SHORT-HAIRED CATS 



277 



considered the long nose and thin head the right 

 shape for a Russian, yet, he added, "I am not 

 here to judge on those lines; I have to judge 

 according to the standard, which gives prefer- 

 ence to round head, neat ears, and short nose ; 

 and, although I really believe Mrs. Walker's 

 blue ' Moscow ' to be the nearest in type to 

 those I have seen in Eastern countries, yet 

 according to our English breeders' standard 

 it is out of it, and I can only give it reserve." 

 Mr. Mason, our ablest judge of all classes of 

 cats, upheld Mr. Woodiwiss in his awards, and 

 makes the following remarks in Fur and 

 Feather of February, 1003, in reporting on the 

 Manchester show : "I hope exhibitors and 

 breeders of short-haired self-blues will take 

 my remarks in the spirit in which they are 

 written. I am glad to see that the Manchester 

 committee named the 

 classes ' Blues (Male) ' 

 and ' Blues (Female).' 

 To call them Russians 

 is a mistake, seeing 

 that a very large num- 

 ber of those exhibited 

 are crosses from some 

 other varieties. To 

 all intents the self 

 blues, as we find them 

 to-day, have little of 

 the Russian blood in 



them. Then why call them Russian ? Why 

 not ' self blues," and judge them on the same 

 lines as the British short-haired cats ? What 

 I want to obtain is a uniform type. To go 



for two op- 

 posite types 

 in one class 

 of exhibits 

 cannot be 

 right or ad- 

 vantageous 

 to breeders or 

 exhibitors." 



Breeders of 

 short - haired 



blues have 



"SHKRDLEY MicHAKi.." ncverbeen 



18* 



manyin num- 

 ber, nor has 

 there ever 

 appeared any 

 startling ly 

 good speci- 

 men in the 

 show pen. 

 Mr. Woodi- 

 wiss kept and 

 e x h i b it_e d 

 several line 



SHERDLEV ALEXIS. 



SHERDLEY SACHA II." " SHERDLEY SACHA I." 



specimens 

 "Blue Boy," 



" Blue King," and " Blue Queen." The two 

 latter have been passed on to Lady Alexander. 

 Mr. Mariner, of Bath, is an old exhibitor and 

 great enthusiast of this breed. Mrs. Mjddleton, 



Mrs. Herring, Mrs. 

 Crowther, Miss Butler, 

 Mrs. Illingworth, and 

 Mrs. Pownall have all 

 from time to time been 

 possessed of fairly good 

 Russians so called. 

 Mr. Cole used to show 

 a lovely fat-faced cat 

 called "Muff," but she 

 had green eyes. Mr. 

 Dewar's " Firkins " 

 and Mr. McNish's "St. 

 Juan " are blues that have made their name. 



The three principal breeders at the present 

 time of these cats are Lady Alexander, Mrs. 

 Michael Hughes, and Mrs. Carew Cox. It is 

 at the Crystal Palace shows that an oppor- 

 tunity is given of admiring the fine team of 

 blues from the Faygate cattery. " Brother 

 Bump " has won a first prize whenever he has 

 appeared in the show pen, and, curiously 

 enough, each time under a different judge. He 

 is a full champion, and special prizes have been 

 showered upon him. Besides this handsome 

 fellow, Lady Alexander owns another male 

 " Blue King " and two good females. 



At Sherdley Hall, in Lancashire, there is 

 quite a colony of blues owned by Mrs. Michael 

 Hughes. 



