The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1906-10-18
SPANISH BULL FIGHTS.
There IL q Fascination in It Which
All Its Horrors Cannot Destroy. =

All Its Horrors Cannot Destroy. r
Travellers who visit Spain write
lurid Impressions Of their first bull
| fight. They denounce 1t as inhuman,
barbaric, and beyond defence. Then
they go again to the bull ring to see
| If their first impression was justified
and finding that 1t was, go third
time to make sure. By the time they
have seen their sixth fight they are
more bloodthirsty than the Span
! iards, and shout for more horses and
fire" for the cowardly bull, says
Madrid correspondent of the London
Mail.
I have always enjoyed bull fight
ing, because 1t throws me back to the
days when my ancestors lived In
caves and beat one another's heads
off in the settlement Of all disputes.
II you love a horse the sight Is
sickening; If your fondness embraces
all animal life 1t is hopelessly cruel;
| IL you are a vegetarian it is sacrileg-
! ious.
For me, and for thousands of Brit
ishers who know the story of bull
| fighting and have studied it's art, and
can tell instantly the laundering kill
! from the clean straight stroke of the
master, bull fighting has fascination
which all it's horrors cannot destroy.
And it is the last scene of all that
draws you back and back again to
| the Plaza.
The bandilleros have played the
| bull, and the blast of the trumpet
calls them off, The bull stands trem-
bling with rage in the circle Of the
| gayly colored fighters. Then from
| the barrier, from his salute, comes
slight figure of a man, hatless, in his
left hand a blood-red flag, in his
right a thin, red-hilted sword.
''Machiquito! Machiquito!
A roar of greeting comes to him
from the packed barriers, but he
scarcely acknowledges it.
His thin, aesthetic face, the thick
black eyebrows, the firm, delicately
shaped mouth are known from one
end OF Spain to the other. Now, the
| face is tense and white. Not with
fear, for Machiquito does not know
1t, and some day this daring little
man will end his days in the bull
ring.
He nears the group, and the play
of cloaks begins. Flick! The bull
! turns as swift as lightning, and
springs at the cloak. He misses by
a hands breadth, and the flutter Of
| oil dc cy,fn In
another direction. Now comes the
delicate part of the days work. Ma
chiquito raises his red flag, and the
bull jumps with a curious sidelOng
| thrust of his head. A warning yell
goes up from the 10000 threats, for
the trained observers have seen that
the bull is aiming at the man and not
at the flag. Again the Ticking of
cloaks and the sharp, mad rushes
and the hands breadth escapes.
This is not for the fighters
amusement; it has q purpose. You
| may not kill bull by the laws of the
ring except he stand with feet in
such a position and head at such a
poise So back and forward goes
bull stands still, and fighter and vic
tim face each other.
The silence of death comes on the
banked crowds, for the feet of the
bull are in the right position, and the
head is at the angle. Slowly the
right hand of the matador rises and
the sword lies level with his eye. In
moment the bull jumps, and Ma
chiquito springs toward him
Straightforward to what looks like
certain DEATH so that his breast is
between the horns Of the bull, and
his glittering coat scrapes the bulls
forehead. There is fash of steel.
You cannot from humanitarian
point of view defend bullfights any
more than you can prizefghting or
licking the soul out of two-year-old
horses for the sake of to 4 start
ing price coup: 1t is brutal. it is Of
ten disgusting-it is, if you wish, the
indication of national decadence-.
but it is the greatest ''thrill' in the
| world