miss Cope won second with a handsome but rather lightly marked silver family, while her perfectly marked litter were only v.h.c.; and first went to a litter belonging to Miss Thessel Cochrane, containing one good sable with a white chin, one good silver tabby and one washy silver.
Mrs. Denyer showed an exquisite pair of tiny chinchillas, which were too beautiful and too frail for such an outing. Miss Hutchinson's winning cream kitten, Rosecroft Betty, is a very beautiful pale cream, but her Tramp II. is much marked. Mr. Clement Godson won with grand blue kitten, Tweedledum II., from the same parents as Mrs. Kennaway's winning litter. This kitten was marked "dangerous," but he allowed me to handle him freely; he has a fine head, sound, level colour and beautiful eyes. Mrs. George Wilson won first and second in the chinchilla kitten class with Silver Nymph of Arrandale, perfect in colour and round in face, and Silver Armand of Arrandale, very pretty colour, nice eyes, but pointed ears.
Mrs. Spofforth's silver tabby kitten, Orient Tinker Bell, has beautiful colour and markings and a round face, but yellow eyes; her sister, Miss Cope's Taffaline, loses in face.
In short-haired blacks Lady Decies made the only entries, and won first with Fulmer Dusky Queen, who has nice eyes and a good coat, and second with Fulmer Black Michael, who seemed to have a cold and looked ill.
In whites the well-known Ch. Fulmer Snowstorm was the only entry.
Blue males: First, Mr. Watkins's Mark Lane Blue, a very nice cat of the desired coat and colour, fair head and poor eyes; second, Lady Decies, a nice cat too, but not so good in head and no better in eyes.
Blue females: First, Lady Decies's Fulmer Copper Queen, and second, Fulmer Love-in-a-Mist, both lovely cats, but unfortunately their eye colour seems to have faded away.
Silver tabby: First, Fulmer Tabby Boy, looking moulty.
Brown tabby: First and best in show, Fulmer Flash Jack, looking better than I have yet seen him.
Neuters: First, Mr. Stiles's Rufus, a fair red; second, Miss Chamberlayne, a nice brown; third, Miss Marjorie Ashton Cross, a very good black, pointed in nose, but with a capital coat and orange eyes; should have won.
Siamese: First, Mrs. Brooke's Sancho, a fine cat, level body colour, but barred on hind legs and mask blurred; second, Mrs. Chilcott, a very good cat, fine eyes; third, Miss B. Ashton Cross, a good Siamese, dark in colour, but very level, good points. Mrs. Backhouse showed some capital Siamese kittens.
Manx: First, Miss Samuel's Bozgym; second, Mr. Furze's Ch. The Deemster.
In the litter class Mrs. Clark won with some nice blues, which appeared to have good eyes, but which were somewhat affected by colds.
The judging of the Abyssinian class gave some dissatisfaction, but I see no cause for complaint. Mrs. Slingsby won with a well-ticked silver kitten named Platinum of Thorpe; Lady Decies was second with Fulmer Silver Menelik, a pale chinchilla cat with a wedge-shaped face and rather a thick and tail. The catalogue says that his sire s unknown, and breeder, owner and Lady Decies informed me that he was a pure Abyssinian bred from imported parents which live in Wales, He is certainly a curious and interesting cat, and his colour is good chinchilla but for a brown nose and ears, which his fair owner says are acquired by rolling in the gravel. I am inclined to think that he would do better if shown in a variety class, as a judge is, of course, bound to follow the accepted standard of points, and no cat in the least like Menelik has been shown before.

ANSWER TO CORRESPONDENT
PENELOPE. - I never heard of such a result as you describe, and can hardly imagine it to be possible; still it is a very curious chain of coincidences. I should consult the veterinary surgeon who treated her, as having seen her he has had the best opportunity of understanding the case.

CAT GOSSIP. The Ladies' Field, July 4, 1908, pg 242. Owing to space Animal Gossip was held over.

CAT GOSSIP. The Ladies' Field, July 11, 1908, pg 242.

THE novice is sometimes much disappointed by the colour of newly-born kittens, and does not realise that in a few weeks they will probably alter sufficiently to fulfil his ideals. Chinchilla kittens are, as a rule, very dark when born, but if their faces and paws are pale silver, all will be well. I like best those kittens which are quite black on the back, but many good ones at first appear to be finely pencilled tabbies. Kittens which are pale silver in colour when born are rarely pure in colour in after life. Many sound-coloured prize-winning blues showed, when born, strong tabby markings, especially on the tail, but these soon disappeared. The same markings may be seen on newly-born blacks and whites if examined in strong sunlight, and are presumably an inheritance from the common ancestor - the tabby. White kittens bred from coloured parents frequently have a grey smudge on the forehead; this usually, but not invariably, goes with the kitten coat. Siamese kittens are, when born, pale cream colour, with no dark markings. The most extraordinary changes I have seen have been in cats which were eventually good pale creams. They were bred from cream sires, and the dam of one was cream and of the other a tortoiseshell. For the first few months of their lives one of these kittens was a pale, washy orange tabby, while the other was patched with orange and white, and was therefore sold by a well-known fancier for 7s. 6d.

I HEAR on all sides that "everybody" is going to show at Winchester. I hope this is true, as the other summer shows have been very disappointing. Winchester is principally a kitten show, and I strongly disapprove of kitten shows, but from the kittens' point of view only; to a mere spectator they are more interesting and entertaining than exhibitions of hairless cats. [i.e. out-of-coat longhairs]

THE sub-committee of the new council of cat fanciers have met and drawn up a number of rules which will be submitted to the meeting of delegates at Winchester on the 15th inst., and when these are passed the council will be in working order. I believe I am correct in saying that the rules are modelled upon the rules of the Kennel Club, which have been proved to be satisfactory and workable.

I AM pleased to hear that Miss Clifton thinks it not unlikely that ere long she will again have a large team of show cats. In the meantime, she has sold all her stock. Some of the cats and all the houses and runs were purchased by Lady Decies.

IN a recent issue Mrs. G. Livesey's smoke blue kittens were described as "cats," an obvious injustice, especially as they are of the female sex. The kittens, which are for sale, were born on March 27th, and are by Tuckton Blue Boy, sire Heather Blue, "Wooloomooloo" strain.

CAT GOSSIP. The Ladies' Field, July 18, 1908. - No Cat Gossip

CAT GOSSIP. The Ladies' Field, July 25, 1908. - No Cat Gossip (major dog show report)

CAT GOSSIP. The Ladies' Field, August 1, 1908.. - No Cat Gossip

CAT GOSSIP. The Ladies' Field, August 8, 1908, pg 398.

WINCHESTER CAT SHOW.
WINCHESTER SHOW was, so far as the cats went, a brilliant success. There was a capital entry, and quality was far above the average. Unfortunately, it rained hard all day, and so the gate money was very small. The hall was the best I have ever seen for a cat show. It was large and well lighted and nicely decorated with plants kindly lent by Mr. Jeffery of Winchester. The cats were bedded on Elastene, provided by the City of London Wood Wool Company, which looked neat and clean and appeared to be comfortable. The secretary, Mr. Savage, worked hard, and was assisted greatly in his duties by Mr. and Mrs. Millar, Mrs. Tutt and Miss Sangster. The show was principally for kittens, of which there was a goodly muster, but a few classes were provided for adult cats.

