Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1882-05-12
IrIi'an Bull Fights.

This : the season of the wear when
'a' MeNicanS Cn the Rio Grandc I'M
prove their minds with H>ttS. The
rcdeeming features of the GSfu are
drunkenness, gambling and bull-iirht-
mg, bnt occasionally they iigh, with
knives, besides. Another relreminr
feature is that while the G,,rtat i, roing
on the MrXirans have not rot any time
70 waite in evpediling the ranches of
their stock. Expedite is Star Route
term, and means to steal. Nobody can
gamble, get drunk, 90 to bull fights and
steal ponies at one and the same time,
ana the Mrvican who tries it is likely
to neglect Soma of his duties. At La.
redo and FL PaSo, owing to the COM
pletiOn of railroads to those points. the
MexlcanS have received considerable
assistance from the Americans in prop
erly celebrating the fcStts. There
were, perhaps, not 81 many Americans,
but they helped Il great deal. They are
very willing. 1t takes five or six Mexi-
cans to get is drunk and make as much
fuss rs one hardy An"lo-Saxon. The
latter throws more soul into the per-
formanrc. He can be heard several
miles off. The most peculiar feature of
the fcrta is the bull fight.
The bull ti~ht takes place in IN amob.
theater bnil! for the purpose. 1t will
hold great many people, probably rs
many a> can get into it. The board
fence that separates the audience from
the arena is so arranrtl that the bull
iighter r'n c'imh NJ Oh it where the
hnll r'Hn'' rr.trI him. This fence en-
ai'r' The bull fighter to show his con-
temnt for danger, and he makes liberal
use of his opportunities The bull
fighters are dressed in all the rJlnrs of
the rainbow. They look very much like
tie face cards of the pack enlarged. 1t
Is really funny To see the Jack of
Diamonds, the King of Hearts, and
all the rest of the royal family that
are SO familiar to many of our
readers, prancing about the arena.
In reality there is n" bull fight at all.
There is more read danger in lighting 4
kerosene lamp, or in calling a police
man i lar, than there is in dozen
bull fights. Before the bull is presented
with the freedom of the arena, several
inches of his horns are sawed off. As
with some folks we know OF, ii hurts the
bull SO have his horns cut off. If a
heroic bull fighter should lose his pres
ence of mind, and in his efforts to get
ont of the arena run against the bull, Il
dull horn is the kind of Il horn the REX
less daredevil wants to run against :;
but there is no danger of that. The
horns are sawed off down to the quick,
and are actually bloody. The end of
the horn is rs sensitive to the bull as an
army-sized boil is to 4 mln. Ii Il man
has large boil on his person, he does
not try to butt people with it. On the
contrary. he is very careful that nobody
hits against it. That's the way it is
with the bull with the sore horns. In.
stead of rushing about, trying t. IN, ~!
the bull fighter, tha hull i, sca r,! hal.
IL death for fear the Jack of Spades or
the King of Hearts may accidentally
bump against that sore horn. This is
the kind of bull the MeNirans love to
fight. The Jack of Diamonds, knowing
this, gets right in front of the danger
GUS brute, which turns tail for fear the
face card will run against that sore
horn. Perhaps some of our readers
know that it hurts to run against the
Jack of Diamonds, particularly if hearts
are trumpS and the other fellow has the
SIGHT bower, and perhaps the ace and
the ten-Spot; but We are DEPRESSING.
As soon rs the bull refuses to hurt his
sore horn against the Jack of Hearts,
the mir is rent with rirdS in honor of the
reckless intrepidity of the bull fighter.
WHO gracefully bows his acknowledges
ments. All the bail fighters try in vain
to bu,p against that sore horn, but the
bul! is too smart for them They punch
him with spears, thrust sharp spikes
feStooned with tissue paper in his hide,
until he is dripping with blood; until
the unfortunate brute is exhausted; but
he never loses his presence of mind 50
much rs to punch one of the face cards
with that sore horn. The animal is H.
nally roped, the spikes are pulled out of
his hide, and he is either driven out Of
the arena or butchered.
The Mexican bull fight is q beautiful
blending OF Spanish cruelty and Indian
cowardice. No decent American would
sit through the whole performance. If
he really needed an emetic, he would
90 to a drug storo and get one.-Tras
Sytings.