io6 



THE BOOK OF THE CAT. 



dining-room. Mrs. Collingwood intends going principal shows this enthusiastic lady is a 

 in strongly for smokes in the future ; and prominent figure, and in the quantity and 



although possessed of extremely good short- 

 haired cats, this ambitious fancier is desirous 

 of breeding a perfect silver tabby and a like- 

 wise equally perfect orange tabby. " James " 

 is a beautiful specimen of a silver tabby, and 

 during this year alone has won eight first 

 prizes. At Altrincham he had the honour of 

 claiming championship 

 and silver medal for the 

 best cat in the show, 

 beating all the long- 

 haired cats that gener- 

 ally carry off this coveted 

 prize ; and at the Crys- 

 tal Palace he was the 

 admired of all admirers, 

 with a number of prize 

 tickets covering his pen. 

 I know many cat-loving 

 people, but I do not 

 think I have ever seen 

 greater devotion shown 

 to the feline race than is 

 displayed at Bossington. 

 Mrs. Collingwood is ever 

 ready to support cat 

 shows by entries, by 

 guaranteeing classes, and 

 by giving handsome 

 prizes. Her cats are 

 always shown in the 

 pink of condition, and it 

 is seldom they appear THE IM "' A * TREE, MRS. CLARKE'S CATTERY 





in the pens unless their 

 devoted mistress is in attendance. Mrs. Col- 

 lingwood kindly had the accompanying photo- 

 graphs specially taken for this chapter. 



Perhaps no name is better known in the cat 

 world than that of Mrs. Herring, of Lestock 

 House, Lee, who has for nearly twenty years 

 been a prominent fancier and breeder of both 

 long- and short-haired cats. Mrs. Herring is 

 a member of the National Cat Club Committee, 

 and also belongs to several of the specialist 

 clubs, and is a member of the Cat Club and 

 the Northern Counties Cat Club. At all the 



(fhoto: Mrs. S. F. Clarke.) 



quality of her exhibits she generally leads the 

 way. 



At some of our large shows Mrs. Herring has 

 entered from 25 to 30 cats ; and I have known 

 and seen these arrive with their mistress in a 

 large omnibus or van. It is no light under- 

 taking to prepare such a number of pussies 

 for show, and then to 

 convey them carefully to 

 the place of exhibition. 



Mrs. Herring started 

 with a short-haired sil- 

 ver tabby called "Chin," 

 and then turned her 

 attention to long-haired 

 brown tabbies ; and al- 

 though every variety of 

 cat, both long- and 

 short-haired, may be said 

 to have existed from 

 time to time in the 

 Lestock catteries, yet it 

 is with tabbies perhaps 

 that Mrs. Herring has 

 chiefly made her name 

 and fame. Champion 

 "Jimmy " was a superb 

 specimen of a well- 

 marked silver tabby, and 

 he carried everything 

 before him in the show 

 pen. He passed away in 

 1900, and I do not think 

 we shall see his like again. 

 Amongst many celebrities in the feline 

 world which have been born or bred, or have 

 found their habitation at the Lestock cattery, I 

 may mention " King Saul," the noted tortoise- 

 shell torn who still holds a unique position at 

 our shows, and won the Coronation Cup at 

 the Botanical show. " King Alfred," a long- 

 haired silver tabby, and " King David," a 

 massive blue, are also well-known winners 

 of the present day. Mrs. Herring bred some 

 sensational silver tabby long-haired kittens, 

 and two of these " The Duchess " and 