Longhaired blue males: First, Mrs. George Wilson's Sir Archie II. of Arrandale, very sound in colour, capital broad round head and brilliant orange eyes; second, Miss A. Chevers's Ulster Blue Paddy Pans, good colour, head and eyes, but seemed to have a slight cold; third, Mrs. Millar's Regal Apollo II., fine head but very much faded in colour.
Female: First, Mrs. Tabb's Monkey, I thought lucky; she has a nice head, is well shaped and carries a good coat, but she is a funny, dull mousy colour, has a decidedly dark shade over her face and her eyes are washy in colour; second, Miss A. Chevers's Ulster Blue Sweetheart, a beautiful cat but suffering from a cold in her eyes, sound dark blue good head and dark orange eyes; third, Mrs. Watson's Barry Marinda, pretty colour and nice eyes.
Longhaired silver or smoke: First and best cat in the show, Mrs. George Wilson's Rob Roy II. of Arrandale, perfect in colour, palest pure silver, grand head and lovely emerald eves, an easy winner; second, Mrs. Denyer's Lady Silver Petal, small and light of bone, but very pale and clear in colour, eyes yellow; third, Mrs. Denyer's Camilla, another quality cat of good colour; reserve, Miss Chamberlayne's Silver Elfin, grand head and good eyes, but dreadfully rusty.
Any other colour: First, Miss Annandale with Silver Squire, a large showy white with deep blue eyes; second, Mrs. Spofforth's Orient Ruby, a dainty tortoiseshell and white with a sweet face; third, Miss Sangster's Royal Queenie, a very handsome tortoiseshell.
Blue neuter: First, Miss Joan Barrow-Simonds's Abbott, a large sound-coloured blue with good eyes; second, Miss Carpenter - Turner, with another sound dark blue; third, Mr. H. Morton Stanford's Rhoda Krishera.
Tabby neuter: First, Mrs. Corner's huge, handsome orange tabby, with a grand head and flowing coat, named Red Roy of Eversley: second, Miss Lee's well-known Lingmoor Tom; third, Miss Chamberlayne's brown Belvedere Tiger.
Any other colour neuter: First, Mrs. Corner's Tweedledee, a large heavily-coated unmarked orange; second, Miss Lee's Lingmoor Cream Cat, a prettily-shaped, round-headed cream, but shows rather light shadings on muzzie.
Long-haired kittens - blue litters: First, Mrs. Richards's pretty pale blues, with sweet faces and good eyes; second, Miss Lydia Gay's, darker in colour, but equally promising; third, Mrs. Tabb's fine litter with grand heads, but hardly so level in colour.
Silver litters: Second, Mrs. Flavell's two pretty chinchillas, nice colour, but rather pointed in face and not in good condition.
Tabby litters: First and third, Miss Chamberlayne, with two fine sable families. The first are older and much warmer in colour, the third are better in head; all have white chins. Second, Miss Marquand, some pretty, heavily-coated silver tabbies, want density of markings; any other colour litter: First, Miss Lees, a magnificent family of huge pale-coloured creams, broad in head, pale and level in colour. These kittens also won first, second and third in the single kitten class.
Blue kittens under four months: First went to Mrs. Bergman's Macallam Mohr, yet another of Mistress Babbie's successful kittens, beautifully pale and sound in colour, with a round face and good eyes; second to Mrs. Tutt's kitten, which is a lovely colour except for a dark shade on the face - it has a good head and eyes; third to Mrs. Richards's a prettily-shaped kitten with lovely eyes; fourth to Mrs. Hind's Nowell Nibbs, a promising kitten.
Blue kittens over four and under nine months: First, Mrs. Manuel's nice kitten, good in colour, head and eyes; he is small, but as he has just recovered from distemper he may develop later on; second, Miss Buston's Puff, quite out of coat and pale in eyes; third, Miss Billett's Maizie, a dark blue with good coat and eyes.
Silver kittens under four months: First, Mrs. Denyer's Silver Emperor, a beautiful kitten, very pale in colour and free from markings, good coat, nice eyes, short nose, but head a little narrow; second, Miss Frowd's Keymer Silver Squire, a big, handsome kitten, good in colour, but at present marred by a black patch on the head; third, Mrs. Gregory's Marguerite Atossa, an exquisite kitten, colour, shape, head and eyes perfect, and had she been in show form must have won.
Silver kittens over four months and under nine months: First, Mrs. George Wilson's Silver Boy of Arrandale, very level in colour and free from marks, capital coat, good head and eyes.
Tabby kittens under four months: First, Miss Cochrane's Robina, a very pretty sable with a lovely face and eyes, but very light on the chin; second, Miss Power's The Baby, a very nicely marked and coated little silver tabby; third, Miss Chamberlayne's Glint o' Gold, a rather washy sable.
Tabby kittens over four months and under nine months: First, Mrs. Spofforth's Orient Tinklebell, a very nicely marked silver tabby, pure in colour and showing a lot of quality; second, Mrs. Fleming's Geraint of Hawthorn, a huge, fine kitten with good, lovely markings, but too light on the head; third, Mrs. Corner's Thomas of Eversley, a rich-coloured sable with a fine head, but in very bad condition.
Any other colour kitten under four months: First, Mrs. Clark's Black Gem of Bath, a most fascinating little black imp with a head like a boot button and the promise of good eyes; second and third, Mrs. Sinkins's Shrew and Chaitan, two very promising smokes, but at present in the transition stage, and therefore much patched in colour.
Any other colour over four months and under nine months: First and second, Miss Copes Roiall Annora and Roiall Anninada, two of the best black kittens ever shown, the former winning also as the best kitten in the show; their colour is densely black, they are good in shape and have broad heads, short noses, neat ears and good bright yellow eyes; altogether an easy win.

The short-haired classes were not very well filled, as few of the big exhibitors were represented.
Abyssinians: First, Mrs. Carew Cox's Linga, a lovely colour and well ticked; second, Miss Thompson's Fi Fi, rather dark.
Blues: First, Mrs. Carew Cox's Maxwell Grey, a lovely cat, very good in colour and coat, large and possessing a fine head, but, alas! his eyes are green; second, Mrs. Illingworth's Manor Model, a fair red [must be a mistake - this blues class]; third Mrs. Addott, a fine big cat, but a very indifferent blue, being bad in colour and coat.
Siamese kittens under nine months: First, Mrs. Curtis's Lady Killikins a pretty kitten, good in eyes and body colour, but mask might be denser; second, Mrs. Maturin, a lovely kitten; third, Mrs. Curtis's Signorinatta, badly broken mask.
Any self colour kitten under nine months: First, Mrs. Carew Cox's Prince Romanoff, a very good blue with the much-desired foreign type of coat and colour, but a truly British head and yellow eyes.
Any other colour under nine months: First, Mrs. Carew Cox's Gojam, a well-ticked Abyssinian; second, Rhodes Brothers' Polar Star, a fair red tabby; third, Miss Cochran's Jolly Jack, a well-marked brown tabby with a bad coat.
Short- haired litter: First, Mrs. Maturin, five lovely little Siamese, colour points and eyes all good; second, Mrs. Attwood, more Siamese, rather older and quite as good, but only three in number.

DICK WHITTINGTON will be pleased to give advice on all matters concerning cats and their ailments, and will be glad to receive for insertion any interesting items of cat news that her readers may send. Queries must be written on one side of a separate sheet of paper, and must be signed with a pseudonym only for publication, but a letter giving full name and address of sender must accompany each query. A postal reply will be sent if the fee of 2s. 6d. is enclosed.. Letters should be addressed, "DICK WHITTINGTON, care of Editor, THE LADIES' FIELD."
JOSEPHINE. - I advise you to write to Miss E. Harper, Haywards Heath, about your cat. I think you could arrange with her that it should be thoroughly happy during your absence.
SIAM. - Siamese kittens, more than any others, require a meat diet. I first discovered the virtues of raw meat when experimenting on a delicate Siamese, and only the other day I saw a lovely litter of Siamese kittens which had been successfully reared, out of doors, on raw beef, raw rabbit and water, and I was so struck by their robust appearance that I promptly bought one. I have never yet been able to understand why so many people credit Siamese cats with a special weakness for fish and rice, but it is certainly a great mistake to make this their staple diet. - DICK WHITTINGTON.

