BLUE PERSIANS. 



133 



feline world as a breeder of blue Persians. Mrs. several Scottish shows. Later he came under 



Hardy was a member of the Cat Club Com- the notice of Mrs. Mackenzie Stewart, into 



mittee, but on her removal to some distance whose hands he passed, and received a good 



from London she resigned her post. To her deal of favour at the hands of the judges, 



the Cat Club is indebted for a very beautiful From Mrs. Stewart he passed into the possession 



design of a medal which, in silver and bronze, of the late Dr. Longwill, and was sire of the 



CAST OK THE CAT CLUB MEDAL. 

 DESIGNED BY MRS. P. HARDY. 



is competed for at the Westminster and other 

 shows (sec illustration). 



Her first adventure into the domain of 

 cat-keeping was in the case of a very fine blue 

 cat named "Juliet," whose first few litters 

 were not a great success, so that sensible 

 cat took matters into her own hands. She 

 chose for her mate the raggedest black torn 

 she could find, and though, of course, the 

 results of this mesalliance were not at all satis- 

 factory from the show judge's point of view, 

 in later years, when suitably mated, " Juliet " 

 did not once throw back to a wrong-coloured 

 kitten. I am not sure that I can follow Mrs. 

 Hardy to the logical conclusion of her deduc- 

 tions from this fact, but I think it is worthy 

 of notice by those extremists who hold the 

 view that an incorrect mating in the first 

 instance spoils a queen for the rest of her 

 life. 



It was at the Crystal Palace show of 1897 

 that Mrs. Hardy exhibited her first litter from 

 her blue stud " Wooshoo," and she was then 

 awarded a first, a special, and two or three 

 silver medals. Another famous cat in Mrs. 

 Hardy's establishment was a blue, named 

 " Mark Antony," who met with success at 



famous Crystal Palace winning female blue, 

 " Dolly Gray," in 1902. 



Mrs. Hardy's success has not been achieved 

 without some set-backs, more particularly of 

 recent years, since her cattery has been en- 

 larged, and she has had to fight her way 

 against disease and death. Her own account 

 is so vivid that I quote it, so that fanciers 

 in a like evil condition may fight for the lives 

 of their pets to the last : 



" I was singularly free from illness of any 

 kind amongst them, and I lived for some time 

 happy in the belief that the Persian puss was 

 in no wise different from her short-coated 

 sister in the robust possession of nine lives ; so 

 I added cat unto cat, and bred for show ; when 

 swiftly Nemesis overtook me. I showed five 

 full-grown cats at the first Westminster show, 

 and twenty-four hours after the show was over 

 my best blue queen, a young beauty whose 

 proud owner I had been only for one brief 

 month, died of acute pneumonia. A few days 

 later influenza showed itself amongst the 

 others, and all four were down with it. 



" What a time I had, with the experiences 

 of a ward-nurse ! But I pulled them through, 

 all but one young kitten of four months, in 



