Maryland independent. [volume] (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1874-current, 1910-07-22
A SOLDIER on FoNruNE.

a oOLDiEh Of fOhlUNE'
OF all the soldiers Of fortune who
have helped to make Latin America
interesting in recent years. none was
more picturesque that young Harper
Lee, who nearly lost his life in the
bull ring at Guadalaiara the other
day. Whether he will get well and
take up bull fighting again, the Mex
lean dispatches have not yet made
quite clear. 1t wouldn't be surprising
IL he did. for It isn't the first time that
he has been reported dead.
Last October the papers told how
he had been badly gored while saving
the life Of fallen picador. and It
was supposed that the young dare
devil would retire then. But he re-
covered. only to add still more daring
performances to those which had all
ready made him hero TO the crowd
which follows bull lighting In Mexico.
He was very popular down there,
both with Mexicans and Americans,
both with those who flock to the Plaza
de Toros. as our crowds flock to the
polo grounds to see the Giants beat
the Brooklyns. and with those who.
perhaps. considered bull fighting a
cruel and barbarous amusement and
kept away from it. That meant q
pretty all-round popularity. To now
elists tired Of Herzegovina and I'M
heard-of little European courts and
the zenda scene, we commend this
tall and agile young man, standing,
sword in hand, awaiting the charge.
in the dazzling sun of the Mexican
bull ring, with the senorltas and SOL
diers and politicians and promoters
all that curious. vivid erowd-watch-
ing with bated breath
II has been said that he is a Har-
ward man, Princeton man-all sorts
Of stories have been told about him
AS a matter of fact, he isn't college
man at all. He came from Texas.
His grandfather was Colonel George
Baylor, a Confederate veteran and
Indian fighter. He went to work,
while boy. for the Mexican Central
Railway, and most Of his young life
he is not yet thirty years old---has
been spent in Guadalajara.
Several years ago he took up bull
fighting as an amusement, very much
as young men up here go in some
times for boxing. He began to APP
pear as an amateur in the ring at
Guadalajara, and there, 1t is said, he
attracted the attention Of an old
Spanish bull fighter, who at once took
the young gringo under his wing.
Lee improved rapidly, and finally
like Gentleman JIM Corbett, for
instance-became a professional. 1t
is lucrative business. He probably
received $4,000 mex. for each per-
Torrance in Mexico, and a popular
bull fighter makes good many
appearances during the season. As a
money maker he compares favorably
with an operate tenor of the first
class here; socially, his position is
like that Of successful prize fighter.
Often appearing at several smaller
rings, Lee made his metropolitan
debut in Mexico City about year
ago.
In the minutest details of dress and
experiment, Lee was all that the most
dandy bull fighter should be. And
everything goes by tradition in bull
fighting. The ring was crowded to
the roof. AS the American toreador
entered he lowered by head above
the other two matadors. He killed
his first bull, a powerful black ami
nal, in slashing style, and the ring
rang with the shouts of "El Ameri-
cano!' and "Es otro Montes,n Tile
Is another Montes.) Monies was per-
haps the most famous of the Spanish
bull fghters.-Collier' Weekly.