CAT GOSSIP. The Ladies' Field, August 15, 1908. - No Cat Gossip

CAT GOSSIP. The Ladies' Field, August 22, 1908, pg 463.

MRS. FLETCHER of Sheffield writes to draw attention to the fact that I accidentally omitted all references to her Brunswick Tabs in my report of Winchester Show. This was quite unintentional, as Tabs won first in his class and two medals as best shorthair in the show. He is a very well-marked pure-coloured silver tabby, and if his chest markings come out stronger in the winter he has a good chance of beating the older champions.

THE question of travelling quarters for cats is much discussed, and opinions vary greatly. Baskets are popular because they are light and cheap, and because some people think a cat is less frightened, when roughly handled, in a basket than in a box. The usual practice of the careful owner is to line the basket, lid and all, with flannel, while some owners who believe in fresh air use unlined baskets. If the basket is very large the lined one is the best. If it is small the cat will probably arrive with a cold in its eyes, and this is also most likely to occur if an unlined basket is used. The best plan is to wrap the basket up in brown paper, which must be brought well over the edges of the lid, the centre of the lid being left uncovered. This is cheap, sanitary and very little trouble. The best package of all is a wooden box with proper ventilation. I like a large box with an inner lid. Between the inner and outer lids the ventilators should be placed so as to obtain a free current of air. Blocks or curved bars should be placed near the ventilators, on the outside of the box, so that in a crowded railway van there is no danger of suffocation. I have taken Siamese cats about in these boxes and sent them for long journeys without any evil results.

I CONSIDER that the chief danger is in the use of too small baskets or boxes. The cats get overheated and if they are then put in a draught are likely to catch cold. Some owners are really cruel to their cats. I have seen large stud cats, well-known winners, sent from a certain cattery in the North of England to London shows in baskets only large enough for a six weeks old kitten. The baskets were oblong and the poor cats were lying down. They could not stand up at full height and to turn round was impossible. I understand that some of the leading cat clubs intend to take steps to stop this cruelty, and at some of the future shows a R.S.P.C.A. officer will be in attendance to see the cats unpacked.

I HAD the pleasure of seeing Mrs. Corner's cats at Branksome Park, Bournemouth, the other day, and thought that they looked in wonderfully fine coat for the time of year. Mrs. Corner goes in for breeding brown tabbies and has hitherto met with great success, but this year she has had bad luck, and most of the kittens were born dead or dying.

MRS. CORNER'S favourites are her orange neuters, and in Red Roy of Eversley she certainly has the best of his colour, indeed some say the best of his sex, ever shown. Red Roy is a deep orange tabby, handsomely marked and carrying an immense coat. He is a thick, short-legged cat, but it is his head which I especially admire. I have never before seen an orange neuter with a short nose. Red Roy's nose is extremely short and broad, he has small low-set ears, a broad round forehead and huge eyes; in fact, he possesses a regular "kitten" face.

BY the death of Ch. Ayrshire Ronald, recently announced, we lose one of the pillars of the Stud Book, and, perhaps, the best blue male cat eve exhibited. Ronald was a son of Waterloo, and was bred by Mrs. Doyle who still has his younger son, St. Quentin. - DICK WHITTINGTON

CAT GOSSIP. The Ladies' Field, August 29, 1908, pg 502.

SOME AMERICAN CATS.
ONE of the most successful owners of catteries in the States is Mrs. J. J. Hecker of Detroit, who has won endless prizes with her fine chinchillas. Mrs. Hecker is a pure amateur - that is to say, she does not breed cats for profit, thought, of course, she does not give the animals away. But she conducts her selling and buying among her friends, and parts with her overstock at very reasonable prices. Mrs. Hecker's cattery is one of the best and most up-to-date in the country, and includes a fine "run" 200ft. long and 10ft. wide, where the animals are made to take exercise daily. Mrs. Hecker believes that there is nothing like exercise to keep a cat healthy; and even if the pretty creatures are out of sorts, their mistress insists upon their taking a run once during the day. She also believes in cats being given plenty of trees to climb. A cat greatly enjoys a tour of discovery among the higher branches, and the chance of catching a sparrow or two adds a spice of excitement to the adventure. For this reason she has several of the big trees in her garden wired round so that the cats may climb without any chance of their being stolen by anyone interested in their manoeuvres. In summer a kind of "roof-garden" is arranged for the animals, where they may take a sun-bath when they feel inclined, for next to plenty of exercise there is nothing so beneficial to a cat's health as to lie for an hour or two in the sun. All cats love warmth, but artificial heat continuously is not good. Mrs. Hecker's chinchillas are known all over the States, and she has won prizes in every important city in America. She confines herself to one class of cat - the chinchilla - which she has made her speciality. The two kittens shown in the illustration are Diana and Owena Psyche (standing up). Both are expected to do great things at the forthcoming shows.

Mrs. W, C. Bell is another lady who goes in almost exclusively for chinchillas, and, although she has a very fine cattery, the animals are not subject to very great restrictions. They are allowed to wander about the house at certain times, and the kittens are given nothing stronger than milk and water, with an occasional bit of chopped up chicken, and, judging from their life und spirits, the treatment is most successful.

Mrs. J.N. Smith of Detroit makes a speciality of masked silvers, and her Moko has gained innumerable prizes in the East. Mrs. Smith bred this fine animal herself, and is justly proud of him. His coat is so thick that if you poke your finger at him it disappears in the soft fluff completely before Moko is aware that you have touched him. Moko has the face of a fighter, and appearances in his case are not deceptive. He would fight to the death if he got the chance, and his numerous disagreements have caused Mrs. Smith endless alarm lest he should put himself quite out of the running when the shows come round. Moko on one occasion left the cattery - probably in a spirit of adventure- and did not turn up again for three days. Where he had been no one ever discovered, but when he did put in an appearance he looked more like a dilapidated and dingy kitchen cat than a high-bred masked silver. Mrs. Smith said afterwards, "and, in fact, was 'shooing' him away when he gave that peculiar cry which is one of his characteristics, and rubbed his wicked face against my skirt. Then I knew him, and instead of scolding I got him something good to eat, and he was soon comfortably lying in his old corner in the cattery. I examined him very carefully and found a good many scratches on him, which showed that he had been having a bout with someone, but otherwise he was uninjured, and at the next show in Cleveland I won the gold medal for the best cat in the exhibition."

The Cass Park Kennels are known to every cat fancier from the Pacific to the Atlantic, and under the management of Mrs. N. F. McLean many prize-winners have been bred within their cosy quarters. Peek-a-boo is a beautiful tortoiseshell and white kitten, three months old when she was photographed, and "a fine child for her age." Both her father and mother are noted animals, and between them have secured over sixty prizes. Mrs. McLean is an authority on "cat culture," and prides herself on the fact that, though she has managed a cattery for eight years, she has never yet had a serious illness within its walls or lost a single animal. Mrs. McLean also believes in exercise as a splendid preventive of disease, but considers that it does not rank in importance before cleanliness. No matter how much exercise cats have, they would soon fall sick if the cattery were not kept spotless. "Cats," Mrs. McLean said, "are naturally very dainty and clean animals, and, indeed, love to be clean, though sometimes appearances are against them. When a cat ceases to wash herself you may be sure that there is something wrong - she is sick, that is very certain, for no cat in perfect health ever forgets to wash herself just as soon as she has finished a meal unless she is suffering from some ailment. Cats are very much like human beings - as soon as a man or woman grows careless regarding his or her personal appearance it is a sure sign that there is something wrong, and the sooner a physician is consulted the better. There is something the matter with that man or woman's health which should be set to rights as soon as possible."

