274 



" ASHBRITTLE PETER.' 

 THE PROPERTY OF MRS. E. A. CLARK. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 



SHORT-HAIRED CATS. 



IF a census could be taken of the cats in 

 England, or even in London, I suppose 

 the proportion of short-haired cats to 

 long-haired cats would be about ten to one. 

 In the cat fancy, however, the breeders of 

 Persians in comparison with those of the 

 short-haired varieties are far more numerous. 

 In former days, when cat shows were first 

 held at the Crystal Palace, the premier position 

 was given to the short-haired breeds. On 

 reference to the catalogues up to 1895 I find 

 the following heading at the commencement : 

 " Class I. Short-haired Cats : He Cats, Tortoise- 

 shell or Tortoiseshell - and -White." Then 

 followed the rest of the short-haired varie- 

 ties, including Siamese, Manx, and blue (self 

 colour). 



The long-haired breeds, therefore, in those 

 days had to play second fiddle, so to speak. 

 It was in 1896, when the National Cat Club 

 took over the Crystal Palace shows, that the 



place of honour was given to the long-haired 

 or Persian cats ; and now, as all the world 

 knows or, at any rate, all the cat world 

 at every show the short-haired cats are in a 

 very small minority. 



At one time not so very long ago there 

 was a danger of these breeds becoming 

 an unknown quantity at our shows. This 

 would have been a grievous pity ; so some 

 champions of the household or homely puss 

 arose, and Sir Claud and Lady Alexander 

 founded in 1901 the British Cat Club, to 

 encourage the breeding, exhibiting, and kind 

 treatment of these cats. The subscription 

 first started at 55., but was reduced to 2s. 6d., 

 so as to try to get. members of the poorer 

 classes to join and take an interest in the 

 welfare of pussy. A goodly number of 

 members' names are now on the list, and much 

 has been done in supporting shows by offer- 

 ing specials chiefly in money and in the 



