The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1902-06-21


deep sea on the QUESTION of bullfghting.
Time was. when young man in his posi-
ton would have had to show his prowess
by actually entering the ring and fighting
his bull. the men of CASTLE and Aragon,
of Leon. Valencia and the Asturias in
those days would not let themselves be
mastered by youth who could not even
the king kills his bulls by proxy, clothing
himself in the glory Of the popular espada
by munificent patronage. But If he were
to do less than. this, it, is difficult to see
how far popular disgust might go in
Spain, while anything like positive dis
couragement to the peculiarly national
sport would simply be playing into the;
hands Of the Carlists and the republicans.
On the other hand. no American who
reads print needs to-. be told that every
mark of favor shown to the Spanish bull
fight by Alfonso will mean another grain
of < foreign respect for Spain subtracted
from the meagert handful that yet re-
mains. And so this poor lad has the devil
on one side Of him and the deep sea on
the other-and 1t matters little how he
may choose to assign the two characters.
Different Forms Of the Game.
1t must be confessed, however, that for
eign opinion on this subject of bull
fighting might be more enlightened with
out losing any OF It's responsibility. 1t
might have more weight with the Spanish
people, beginning with their most en-
lightened classes, II 1t only seemed to be
aware that the performances Of the Puer-
ia del Sol and of Seville, as they are ste
reotyped in this century, do not represent
every known form of the game. Whatever
may be the case in continental Europe,
the average American, like the average
Britisher, knows of bullfghting only that
1t Is beastly and bloody-which 1t Is in
some forms and under some conditions.
those of Madrid. for notorious example
but the gbeastly and bloody particulars
are not the whole of 1t.
The elimination Of every Spanish bull
fight is, as everybody knows, the killing
Of the bull-the point where such stars Of
the ring as Frascuela and Mazzantini
have made their wonderful successes.
For the Spanish connoisseur this Is the
stage Of the game always worth watching
critically, just. as the disemboweling of
horses is the feature which, unless they
are much maligned, entrances the souls of
the Madrid groundlings. In the Lisbon
praca de touros neither horses nor bulls
are ever killed, even by accident.
;z. AS 1t Is Done in Lisbon.
Horseman ship is essential to the
Portuguese bullhght; the horses ridden In
tho Lisbon ring. in contrast to the SUI
perannuated plugs which in Madrid are
usually sent to the ring to be slaughtered
are animals Of high breeding, usually Of
Arab strain, carefully kept and mag
nificently trained especially for bullfight-
ing. The Spanish picador usually keeps
his horse motionless-which Is not diff.
cult-alongside of and close to the bar
rier, having this on his bride hand, and
his long spear or goad pointed toward
the middle of the ring, waiting for the
moment when the bull shall take the idea
betwee his horns and come and finish
this particular old jade. In the Lisbon
ring the mounted man Is not called a
''prScker,"- as in Madrid, but a "cabal-
heiro,' which is interpreted either
'ehorseman'' or gentleman according
In velvet riding dress OF Louis XIV. fash
ion; with tricorne hat and big jack boots.
The jack boots and long spurs are worth
noticing, because If he lets that capering,
satin coated mount of his by any chance
get hurt by the bulls horns, then the
spectators will enforce the regular pen
atty Of such clumsiness, and cabalheiro.
jack boots and all. must dismount and
carry on his interview with touro on foot.
The present writer in the course Of a
whole seasons assiduous attendance at
Lisbon bullfghts, never saw this penalty
incurred, though he did once see a cabal-
heiro hooted out of the ring and obliged
to finish his performance on new horse.
because the TANKS of his first were bleed
ing from overspurring. Fri
az dsst The BulI8Not in Danger.
3ssAl1 this is in. the more striking con :.
trast to the performance Of picador,
because the picador shares the arena with
ten or a dozen other 1nen-picadores and
chulos or cloak men. The portuguese
cabalheiro either handles his bull alone
or plays very pretty game Of cross tag
in partnership with another horseman.
AS the bandarilheiro's object is to stick
darks about twenty two inches long into
the bulls neck, so the cabalheiro's is to
plant the farpa, a. dart about thirty
inches long. Both the construction and
the use of the banderilla and the farpa
are strictly regulated. In either case the
weapon, stripped of its colored paper or
ribbon decorations, is a light stick of
fred into one end. The length of the iron
barb is SO limited by regulation that the
weapon canIpt be made to penetrate deep
tiers than the thick loose skin OF the anil
mails neck before the broad, blunt end OF
| thetstick stops It, ITO wound bull any
where in front of his ears or behind the
front edge Of his shoulders is what would
be called in the Angles Saxon prize ring a
| foul" with expulsion and other serious
penalties attaching. The horseman's far
pa is held by it's end in the right hand,
| the point protruding on the outside of the
| arm, like the point of 3 dagger held in
the way conventionally shown in pictorial
hands and daggers.: This enables the
| horseman to strike backward at the pur-
suing bull. The horse, in all his sambol-
1ngs, curvetings and gallops, Is trained
| to keep the bull on his off side. He can
turn like a cat at the least signal of knee
and rein, and his accomplishments include
a pretty trick Of Harding q series OF fly
ing kicks oh the nose of the bull that
| approaches toe near. = y -----
Serious Business for the Biped. !
! It ought to be explained here that all
these bull ring horses get their training
Oh the grazing grounds from which the
| bulls are taken. It Is said by those who
1 ought to know that the association OF the
galloping horse with his native pastures
acts on the bulls mind to prevent his re.
| sentiment against the four footed partner
| in the man horse combination; certainly
| it is always the rider, not the mount, thai
| the bull makes for. At the most success
full show of the. kind that the present
4 writer ever witnessed a splendid black
1 Barb, that had kicked the bull at least g
dozen times In the last twenty minutes
got hts hind fetlocks crossed In making
an exceptionally quick turn TO the neal
side. and fell. The bull paid no attention
to the fallen horse, but before he acoult
rise had smashed several; of his riders
! ribs, and would have tossed him II the
weight Of horsefesh on his broken LEFT
Il ~