Brown tabbies are not usually very popular, but they are, as a rule, cats with character, and for this reason it is generally the tabby that is chosen for training purposes, for she will learn tricks about twice as fast as a Persian or a Chinchilla. The writer once asked a man who taught cats to do things that Nature never intended they should why tabbies were so much easier to train than other cats, and he replied that the reason was, he thought, due to the fact that most tabbies live an independent, roving life and have learned from time immemorial to forage for themselves. That trait still exists in the tabby of to-day, however much pampered she may be; in other words, the tabby cat possesses most of the brains of her family.

Bimbo is a fine specimen of the tabby, and is owned by Miss Black, a well-known fancier living in Michigan. At a recent show Bimbo was awarded a special prize to commemorate the fact that he was regarded as the finest brown tabby in Detroit. His beautiful and perfect markings and colour made him an early favourite in the show, while his benign expression and amiable manners were two extra points in his favour. Bimbo used to reside with Miss Black in Cleveland, and remained there for some time after his mistress went to Detroit, and with his customary good nature made no complaint. But a few weeks alter Miss Black had left him Bimbo became very sad, and one morning he started out to see if he could not find her. He visited several of her friends' houses, and was just preparing to make a systematic search of the district when Miss Black returned for a few days, and was so much touched by his devotion that when she left a second time Bimbo accompanied her, and is now happily living with his mistress in Michigan's famous city,

One of the most remarkable cats in the States to-day is Roly Poly, a wonderful short-hair, acknowledged to be the champion of her class at present in America. She belongs to Mrs. Sage of Rochester, and has never been beaten at any show where she has been exhibited. Her somewhat fierce attitude in the photographs rather belies her disposition, for she is gentle and affectionate, and hates the excitement of a fight with another cat. She has, however, one fault - if it is a fault - in that her taste for hunting is abnormally developed, and she is credited with having despatched no fewer than seven mice in as many minutes. She is also gifted with considerable courage, and fearlessly attacks a rat when she gets the opportunity. Mrs. Sage had some thoughts of sending her over to England, but the animal is so busy annexing blue ribbons on this side that she is somewhat loth to give up her place to an inferior animal. Roly Poly has a perfect head and figure, and if a slight tendency which she shows to getting stout is nipped in the bud she will probably have things her own way in the show ring for several years still to come.

White Hussar, the somewhat indolent-looking animal shown in our illustration, belongs to Mrs. Brian Brown, and won a first special in last year's New York Show. He is an animal of immense size and inclined to be lazy, so that possibly he will soon feel too bored to appear in the show ring. A contrast to White Hussar is Albert Edward, a beautiful shadeless blue Persian with orange eyes and a mercurial disposition which enables him to take 'plenty of exercise. This animal has been winning firsts and specials since 1903 both in America and Canada. He belongs to Dr. Niven of London, Ontario, but is not a Canadian cat, having been bred in the States.

A very beautiful male chinchilla is Mrs. H. G. Dykhous's Al Tarem, a really noble animal who gave a special sitting for THE LADIES' FIELD. Al Tarem was bred at Grand Rapids, Michigan, and though only eighteen months old, has already won seven firsts as well as many specials. The two black cats which complete this gallery of American beauties are both from Detroit, Owena Black Cupid belonging to Mrs. J. S. Owen, while Ink is owned by Mrs. Joseph Myles. Both cats have won many prizes, and as they are still young it is reasonable to suppose that they will win many more. Of the two, Owena Black Cupid is the more amiable, Ink delighting in an occasional clawing match with any cat that shows a tendency to disagree with him regarding things in general. This, unfortunately brings him no glory, on the contrary, frequently loses him several points at the various shows.

CAT GOSSIP. The Ladies' Field, September 5, 1908 .

(No Cat Gossip.)
M.R.L. - This is a very unfortunate state of affairs, and is undoubtedly due entirely to the presence of myriads of these creatures in the sand. The hot dry summer has increased their numbers, but whatever the season cats kept where the soil is sandy - not necessarily a sea beach - always have quantities of fleas during the summer, and though dogs do not suffer so much, they, too, are sure to be in some measure victims [remainder is flea bath for dogs.]

CAT GOSSIP. The Ladies' Field, September 12, 1908, pg 72.

THE judges who awarded the cup for best cat in the show at Newport Pagnell to a Siamese with a white toe have been - rightly, I think - very adversely criticised. Such a fault amounts practically to a disqualification in this breed, and in this case there was not the excuse that it was "the best of a bad lot," for there were really good cats at the show and at least one first-class Siamese. In a breed so distinct as the Siamese the occurrence of white patches suggests impure blood; but it is a noticeable fact that Siamese cats with white toes are often especially good in other points. Their value to breed from is very doubtful, as the majority of their kittens inherit the blemish. I have seen it suggested that the Newport Pagnell award proves the incapacity of specialist judges; but surely these judges were not specialists. 'The names given in the catalogue were those of two well-known and experienced, so-called all-round judges, but, so far as I know, neither of them has any special knowledge of the Siamese breed. I am sure that neither of these judges would have given the cup to a black or a blue cat with a white spot on his throat, or to a white with black spots on his cars.

THE crossing of silver tabbies with brown tabbies has been the subject of an interesting discussion lately. The facts are these: Miss Thessel Cochrane owns some magnificent long-haired silver tabby stud cats. Lately she has been winning prizes with brown tabbies, long and short-haired, sired by these cats. Miss Cope, the leading breeder of silver tabbies, and Mrs. Slingsby, who has owned some winners of this variety, protest strongly against the crossing of brown with silver, and theoretically I quite agree with these ladies.

CAT GOSSIP. The Ladies' Field, September 19, 1908.

MISS BARTLETT'S Silver Sultan, who died recently, was one of our best chinchilla sires. He was beautifully pale in colour, and in his youth he won first at the Crystal Palace. Unfortunately, it was not for some years that Sultan saw fit to burden himself with family cares, but he has proved himself a most valuable sire and has left some beautiful stock behind him.

ONLY the other day some one brought an accusation against two leading fanciers that they monopolised the particular breed in which they were interested and did not let anyone else "have a chance." This accusation was amusing, for one of these ladies possesses a few winners, not of her own breeding, which she shows at a few of the larger shows. The other lady breeds her own cats, but very rarely shows them; she advertises her cats at stud and from time to time advertises kittens for sale. What more is required of her? It seems that she should reduce the stud fees and the price of her kittens for customers who say that they cannot afford to pay what is asked. I consider this to be a most unreasonable demand. What we cannot afford to buy we must go without. If I see a three guinea hat in a shop in Bond Street, I do not expect to get it for thirty shillings. So why should I expect to buy a kitten, which will probably increase in value as the hat will not, at half-price.

OUTSIDERS, as a rule, think that selling kittens for two or three guineas apiece is a very profitable proceeding, and so it would be if all the kittens were sold at six or eight weeks old, and if the only expense was feeding. As a matter of fact, where a number of kittens are bred the cost of housing must be considered, and to be strictly businesslike a charge must be made for labour. Besides this, there is the original price of the mother, the stud fee, and the risk that there may be no kittens, or that they may all die. Taking everything into consideration, I do not think it is worth while to sell kittens at less than two or three guineas each.

STUD fees for cats are already extremely low - a guinea is the usual charge; and long ago I gave up keeping stud cats simply because I did not consider that the guinea nearly paid for the trouble and annoyance entailed.

TAKEN all round cat-breeding is not, and has never been, a royal road to fortune. It is all a matter of luck, and some people may manage for a few years to make a handsome profit, but it cannot be kept up. I, myself, made about £60 out of my cats one year, not allowing for rent and labour; but, as a rule, I was out of pocket. The cat which really pays is the house cat. A cat is really a necessity in most houses, so why should a well-bred puss not take the place of the usual mongrel? Let her be mated to a well-bred male, and the kittens be sold cheaply to friends as soon as they can eat, and then, when the mother's cost price has been paid off, there will only be the guinea stud fee to come off the price obtained for each litter. There will be no butcher's bill, because the mother's food is a legitimate household expense and the kittens go as soon as they can eat; no rent, because she and her kittens can live indoors; and no labour, because they can look after themselves. - DICK WHITTINGTON.

