231 



A PICTURESQUE GKOUP. 

 (Photo: E. Landor, Baling.) 



CHAPTER XX. 



ANY OTHER COLOUR " PERSIANS. 



IN the early days of the fancy all sorts and 

 conditions of cats were entered in this 

 class. Blacks, whites, and tabbies were 

 considered important enough to have classes 

 assigned to them ; then the rest were all huddled 

 and muddled together in the "any other vari- 

 ety " class. Even in these days it is no easy 

 matter to place the awards in a mixed class ; 

 but formerly the judge must have felt puzzled 

 over the prizes, and probably finally gave the 

 highest awards to the breed of cat which he 

 most admired. I do not mean anything per- 

 sonal ; but, as I write, I recollect a very large 

 class in 1887 at the Crystal Palace, two years 

 before a class for blues was instituted. Mr. 

 A. A. Clarke was judging, and a female blue, 

 " Fanny," which I had given to Mrs. W. M. 

 Hunt as a birthday present, was awarded first. 

 She was a beautiful specimen, and but for her 

 green eyes would have been a remarkable cat 

 even in these up-to-date days of the fancy. 

 Whereas, therefore, for many years this " any 

 other variety " class was the largest in the 

 show, it has gradually become beautifully less 



and rightly so, for by degrees the various 

 breeds have been improved, and the number 

 of specimens have increased, and the execu- 

 tives of shows have gone with the times and 

 provided separate classes for each breed as 

 occasion seemed to arise. So orange and cream 

 cats are no longer relegated to what we now 

 call the " any other colour " class, and tortoise- 

 shells and tortoiseshell-and-whites are sepa- 

 rately dealt with ; therefore it is only tabby- 

 and-whites, nondescript smokes, blue tabbies, 

 and black-and-whites that are received into 

 the fold of the somewhat despised " any other 

 colour " class. Blues and blacks with white 

 spots used to be entered in this class, but of 

 recent years both cat clubs have wisely decided 

 that such cats must be entered in their own 

 classes, for a blue is a blue and a black a black, 

 and having a blemish does not alter their 

 breed, but takes so many points away from 

 them ; and, of course, their chances of success 

 even with every other quality is small indeed 

 when in competition with pure self-coloured 

 cats. 



