Chapter XIV: Smoke Persians

“JO” and “TINY” (SMOKES).

(_Photo: Gross, Brooklyn, N.Y._)
]

It is only within recent years that smoke Persian cats have really
come into notice at all, and even now these lovely cats may be said to
be sadly neglected in the fancy. It was not till the year 1893 that
they were considered sufficiently popular to deserve a class to
themselves. They were formerly relegated to the “any other colour”
class, and very often at smaller shows this is where we find the
smokes penned. A really good smoke is a thing of beauty, and it seems
certain that as the fancy expands and the Silver and Smoke Cat Society
looks after their interests, a good time will be in store for breeders
of this handsome variety.

Smokes may therefore be called a new breed, and it is a very
distinctive one, made up, as it were, of the three self colours—black,
white, and blue. It is a shaded cat without markings, the fur being
pure white underneath and gradually assuming almost a black tone on
the outer coat. The face, paws, and back down to the tip of the tail
are the darkest parts, shading to a dark grey down the sides and on
the under part of the tail. A very great beauty in smokes is the light
frill and ear tufts, which lend an air of much distinction to this
breed. The great failings in many smokes is the appearance of tabby
markings; these especially mar the beauty of head and face, and take
away from their value in the show pen. The tail should be quite free
from any rims of light and dark, and should have the upper part an
even dark colour, and underneath a cinder grey. Some smokes are so
dense in the surface coat as to be really black cats with white
under-coats, having none of the modulated grades of dark and light
grey. These cats are often minus the light ear tufts and ruff, and
therefore cannot be regarded as correct smokes. Then, again, there are
light smokes which might almost be called silver smokes—very beautiful
cats to look at, but far removed from the ideal smoke.

Perhaps at some future time there may be a special classification for
these cats, which are now without an abiding place at our shows. It is
most important that the coat of a smoke should be long and of the true
Persian flakiness, otherwise the chief beauty of the contrast between
the light under-coat and dark outer coat is not seen to full
advantage.

I think I may say without fear of contradiction that, of all
long-haired breeds, smokes present the most altered and absolutely
dishevelled appearance when out of coat. The glory of the light frill
disappears, and multitudes of lines and streaks can be plainly
discerned. Then a very rusty brown tinge appears on the back, and the
rich, glossy black surface coat vanishes. I owned a lovely smoke cat
once that at certain times of the year—and, I may say, for most part
of the year—was nothing better than a bad black, his only claim to the
title of smoke being the general appearance of a dark cat that had
spent his life in an ashpit. But when “Pepper” was in full feather, he
was a joy to behold.

It is curious that when the kittens are first born they appear almost
a dead black, with no trace of a white under-coat. This appears
gradually as the kittens grow, and at three weeks old the lighter coat
becomes visible. Their faces and paws should be intensely black when
born, as the tendency in smokes is to get lighter and not darker. If a
kitten is born with the appearance of a smoke it will generally turn
into what I have termed a silver smoke later on. As with black
kittens, so with smokes: they are often very rusty in appearance, but
this will disappear with their kitten coat. This also applies to tabby
markings, though, of course, if there is any tabby blood in the strain
the markings may be retained. For this reason it is most undesirable
to mate smokes with tabbies; neither is it advisable to select a blue
as a cross. The blue tinge destroys the purity of the white
under-coat, which is one of the glories of a perfect smoke. It is a
case of “like to like” in breeding smokes, and, failing this, choose a
good black sire for your queen with amber eyes. This is especially
advantageous if your queen should be light in colour, and throw light
kittens; but if she is already too dark, mate with a chinchilla,
avoiding, if possible, a green-eyed one.

Above all things shun, as you would Sin, tabbies of any colour, and
let your choice fall on a heavily coated sire. I have been told by
smoke fanciers that it is much more difficult to breed a good smoke
female than a male, and that the latter sex predominates in litters.

I will here give the officially approved table showing the proportion
of marks which should be awarded for points of smokes. This is as
drawn up by the Silver and Smoke Persian Cat Society, which has Mrs.
H. V. James, our principal breeder of smokes, as Honorary Secretary:—

MISS BARTLETT’S TWO SMOKE KITTENS.

(_Photo: E. Landor, Ealing._)
]

SMOKES.

