Evening star., 1902-05-22
KING SEES BULL FIGHT
ALFONSO OF SPAIN ATTENDS Ma
TIoNAL FEsTIvITY.
Ancient Custom of Young Noblemen
Acting as Matadors Revived
at Yesterdays Event.

A dispatch from Madrid yesterday s.tNs:
The royal bull fight. which Is the most iyr-
zeal Spanish feature Of the festivities n
connection with the coming ,f age ~ King
Alfonso, occurred this afternoon in the
presence Of the king the que,n-rro, her.
the royal family. the Spanish mobiles aad
the special ENJOYS. Many ladies' Were also
present.
The vast amphiihcater whore the fght
was held was crowded with l5oto spec
tators. More than 9co,oe, people had made
application for seats. An interesting f.a:
ture Of the bull fight WAS the revival OF
the old mediaeval custom under which the
scions of noble families fought the bulls
with lances from horseback. Three. balls
were killed in this manner. while SIX oth-
ers were dispatched in the regular way
with swords. The mos, renowned ban
fighters in Spain took part in today's fight
The scene within the amphitheater was "A
feast of color and animation. The upper
tier of boxes was hung with handsome
tapestries embroidered with the arms of
the Spanish srandees. \ carpet beaTins
the royal arms was dropped over the
kings box.
1t was an effort for the queen mother
to attend the bull fight, but she did for
The sake of her son. The spectacle WAS
distasteful To her. ana her unpopulari,y
with the masses of Spain u mainly due To
her refusal To patronize the national pas
llHle- Inc pueen-nnOthCr = rtpugna ut,
evident today. She rarely gazed into the
ring while the performance was going On,
but instead chatted win the infantas.
KING Alfonso. on the contrary. followed
the bun hghting closely and with apparent
interest.
DIR. J. L. NJ. Curry. the representative
of the United States AT King Alfouso's
majority ceremonies. and his wife. oc-
cupied seats in the front af the huN pro-
vided for the foreign envoys. Or and
Mrs. Curry remained until the conclusion
of the lighting. as is required 10y ,tllHrtts,
but Mrs. Curry and her niece. VINO WAS
also present, averted their faces or COW
cred their eyes with fans or handkcr-
chiefs, as did the queen mother. AT the
spectacle Of gored horses csre,r.ng around
The ring.
Few of the Spanish ladies showed any
emotion save enthusiasm at the d. Xterity
OF the toreadors
The royal party arrived aj the amphi-
theater escorted by the horse guards King
Alfonso gave the signal u oi,,n the pro-
ceedings, and the time-honored proc. ssion
around the arena made brilliant scene.
The young nohlemen who had engaged 10
fight the bulls were named LuZurariz,
Bento and Tejado. They ara all lieuten-
ants in royal regiments. The object az
the officers was 10 spear the bull to death
without. in the case Of the picadors.
allowing their horses to be gored. The
young noblemen acquitted themselves ad-
mrabiy.
Their chargers escaped scathless. The
ht'i,tvie di.et liie ''iitT'H ~ NltliHiHN-
ing the bulls attention with their red
capes. One toreador narrowly escaped dis
aster He was charged Dy the bun and
thrown down. and the animal then tried
To gore him. Everybody thought the man
was lost, and the women screamed. The
excitement WAS intense. The ueen-moth-
turned her face from the arena. The
matadors succeeded in dstraciing the
bulls attention. however. and the man
scrambled away. bruised but uniniured.
Several of the foreign ladtts left the am
phitheater
One of the bulls WAS thought 10 be a
coward, and the people yelled that he be
angered with darts. provided with eNplnd-
ing firecrackers. which Isr stuck intn the
animals flank. The king was obliged To
yield to the demands af the people and
in doing ELECTED their frenzi,d ap-
plause. King Alfonso thrr " q costly pres
ent TO each matador whn cook part in to-
days fight, which lasted until darkness
fell.