El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-08-02
AADRID, Spain, Aug. 1.-The bull
MI fight has been for SO long the


tive to the soil and symptomatic OF the
savagery that lies beneath the skin
deep manner" for which the Span
iards of the upper classes are noted.
AS a matter of fact, bull fights were
popular In Greece and Rome when the
wild tribes of the Iberian peninsula
knew nothing of such entertainments.
1t has survived in Spain because the
Spanish still retain the ideas and ideals
of the middle ages.
Bull Batting in England.
1t was because of the Moorish IN
vasion that Spain learned to revel in
the bloody spectacle. If Tarik and
Musa had not come over from Maure-
tania to conquer the luxury -softened
Goths and appropriate to their own
uses the fertile fields of fair Andalu-
STA, the cities of Madrid and Mexico
might never have seen the espada dis
patch the bull. Bul1-baiting was oncS
popular in virtuous England, and 1t
was much more brutal, much less pic
turesque than the bullfight of the pres
ent time in Spain. And the English
did not attain sufficient civilization TO
abandon bull-baiting until the time of
George " The more sportsmanlike
form of indefensible brutality, coming
from the east. has survived the well
deserved death Of the British sport
and the British, now much more highly
civilized than the Spanish. look down
upon the continuance Of cruelty to an
imals as an approved national pastfme
The bulls are turned into the arena,
called the plaza de toros. with pomp
and ceremony. They are first worried
by picadores on horses whose weapons
are lances put to ignoble uses but rem
iniscent of the days of chivalry, when
In r1,% A0Tl nr
less of the blood of helpless bulls and
hapless horses. and sometimes that of
a miserable ruffian engaged in the
sport. has been shed. the chulos. men
on foot with crimson banners take up
the harrassment, and third crowd of
beasts upon two legs attack the quad
ruped with barbed darts, fireworks and
flags. These are the banderilleros
In America II one man should commit
the atrocities for which the banderille-
ros are employed constantly the admi-
rable organization known as the S. P
c. A. would see him in the nearest
jail and provide witnesses against him
In court In Spain the banderillero is
the thicknecked lover Of women of the
Carmen type to whose animalism. his
animalism appeals.
The Hero OF Heroes.
But the hero of heroes is the man
who gives the coup de grace" 10 the
harried animal in the last act of a pit
iful tragedy. He Is appropriately
clothed in black, his costume making a
striking contrast with the gay trap
pings of the former classes of brutes
and symbolizing his mission of muir
der. He is armed with long, straight
sword, and a large red flag OF muleta
mounted on azshort stick Theescfence
Of bull murder is to sheath the sword
to the hilt in the body of the animal
at the juncture of the neck and spinal
column. roar of appreciation goes {
up from the throng Of accessories be-
fore the fact when the principal in tbs
crime does his work gracefully Teams
Of mules drag the carcasses from the /
bloody ring. and the American specta-
tor leaves the Plaza de Toros feeling |
that If more Spaniards and fewer bulls /!
were killed the sport might be more
endurable.
What Writer Thinks of Tt.
A Spanish writer who is strangely |
lacking in the saving grace Of humor :
says that the bullfight of Spain is a i
unique and glorious institution The /
love of bulls is inherent in man. es- |
pecia11y the Spaniard. says this author /
ity. and this glorious people have had /
bullfights since bulls were discovered. !
because the Spanish race is infinitely |
drawer than any other, and delights in |
meeting on equal terms the Spanish l
bull the most savage OF all beasts.
The writer who believes that the
sport originated in Spain. is ignorant
of its history but he cannot be fgno-
rant of it's brutality and of the un- +
of his statement that 1t 4
requires great bravery to attack a /,
bull. The spectacle is an exhibition Of /
the triumph of mind and cutlery over /
matter and horns The ratio Of fatali-
ties to fights fatalities among plea /
1ores, chulos. matadors and banderfl-
eros-is small An American football
player Is more courageous and more
exposed to danger than Spanish bull /
tighter
The upper classes in Spain-which
means the enlightened classes in
where the masses are not en-
ightened-have read so much criticism
If the national sport that some OF
hem have withdrawn their patronage.
out they are in minority even among
their class. The travelled Spaniard is
more likely to discountenance the sport
han the stay at home. His attitude IL
the Shakesperean assertion
wiser is the child that goes to Rome"
But children play at bullfighting in
he street. The nation is bred upon IT.
The smell of blood is eau de VIE to
he urchin. 1t intoxicates the failing
I'D man, quickens the pulses Of the
ow born peasant girl. and does not
lauseate the lady of high degree.
Not Always Popular.
The plaza de toros has not been
popular with all classes at all times
queen Isabella crusaded against 1T
90 years ago. but did not resort to
Extreme measures when the populace
made it plain that bull fights were
Considered an inalienable form of
amusement The Bourbons. with the
blood Of France In their veins, looked
Town upon the plaza as a place where
he coarse and illbred found pleasure.
philip Y. abolished 1t. 1t was speedily
'evived and his successor built the
coliseum in Madrid where bull muir
Ter is still practiced with good deal
# the flourish and fan faronade of
orrner times, but with fewer grandees
n attendance. Queen Ena now dis
ributes prizes to bullfighters to curry
avor with the Spanish There was
ime when knights rode into the arena
D fight bulls with gloves or, kerchiefs.
r locks of hair of their ladies in their
unics. Those halcyon days are gone |