Smoke cats should be black, shading to smoke (grey), with as light
an under-coat as possible; light frill and ear tufts; eyes to be
orange.

Value of points:—

Head and expression 20
Colour of eye 15
Colour of under-coat 10
Absence of markings 15
Coat and condition 20
Tail 10
Shape 10
———
Total 100

I think there are no fanciers or breeders of smokes who feel that any
option should be given as to the colour of eyes in this breed, for, as
in the black cats, the eyes should be amber or light golden. However,
I must confess that brilliant green eyes are to be preferred to the
pale yellow, which too often spoil the beauty of many of the smokes
now exhibited. I should never place an indifferent smoke with orange
eyes over a good specimen with eyes of emerald green. In the early
days of the fancy, smokes were entered in the “any other variety”
class, and were sometimes called Smoke Blues or Smoke Chinchillas.

In 1891 Miss Manley (now Mrs. Strick) exhibited a fine smoke called
“Bayadere.” Amongst the names of our oldest smoke breeders who still
continue to breed I may mention Mrs. Cartwright, of Upwood. In 1895
this lady showed smokes at Cruft’s show bred from her “Timkins.” The
Upwood cats are very pure in colour, having the dense outer coat very
white at the roots. At one time the Lindfield smokes held their own
everywhere, Miss Molony winning first at the Crystal Palace in 1893
with “Lindfield Bogie.” Mrs. Bluhm, better known as a silver breeder,
also owned about this time a famous smoke female called “Smuttie.”

Mrs. Robert Little has for years combined the breeding of smokes with
blacks. In 1897 “Namouska,” a smoke female, won first at the Crystal
Palace, and her descendants continue their career as first-class
smokes. In more recent times the following are noted winners: Lady
Marcus Beresford’s “Cossey,” Mrs. H. V. James’s “Backwell Jogram,”
Mrs. Sinkins’ “Teufel,” Mrs. Stead’s “Ranji,” Mrs. Stillwell’s
“Victoria,” Miss Snell’s “Dusky Girl,” Mrs. Collingwood’s “Minouche,”
Rev. P. L. Cosway’s “Maritana,” Mrs. Neild’s “Silver Soot,” Mrs.
Hamilton’s “Bulger,” Miss Rose’s “Judge.” Perhaps the most consistent
and successful breeder of smokes now in the fancy is Mrs. H. V. James,
who started in 1893, and has been faithful to this breed ever since. I
have had the pleasure of visiting Mrs. James’s smoke cattery, and I
felt that the lovely old-fashioned garden surrounding the Grange at
Backwell was truly an ideal place for successfully rearing live stock
of any kind, and all the pussies were pictures of robust health. I am
glad to be able to insert the following valuable article on smoke
Persians from the pen of Mrs. James, who is certainly our best
authority on this breed.

“Before entering upon the distinctive points of smokes, I will give a
short account of my smoke cattery, and how I first took up this breed.
It is curious to look back and see what mere chances govern our
actions. I have all my life been devoted to Persian cats of one colour
or another, but never intended to go in for any special breed.
However, in 1893 I purchased a blue kitten, which, on its arrival,
appeared far from well. The man who sold it offered, if it died, to
replace it. In a few days I was in a position to accept this offer,
for the kitten succumbed, and another—which was also supposed to be a
blue—was sent to replace it. As time went on this kitten darkened,
and, much to my disgust, turned to a deep cinder colour. In 1894 there
was a grand West of England Cat Show held at Bristol, and, to please
an old servant who had taken great care of the kitten, I entered
‘Jubilee.’ I was not much up in cat showing then, but ‘smoke’ seemed
to answer the description of the kitten better than any other colour;
so into the smoke class he went, and, to my surprise, carried
everything before him. This started my career as an exhibitor. I
showed ‘Jubilee’ again at Cruft’s and Brighton the next year, where he
again carried off firsts, and was described as the best smoke cat seen
since the days of the famous ‘Mildew.’

MRS. JAMES’S CAT HOUSES AT BACKWELL.

