THE LADIES’ 
Whyte, Mrs. Hughes, Mrs. Thomas, Mrs. 
Jenkins, Mrs. Carlo Clarke, Mrs. Morgan 
Crofton, and Mrs. Handley Spicer, with 
Mr. R. Hunter as the legal adviser and 
Mr. G. B. Manley as secretary and trea- 
surer pro tem. After much assiduous 
work the liabilities of the old association 
were entirely cleared with the help of 
generous subscriptions, Her Majesty the 
Queen heading the list with £100; and 
subsequently, when the proceedings of the 
association were called in question in the 
courts, they issued from the ordeal with a 
clean sheet. 
An informal conference had been held 
on March 25th, at 58, Grosvenor Street, 
between members of the Ladies’ Kennel 
Association and the ladies’ branch of the 
Kennel Club. The L.K.A. were repre- 
sented by the Countess of Aberdeen, Mrs. 
Preston Whyte, Mrs. Handley Spicer; the 
L.B.K.C. by Mrs. C. Chapman, Mrs. 
Skewes Cox, Lady Lewis, and Mrs. Oli- 
phant. It was hoped that an amalgama- 
tion with the Kennel Club might be 
effected, but the terms asked by the govern- 
ing body were not such as the committee 
felt justified in asking the L.K.A. to accept. 
Another meeting of members only was held 
at the Morley Hall, Hanover Square, in 
April, under the presidency of the Countess 
of Aberdeen, when the various ways of 
forming a new association were fully dis- 
cussed, and it was unanimously agreed that 
some such organisation of dog lovers 
among women was a necessity. In spite of 
the cloud still hanging over them, the 
members pluckily decided to hold the usual 
summer show at the Botanical Gardens. 
A strong committee was formed, with the 
Countess of Aberdeen as chairman and 
Mrs. Charles Chapman hon. treasurer, 
several other members of the L.B.K.C. 
also acting. 
The show was an unqualified success, 
favoured with glorious weather and a 
record entry of 2,301. H.R.H. the 
Duchess of Connaught, president of the 
association, accompanied by H.R.H. the 
Duke and their daughters, visited the show 
on the first day, June 26; a parade of prize- 
winners was held in their honour, and they 
also went round the benches. Her Majesty 
the Queen, who was a successful exhibitor 
KENNEL 
ASSOCIATION. 549 
with a Borzoi and a Basset-hound, also 
honoured the show with a visit on the 
second day. Her Majesty was much in- 
terested in several of the dogs, some of 
which, by her request, were taken off the 
bench for a better inspection. As presum- 
ably every woman at the show was inter- 
ested in dogs, a meeting was held to 
receive the report drawn up by the pro- 
visional committee, appointed at Morley 
Hall, and “to consider a draft constitution 
and rules for a reconstituted association of 
women dog owners,’’ submitted by a joint 
committee formed by the L.K.A. and 
L.B.K.C. Mr. Farman, a_ prominent 
member of the Kennel Club committee, 
was present, and explained the advantages 
of a Charter of Incorporation, and the 
different methods by which it might be 
obtained. It was explained that every 
member’s liability was limited to the sub- 
scription. The question of the name led 
to much discussion, whether the old one 
should be retained, with all its memories, 
pleasant and otherwise, or a new one, such 
as “ The Ladies’ Kennel Union,” be taken. 
When it was put to the vote the feeling 
of the meeting was strongly in favour of 
the old title, only two hands being held 
up in favour of a change. 
The application to the Board of Trade 
for Incorporation was, after some delay, 
heard before the Parliamentary secretary 
to the Board, Mr. Bonar Law. The pro- 
ceedings were not held in a public court, 
so were not reported; but the action was 
opposed by Mrs. Stennard Robinson, late 
hon. secretary of the L.K.A., and others 
acting with her, on the grounds that there 
were still debts owing by the association, 
though it had been dissolved. Mr. Far- 
man and Mr. R. Hunter, on behalf of the 
applicants, were able to prove to the satis- 
faction of the Board that the constitution 
of the new association would be very 
different from the old one, and that, in 
spite of statements to the contrary in the 
public press, all just debts incurred by the 
association had been discharged. The 
proposed rules having been submitted to 
the Board, the Charter of Incorporation 
was granted; needless to say with what 
satisfaction the intelligence was received 
by those who had worked so enthusiastic- 
