A REVIEW of the cat fancy in America carries us over so vast an expanse of territory, that it is not easy at one fell swoop really to do it justice. The only way that seems feasible is to take the fancy by districts ; and as the cat fancy - exemplified by shows - may be said to have arisen in the east, this district should, I think, have the pride of place, though it has for a time to give way to the reign of the cat further towards the setting of the sun.

"The Storm King." Owned by Miss C. Wallace. (Photo: Lewis Studio, East Brady, Pa.)

On referring to Mrs. Pierce's notes, it will be seen that Maine had its cat shows long before we had - some of us - come to America. The cat fancy - as it is now - in America may have been said to have sprung into a steady existence with the first show held in the Madison Square Garden, New York, on May 8th, 1895. This show was organised by Mr. James T. Hyde, an Englishman, who has been closely identified with the horse shows at the Garden for many years, and the idea of holding a cat show came to him suddenly, from having attended the Crystal Palace show.

"Rado." Blue, Owned By Mrs. Kress (Photo: Branch, Minneapolis.)

The first cat show in New York was a great success from the time the doors opened till its close, though the temperature - which was for part of the time as high as 96 degrees - was hard upon the cats, especially those that had just come from England. When we returned home the morning after the show there was a white frost! Part of the judging was done - and well done - by the late Dr. Huide-koper, who had picked up a good deal of his cat lore while a medical student at Paris and Edinburgh and in London. Miss Hurlburt and Mr. T. Farrer Rackham were the other judges.

In regard to this show - which marks the beginning of the cat fever in America, that spread outside of the State of Maine - I think I ought to point out what was chiefly remarkable, and the parts of the show that were destined to bear upon the future. In the first place, the prize for the best cat in the show was won by a brown tabby - a native, or, as some people designate them, Maine cats. This cat was in every way a good one; but he was a gelding, and, of course, in May, much ahead of the breeding cats as to plumage; but, still, there was little dissatisfaction at the awards. Of English cats there were not more than about eight, and several died soon after; and of all those shown at this our first show the only ones that have really made any mark or real impression upon the cat fancy in America may be mentioned "King Humbert," "Topaz," "Minnie," and "The Banshee." The first-named were all brown or grey tabbies, the last a white. Cats bred from these are still winning, and their descendants keep their names green in the annals of present-day stud books.

White cats had always been popular in America, and the first show produced specimens as good as, or even better than I have ever seen in this city ; up to now, in fact, we have never had anything to beat "Ajax," who made his first and last bow to the public here.

No other shows occurred for some time till the autumn, when an exhibition was held at Newburgh, sixty miles up the Hudson River, to be repeated the next year, with the New York show of 1896 in between. At this latter great improvement had been made in colours and varieties; and, in fact, all concerned had made considerable advance in the meantime as to knowledge of different varieties of cats.

At the second show in New York a club was formed, intended to be the National, but it died, and affairs were in a comatose condition as regards shows in New York until the consent of Mr. Crawford, the manager of the poultry show, was obtained for the holding of a cat show in January, 1902, in the concert hall which opens out of the main hall at Madison Square. This show, though a small one, was well attended, and though the entries only numbered about no, the quality of many of the cats was very much ahead of the five years before, and the classes of silvers were good enough for any country. The impetus gained by this show and the results obtained were not overestimated by those who promoted the show, and the bringing together of many staunch breeders who had sprung up in the meantime made it possible to organise the Atlantic Cat Club, which has gathered such headway in the year of its existence that it is becoming one of the most powerful factors in the American cat fancy. The show held at Madison Square in 1903, with the fine collection of challenge cups and the many other valuable specials, speaks to the gathering interest and the strength of the fancy in the district, and the club is being every day still further strengthened; and, if the treasury balance is any indication, the future of the Atlantic Cat Club will be very marked, especially as many people of wealth and influence are being enrolled upon the books and are becoming most enthusiastic upholders of the cat in New York.

In discussing the eastern affairs, we must not leave out the Boston shows, which have been a steady factor for some years, and gave opportunities to the more northern cats to meet and compete together. These shows have been kept alive by Mr. T. Farrer Rack-ham, to a great extent, and from the opening of the cat fancy up to now he has been a steady promoter of the interests of the cat, and has steadily worked to keep up the interest.

In thinking of the breeders of the eastern portion of this continent we have to range over a good deal of territory, and even the State of New York alone takes us quite out west, and from Mrs. Conlisk (who lives at Gowanda, and who owns "Bitterne Silver Chieftain" and a daughter of "Whychwood," besides "Silver Belle," who came from England lately) our thoughts drift down to Pittsburg to Mrs. L. T. Hodges, who is making a speciality of smokes and silvers, and has commenced well by winning in kittens at Cleveland with "Wahanita," "Southampton," and "The Dusky Pilgrim" - a capital smoke, since sold for £50. Mrs. Mix, although in New York State, lives 180 miles to the westward of New York City; but, still, the effect the cats that she has imported from England have had upon the young stock and the future of our cats in certain lines has been very marked. As a sire of good ones no cat has exceeded "King of the Silvers," and his children have been picked on several occasions for best in show, and the influence that these may have in the future cannot yet be fully estimated. The winnings of this cattery have been many, but as the home of good breeding stock and as the practical founder of a strain for the future this cattery is destined to rank very high in our annals.