Concerning Cats 



man in attendance. Six or seven thousand dollars' 

 worth of cats sporting on the lawn together is a rich 

 sight, but not altogether without risk. 



Mrs. Fabius M. Clarke's " Persia," a beautiful dark 

 chinchilla, is one of the finest cats in this country. 

 She began her career by taking special and first 

 prizes at Fastmay's Cat Show in England, as the 

 best long-haired kitten. She also took the first prize 

 as a kitten at Lancashire, and at the National Cat 

 Show in New York in 1895. She was bred in Eng- 

 land; sire, King of Uhn; dam. Brunette, of pure 

 imported Persian stock. Mrs. Clarke brought her 

 home in January, 1895, and she is still worshipped as 

 a family pet at her New York home. " Sylvio " was 

 also brought over at the same time. He was a beau- 

 tiful long-haired male silver tabby, and bred by Mrs. 

 A. F. Gardner. Sylvio was sired by the famous 

 Topso of Dingley (owned by Miss Leake), famous 

 as the best long-haired tabby in England. Sylvio's 

 mother was Mimidatzi, whose pedigree is given in 

 the previous chapter. " Mimi's " sire was the cham- 

 pion Blue Boy the Great, whose mother was Boots 

 of Bridgeyate, whose pedigree is also given in the 

 extract from the stud book. Sylvio took a first prize 

 at the New York Show, 1895, but unfortunately was 

 poisoned before he was a year old. This seems the 

 greater pity, because he had a remarkably fine pedi- 

 gree, and gave promise of being one of the best cats 

 America has yet seen. 



150 



