The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1889-06-23

SAD havoc among tnt Ifatts Oh tl'
bellies and buds present with his hand
some face and courtly manner. 10 say
nothing Of the j~welled decorations
which shone and glttered on bis bosom
like so many stars from the blue above
VINO il bey Who is this mysterious
tilted stranger who attracts so much
attention you ask.
The king Of matadora-th best bull
fighter that Spain has ever known, the
pet Of the Empire. the 0wer OF the
arena-D)n LUIS Mazzantini. on whom
all the charming senOrtas Of s"eet,
sunny Espanol smile. and who Is court
ed by ali the beaux of Madrid.
When | saw him at bis hotel and in
troduced myself ne smiled and extend
ed hiss hand. and, To tell the truth. /
smiled little bit 10 myself when ! saw
that hand. and mentally wondered now
ne ever had the nerve 10 stand IN front
Of a bull with so slim hand: but when
he griTped my hand with his fingers
did not smile. but mentally wondered
what show bull had with him. At
first he was not inclined 10 talk about
himself. but wanted TO tell me what a
lovely country We had and how much
he liked New York. Finally. after a
great deal Of c0axing and the exchange
Of a great many pretty compliments,
this famous killer of bulls told me the
story Of his life; aud such story as It
il. toO-full Of romance and trial. ana
ending with most brilliant success 10
the ring.
Ii was only a few years ago. half a
dozen maybe, when he was an operator
in the Spanish telegraphic service earn
ing the salary paid % the lappels Of the
wire i'm that country. which ~ far from
being large one. though 1t was ialr a,
far as salaries 20. He was as prosper
Gus as a hard working. untitled snd
far from rich Spaniard could well be-
but he was not satisfied with this. lie
wanted titles and fame and riches; he
wanted to be so well-kuown thal the
children would know OF him ana taxi
about hiln.
Young Mazzantini had a voice that
for an amateur was considered good
one. and be turned his attention toward
the operatic stage. He secured an en-
glgement with "A company and went
off on the road and sang with varying
success for a year. In that time ne
mot with adventures that would curl
the hair Of an Indian TO hear abort.
and-but the senOIitas IN the country
districts are pretty and given 70 iiiIi-
ing, and their lovers are ugly and gwen
to fighting. However. at the END oil
the wear MaZzautiui asked what ms
chances were for becoming a great sinS
err. and was told by tho musicians tnat
they were slim. ~ slim, IN fact. That he
could not hope 10 be more than ialr
opera singer. no matter how long or
how hard he studied.
That settled his stage career. and me
looked about fer an opening where he
might Jump IN aud become famous as
ne wished. Bull fighting; That was
il. and he quietly began taking lessons
from an old veteran who bad served
years i'm the ring. and had impaiet
hundreds of believing and c0lor-ciazed
animals upon his sword. When young
Luis' family heard what he was mp go
they disowned him, for from official
life-oycn as a government teie
grapher 10 the buii-rlug is % tremen-
duons downfall in the estimation 81
the ari.tOcralc Spaniard, because bull
fighters i'm Splin are usually men Of TIE
same education and social standing that
horse. lockeys aiein America. Besides.
tire sons Of bull-fghters follow Their
fathers profession because the fact
that any member Of the family had been
ian the ring would be an obstacle u sue
ces. many other business. fighters
are known only by their nickunmps 10
the big towns. and when one oi the pro.
fession dies. he IS regretted only Dee
cause his skill with the cloak or the
sword dies with him. So 10 was only
natural that MazZlniiui 3 family should
want to sever ali ties that bound them
to a buli-hghtcr.
For his own part the ambitiousyoung
man cared little. He knew that he
conld risa above all these obstacles li be
remained in the ring. and he did 1t with
a rapiditv that opened the eyes and Che
hearts OF the cxciiement-lOying Span
iards. rs rule. when young man
wishes TO become bull-iighter. ht
serves an apprenticeship theranks OF
the picadOres and banierilleros. VIII,
are the ones to prepare the bull for 10,
finale by pricklng him with darts anc
waving flags before him. Mazzlnuni
served no such apprenticeship. lie
took his lessons aud be- studied hard
and when he appeared it was rs full
Il edged maiadoIe.
HIS first appearance in the ring. clad
ID. tIr. rsH| .ft.a. on
was greeted with iecrs and laughter
lie was ridiculed from one side To tie
other and was called the clown Of the
bull Dit. Nick names Why he hao
enough nick names for dozen bull
fighters and when during his first ap
pearance be was so badly g0red that ii
was thought he was dying people
smiled and said in Spanish. Il told You
SD. So When be got well be was agar
in the ring as plucky as. ever aud twice
as persistent. From that minute be
was made. His grit won him favor
and the applause increased as did hl
skill and IT WAS not long before he hal
the applause and the cheers lac hae
dreamed Of i'm the days when he wa:
only "A telegraph operator, drawing ;
small salary from the government.
His fame increased. aud people Gale.
him nothing but Don Luis, and he va
decorated and given handsome presents
and finally received the patronage q
/ the roval family. and he was to SPAN
what Nike Kelly and John l.. SuliivaI
were to Boston. He became tie great
es, aud most skillful. and at the sam
time the most graceful bull-iighier D
the world. and lac was happy. And hi
family sunk their prejudices agains
bull.fghting and bull-tighlers. when h
was received at all the aristocrati
Gatherings. and owned him once more
IL had become an honor now 70 be D.
lated 10 Don Luis. the greatest man =
Spain.
As he told me this story Of his strue
giles for fame and riches. his face glove
and his eyes shoue like stars, and b
seemed to be going through all IN
scenes of his early life again.
1T was hard, ne said. but hav
reached tie point where my happines
begins.
Don Luis bid good byc 20 AmeFic
the other day and saued for Franco
where he will give exhibitions OF figh'
ing under orders OF the Spanish Coy
ermment. His only regret Is that b