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BULL FIGHTING AS SRQBT i 4 It Spains National Pastime One of Car ¬ nage and Much Precaution 3 f s the Pduilc KlYeet BeYmslusT Sitting nt breakfast with a shipmate one Sunday morning in a hotel in Granada in southeast Spain my eye was caught by a group of men weariifg a curious coiffiire their liair betas plaited into a soYt of diminutive pigtail on the fop of their heads headsWho Who on earth are they 1 said to iiiy eoiii How slionld I know lie replied Lets find out outThe The waiter was wiser and informed us with much pride that they were no less than Giierrlta Ihe famous matador of Spain and the members of his troupe also that a great bull fight would take place that afternoon in which the great Guerrita would play the star part partStrolling Strolling about after breakfast posters advertis ¬ ing the great fight met us at every tiirii aiiil bear ing in mind flic gruesome stories w had heard about disemboweled horses at bull fights we de ¬ bated whether we shonld spend diir Sabbath after ¬ noon in watching one but finally decided to see part of it at any rate If only to be able to judge for ourselves rinding that tliere were two prices for admission the higher for seats in the simile and the lower for seats in the sun and it being a blazing hot day we chose the former Long be ¬ fore the appointed time of 4 oclock people began streaming into the bull ring which had a seating accommodation of 14010 I believe that of Va ¬ lencia holding 18000 is the biggest in rSpaih blit practically every town of any importance lias its bull ring A Spaniard will sell his shirt to see a bull fight and the women are no less ardent In ¬ deed as wo sat waiting for the fight to begin watching the spectators in their thousands it seemed that we liad never yet beheld such a number of women at once And certainly never such a bevy of darkeyed beauty robed in vivid colors witli lace mantillas and flowerdecked hair with fluttering fans like Jeweled butterflies in the sunshine hail delighted our eyes before beforeXo Xo sooner hail the Lady Patroness the wife of the Governor of Granada taken lier seat in the state box than into the arena to the strains of a band riiarclied the great star matador followed by his attendant satellites and halted before her One and all were gorgeously attired in satin aiul gold lace like their own figures 011 a Spanish fan Behind the matador marched the banderillos wav ¬ ing long beribboiied darts Then came the picadors armed with lances and mounted on sorrylookiiig steeds Toreros witli scarlet cloaks then gayly decked mnles driven three abreast brought up the rear the mission of the mules being to haul dead bulls aiid horses out of the arena as the fight progressed progressedMATADOR MATADOR PLEDGES TO KILL SIX BULLS BULLSThe The matador having pledged himself according to custom to kill six bulls singlehanded was xluly presented by the patromiss with the key of tlieir stalls These opened on the ring and the picadors lances in liand took up their position The toreros nrmed only witli red cloaks stood by ready to draw away the bull when things began to look serious for any member of tlie troupe troupeThe The spectators began to get excited and all yes were fixed on tile first bulls sYall Siidileiily there rushed from it a inost magnificent beast black as ebony with horns of enormous length lengthTansing Tansing for aii instant as if dazzled by the brilliant sunlight it spied a picador across the irena Quick as a flash it lowered its head and charged straight for the horse which being a miserable anil decrepit animal and blindfolded to boot could offer no resistance to the bulls furious inslaught Nor was it intended that it should for horrible though it seemed to us the spectators cveled in it Women even stood up holding their ihildren to get a better view The picador whose legs were cjicased in light armor to avoid being crushed against the side of the ring received the Ihargc on the point of his lance This weapon s not intended for serious work and beyond giving the biill a slight flesh wound had no effect what ¬ ever Burying its horns in the animals stomach he bull lifted both horse and rider clean off tile round It seemed as if the man too would be oreil as he lay helpless but for the wild raving f red cloaks by the toreros which drew off the jull jullApparently Apparently it is their cruel and horrible habit if ihe horse can by hook or by crook be got on its egs again fo bolster it up by gruesome method such as replacing its entrails and stuffing up the ivound with straw and t sit the picador on its jack again and make the poor beast once more face he bull After the first horse was dispatched wo or three others suffered the same torment This part of the fight whs to our miriils too evoiting for words aiid we