The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1904-07-26

Claude Z. Envy, on board the bat
tleship Iowa, now at Lisbon. writes D
letter to the Gastouia Gazette giving
the following Of a bull fight
which he witnessed the Sunday before
the date OF his letter-June 18th:
Having the opportunity OF first
liberty I went ashore the next morning
after our arrival. Il being Sunday
morning the hrst thing that attracted
our attention was the churches. OF
which there are two hundred In Lis
churches has g history ~ its own.
Most OF them are noted for their an
tiQuity and historical importance and
surpass n in America for their
sumptuousness and artistic beauty
The city Is filed with squares decked
with monuments and statues none OF
which are lacking IL historical beauty.
The principal streets are wide and
clean The street cars run regularly
and are never crowded: not a single
person can board a car which has no
seating room.
The streets were lined with posters
announcing excursions to the "Esqua-
dra Americana" &c the los NosSos
Hospides.' and 10 the Bull Fight"
80 49, hkeC SPSAN "a lu@
After seeing as much OF the city as
possible We had an excellent dinner at
the Cafe a de Risco. In the after
noon We applied the phrase when in
Rome do as Rome does to time and
place and took a a o h Campo
Pequero TO see the bull fight.
| The u ring is cylindrical in form.
with a circular base and four great
towers at the points corresponding 10
the cardinal. The arena compriSiDg
the inside basin has a. radius of 90
meters and an exterior perimeter of
40 meters. The boxes. stalls and gall
leries are on elevations above the ring
and will seat 10000 people. The king
and queen We're early at the fight.
When We arrived We found the royal
carriage, drawn by Jour white horses,
standing at the hair entrance.
Tickets were selling from 400 to
5000 reis, or from 40 cents to SIS. My
seat was just opposite the royal box
and L got a good look at the royal
panty. King D. Carlos wore the ordi-
nary dress uniform with a white cap.
He Is a heavily built man, wears q
short beard in real Portuguese style.
and looks as If he might be about SO
years old. Queen Amelia sat at the
kings right in spotless white. She Is
a very beautiful woman and is much
taller than the average woman. She
Is probably ten years younger than the
king.
Before the performance began every
seat was occupied and many persons
We're left standing. The matador en-
tered the ring from the side opposite
the royal box approached the king
and bowed. Then four Of five other
men, carrying red shawls. entered. The
bull was then turned in and the fight
was on.
The matador carried a small Woo
en- spear with a steel fish-hook-like
point an inch long; when stuck in the
bulls neck the point would not come
u The spear was beautifully dec
orated with colored paper. The men
with the red ShawlS were only to at
tract the animals attention; when he
rushed at them they would step aside
and cross the fence of the ring. The
matador would sometimes appear on
horseback and sometimes on foot.
When he succeeded in placing one Of
the decorated spear or darts in the
back of the bulls neck the crowd
would go wild with cheers. The
matador would then endeavor to hook
the bull again. Sometimes there were
as many as eight or ten points in the
bulls neck, when a drove of tame bulls
were turned into the ring and all were
driven out together.
The fighting bulls had the tips of
their horns cut off, the remainde be-
ing covered with canvas, so they could
not tear the matador t. pieces. The
animals were we'll trained to play their
part in the game; they knew their part
as Well as the men. AS an actor steps
out on the stage SO the bull enters the
ring. He Immediately makes a charge
at the matador. but seems to make it
a point never to hurt the matador's
horse or any n else in the ring. OF
ten bulls turned in at one time all
bore evidence of long training save
one. His horns were bandaged lige
the others, but he seemed new to the
business. He did not enjoy the decor
atoms and red shawls as did the 9TH
ers. Several times he followed the
fighters over the ring fence and sever
al of the fighters were carried out for
surgical aid. Until this bull was turn
ed into the ring not a single man was
hurt During his time more than a
dozen were injured, none seriously.
however. When he was driven out
there was only one decorated spear in
his neck