CATS IN AMERICA. 



319 



absolute necessity, and the dose must be 

 swallowed or no progress is made, and, as in 

 the case of the score card, no doubt the having 

 to give a reason is likely to keep us from 

 giving prizes to one point at the expense of 

 all the rest. Two great factors we have had 

 to consider here are type and quality, the two 

 weakest points in our cats ; and if we had 

 run to extremes in eye colour we should have 

 made no progress in type or perhaps quality. 

 Great stress has been laid upon markings in 

 tabby cats, with very good results, and we 

 are rapidly accumulating a good lot of tabbies 

 especially in the Detroit district, where 

 tabbies are popular, which is a thing to be 

 grateful for. We have never thought it well 

 here to discourage the orange tabbies for the 

 sake of unmarked orange, and we have some 

 very good orange tabbies whose number is on 

 the increase ; and if the plain orange can range 



as is the case with Madame Ronner and the 

 Continental fanciers ; and, if so, there seems 

 to be no reason for discouraging them, and 

 we may as well first make up our minds to 

 the fact that, in trying to force English ideas 

 down the throats of the people of another 

 country with too violent a hand, we may do 

 a lasting injury to the fancy at large. 



Another thing I might refer to, and that is 

 that the average American exhibitor does not 

 favour giving prizes to long-haired cats when 

 out of coat, and the strength of the fancy and 

 its future popularity lies in presenting to the 

 public the cats in their best dress, and this 

 mostly is the only logical way we can give out 

 the principal prizes and appeal to the good 

 sense of those who come to see them ; for the 

 general public, when not experts, can only 

 judge from appearance. The strength in 

 England lies in the fanciers themselves, who 



'THE COMMISSIONER. 

 (Photo: Arthur, Detroit.) 



up beside the orange tabbies, all well and 

 good. But I shall be an advocate, if there is 

 a danger of one hurting the other, of making 

 separate classes, for we do not want to drive 

 out the good orange tabbies, which are very 

 popular, and the average American who loves 

 an orange cat at the present moment does not 

 care whether it is marked or unmarked. 

 Cats with white hair are much in favour, 



have the opportunity of seeing so much more 

 and of learning. Our future here lies in being 

 able to gather recruits by presenting the cats 

 to them in as perfect a form as possible, and 

 therefore we have to depend upon the public. 

 Our shows have to be in the winter, when the 

 cats are in coat, and the dangers of exposure to 

 the weather are very great, all of which is a 

 good deal to the disadvantage of the fancier. 