CAT GOSSIP. The Ladies' Field, September 26, 1908.

No Cat Gossip column, but this in Causerie de Paris section:

A NEW society for the "protection of cats " has just started into activity under the name of "Velvet Paws." Pierre Loti is the honorary president and Edmond Haracourt the executive president. The suppression of convents has, it seems, cast many of these poor animals homeless into the streets, and Miss Louisa Reid, who houses and feeds the cats of departed great men, has tried to protect these wandering pets. The Asile Champerret, the refuge of Mlle. Delvincourt, is overcrowded, so this new society will have to create fresh asylums for the unfortunate pussies that have not had the good luck to belong to a celebrity, The funniest part is that these charming, but rarely faithful, animals have a newspaper - "Le Moncrif."

CAT GOSSIP. The Ladies' Field, October 3, 1908. - No Cat Gossip

CAT GOSSIP. The Ladies' Field, October 10, 1908, pg 225.

CAT CORRESPONDENCE.
(For Rules see previous issues.)
CUMBERLAND. - In your neighbourhood it should be easy to keep the kitten clean without either washing or powdering, and it is better to do so if you can. for if you undertake the cleaning of her coat she will give up all interest in it herself. Give her a good brushing and combing every morning, and then, if she does not get among the coals, she will I look quite white enough for every-day use. If you think of showing her rub her well with prepared white fuller's earth, but you must be prepared to spend hours in brushing and patting her until every vestige of the powder is shaken out of her fur.
MISER. - You ask for an address where you can procure good blue kittens for a guinea each. Last week I should have said that I could not assist you, but only the other day I saw some beautiful and well-bred kittens which were for sale at this very modest price. Write to Mrs. Groves, France Farm, Blandford.
SIAM.- There is no doubt that your cats have had distemper, and you are lucky to have got them through so well. Now you realise the value of a meat diet. It will take the cats some little time to recover their normal robust health, but plenty of raw beef and a daily spoonful of extract of malt and cod-liver oil will soon put them right. - DICK WHITTINGTON.

THE following has been received:

EVERY CAT'S DAY.
Madam, - May I appeal to the kind-hearted among your readers on behalf of our friend, Puss? It has long been a saying that every dog has his day why, then, should not Pussy also have her day? Indeed, her day - viz., October 1st. - has been already established by some of her friends, and all cat and animal lovers are hereby begged to send for that day a donation of 1s.(or as much more as they wish) to the nearest of the cats' homes, of which there are now a good many in the country. A list of these may be had on application to the editor of the ANIMAL'S FRIEND, York House, Portugal Street, London, W.C. The need for these institutions, and the need, also, tor the establishment of more homes for Puss, is shown by the fact that one in London alone received no fewer than 17,000 homeless cats in one year, while another, more recently established, has taken in on an average 6,000 cats a year during the five years of its existence. This represents a vast amount of animal suffering, and I hope that there are many among your readers who will not grudge a little pecuniary help on "Every Cat's Day" to those humane persons who are doing their best to deal with this increasing evil in our large towns.
Yours truly.
E. RICHMOND. Rockhampton, Falfield, Gloucestershire.

CAT GOSSIP. The Ladies' Field, October 17, 1908. - No Cat Gossip.

CAT GOSSIP. The Ladies' Field, October 24, 1908. - No Cat Gossip.

CAT GOSSIP. The Ladies' Field, October 31, 1908.

No Cat Gossip.

CAT REPLIES
DICK WHITTINGTON will be pleased to give advice on all matters concerning cats and their ailments, and will be glad to receive for insertion any interesting items of cat news that her readers may send. Queries must be written on one side of a separate sheet of paper, and must be signed with a pseudonym only for publication, but a letter giving full name and address of sender must accompany each query. A postal reply will be sent if the fee of 2s. 6d. is enclosed.. Letters should be addressed, "DICK WHITTINGTON, care of Editor, THE LADIES' FIELD."
ASH. - lf the eyes of your black kittens are really copper-coloured, you should keep them and show them. Their other points are good, with their good breeding they are not likely to deteriorate with age, so they should make lovely cats.
BLUETTE. - Those of us who are stern in the matter of eye-colouring have repeatedly been denounced as "one-point faddists"; but the fact remains that nowadays a green-eyed blue kitten is absolutely unsaleable, except a low price as a pet. -
CAREFUL. - I have never used shavings as bedding for cats; but I know that the chief point is to be careful not to use any shavings containing resin.
JOHN. - Of course, if the kitten had been fed principally on meat and you immediately changed its diet to bread and milk, I do not wonder that it refused to eat. Your suggestion of starving it into submission is horrible. If the poor little thing did submit to your decree it would soon be very ill. - DICK WHITTINGTON.

CAT GOSSIP. The Ladies' Field, November 7, 1908, pg 368.

MISS SIMPSON has asked me to mention that she has removed her stud cats - Bonnie Blue Gordon, Cambyses and Persimmon VI. - from Hounslow, and that in future all correspondence regarding them should be addressed to her at 9, Leonard Place, Kensington.

THE National Cat Club Show at the Crystal Palace will be held on November 25th and 26th, but no particulars have yet been made public.

IT is a well-known fact that cats which eat a lot of insects never thrive. This is because such cats generally have worms. The flies, etc., caught in the daytime do not do much harm, but if there are blackbeetles [cockroaches] in the kitchen a cat should always be shut up in some other part of the house before the lights are put out, otherwise her nightly debauch will soon pull her down in condition.

WE are always talking of the cat exhibitor as if his unsportsmanlike conduct was a matter for surprise, but I begin to think that he is no worse than exhibitors of larger and smaller stock. If you study the columns of the mouse and rabbit papers you will be amazed at the threats, accusations and abuse which the fanciers of these and similar interesting animals hurl at one another. Again, go to a big agricultural show and stand outside the cattle-ring, and you will hear that the judge is one of a syndicate, and will only give prizes to his friends o his customers. Speak to the man who is leaving the hunter-ring, and he will inform you that the judge is nothing better than a dealer, and that he has put down all the best horses so that he may buy them cheap. I expect it is the same in sheep, pig and canary circles - everywhere we meet the disappointed exhibitor, and only in the dog world is he compelled to bridle his tongue; the Kennel Club sees to that. Personally, nothing amuses me more than to be called to account by an exhibitor whose very inferior cat I have put down. When I am asked "Why did you not give my cat a prize?" I reply, "Because it was not good enough!"

THE question of what colours may be crossed with the various tabbies with a view to strengthening their markings is still much discussed, and the opinions expressed are amusingly varied though it is only fair to say that the acknowledged connoisseurs are agreed upon the main points. Mr. Ambrose refers to his experience in crossing other animals, and states that he has found a self-coloured cross fatal to markings. This may be so with regard to rabbits, mice and cavies; but the cat is totally different from these animals, in that all cats have the tabby markings of the common ancestor. In the self colours these markings are in a very elementary state, but if a black, white or blue kitten of less than a week old is examined in strong sunlight the markings can be distinctly seen. I certainly do not think that a white cross, with a view to clearing the ground colour, is a success. It will be found that in this cross the colour very often "breaks," and we shall have kittens with white toes and legs. In the old days, when we had some beautifully-marked silver tabbies, many of the kittens were mismarked with white. I suppose old Ch. Topso and his son, Ch. Felix, were as good in markings as any silver tabby ever bred. Topso was of unknown ancestry, but his appearance spoke for his breeding, The mother of Felix and Climax was a dingy-coloured little cat with a good deal of white about her. Climax was badly tinged with brown, and I always felt certain that there was a stain on his maternal ancestry, especially after he sired that magnificent sable, Birkdale Ruffie.