were both thankful iVhen the carnage was over overTlie Tlie iiext move was to the Imndcrillbs one of iVhom took up Ills position facing tlie bull with a lart in each hand As tlie infuriated beast charged le drove them with great dexterity into either ihoulder This requires great skill aiiil if flie larts are badly placed or do iiot strike home he spectators express tlieir disapproval in no neasured terms terms3ULLS 3ULLS TORTURED AND NOT GIVEN A CHANCE CHANCEShould Should the banderillo pause a second too long n his eagerness to judge his aim the bull wbiild issnredly get him Hut to impress the spectator le does a lot of galleryplay Sitting on a chair vith his legs crossed lie smokes a cigarette and illows the bull to charge within a yarilbr two be ore springing to his feet driving home the darts ind skipping to one side When the bunderillos Kill finished their work the bull hairlhree Or our dlrts dangling from each shonhler aiiil was deeding freely freelyGoaded Goaded to fury and baited on all sides the beast it last began to show signs of distress A trunippt all then announced that Gnerrita the great imita lor would now take the field fieldAdvancing Advancing to the center of the arena his long larrowbladed sword hidden under a scarlet cloak iiierrlta enticed the bull to charge meeting its onslaught with just a sweep oT his cloak to one lide still standing his ground Tlie bull of course Irove furiously at the red rag avoiding therniaii altogether After a little more piny of tliis kind lie niitulur allowed hiniself to bo chased across the arena llic llorns of the bull oiily a foot from liis body Skillfully swerving from side to side lie completely baffled thu furious beast and after a fruitless chase it came to a standstill glaring at its tormentor as though acknowledging itself beaten whereat the spectators showed tlieir appre ¬ ciation by much cheering and clapping clappingThe The bull having played its part the time had now come for it to die The matador once more enticing it to the center of the arena waved his clonk in its eyes and drawing his sword froni beneath Its folds stood ready to give the coup de grace As the bull charged be drove the sword into its shoulder stepping to one side only just in time But the thrust was not a fatal one and the beast still showed plenty of fight so the crowd received this failure to deal the denth blow wifh hissing and booing booingSome Some skillful manipulation of the cloak now be ¬ came necessary to regain possession of the sword That done the matadors next attempt was more successful He drove it in up to the hilt With a shudder the bull snnk on its haunches and fell The wildest enthusiasm prevailed The whole of the 14000 watchers rose to their feet to a man shouted till they were lionrse and the air became blnck with tossing hats Taking advantage of the interval when the pandemonium reached its zenith my friend ami 1 slipped out neither of us feeling inclined to witness five repetitions of that spectacle nor to bear again file agonizing screams of terror from the tortured horses dumb animals that we had learned to love loveThe The impression seared on my mind by that bull fight was this the cruelty to the horses is Bolshe ¬ vist in its intensity and the bull is never given a sporting chance chanceThe The bull enters the ring a doomed animal no matter how good a fight it may put up Should it succeed in outwitting the matador or the bande rillos there are always the men with the hated red cloaks to distract its attention and divert it from its purpose I must confess my sympathy was chiefly with the bull and J longed to see it get some of its own back by just tickling up its tor ¬ mentors with those sharp horns At times indeed it seemed as though nothing could save a man from being gored but just as the bull was about to dis ¬ patch its victim a flourish of a clonk would chock it At certain points round the sides of the arena wore what may be described as funkholes exits of stout planking just wide enough for a man to squeeze through but too narrow for the bulls wide horns hornsI I admit that a great deal of nerve and pluck is necessary on the bull fighters part to carry through a fight to the satisfaction of a Spanish crowd an extremely critical one on these occasions Cases of serious injury occur now and then but we were told that fatalities were few fewIf If only tlie cruelty to the horses were done away with the sport would find1 more favor in the eyes of Britishers But this I am sure would greatly detract from its effect from a Spaniards point of view The cabman who drove us to the station that evening probably voiced the popular opinion on the subject when he argued that these animals were unfit for further service as cabhorses and that the bull ring was the most fittinjr and useful end for them Badminton Magazine
