Los Angeles herald., 1906-07-08
MATADOR WILL
TAKE CHAN CES
FELIX ROBERT TELLS OF
PERILS
Famous Bull Fighter Says He VIII
Give Humane Exhibition Of
Spanish Sport at Tia
Juana

Butting restlessly against the walls
Of their inclosure, sixteen Of the bulls
to be used in the bull fights at Tia
Juana next Sunday arrived in Los An
geles yesterday from ri Paso, and to-
day they will he started southwark to
meet their doom at the hands of Felix
Robert, the French matador.
Another carload Of animals will ar
rive In Los Angeles Wednesday and will
ge shipped to the border line and from
this aggregation the first four bulls to
be killed i'm the first fight of the season
next Sunday, will he selected.
According to a statement made by
Robert yesterday he has already de-
cided upon three of the animals to be
used. Two are red, the dull red loved
from the earliest days Of the bull fight.
Both the animals are outla wed, and
while en- route to their destination have
created so much trouble on several oc-
casions it was thought that 1t would
be necessary to kill them.
But they have arrived safely, and
next Sunday the outlaws of the plains
will fight out their outlaw lives in the
way they like best.
Calls It Humane Fight
The contest, according to the state
ments of Matador Robert, will be as
humane as a bull fight can possibly be
made.
Yesterday the little Franohman, for
the first time since his arrival in Los
Angeles more than a year ago, con-
sented to talk of his life in the bull ring,
Of his adventures before the toros of
many continents and of the science of
bull fighting.
To see Felix Robert on the street the
ordinary man or woman notices a
rather good-looking little man, slightly
understood. with broad shoulders. His
clothes are always neat and his man
ners perfect.
But there is just a slight springy
movement in his walk which suggests
the panther about to spring; just a
trif1e of brightness in his eye that sug-
gests a brave man facing his enemies
and glorying in the task.
Robert speaks half dozen Ian
guages and has learned the English
language in the past six months. His
people have been of the best families
Of southern France for genera tions
back, and the little matador is the pol
ished gentleman from the sole of his
small boots to the quivering top of his
grizzled pompadour.
Will Give Bulls a Chance
II shall kill the bulls at Tia Juana
on July IS and again a week later"
said Robert yesterday. "Then in Aug
ust shall hold two more fights, and in
them 1 shall bring out the best there is
in the sport.
THE Americans are different from
most other races and they want to see
the bulls have a chance, so ] will give
the bulls chance. In the first place,
I have selected the fiercest bulls in
all Mexico from the ranch of General
Luis Terresas at Chihuahua. These
bulls have been raised outlaws. They
fight every other animal on the ranch
and hold bloody carnivals among
themselves. They are bound to die fight
ing some way or other, and they could
never be Of any use to any one. So, as
to the humane part is 1t any more
inhuman to kill the bull by a delicate
stroke which requires skill and danger
before people than to take the same
bull out in the Jack yard and crush it's
skull with a mallet?
1--WE take chances every minute we
are iii the ring. In America there has
been much said of the prizef1ghter, but
he must he a man of beef, and the
bigger he is and the more pounding he
can take, the quicker he becomes the
champion. He can simply enter a ring
and beat his opponent to insensibility
and he wins.
But the work of the matador is an
art He must study for it. Day after
day, week after week and year after
year he has to work at his trade be-
fore he is recognized
Says Matadors Are Skilled
II was born in Dax, in the south of
France, thirty-five years ago. From
that section some of Frances great
heroes have been secured and there a
to lNn I.
man.
when l was Is / became interested
in the art of bull fighting. 1 fought
there twelve years, learning my trade
by hard knocks and by encounters with
the bulls. / learned to jump. over the
backs of the charging animals with
my feet tied together, for the way of
the French matador is strange and he
must fight the bull with the naked
sword and without cape. horse or man
to help him.
"Then 1 went to Spain and there the
bull fighters at first did not love me-
1t was the same feeling that the Ameri-
cans undergo when they watch for
eigner competing for a championship
held by an American. But l soon
had a chance to fight before the queen,
and eight years ago I won my diploma
and now there are but eleven others
people say the bull fight is one-sided
and the bull has no chance. Perhaps
he cannot escape, but every year eight
or ten bull fighters are killed and seven
or eight of them are always matadors
There are twenty-five real matadors in
the world at present, and yet people
say the odGs are always against the
bull.
To Try Perilous Trick
Remember, If the bull catches the
trick that the man is enemy and not the
red cape, he charges for the man and
the matador never knows when the
bull is beginning to find out that fact
ITO fight the bull properly one must
be master of his art. For instance, all
the perilous feats of the ring must be
done by the matador, for he is respon-
sible and he cannot subject his less
trained helpers to the chances. / will
sit down on a chair in the coming
fights and call the bull to the charge.
In each hand I viii hold a banderillo
or barb, and as the bull charges / will
place the barbs In his shoulders and
get away before he hits me- The trick
requires years Of skill and patience,
and there is only one way to learn it
and that is to try 1t on the live bulls.
Again. novice can begin to charge
a bull at ten feet distance and the