A LOVER of smokes was discussing her favourites the other day and regretting the fact that the orange eye was now nearly extinct, and that she did not know how to regain it. For the unfortunate smoke breeder there is no legitimate cross except orange-eyed chinchilla or orange-eyed white and these must come from an orange-eyed strain, which is rare nowadays when everybody is striving after show points, or else we shall gain nothing. Tabby blood must be avoided, and the risk of crossing with blacks and blues is that we may lose the white undercoat. I think the blue cross is the most popular. but also that white or chinchilla, granted that the eyes were satisfactory, would be safer.

AFTER the turmoil which was caused by my casual reference to a brown and silver tabby cross I feel chary of suggesting risky experiments, but I should like to know if anyone thinks a cross of smoke and orange would necessarily be fatal. In the orange cat the hazel eye is well established, and therefore one cross of orange cat should produce orange eyes in smokes. Of course, we should get some hideous smoke and blue tortoiseshells, but these could easily be destroyed or else handed over to cream breeders, who appear to prefer breeding from such horrors to following the more usual course of letting like produce like. Please remember I do not recommend this cross, and I have never seen it used with the object of producing smokes, though I have known magnificent smokes to be bred from such a cross.

I WAS surprised to learn the other day how extremely unpopular Siamese cats are with the general public. A lady of my acquaintance who has some really good Siamese which are hardily reared out-of-doors told me that she could not sell her female kittens at any price, and, in future, intended to drown them. Some years ago good Siamese cats and kittens were very hard to find, and could always command good prices; but unfortunately, the breeders of those days kept them in stove-heated rooms and fed them on fish, so, of course, they soon died when they went to their new homes and the breed acquired an undeserved reputation for delicacy. Now the Siamese cat is as strong or stronger than, the Persian, but he still remains unpopular, and the reason for this lies surely in his voice. The Siamese voice is loud, full and complaining and is freely used. I have had several Siamese cats which never howled unless they wanted something, and very charming pets they made when I had got used to their voices; but I have possessed some which never ceased shrieking from morning till night and can quite understand that anyone whose first experience of a Siamese was one who behaved like this would never wish to possess another.

H.R.H. PRINCESS CHRISTIAN OF SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN, and their Highnesses Princess Victoria and Princess Louise Augusta of Schleswig-Holstein have granted their patronage to the annual juvenile ball on behalf of the Children's Branch of Our Dumb Friends' League, which will take place at the Wharncliffe Rooms, Hotel Great Central, on January 9th. Owing to the increasing popularity of the ball it has been necessary for the committee to transfer this function from the Empress Rooms to the Wharncliffe Rooms, where accommodation can be provided for a much larger number of guests.

THE General Purposes committee of Our Dumb Friends' League (a socicty for the encouragement of kindness to animals) have decided to open a fund to purchase some freehold land at Bournemouth for the purpose of establishing a permanent shelter and boarding home for dogs and cats. The scheme has already been tried in the town of Bedford, and has conferred so much benefit on the town and county in ridding the district of diseased and injured animals that the committee feel quite justified in their efforts to establish these shelters in every large town throughout the kingdom. A reliable home at which people in such towns as Bournemouth can board pet dogs and cats during their absence at a reasonable charge considerably helps to decrease the number of strays, while the lethal chambers with which these institutions are provided for the merciful destruction of such animals as would otherwise be wandering homeless, must tend to increase the health and general welfare of the locality. In support of the object the Countess of Shaftesbury presided recently at a drawing-room meeting at Yelvertoft, 50, Westcliff Road, Bournemouth. All lovers of dogs and cats are asked to contribute some sum, however small, towards the object. Any such contributions will be gratefully acknowledged if forwarded to Mr. Arthur J. Coke, Secretary, O.D.F.L., 118, Victoria Street, London,S.W.

CAT GOSSIP. The Ladies' Field, November 14, 1908, pg 430. - No Cat Gossip, but there is a photo of Ch. Miss Toodles.

CAT GOSSIP. The Ladies' Field, November 21, 1908. - No Cat Gossip

CAT GOSSIP. The Ladies' Field, November 28, 1908.

SIAMESE CATS AND MONKEYS.
I THINK very few people really know what delightful pets the Siamese Cats are, and how very attached they become to human beings. They are wonderfully intelligent, and, when called, will answer with their peculiar mew and come racing up, and will follow people for quite long distances like a dog. This particular breed of which I write is known under the name of the "Royal Siamese," because at one time, not very long ago, they were only kept in the King's Royal Palace in Bangkok; but now others are allowed to keep them, and many have been brought over to England, and it seems easier now to get a good thorough-bred one in England than out in Siam. When I was staying out there we kept a great many pets, and among our menagerie we kept little gibbon apes as well as Siamese cats. These were very friendly with each other, and used to play so prettily together. The cat would lie down on the verandah, half close her eyes and begin wagging her tail to attract the monkey's attention; suddenly he would swoop down on her from the verandah rail, pull her tail and run off. The cat was up in a second in full chase after the monkey, all down the verandah; but the monkey generally got the best of it, for he used to jump up on the rail and throw himself down into the trees below and swing himself away from branch to branch.

One day the monkey discovered that pussy had a little family in the bottom drawer of a chest. The drawer was always left a little way open for the cat to get in and out. When the cat went off for a constitutional the monkey would go and stand in front of the drawer, peering in, and making a quaint crooning noise over the kittens. At last he could resist them no longer, but put his great long arm into the opening and pulled out one of the kittens, sat down on the floor, and nursed it just like a human being. When he saw me coming to take the kitten away from him, he cried out and ran off with it, and jumped off the verandah into the trees, holding the kitten first in one arm, then in the other, and then with his legs. Of course the poor little thing was mewing piteously and sticking out its claws to hold on. I suppose the monkey expected him to hold on round his neck, the way their own young do, which leaves their arms free, when swinging from branch to branch. He tried valiantly to keep the kitten safe, but it was impossible, and the poor little thing fell to the ground below more dead than alive, and quite unconscious. I picked it up and returned it to the poor mother, who had come back and was in a dreadful state of mind. It soon recovered consciousness, and in a few days seemed as well as the others. It afterwards grew up into a fine, healthy cat.

All our monkeys and cats used to feed together, and at meal time made a most amusing sight. At a certain hour every morning they would assemble in readiness, and as soon as we took up their plates of food they would follow us upstairs pell-mell on to the verandah, where the monkeys enjoyed rice and bananas and the cats rice and fish. The monkeys when thirsty would help themselves from the big jars of rain-water which stood on the verandah. They were clever enough to pull off the covering, but we could hardly expect them to put it back again when they had finished. They are very human, and I should like to have brought one of these little gibbon apes back to England with me, but it is impossible for them to live in our climate; they get consumption very soon and die. The Royal Siamese cats, however, do very well, and very quickly become acclimatised. - M. BARRETT JOHNSON.

