Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1901-07-18

seating from 5000 to 10000 people
and are among the chief rights OF the
town. Bull fights are held in Madrid
during the entire year and in other
towns on church festivals, such az
easter, palm Sunday, and on fair DAYS,
The bulls for the fights are bred es.
pecially for the purpose on the
ranches of breeders who make it their
speciality. One of the drawing cards
of a corrida is the breed of the bulls
which will be killed. The duke of We
raqua, who was entertained so mag
nificently at Chicago during the
worlds fair, is a famous breeder and
his bulls were used in the fights at
Madrid last easter The corridas are
held in the afternoon and almost in
yariably on Sunday. They are attend
ed by all classes of the population
and by women as well as men. The
performance opens with a procession
of those taking part who march into
the ring and in front of the oox of the
president of the day. There they
swear to kill the bulls, the president
dismisses them and the slaughter be-
gins. The regulation number of bulls
killed at each corrida is five. They
are all killed. No bull ever goes out
of the ring alive. The killing of each
bull is divided into three scenes. the
first two of which are preliminary ex-
hibitions of worrying and exciting the
bull and which lead up to his death
in the last act Before he is let into
the ring the bull is kept in darkness
and without food or water so as to
make him fiercer than usual if possi-
BILE. When he is let into the ring the
first part is begun by the picadores,
who are armed with long lances and
mounted on horses. They are sup
posed, by skillful use of their lances,
to keep the bulls from injuring the
horses. This is merely a pretence,
however, for the horses are partly
blindfolded so that they can De
brought within striking distance of the
bull The bull attacks the horse, the
picador usually fails to protect it,
and it is gored by the bull. If the
wound is not fatal it is forced toward
the bull again and again until it falls
to the ground from weakness caused
by loss of blood. Several horses are
killed at every corrida and the audi
ence votes the performance failure
if too few horses are gored to death.
The next part is played by the bander
illeros. who stick the banderillos, or
short pronged sticks, into the bulls
necks. This part of the performance
requires skill and nerve, for the ban
derillos must be placed, two at the
same time, one in each side of the
shoulder, as the bull rushes for the
banderillero with its head down and
on mischief bent. Sometimes the
banderillos are placed by the bander-
illero while he is seated in a chair or
in some other way out of the ordinary.
If the banderillero is too hard pressed
at any time the attention of the bull
is distracted by colored capes flung
in his face by men who are employed
to keep the bull busy in the intermis-
sions. After the crowd has had
enough of this entertainment the ma
tador, or killer, enters the ring. He is
armed with brilliant red cape which
he uses to excite the now tired bull,
When he has the bull in the proper
position, which is with his head down
and coming for him, he thrusts the
sword downward between the buns
shoulders into it's heart. The bull
drops dead on the spot if the job is
well done. Often, however, it takes
several attempts before the finishing
thrust is given in the proper manner.
The dead bull is hauled out of the
ring. little sand is sprinkled over the
pools of blood and another bull is let
in
"a great many attempts have been
made by the clergy and others to put
an end to bull fighting in Spain but
the institution fiourishes as much as
ever and it does not appear to be in
danger of losing it's hold on the people.
The bull fighters are the popular
heroes and the ambition of every
small boy is to some day be a famous
matador Madison Democrat.