Some Doggy People 15 



other occasions the best and ablest judge we have of that breed 

 to-day, and also well up in Fox-terriers ; indeed, it would be 

 hard to find the class or breed of dogs which would puzzle 

 "George" the name he is universally known by or about 

 which he would be long in deciding what to do, and I should 

 consider his opinion on any variety of dog as valuable and 

 reliable as could be obtained. 



One who, perhaps, does as much judging as any all over the 

 country, and gets through a lot of work with great skill and rapidity, 

 is Mr. L. P. C. Astley, whose original fancy, if I remember rightly, 

 was Fox-terriers, and he and I have often been exhibitors at the 

 same shows in days gone by ; but he is also an authority on some 

 varieties of cats and poultry. Of late years he almost entirely 

 has ceased to exhibit, and mostly confines himself to all-round 

 judging. 



Then there is Mr. Theo. Marples, an old friend of mine who, 

 long before he took to judging at all, was entirely engaged on 

 literary work. As will be known to many of my readers, his 

 original hobby was Spaniel breeding, in which, as more lately in 

 Pomeranians, he was most successful, and many good specimens of 

 both those breeds claim him as their breeder. Since his more 

 intimate connection with the Fancier Press, and particularly since 

 he has been editor of the popular weekly Our Dogs, he has taken 

 on a lot more judging at home and abroad. 



The next I have known a great many years, both as exhibitor 

 and judge, and in the latter capacity he and I have had to 

 tackle some of the largest and most difficult problems ever 

 submitted for adjudication. And it is no vain boast when I say 

 that we have often been the only judges to deal with all the 

 important prizes at the great shows held each spring at the Royal 

 Agricultural Hall, London, such as the teams of Sporting, Non- 

 Sporting, Terriers, Toys, etc., with often from fifteen to twenty 

 teams competing for some of these prizes, and other knotty 

 points to be decided afterwards, such as to discover " the best 

 Sporting Dog in the show " (3,000 entries, and 300 eligible !), 

 "best Non-Sporting ditto," "best Terrier," "best Toy," best dog 

 belonging to an Irishman, Scotchman, Welshman, and Foreigner 

 respectively. It is no child's play to deal with such cases ! 

 The judge I refer to is Mr. Tom Ashton. I have no doubt 

 he was by his sponsors called "Thomas," but ever since I 

 have known him he has been called "Tom," and as he is not 



