Mountain Home maverick. [volume] (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1906-1911, 1911-08-03
.tcontinued From Page one,l


writer. who believes that the sport
in Spain. is ignorant of
its history, but he cannot be ignor-
ant of its brutality and of the un-
trathfulness of his statement that
it it requires great bravery to at
tack a bull. The spectacle is an ex-
hibition of the triumph of mind and
cutlery over matter ana horns. The /
ratio Of fatalities to fghts-fatali- +
ties among picadores, chulos. mata-
doris and banderilleros-is small An
American foot ball player is more
courageous and more exposed to dan /
ger than Spanish bull fighter
The upper classes in Spain-which
means the enlightened classes in a
country where the masses are not en-
lightened-have read so much crit
icism Of the national sport that some
Of them have withdrawn their pat
ronage, but they are in a minority
even among their class. The travel
ed Spaniard is more likely to dis
countenance the sport than the stay
at home His attitude illustrates the
Shakespearean assertion, a wiser
the child that goes to Rome" But
children play at bull fighting in the
street The nation is bred upon it,
The smell of blood is "eau de vie" to
the urchin 1t intoxicates the fail
ing old man, quickens the pulses of
the low-born peasant girl and does
not nauseate the lady of high degree.
The PLACE de toros has not been
popular with all classes at all times.
Queen Isabella crusades against it
400 years ago, but did not resort to
extreme measures when the popu-
lace made it plain that bull fights
were considered an inalienabTe form
of amusement The Bourbons, with
the blood of France in their veins,
looked down upon the plaza as
place where the coarse and ill-bred
found pleasure. Philip V. abolished
it, 1t was speedily revived and his
successor built the coliseum in Ma
drid where bull-murder is still prac-
ticed with a good deal of the flourish
and fan faronade of former times,
but with fewer grandees in attend
ance. Queen Ena now distrib-
utes prizes to bull fighters TO cur
ry favor with the Spaniards. There
was a time when knights rode into
the arena to fight bulls, with gloves
or kerchiefs. or locks of hair of their
ladies in their tunics. Those halcyon
days are gone Hired men of low
caste kill the animals for money now
days The sport is professionalism
completely.
A great mill" between Jack John
son and some other black or white as
pirant for the championship belt
pulled of by the president Of the I'm
tied States in honor of the visit of a
German prince or a Chinese notable
would be unthinkable in America
and would have been so in the time
Of George Washington But Spain
has more than once had bull fights as
tit-bits of choice entertainment for
guests of royalty. When Charles J.
of England visited Spain Philip ~
gave in his honor "The Festival OF
Bulls" and the arena must hav,
been slippery with the blood of hors
es and bulls when the curtain was
rung down upon the reyel.
The traditions of that gala cele
bration fired Ferdinand VII wifi
ambition to eclipse its glory. Whel
his death was near and he called up
on Spain to swear allegiance to hi
daughter Isabel, then in swaddlini
! clothes, he held a festival of bull
/: that was satisfactorily sanguinary
! The king and the court occupied tn
balconies overhanging the PLACE II
T which Philip and Charles had wit
I messed the bull killing. 200 year
before. A full hundred bulls receiy
) ed the coup de grace on this occa
sion. and tons upon tons of carcass
es were dragged from the plaza b
mules whose hoofs we're crimsone
by their blood.
As long as the spaniard has any
thing to sell or pawn he is rio
enough to secure his "billet" and sa
ley gayly forth to feast his eyes upo
+. gore, even if he doesn't know whs
/ he will feast his stomach upon whe
/ he leaves the plaza. The molly thron
! that moves toward the gates Of tn
= plaza IS as animated as multitud
7 Of Americans bound for a baseba