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS
(For rules see previous issues.)
OLAF. - Yes, I agree with you about the convenience, but sooner or later I fear you will find skin trouble arising if you give anything containing Indian cornmeal, peameal, oatmeal, etc. Much better give plain suet pudding, or a slice of thick bread and butter. If you particularly want to give biscuits. those made with wheaten flour will do no harm, and they are no dearer. Have a few pounds of Captain's biscuits or large lunch biscuits, which can be broken up or given whole as desired when some supplement to the meat is necessary. A clever cook could make biscuits that would be harmless (cereals are, and can be, only fill-ups; there is no nutriment in them for carnivorous animals) and would probably be cheaper than anything you could buy. Let your kitchen genius experiment with flour (seconds, not the best fine white flour), water, or milk and water, and a dash of dripping. They will keep for ages if properly made and put in a tin. I will see if I can find a proper recipe for you and insert it here one of these days.
SIMONG. - 1. As a rule it is best to cure these large single warts radically, or else by ligaturing them. A thread of tine surgeon's silk is tied round the base of the wart, and the consequent failure of blood supply to the strangulated excrescence causes it to drop off after some days have passed. But I hardly think you could do this yourself: any good veterinary surgeon would either excise them - that is. snip them off after applying cocaine as a local anaesthetic, and then dress the small wound made - or ligature them for you. Sometimes it is possible to cure them by the application of lunar caustic [silver nitrate], and sometimes they will yield to a saturated solution of bicarbonate of soda constantly and repeatedly applied. Old dogs are very apt to have them, and it is rather dangerous to prescribe for them without seeing them, as what you describe as a wart I or a surgeon might possibly find to be a small fatty or other tumour. Again, I see you say one is on the eyelid; this is a position in which amateur interference is very undesirable. I think you had better take your pet to the Royal Veterinary College, Camden Town. 2. I think Spratt's Patent, 24, Fenchurch Street, London, E.C., could arrange this for you. There is a private one somewhere. but I have never seen it advertised, except, if I remember rightly, in a little paper devoted to cats the editor of which is Mrs. Ransome, Sunnymount, Altrincham, Cheshire.

CAT GOSSIP. The Ladies' Field, December 5, 1908, pg II.

THE NATIONAL CAT CLUB'S SHOW AT THE CRYSTAL PALACE.
THE twenty-second championship show of the National Cat Club was held at the Crystal Palace last week. Princess Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein was not showing.
In long-haired whites the first prizes were carried off by Master B. Currie with Romulus of Kensington (bred by Miss Kerswill), and the Hon. Mrs. Behrens with Swinton Day Dream; the latter also took a second with Swinton Pierrot. Second, too, was Miss M. N. Jackman's Pearl o' Devon, and a third prize fell to Mrs. Bennet for Rokeles Blue-eyed Bloke, Mrs. George Wilson's White Friar III. of Arrandale being highly commended.
In long-haired blacks Mrs. A. H. Dee took a first with Earlsfield Delta, as did Mrs. W. Wood with Hartley Jamie (bred by Mrs. Matthews and Miss Hillard). Seconds fell to Miss P. B, Tubbs's Ravenswing and Miss F. Simpson's Black Beauty.
In long-haired blues the honours fell as follows: Firsts, Mrs. George Wilson's Sir Archie II. of Arrandale and Mrs. K. Medding's Tealby Belle. Seconds, Mrs. Slingsby's Bluecap of Thorpe and Mrs. C. L. Kennaway's Chandra Nil. Thirds, Miss B. Marquand's Ruddington San Toy and Mrs. G. H. Billett's Maxine II. Reserve, Miss Jay's Holmwood Roy and Mrs. E. Watson's Barry Miranda. The exhibits of Mrs. K. G. Davis, Miss M. Humfrey, Miss E. Soans, Mrs. Slingsby, Miss A. Chevers, Mrs. A. M. Tabb and Mrs. M. Lea Wynn were all very highly commended.
In chinchillas Mrs. George Wilson scored again with Rob Roy II. of Arrandale, and Mrs. L. Shilgoe-Sedgwick took a first with Thelma Lenore. A second fell to Mrs. E. Denver's Lord Silvercote of Meadsgate, her beautiful Lady Silver Petal taking first in novice and a second besides. The Misses Elliott's Silver Robin, and Mrs. George Wilson's Silver Glossie of Arrandale took thirds. Miss Chamberlayne's Silver Elfin of Ravenor and Mrs. Denyer's Camilla were also shown.
In smokes, Mrs. W. Geal's Duke of Asturias won a first, as did Mr. F. W. Horton's Lincoln Imp. Mrs. A. M. Stead won a second with Rhoda, and Mrs. W. Singleton another with Merthyr Prince. Mrs. Singleton also won two thirds with Wernlas Hero and Cigarette of the Cottage.
In silver tabbies, Mrs. Slingsby's Don Pasquale of Thorpe took first prize. Mr. R. Leycester's Silver Aura taking the other. Seconds fell to Mrs. H. Watkin's Rettendon Woolly, and Mrs. F. M. Fosbery's Eastbury Tiger Boy. Miss Cope won thirds with Lord of the Manor and Roiall Dame. Reserve went to Mrs. W. M. Meeson for Rettendon Pansy Face, and Mr. Maynard's Tam o' Shanter.
In shaded silvers Miss J. Simon's The Silver Lily Boy was first, Miss M. Wilson's Opal of Arrandale second, Miss I. Meeson's Seagull Duvals third, and Mrs. Slingsby's Silver Dragon of Thorpe reserve.
In brown tabbies Miss R. Whitney was first with Ch. Brayfort Viking and Lady Decies with Fulmer Bubbles; second fell to Miss Whitney's Brayfort Tip-Topper. Miss Chamberlayne with Russet Prince of Ravenor took a third, her Speculation of Ravenor and Miss Simpson's Bonnie Bess being bracketed equal.
In orange cats Mrs. F. W. Western's Wynnstay Blazer and the Hon. Mrs. McLaren Morrison were first in their respective classes; Mrs. Louis Maxwell's Tibert was second, Mrs. Slingsby's Red Eagle of Thorpe a third; Miss B. Cornish-Bowden's Orange Tip being bracketed equal with Mrs. Neate's All Red. Mrs. Vidal's Torrington Golden Ray, Miss A. E. Jacob's Sunshine, Mrs. Slingsby's Auburn of Thorpe and Mrs. George 3 Wilson's Red Clover of Arrandale were all very highly commended.
In creams Mrs. Fred Helmer secured two firsts with Ch. Wildon Wily and Wildon Witch. Seconds were taken by Mrs. Slingsby's Wilful of Thorpe and Miss Henrietta Lea's Ruckholt Sunflower, and thirds by Mrs. George Wilson's Danilo of Arrandale and Miss B. Cornish-Bowden's Avonwick Beauty. Reserve went to Mrs. C. L. Kennaway's Garboldisham Junker and Mrs. Harpur's Ruckholt Miss Coquette.
In tortoiseshells Mrs. C. L. Kennaway scored first with Garboldisham Gleam, Mrs. C. L. Burt was second with Cream Toes and Mrs. Vidal third with Torrington Dahlia. Mrs. Slingsby was first in the tortoiseshell and white class with Ch. Roselle of Thorpe.
Owing to pressure on our space this week the remaining classes and illustrations are unavoidably held over until next week. For cat correspondence see general page of "Answers to Correspondents."

CAT GOSSIP. The Ladies' Field, December 12, 1908, pg 50.

THE NATIONAL CAT CLUB'S SHOW AT THE CRYSTAL PALACE.
THE short-haired classes at the Crystal Palace were chiefly remarkable for the successes of Lady Decies's cats. Her list of first prizes was as follows: White, Ch. Fulmer Snowstorm, whose deep-coloured blue eyes must always attract attention; blue, Fulmer Thomas and Fulmer Copper Queen - the latter is still a beautiful cat though her eyes are fading; silver tabby, the well-known Tabby Boy, a good cat though not quite first class, and Fulmer Juliette, a lovely debutante; and brown tabby, Ch. Fulmer Flash Juck, who also won the challenge bowl for best short-hair, a beautifully marked cat, only wanting substance to make him invincible. In blacks Lady Decies had to be content with second place, first going to Dr. Prior's Noctuna.

