PETS OF SMART SOCIETY.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 46, 18 November 1907, Page 3

PETS OF SMART SOCIETY.

Though Society loves fluffy canine atoms, such as Pekingese and Japanese spaniels, and Pomeranians, it also knows the worth of a good watchdog, and with the dark evenings coming along (says a London paper) the salo of watchdogs .is gotting brisk in Messrs. \Mllteley s zoological department. The manager told a Press representative that the fa-' vourite house-dog is a terrier—fox, bull,, or Irish—and that the sales of them at from two to five guineas, each always form a big item of business in the autumn. "I remember," he said, "selling an Irish terrier last year for two guinoas, which, the purchaser told men month later, had proved to be worth at least £50. For the dog had held up a thief with that amount of stolen property packed ready for taking away. The ultra-fashionable dogs are still the, Pekingese and Japaneso spaniels, but Pomeranians arc holding their own well, for the reason that they are small dogs to lift into the S, rms - , Tlelr c oats stand out well all round. t lhoy look large, but their fine, ■fluffy hair goes into nothing when you lift them, and that is why they are popular. A 'Pom ' weighing four pounds will sell for 20 or 30 guineas, but a weight of only half a pound less will send up the price to 40 or 50 guineas. HeJiave not obtained a popular weight with lekmgeso and Japanese, yet there is a steady boom in these pets, and I am offering now for 28 guineas a litter of very young puppies whose was the celebrated Yoliohl, which Lord John Hay brought from' the Pokin I laliice. A full-grown dog of the same kind would command 50 guineas. The children of Society people are going in largely for keeping snakes, which, varying from 12in. to -lOin ill length, wo sell at from Is. to os. Gd each' We also have a big demand for tortoises and lizards, the former selling from Cd. each according to size, and the latter at Is each Many hundreds pi green tree frogs have also been purchased here during the last three months. Thon the canary season is just starting. The birds are coming into song now and were never so .popular among Society ladies as they are at present. Gorman rollers are always in demand, and ordinary singing birds sell at anything from 7s. 6d. to'''lss. each, while the more skilful singers sometimes command as much as three "tiiiiens Piping bullfinches run from five to ten guineas each, and we have two °or three aristocratic customers who are always looking out for any really clever birds wo obtain. Ther'o is a never-diminishing, call for love birds, guineapigs, rabbits, doves, pigeons and parrots. There is an accomplished African grey parrot here now for sale at ten guineas. The bird can whistle, dance, laugh, bark, miaow cluck, call a cab, spell B-r-i-s-t-o-1, and then pronounce it and . say numerous other words." There are seventeen papers and magazines for women now published in Tokio. Three things are to be avoided when wasn-' ing silk: first, never-rub soap on the silk; second, never wash silk in hot water—it turns white silk yellow and fades coloured silk; third, never wring or twist it tightly. Wash it in a tub of tepid, soapy water— you will need several tubfuls before the silk will bo clean. Rinse thoroughly in tepid water, and give a linal rinsing iii plenty of 4old water.', Squeeze it very gently between the hands when in the water, and when clea.i shake it and snap it well, thon fold it smoothly between a 'pieco of thin muslin and run it through the clothes wringer. Iron \<3\en almost dry, first covering it with a thin cloth, and pressing with a moderately hot iron. If it stiffens pull it gontly and pre3s