(_Photo: F. Holmes, Clifton, Bristol._)
]

“At the Palace in 1894, I bought a smoke female kitten from Miss Bray
as a mate for ‘Jubilee.’ This mating proved successful, and I had
several grand litters of smokes, most of which, I am sorry to say,
went to swell the ranks of neuter pets, being given as presents to my
friends. In time I learnt wisdom, however, and kept my smokes myself.
‘Jubilee’s’ career as a show cat was unfortunately cut short after his
Brighton win in 1894. He escaped one night, and in a fight with
another cat had his ears so torn that I was unable to exhibit him
again. A year later, when I was away from home, he was let out one
day, and never returned, having, I expect, been trapped in the woods.
At that period my smokes nearly died out, as I had only one litter a
few weeks old by ‘Jubilee.’ Of the two smokes one was promised, and
the other I kept, and he is still alive as ‘Champion Backwell Jogram.’
So I think I may consider I have had my share of luck, though, like
most breeders, I have had my bad times, and have lost sometimes as
many as twelve cats and kittens in a few days from distemper, and once
or twice a very promising female has strayed into the woods and been
seen no more. I hope, however, that for some years, at least,
‘Jubilee’s’ descendants will continue to flourish, as there are a
number of ‘Jogram’s’ kittens scattered over England, and several have
left these shores for America.

“In mating my smoke queens I have several times tried a black sire,
and have always been successful in getting good smokes from this
cross. ‘Jubilee II.’ is an example, being by ‘Johnnie Fawe,’ Dr.
Roper’s famous black Persian. I have only once—years ago—tried a blue
cross, but the result was a mixed litter of blacks and blues. I have
found that all the blue queens mated with ‘Jogram’ have had chiefly
blacks. Smokes may be considered a very hardy breed, perhaps from the
fact that there has been little in-breeding so far. ‘Jogram’ lives in
an unheated wooden house all the year round, and has never even had a
cold. Kittens will also stand the same treatment.

MRS. A. M. STEAD’S SMOKE PERSIAN “CH. RANJI.”

(_Photo: E. N. Collins, S. Norwood._)
]

“And now I will endeavour to give my ideas as to the points which go
to make up a perfect smoke. A good smoke is perhaps one of the most
beautiful of the many beautiful breeds of long-haired cats, a bad
smoke one of the plainest. The novice—for whom this article is
principally written—may therefore be glad to have a clear definition
of a smoke to start with.

“The definition drawn up by the Silver Society when it first started
reads as follows: ‘A smoke cat must be black, shading to smoke (grey),
with as light an under-coat as possible, and black points, light frill
and ear tufts; eyes to be orange.’ But the word ‘black,’ having
sometimes led novices to suppose that a black cat possessed of a white
under-coat is a smoke, it would be perhaps safer to say ‘a smoke is a
deep cinder-coloured cat shading to grey, with a white under-coat,’
etc. In order to distinguish the difference between black and the true
cinder colour of the smoke, it is an excellent plan to keep a sound
black cat in a smoke cattery.

“Smokes are, comparatively speaking, one of the newer breeds of
long-haired cats, and arose from the crossing of blues, blacks, and
silvers, and appeared as a freak in litters of blues or silvers, and,
being beautiful, were kept by their owners. No serious attempt,
however, was made to breed them until quite recently. If beauty and a
hardy constitution count for much, they should be more popular even
than they are at present; but no doubt the extreme difficulties of
breeding a good, unmarked shaded cat deter many breeders from taking
them up. With a whole-coloured cat it is fairly plain sailing when a
strain, sound in shape and bone, has been established; but with a
shaded cat it is quite another matter. Litter after litter of kittens
appear, grand in shape, strong in limbs, apparently perfect in
shading. In a few months the kittens moult, and the shading becomes
perhaps a hopeless jumble of light and dark. Where it should be dark
it has turned light, and _vice versâ_. Still worse, the shading
disappears, and the markings—the bugbear of all smoke breeders—appear,
showing traces of the far-away silver tabby ancestors. These markings
have perhaps been lying dormant for a generation, and appear as a
reminder of the silver tabby origin of the smoke.

“To all smoke breeders who wish to succeed I would say, ‘Never part
with a well-shaped smoke until at least a year old, lest you find you
have, in rejecting the apparently ugly duckling and keeping the gem,
thrown away the substance for the shadow.’ On the subject of mating,
there is much to be said. I am afraid many owners of smoke queens mate
with any coloured cat which takes their fancy in the hopes of getting
something in the litter besides smokes.

