The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-01-14
CHICAGo's FAMOUS CATS.
Club That Can show Rare, Beautifui
and High Priced PUSHES.

comes it will be found that Chicago has
final word 10 say on-cats. 1t is indeed
doubtful whether outside of Asia finer bred
| cats are 10 be found anywhere than in
the Queen City. of the West; and Of these
| Incompatible specimens, certainly some of
the rarest are 10 be found at the Drexel
kennels, owned by Mrs. Leland Norton.
We think the picture of Royal the fn-
est we have ever seen" writes leading
London periodical devoted to the interest
and care of animals, to Mrs Norton, of
one of her prize winners far superior to
anything sent us by Lady Marcus Beres
ford, who was kind enough several weeks
ago 10 send us a large collection of her
cats" This from London expert apro-
pos of the most distinguished cats of
! England is by no means faint praise.
| one epoch-making day a friend brought
Mrs. Norton from San Francisco two
stunning white Persians. 10 and his mate,
Snow. which a missionary had brought
by hand 10 California all the way from
Persia.
This was the absolutely pur6 original
| stock upon which Mrs. Norton founded her
| kennels, and by a system of careful breed
| ing, she has kept the strain so pure that
| The kitties of her own raising are quite
| the equals of any that she imports from
| the Far East. Echo, a magnificent fellow,
and Madge, famous alike for her fine coat,
| superb tail and gentle disposition, were
! both the offspring of the original pair, and
| Royal, the great prize winner valued a
| $4,000 with tail sixteen inches across
in full feather, descended also from the
| same line.
Mrs Norton is 70 he
| lever in American stock, having practi-
| cally demonstrated that cats may be bred
| and raised in this country that will cas-
| lily take rank with the best of any coun-
try on the globe She, however, Imports
| at regular intervals from India and Persia,
| for the sake OF variety, as a basis of COM
| parison.
"All my foreign kitties come to me by
the way of San Francisco" remarked Mrs.
Norton. Il never get any from England,
and indeed do not experiment in any Way
| with European stock
Curious results frequently appear from
| experiments in breeding. One of Mrs. Nor
| tons white angoras, an exquisite creature,
| called Chiffon, has one clear blue eye and
| an equally pronounced yellow one. The
| effect though striking is altogether at
! tractive. A still more bizarre and charm
| ing product appeared last spring, when
Mrs. Norton found herself the happy pos
| SCISSOR of pure salmon pink kitty. This
| small unique thing was treasured as the
! very apple of her eye, and was expected
TO create great sensation in the cat
world but it unfortunately CHANGED to be
of a litter where the mother proved neg
lectfuh and lived to be only six weeks
old
The long-hared cats include some five
different families each with its distinctive
feature, which the connoisseur is quick to
detect. To mistake an angora for Per-
sian or vice versa is, for instance, to ad-
NIT ones self hopelessly ignorant on the
cat question. However they may differ
In details, every thoroughbred must have
l. an upper coat of long silky hairs with
close woody coat growing around the roots
of the former; the frill or lord mayors
chain" which is crest of hairs around
| the neck at the line where the fur of the
| cheeks pointing downward meets that of
| the neck pointing forward; a long bushy
| tail, large full eyes, and tufts of hair al
the points of his ears. Their points of
| difference lie in the quality of the coat,
the shape and color of the eyes, the size
of the ears and the form of the tail, Elk
perts consider rich deep black with
orange-colored eyes, long flowing hair and
@ heavy name the most perfect form of the
| Persian.
| OF course. such collection of slken
| beauties as Mrs. Norton possesses require
much time for their proper care. The diet
|
| kennels immaculate, and the fur
| coats irreproachable; as matter
| of fact 1t does take almost the entire
| time of one maid, whose service is, how
ever, as much one of love, as that of Mrs.
| Norton herself. Between and in the
| morning is the breakfast hour, when the
pussies ranged up in line, partake of their
| bowl OF some of the popular cereals and
milk Oatmeal is debarred, as it does not
develop good coat Rice boiled with
| stock Is excellent, as is also grape nut
with milk. Between u and they have
light lunch of bread and milk. or rice.
or "a little cooked meat. At they have a
| fun dinner of raw meat Mrs. Norton Is
q great believer in this diet, and certainly
her kitties are in perfect condition. She
advises mutton as not being so heating as
beef The raised shoulder or shank is the
cue she most usually buys. Fish and
oysters may both be recommended as
pleasant occasional change from the meat
| The kennels are thoroughly cleaned and
disinfected every day; In one is kept
large bed of catnip in which the pussies
love to roll. This must be gathered in
quantities in the summer time, so that
the bed may be frequently replenished
during the winter In a room over the
kennels is run way of clean hay, in
which the ktGes love to burrOw, and
which must also be frequently renewed.
After years of experience Mrs Norton
even the white kttles frequently, and
once or twice year is now the limit of
her efforts in this direction. They are,
| however. combed and brushed every day.
| This IS also a great hygienic measure, as
a very frequent cause of death among
these high bred creatures is an obstruc-
ton in the abdomen, caused by the ac-
emulation into ball of the long hairs
which the cat has licked from its own
| sides
When asked her opinion as to the ger
eral Intelligence of cats Mrs. Norton sol
EMMY affirmed that she believed they un-
derstood everything that was said to
them.
AT least mine do" she added perhaps
because they have been alked to all their
lives. Why, Echo there vas brought up
to ride on the bicycle with me At first
used to let him ride on my shoulders,
but l found that attracted too much at
tention, and then he proved too heavy