The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1879-02-09

nng pronieil. lie must escape the bull
sometimes he takes the horns and leans owe
him. Generally he makes for the barrier an,
Iaps over ". Occasionally the bull leaps
alber, and the excitement reaches to fevel
neat The crowd prod him with sticks anc
call him all kinds If names The performer
leaps back into the arena, and q gate Il
opened, through which the bull is compelled
TO return to his DOOM
THE END OF TIE TRAGEDY.
Painting, tortured bleeding, dripping from
the wounds of the horsemen and the darts
1oaming, angry, paving the earth in pain
and rage the bull comes back to the arena IL
die This Is the last act. The espada the
leading actor, the Hamlet" of the company
comes out alone. He bows to the MAYOR If he
Is IN authority, to the king If In his box. and
says I'm his high sonorous fashion that for the
glory Of Spain and In the honor of this high
company he will kill the bull II he Ia a great
actor the crowd by this time Is exultant. He
advances alone to the centre of the arena. his
SWORD ~ MS hand, gesturing and postufing
and waving his sword and testing his arm,
Just as you see our "Hamets" at home when
they meet "Laertes." This Is the crisis of
the play, the one thing which redeems the
bull-fight. This slight, agile man, alone Ia
the presence of n tortured. angry bull. He
awaits the onslaught. and II he il a skilled
| actor drives the sword into the animals neck
so that 1t dies at once. But as general thing
ne makes several attempts before succeeding,
| and in the event of failure he must also take
to the barriers. Even then there liz not much
danger For the moment the hull pursues he
| Is set upon by cloud of attendants. who
throw oloaks In his face, decoying him this
| way 81 that, ana leading him crazy dance
| ton again ready for another trial Some
| times, however. the bull la clear minded and
pot TO be deceived by cloaks, or the espddd
Is not nimbe enough and the bull drives a
norm into him and sends him over the barriers
| In lofty, passive fashion. This now and then
happens. Ii the wound is fatal the espada IL
carried to small room, where there Ia a
priest In waiting with the Holy Sacrament
and II he dies he dies IN grace while the mul.
| titude. maddened with enthusiasm over the
show, scream for another bull Such n
| thing as the killing of performer does
| not often happen. The hope that one may be
slain is piquant sauce for the entertainment
FASCINATION OF THE BuLb-FIaHr.
Such In brief Is the bull-tight In Spain, IT.
is the national amusement. Kings attend 20
win popularity. Poor Amadeus, when he was
| IN Spain as Maccaroni /, tried hard to like the
fight, and went uften. In the hope that Span
iards would take TO him kindly as King But
| he never relished the spectacle They saw II
| took Montpenser some time to prove himself
| n good Spaniard and enjoy the bulI-tight. 1t
Il the amusement of the nation suppose
there must he something else than cruelty In
the spectacle, for one of the kindest and
gentlest of men-an American whom | knew
In Spain-a man of tender nature confessed
to me his passion for the show. and that
nothing entertained him more. But this all
destroying age, is trampling on the bull ring.
Lii Is not what 1t was. 1t begins to fall as the
prize-ring fell. 1t is q mere show TO make
money. There Is even party for suppress.
ing bul-tights, This party has memorialized
the Cortes. They say that Spain needs the
bulls: that the drain of bulls necessary for the
ring Is tax on the resources Of the country.
that bull has SO many higher offices than
the hul-ring before he becomes meat that he
should be protected. In generation or so
bull-tighting will go the way Of prize-fght-
ing and other brutal amusements in mich
our ancestors took so much pride.
THE BULL-FIaHT IN PORTUGAL.
Contrast the bull-ring In Spain with what
IL Is In Portugal and you will see more
clearly what meant when called attention
to the more humane qualities Of the Portu
guese. The bull-ring is as much Of an insti-
tuition here as in Spain. But all the condi-
tions change. II is q comedy, not tragedy
sometimes negro minstrel farce The
arena is the same, the bulls are wild. On
going into their pens wooden balls are tied
to their horns Connoisseurs divide the
bulls into classes. There is the wild, harum-
scarum bull who PUSHES at everything, and
whom Il rqures only moderate skill to
light. There is the impetuous bull. quick to
attack, but with sense enough to turn around
and await the assault. There is the logical
nuIl. which does not waste time on the
coaks. There is the bull who, instead of
trying 70 toss the performer, chases him out
Is the tmid bull, who runs away and gives a
great deal of trouble, and the near-sighted
bull, who Is worse than none at all. Finally
there Is the cunning bull, who has been in
the ring before, and with whom there must be
no trtiing.
GENTLER ASPECTS OF THE SHOW.
There is quite as much parade In the Por-
tuguese as In the Spanish bull-rtng but the
purpose of the show is to fight the bull and
not slay him. The horsemen ride good
horses, not NJ andoned beasts horses traine
to fight bulls and not simply to be rored
and torn. The foot performers are of two
classes-those who throw darts, and another
class OF lively, active young men. who seize |
the bull by main force and play antics over |
him. Sometimes colOred gentlemen offer |
themselves as tossing material for the bull, /
and then the fun il screaming. The perform |
ers are quantity dressed in costumes OF past |
generations, the art.throwers in a natty cos
tune, like Italian opera singers, short and
embroidered velvet Jackets, and breaches |
gaudily tinted, white stockings and red |
sashes. When the bull comes paving and |
prancing into the arena, instead OF iron and |
leather-ead horsemen on broken-down omni- |
bus horses to prod him with spears the foot
performers Ia Italian opera costumes throw |
the dart into his shoulder. This is an ex-
citing feat but bulls have way of low |
ering their heads and taking thei r |
time before tossing, and 1t Is in this |
instant that the performer throws his |
darts and skips over the barrier. 1t is q |
question of nerve and suppleness reduced into
The pain OF the wound sends the bull |
around the arena, and other agile
have their chance. In the
meantime red capes and searfs are thrown
befol Q his eyes to excite him. After the bull
has b. en- worried by the dart-throwers and /
cape DANGERS, the horSemen attack him. The
duty Of the horsemen Is to throw dart, over
four feet long, into the bulls neck, and so
manage his horse as to keep him from harm.
Horses are trained to these experiences Just