The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1881-06-02

namely, that in certain districts they
still pillow the ground with swords, .
custom original enough surely in thu
land of ths Cidl But i will return u
this subject another time To-day 1
only wish 70 express my opinion in re
gard 20 b~ull-6ghts. and 20 declare that
they are among the most astonishing
humbugs possible TO conceiye The
French r~onancists are very guilty In
this connection. Upon the faith OF
writers like Theophile Gautier and
Alexander Dumas. how. many people.
who never set foot inSpain have ADOPT
ed the habit of speaking of the tauro-
machical entertainments with passion
ate s~dmirationP O. the poor horse.
am perfectly aware that he is destin-
ed to be sacrificed, and that for such y
purpose no one could buy pu~re-blooded
steeds worth FIVE or six Thousand francs;
but this miserable. consumptiye and Ia
mentable hack does not the less contra
diet by his very aspect OF hideonsness
the magnificent promises OF the adyer-
lisements!
A prudent man opens the door Of the
toru, and a terrified bull rushes out. q
bulrwhich has just been vigorously prick
ed with a goad in order To compel him
to make his entry in q theatrical
ner.
Now the entertainment has begun.
The bull pauses for \ moment Nc n
moves. He sees the horse Of the plea
dor, and rushes at him with the yeloc-
ity Of a cannon ball. burying his horns
to their roots in the animals belly.
Imagine the establishment of the horse.
who has not had the slightest idea of
what was going TO happen; for his eyes
had been generously bandaged! Some.
times it is in the horses chest that the
bull buries his horns, with a sickening
thud. Then the bull tries TO lift horse
and rider together-that Immense
weight.
The banderifleros come and shake
their cloaks and draw of the attention
of the animal. Another picador comes
into the plaza; the bull sees him and
rushes forward TO disembowel the
second horse, while the assistants aid
the first dismoumted cavalier 10 his feet.
He is SO weighed down with iron armor
worn under his yellow trousers and his
brown waistcoat that 1t would be I'M,
possible for him TO get up without help.
The bull kills the second horse, then
a third sometimes u fourth, or even
mora.
Now. good people. you imagined per-
haps, like me, thatthe picador's duty Is TO
stop the bull in his mad career and pro-
tect his horse by means of the long
lance which he carries. No, no! The
picador Is there only. as an ornament.
The horses are only used to tire the
bull. The furious animal must be al
lowed to wear himself out; and to dis
embowl the helpless and blinded
animals, until his muscles are weary
and his strength Is spent. The proof
is that at Pampeluna, last summer, a
picador who had dared to defend his
horse was put in prison.
And how does the matador kill the
bullP Ali 1t is then that the spectacle
becomes dull, long and tiresome indeed.
The espada waits until the bull chooses
to Often himself to him under good condi-
lions. But unfortunately, the breath
less animal does not Always lend him
self to these whims, Why should he,
inasmuch as he does not know exactly
what IS wanted of himf gfttN NN'
There Is q sudden lightning Of steel;
The torero has sprung forward. There
Is q tempest of Kisses. He has missed
Ills aim! Goodl he tries again. This
lime the sword has entered up TO the
nilt. But the bull does moi fall On
The contrary, he seems TO have made up
his mind to take q walk leisurely around
The arena Ten minutes pass. The
animal Is still firm upon his legs. Tie
bubble become tired and roa out:
: ..Otra ospadar'-(another sword,)
They bring the other sword, and tie
matador plungcs his second weapon up
10 the hflt beside the first.
AT Azpeita I saw q bull which had
three swords buried In him. one after
the other, and which still continued 70
walk about. For . whole. half hour be
refused { o fall. and you can imagine
how much the people were amused
during that half hour. +
AT Bilboa ! saw another bull which
had a sword plunged. halfway into his
neck, and remained standing for twen-
ty-seven minutes. while the banderille-
ros forced him to keep turning his head,
first to the right then to the left, in
order that the blade Of the sword should
sink in further at each movement.
And when this was over, and the hilt
was touching the animals skin, he per-
sisted in refusing to die. and they had
to knock him on the head to finish him,
And finally l saw Lagartijo, that
espada held to be thezlast representa-
tive of the old classic school OF matad-
ors, pierce q bull six times with his
sword before he could make him fall.
The most astonishing characters in
all this bloody farce are the two men in
the red caps who rake the sand Of the
arena and keep it smooth. They remain
there the whole time as TRANQUIL as
Raptiste. calmly raking away without
so much as turning their heads; and
paying as little attention to the bull as
II he never existed.
And while the banderilleros go and
come. and shout and almost jump out
of their bodies in order to make us
think it is frightfully dangerous, the
rakers go on raking without looking
to right or left. The bull pays no at
tention to them, and they do not pay
any To the bull.
And when l expressed my astonish-
ment ut this spectacle to a Spaniard,
and said to him: .'yYhy. there is not any
danger at air. the good man seemed
embarrassed, and being Of a frank
character, finally answered:
cit is true. 1t was very clumsy to
have allowed those rakers to remain
there" Nf
What the Spaniards really seek in
these. diversions is the sight Of the
blood poured out, and certain horrors
which L purposely refrain from men
tioning at all.
And the proof of what l say is that
after each exhibition the male and
female spectators 60 to the charnel-
house. in which are heaped up in q
pool Of blood and torn entrails the
fifteen or twenty dead horses. with their
gaping wounds, their eyes starting
from their orbits, and their tongues
protruding between their long teeth
And beautiful women in mantillas go