In tortoiseshell and white, Mrs. Slingsby was again successful with her beautifully patched Cretonne of Thorpe. Messrs. Rhodes Brothers's well-known red tabby Rochdale Perfection found nothing to lower his colours, and indeed this was the complaint all through the British classes - after the winners there were no cats of especial merit.
The class for Russian blues filled fairly well, and first went to Mrs. Clark's Peter the Great. This award shows to my mind that this class is unnecessary, for Peter the Great is such a magnificent cat that, were his eyes orange instead of green, he could win in the British class. Someone once suggested that in long-hairs we should have separate classes for green-eyed blue cats. We are coming to that now in short-hairs.
In Siamese Mrs. Brooke's Sancho won first, as did Miss Barrett Johnson's Keo Fah and Mrs. Maturin's Prince Phytozoa. Mrs. Kennaway was also a winner in these classes. Mrs. Pitkin's beautifully ticked Princess Alice and Jeanette were the winners in the Abyssinian class. Miss Samuel won the lion's share of firsts in the Manx classes, but I do not agree with the award which placed Boygym over his cattery companion, King Kangaroo: doubtless the latter's shyness, as usual, put the judge at a disadvantage. Miss Polarite is a beautifully shaped white, free from stump and more correct in coat than the males.

To return to he long-hairs, Sir Archie II. of Arrandale is a much admired and constantly improving cat. His colour is sound to the skin, and he has an exquisite head and beautiful eyes. He won somewhat easily, but Blue Cap of Thorpe is also a very good cat and paler in colour. The winning silver tabby male, Don Pasquale of Thorpe, has grown into a very massive animal, and was shown in grand condition; Eastbury Tiger Boy is young yet, but his colour is beautiful, and with age he will make a grand cat. Lord of the Manor scores in head, but he also wants size.

Miss Whitney received much sympathy from connoisseurs over the awards in the brown tabby classes. Brayfort Viking and Brayfort Rajah won rightly in the male and male kitten classes. The latter, though very young, is a promising kitten with a sound chin. In the female class the celebrated Brayfort Tiptopper was placed second to a cat which was vastly her inferior in every point save coat. Brayfort Ranee, though placed second, was also generally considered the best female kitten. The Hon. Mrs. McLaren Morrison's Silverdale Lurline is a glorious dark orange colour, but her face is narrow, and she was apparently suffering from a cold, but her colour always places her high. In the second award change of type was noticeable, as Tibert is rather washy in colour. Red Clover of Arrandale, v.h.c. in this class, was much admired, as was Flameflower of Arrandale, the winner in the orange female class, the best kitten of her colour seen for years.

Miss Cope's black kitten Roiall Annora, the best kitten in the show at Westminster, has quite fulfilled her early promise and is really beautiful, perfect in head, shape and coat, densely black and with good eyes. i am extremely sorry to hear that her sister, who was almost as good, is dead.

In the chinchilla classes a complication arose, for which I presume that the confining of specials to members of certain clubs was responsible. This does not matter much with unimportant prizes, but where valuable trophies are concerned it gives a wrong impression to the uninitiated. The facts, as given in the official catalogue of the show, are as follows:
Awards in chinchilla male class: First, Rob Roy II. of Arrandale; second, Lord Silvercote of Meadsgate; third, Silver Robin; reserve, Silver Elfin of Ravenor.
In chinchilla females: First, Thelma Lenore; second, Lady Silver Petal; third, Silver Glossie of Arrandale; reserve, Camilla; v.h.c, Roosalka, Silver Blossom, Princess Freda and Niobe; h.c., Bella. Breeders' class: First, Rob Roy II. of Arrandale; reserve, Lord Silvercote of Meadsgate; v.h.c., Silver Robin, Thelma Lenore and Bella; h.c., Silver Blossom and Princess Freda: unnoticed, Roosalka.
Here we see that the male cats have all been placed above the females. The latter, though in their own class were evidently far apart, Thelma Lenore being first and Bella only h.c., are placed together v.h.c. in the breeders' class, while Silver Blossom and Princess Freda are placed below Bella, whom they had previously beaten. When we come to the specials we find that Thelma Lenore is awarded the N.C.C. silver salver and the Chinchilla and Silver Society's medal for the best chinchilla, the male cat only receiving the championship of his sex. Presumably Mrs. Wilson and Mrs. Denyer are not members either of the club or the society, and their cats are, therefore, not eligible for these prizes; but surely the N.C.C. would be well advised to make some rule to prevent its salvers from being awarded to a cat which had already been beaten by two cats of the same breed.

In this same breeders' class were included the smokes and silver tabbies, and we find that the winning silver tabby male, Don Pasquale of Thorpe, was unnoticed, and the winning smoke male, Duke of Asturias, as third; yet Don Pasquale wins the Thorpe Challenge Cup for the best male cat shaded silver, chinchilla, smoke or silver tabby; again, presumably, because the owners of the cats which beat him are not members of certain societies. I cannot really believe that Don Pasquale was left cardless in this class intentionally when very "ordinary" chinchilla females were noticed. Surely he was overlooked by the judge.

Mrs. Corner's magnificent orange neuter, Red Roy of Eversley, a cat often described in these columns, won easily in his class, and the same remark applies to Mrs. Palmer's Oscar.

ANSWER TO CORRESPONDENT
DICK WHITTINGTON will be pleased to give advice on all matters concerning cats and their ailments, and will be glad to receive for insertion any interesting items of cat news that her readers may send. Queries must be written on one side of a separate sheet of paper, and must be signed with a pseudonym only for publication, but a letter giving full name and address of sender must accompany each query. A postal reply will be sent if the fee of 2s. 6d. is enclosed.. Letters should be addressed, "DICK WHITTINGTON, care of Editor, THE LADIES' FIELD."
MARY. - 1. Write to Mrs. Kennaway, Garboldisham Rectory, Thetford, Norfolk. 2. Treat the kitten as nearly as possible like an ordinary cat, feeding on raw lean beef. 3. If the kitten is to be a house pet it should do all right at this time of year. If it is to live out of doors the late spring would be better. 4. Damp is not good for any kittens, but dry cold does no harm, Exposure to cold winds is not desirable. 5. I do not consider them especially delicate. 6. Siamese cats are, I think, rather more destructive than other cats. I should advise you to ask the seller how the kitten has been treated, and not to make any sudden change. 7. This query does not belong to my department. - DICK WHITTINGTON.

CAT GOSSIP. The Ladies' Field, December 19, 1908, pg 138.

THE Misses Ayre have every reason to be proud of their prize pair of blue Persian kittens, which are illustrated here. The kittens were bred by the Misses Ayre from their own magnificent stud cat Struwwelpeter. They were only seven months old at the N.C.C. show, where Chili took second and Peru reserve in blue male kittens under nine months.

RUCKHOLT BRYDE, the beautiful cream kitten illustrated here, is the property of Miss Henrietta Lea, and when photographed was just five months old. She won first and gold medal at the Richmond Cat Show, 1908, second at the Royal Botanic, first in cream female kittens, with special for best cream kitten at Crystal Palace, also special for best eyes. She is by Ch. Wildon Wily and Miss Lea's Ruckholt Sunflower, a queen of great beauty, who also won well both at the Palace and Westminster this year.

ANOTHER of our illustrations shows Mrs. Louis Maxwell's Tibert, a beautiful orange Persian queen, who won second prize at the Crystal Palace Show of the N.C.C. held recently. She took also the second prize last year in the limit class at the Crystal Palace Show under another Judge.

ANSWER TO CORRESPONDENT.
DODO. - Get "Our Cats," by the late Mr. Harrison Weir. it is published by Clements and Co., Tunbridge Wells. Ido not know the price, but probably 4s. or 5s.

CAT GOSSIP. The Ladies' Field, December 26, 1908. - No Cat Gossip due to Dog Show report.

MESSYBEAST - OLD CAT BOOKS

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