i8o 



THE BOOK OF THE CAT. 



SMOKES. 



Smoke cats should be black, shading to smoke 

 (grey), with as light an under-coat as possible ; light 

 frill and ear tufts ; eyes to be orange. 



Value of points : 



Head and expression . . . . 20 



Colour of eye . . . . . . ..15 



Colour of under-coat . . . . . . 10 



Absence of markings . . . . . . 15 



Coat and condition . . . . 20 



Tail . . . . . . . . 10 



Shape . . . . . . . . 10 



Total .-. . . . . loo 



I think there are no fanciers or breeders of 

 smokes who feel that any option should be 

 given as to the colour of eyes in this breed, for, 

 as in the black cats, the eyes should be amber 

 or light golden. However, I must confess 

 that brilliant green eyes are to be preferred 

 to the pale yellow, which too often spoil the 

 beauty of many of the smokes now exhibited. 

 I should never place an indifferent smoke 

 with orange eyes over a good specimen with 

 eyes of emerald green. In the early days of 

 the fancy, smokes were entered in the " any 

 other variety " class, and were sometimes 

 called Smoke Blues or Smoke Chinchillas. 



In 1891 Miss Manley (now Mrs. Strick) ex- 

 hibited a fine smoke called " Bayadere." 

 Amongst the names of our oldest smoke 

 breeders who still continue to breed I may 

 mention Mrs. Cartwright, of Upwood. In 1895 

 this lady showed smokes at Cruft's show bred 

 from her "Timkins." The Upwood cats are 

 very pure in colour, having the dense outer 

 coat very white at the roots. At one time the 

 Lindfield smokes held their own everywhere, 

 Miss Molony winning first at the Crystal 

 Palace in 1893 with " Lindfield Bogie." Mrs. 

 Bluhm, better known as a silver breeder, also 

 owned about this time a famous smoke female 

 called " Smuttie." 



Mrs. Robert Little has for years combined 

 the breeding of smokes with blacks. In 

 1897 " Namouska," a smoke female, won 

 first at the Crystal Palace, and her descendants 

 continue their career as first-class smokes. 

 In more recent times the following are noted 



winners : Lady Marcus Beresford's " Cossey," 

 Mrs. H. V. James's " Backwell Jogram," 

 Mrs. Sinkins' " Teufel," Mrs. Stead's " Ranji," 

 Mrs. StillwelPs "Victoria," Miss Snell's 

 " Dusky Girl," Mrs. Collingwood's " Minouche," 

 Rev. P. L. Cosway's " Maritana," Mrs. 

 Neild's "Silver Soot," Mrs. Hamilton's 

 "Bulger," Miss Rose's "Judge." Perhaps 

 the most consistent and successful breeder 

 of smokes now in the fancy is Mrs. H. V. 

 James, who started in 1893, and has been 

 faithful to this breed ever since. I have 

 had the pleasure 'of visiting Mrs. James's 

 smoke cattery, and I felt that the lovely 

 old-fashioned garden surrounding the Grange 

 at Backwell was truly an ideal place for 

 successfully rearing live stock of any kind, 

 and all the pussies were pictures of robust 

 health. I am glad to be able to insert the 

 following valuable article on smoke Persians 

 from the pen of Mrs. James, who is certainly 

 our best authority on this breed. 



" Before entering upon the distinctive points 

 of smokes, I will give a short account of my 

 smoke cattery, and how I first took up this 

 breed. It is curious to look back and see 

 what mere chances govern our actions. I 

 have all my life been devoted to Persian cats 

 of one colour or another, but never intended 

 to go in for any special breed. However, in 



1893 I purchased a blue kitten, which, on its 

 arrival, appeared far from well. The man 

 who sold it offered, if it died, to replace it. 

 In a few days I was in a position to accept 

 this offer, for the kitten succumbed, and 

 another which was also supposed to be a 

 blue was sent to replace it. As time went 

 on this kitten darkened, and, much to my 

 disgust, turned to a deep cinder colour. In 



1894 there was a grand West of England Cat 

 Show held at Bristol, and, to please an old 

 servant who had taken great care of the 

 kitten, I entered ' Jubilee.' I was not much 

 up in cat showing then, but ' smoke ' 

 seemed to answer the description of the 

 kitten better than any other colour ; so into 

 the smoke class he went, and, to my surprise, 

 carried everything before him. This started 