“I have sometimes heard owners say, ‘Oh! I mate my smoke queen with
all sorts of colours. She always has one or two good smokes in each
litter.’ That may be true, but if a smoke strain is to be built up,
you are making a fatal mistake. The kitten thus bred goes to a new
home and is expected to produce smokes as good as herself. She is
mated with a smoke male, and when the litter arrives there are perhaps
no smokes, she having thrown back to her sire, so as a breeder she is
useless. Smoke to smoke must be the rule, except in special
cases—when, for instance, the queen is on the light side; then a cross
with a black may be found to be necessary. Or the queen may be too
dark and given to breeding black kittens. Then the choice should fall
on a silver as free as possible from silver tabby relations. On no
account must a tabby of any colour be chosen or a sire with any white.
A blue should also be avoided, as the under-coat is liable to take the
blue shade and become blurred instead of _white_ at the roots.

“CHAMPION BACKWELL JOGRAM.”
]

“Orange eyes are much prized in smokes, and I believe, from my own
experience in breeding smokes for the last ten years, that it is from
the mothers that the kittens get their eye colour. If the queen has
pale green eyes you may mate her with all the orange-eyed sires in the
kingdom, and the eyes will still be pale. But if the queen has deep
orange eyes, the kittens will inherit them also, even should the sire
have only pale eyes.

“Thanks to careful mating by some of our smoke breeders, smokes are
not the flukes they once were, and a smoke queen, well mated, may now
be relied upon to produce whole litters of smoke kittens. As a rule,
the kittens at birth are quite black, and remain so for a week or so;
and my experience has been that if a kitten shows any trace of grey at
birth, it will grow up too light. There are, however, a few well-known
queens who throw almost silver kittens, which remain so for weeks, and
then shed this kitten coat for a darker one; so no hard-and-fast rule
can be laid down as to what a smoke kitten should look like when born.
Try in-breeding for coat to avoid the sleek or woolly-coated smoke,
and aim at getting a cat with a coat of the true Persian flakiness
described by Mr. Harrison Weir in his book on Persian cats, otherwise
the chief beauty—the light under- and dark outer coat—is not seen to
advantage as the cat moves. One point to be remembered in this breed
is that the new coat growing is dark just at the roots. These marks,
when the smoke is changing coat, have often been mistaken for tabby
markings, so for this reason it is most unwise ever to show a smoke
when out of coat. Wait until your cat is in full coat before accusing
it of having tabby markings.

“There is a fashion in smokes, as in everything else; and at present
in England the very dark smokes are the rage, but in America the light
ones are more sought after. That grand cat ‘Watership Cæsar,’ who was
considered too light for English taste, was last year bought by the
late Mrs. Thurston and taken to America, where he carried off all the
smoke honours, also taking the prize for the best cat in the show. The
same happened to Lady Marcus Beresford’s ‘Cossey,’ a lovely cat of the
lighter type. The tide may turn, however, even in England, where the
slightly lighter smokes may share the honours with their darker
brothers. It is better, however, to be on the safe side and breed for
the darker smoke, as the lighter are apt to lose the smoke
characteristics and overstep the line which divides them from a shaded
silver.”

Mrs. Sinkins, to whom I have alluded as a smoke breeder, owns a
splendid stud cat called “Teufel” that has made a name for himself as
a first prize-winner. This cat is as nearly a perfect specimen as it
is possible to find. Mrs. Sinkins has written a few notes on smokes.

“I must consider myself honoured in being asked to write about smoke
Persians in ‘The Book of the Cat,’ as I am, comparatively speaking, a
beginner in the cat fancy, only having kept Persians for three years
or so. I began by buying a well-bred queen in kitten, and she
presented me with two chinchillas and a perfect smoke female, which I
named ‘Teufella,’ and showed at Westminster in 1899. She carried all
before her, winning everything in her class, and was claimed at once
at catalogue price. From a silver half-sister of hers I then bred
‘Teufel,’ whose picture is in this issue, and who is a great pet,
being extremely sweet-tempered and affectionate. His chief
characteristics are his _absolutely unmarked_ black face and the
lovely white under-coat, so desirable in a perfect smoke, and for
which he received a special this spring (1902) at Westminster. I hope
some of his descendants will take after him in these respects and make
smokes increasingly popular.

