The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1891-08-14
RuIT-FTeHTINo PARIS.


more magnificent and wonderful than
anything of the kind in Spain; it is a
splendid and tasteful edifice, manifesting
in all its details that elegance, that finish,
that chic in execution, which Paris i'm
presses upon all that it creates or adopts.
The idea of the enterprise and the capt.
tai to realize it were furnished by Spain;
the building was conceived and con-
structed by French architects, of course
following the traditional disposition of
the Spanish arenas; the moment chosen
for introducing the public to this distlac-
ton, new to Northern Europe, was the
year of the Exhibition of 1899, when all
the world was at Paris. Built of brick
and iron, rooted over with glass, and pro-
vided with fine machinery for producing
electric light, the Plaza de Toros of Paris
has cost more than 100000 francs. 1t
is a rotunda of diameter of 100 metres,
surrounded by seats rising in an amphi-
theatre, and by two vast galleries ar
ranged also amphthitheatrically the
whole affording room for $4,000 people.
The Plaza de Toros de Madrid has di-
ameter of 60 metres, and seats only II, 800
persons, in conditions that are devoid of
comfort.
To have built such vast establish
ment before it was really aseertained
whether the Parisians would take to the
sport or not seems rash, the more so as
it was known in advance that permission
would never be given to kill the bull be-
fore the public, and that the spectacle
would necessarily be tragedy without
the fifth act. The organizers, however,
were not at a loss on that account. Be-
ing unable to present to the PariSians
the regular Spanish bull-fight, they de-
termined to present fight such as can
never be seen in Spain except on the rare
occasions of royal marriages, and to de-
velop the. spectacular element with un-
...1fiefed splendor At Paris the cOrridd
begins and ends with procession of all
the actors dressed in gala and historical
costumes. First of all, the mounted
trumpeters and drummers, then II al
gudyzils on foot and four dlguGyziLS on
horseback, all clad in costumes of the
time of Philip ii. Then come the bull
fighters, the cuddriLld, with the mdtd-
dOres or eSpddGsin front, the senior espadd
to the right and the younger ones in the
middle; then follow the bdnderiLLerOs and
the cAHtOs, and behind them gorgeous
coach drawn by four horses, finely har-
messed, each with footman at the bride.
In this coach ride the cGbGllerOS en- plaza,
whose horses are led behind the coach
and followed by mounted plCddOres. Be-
hind the picGdOres march the carpenters,
the stablemen, the teams of mules that
are used in Spain to drag out the u dead
horses and bulls, but which at Paris fill
only decorative role; and finally four
mounted ox-herds. Fine men, fine cos
tunes and fine horses make the process
sion very attractive, and one watches
with interest the picturesque groups and
graceful attitudes and movements which
its passage round the arena produces
After this parade, or mOnStre, as it
would have been called in the days of
the meC eval pageants, the procession
Oregains invisible retreats, and the bull
fighters alone remain in the arena when
the strident trumpet blows, and amidst
the silent expectation of the crowd, the
bull rushes out of the dark den, or tOril,
in which he has been imprisoned several
hours. The bulls used i'll the Paris Plaza
are wild fighting bulls brought especially
for the purpose from the famous Spanish
breeding studs; generally animals four
years of age, and of great strength and
ferocity In order to render the specta-
Gle possible, given the prohibition to kill
the bull, the horns of the animal are
sheathed stoutly with leather, so that it
is impossible for him to rip men or
horses with the points. As further
precaution, the breast and the hind quar-
ters of the picddoFes' horses are also
sheathed with thick leather, so that the
bull can only toss them, but not rip
them. The fights at Paris are OF two
kinds, one being the regular Spanish
fight with picddOres, but of course with
out the death of the bull, and the other
being the royal Portuguese fight with
the cdbdLlero en- plaza. The incidents OF
the former spectacle are the same as
those already noted in the description of
the cOrridds of Madrid and Seville, al
ways excepting the ripping up of the
horses and the killing of the bull. The
picGIIOreS lance in hand, await the charge
of the bull, and hold him at bay or get
upset. The cdDeddOreS or chuLOs distract
the bull by finging their capes, and so
free the picador OF tOrerO who is in dan
ger. Then, when the bull has received
a number of pricks from the picadoreS'
lances, and been a little dazzled and eX-
cited by the chulOS' whirling capes, the
ksIndertLlerOs come, with their gay paper
] covered wooden rods with iron-barbed
points, which they plant in the neck and
shoulders of the bull, exhibiting in the
perilous exercise veritable prodigies of
graceful dexterity and self-possessed
agility. When the bull is sufficiently be
decked with bdnderilldS, the strident
trumpet blows once more and the espddd,
armed with sword and the muletd, and
aided by cdpeddOres, whose duty it is to
fling clOaks and captivate the attention
of the bull as necessity may require, pro
ceeds to execute difficult passes, until
the bull becomes tired and fascinated,
and presents his neck uncovered to the
fatal thrust, which in Paris is given in
pretence only, with tin sword. Immed-
lately the strident trumpet blows again.
The gates open to the left of the tOril,
and eight or ten trained oxen, or cdbeS-
tr0s, with flat-sounding bells tinkling
round their necks, rush out, preceded by
two mounted herdsmen galloping on
black Andalusian horses, and followed
by an Andalusian valet on foot, who runs
behind them cracking furiously his whip.
At the sight of the cGbeStrOS the wild
bull becomes calm at once, and suddenly
he finds himself in the midst of the
herd, and the mounted herdsmen with
their long goads drive the group at a gal
lop out of the arena.
In the royal Portuguese fight there are
no picddores. The moment the bull quits
the tOril he finds cloud of cdpeddoreS
awaiting him in the arena, and cGbdllerO
en- plaza, dressed in Louis XIV. costume,
and mounted on a thoroughbred horse.
This cdbGlLero gallops alonside the bull,
excites him with the voice and with the
cry, "TOro! toror' The bull charges,
and the caballero, while galloping away,
plants bdnderiHd in the animals neck.
1t is needless to add that the cGbdllero en-
plaza must be consummate horseman,
veritable Centaur, in fact, for without
sort of complete unison Of thought and
movement between the horse and its