“In my opinion, it is a fatal mistake to mate smokes with blues, as
they then lose this white under-coat. I think one obtains it best by
mating a _smoke-bred_ smoke cat with either a _silver-bred_ smoke or
else with a silver cat, as unmarked as possible, who possesses a smoke
ancestor. Some day I should like to try mating a black with a pale
silver, just as an experiment.

“As to eye colour, there can be no two opinions. The deeper the
orange, the better.

“I do not find smokes at all delicate, no more so than the common or
garden cat. All my queens have entire freedom, one in particular being
a first-rate ratter and mouser, even catching moles sometimes. And
they live out of doors in unheated houses all the year round, even in
the most severe winter.

“It seems hard that all Persians should have to pass through an ‘ugly’
period—luckily a short one—when they change their coats, looking
ragged and certainly not their best. Smokes and blacks then show the
brown tinge even worse than chinchillas, as it gives them the
poverty-stricken appearance of rusty moulting—though I must say
‘Teufel’ has so far been the exception, taking all honours at one show
when in full moult.

“However, their good time fully compensates for the shabby period, and
a typical smoke, with his large orange eyes set in his black face,
with light ear tufts and frill, his white under-coat showing with
every movement, is a thing of beauty hard to beat, and I feel sure the
smoke variety has a great future before it.”

MRS. SINKINS’ SMOKE PERSIAN “TEUFEL.”
]

Mrs. Stead, the owner of “Champion Ranji” and “Rhoda,” a winning smoke
female, has kindly given me her opinion on smokes:—

“My ideal of perfect smoke cats is that they should be black, shading
to smoke grey, with as light an under-coat as possible, light frill
and ear tufts, eyes orange. This is the standard up to which I try to
breed. I find the kittens go through several stages before they
approach this perfection. For instance, a kitten I had in the spring
of 1902 lightened considerably, and developed markings on the face,
but at eight months old he was nearly up to the standard. A litter of
six I have recently bred were entirely unmarked at birth, being, in
fact, quite black. Five are now medium-coloured smokes, and one a very
dark one, with beautiful light under-coat. I strongly advise all
breeders not to despair of colouring until their kittens are fully
grown. Permanent markings are, of course, very detrimental, and there
is always great anxiety as to the final colour of the eyes. If,
however, both parents are good in this respect, the result is
generally satisfactory.”

The following article on smoke cats in America is taken from _Field
and Fancy_ of October, 1902:—

“Smokes, with us, will probably rank with the silvers, and are
destined to always hold a measure of popularity, though we have not
such a very strong lot; in fact, we may say that good smokes are never
so numerous anywhere as to become a nuisance, and we may fairly
congratulate ourselves at this stage of the game upon what we have had
and bred.

“Opinions differ as to what is a smoke, and at times we have to be
rather lenient in the judging of these cats, for they are apt to be
off colour—too light or too streaky. No one has yet, in America, taken
up the colour solely to breed smokes and nothing else, which seems a
pity, for they can be bred and kept with blacks, and each sets off the
other, and when visitors come to the cattery the contrast is made more
apparent.

“Those not conversant with the colour are apt to think anything smoky
is a smoke exhibition cat, and no doubt, when good, those cats with
dark faces and paws and light bodies are very handsome, but more often
than not they are streaky and are smoke tabbies. After mature
consideration and after seeing a good many, we, as well as other
breeders, still think that unless the ‘Southdown’ cats, as some have
called them, are very good we had better stick to the old definition
of a smoke, and demand them dark enough.

“A really dark, rich smoke without marks is, without doubt, one of the
richest in colouring of all our long-hairs, and the stars are few. One
may go away from the original definition of a smoke, but when brought
face to face with a good one it forces one to confess that this is the
genuine article, and, when in grand condition, a thing of beauty and a
joy for ever.”

“LUCY CLAIRE.”

OWNED BY MRS. CLINTON LOCKE.
]

SMOKE AND ORANGE PERSIANS.

(_From a Painting by W. Luker, Jun._)
]

MRS. SINGLETON’S “ORANGE GIRL.”

(_Photo: J. G. Christopher, Crewkerne._)
]