Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1913-08-22
4

self and his horse "ft" pursued and speared the
wild or semi-wild cattle of the plains. Probably
the next step was the introduction of the bull
into arena. where the prowess of the knight
could be witnessed and criticised by his friends
and rivals. If the rider was unhorsed he endeav-
ored to kill the bull with his sword. One mar
vels how he did it with scimitar; but possibly
by khis time the Moors had adopted the straight
swords Of their rivals the Spaniards with whom,
during intervals of peace. they not infrequently
held combined fiesta de toros, in which both
Christian and .Moslem Wed in friendly rivalry at
the Staying of mighty bulls. To quote Mr.. Abel
Chapman in "Unexplored Spain: AT this Pc
riod, during the thirteenth and fourteenth CEN
turtles, the knight who, lance In hand. had been
hurled from the saddle might draw his sword and
kill the bull, his vassals being allowed to place
the bull (by deft display of colored cloaks) IN
position to facilitate the death stroke. Here
doubtless originated the art Of playing the BULL
and incidentally sprang the professional bull
fighter" l need not quote Mr.. Chapman further
as this is sufficient to show the origin of the
"pro." matador, and the present decadence OF
the sport is not difficult to follow.
AS time went on owing to opposition on the
part of kings and queens and popes, the aris
tocracy Of Spain gradually fell away from the
sport, and the mounted spearmans portion OF
the spectacle became of less and less importance
as the knights withdrew from the contests. Thus,
in due course, arrive at the ghastly farce OF
the present day, when the skuful rider, who
was, If not disgraced at any rate poorly thought
of II his horse sustained damage in the contest,
is Eeplaced by the professional picador, whose
SORRY nag is never intended to escape the bulls
horns AS the horseman's role in the show has
shrunk, has the footmans part increased
until we come to the highly paid matador OF the
present day. Though not much patronzed by the
aristocracy the army. and nominally con-
demned by the church, yet bull fighting still re-
mains the sport Of the people, and consequently
of the press. Shooting, racing and polo have
, taken its place among the upper classes; but La
Corrida comes before everything in the popular
estimation. You may go to meeting in
Spain and English and French thoroughbred
horses. English, French and Spanish jockeys,
fashionable and crowded paddock, police and
troops to keep the course-but crowd to be
key in order!
So much for the Importance of the sport of
bull-fghtng; to the animals employed
in 1t and the method of training them. 1t must
first of all be borne in mind that the Spanish
fighting bull Is very different animal from the
big stolid and solid shorthorns and Herefords
which we see in this country. Like the
horse, he is an artificial creature, bred by selec
ton for generations for one purpose namely, to
fight, and can assure the reader that. with every
circumstance against him, he will fight from the
fall of the flag to his last convulsive effort to
get on his feet again when stricken to the heart
In various parts of Spain there many stud
farms, which keenly compete with each other
in producing the best fighting stock, That of Don
Miuratis perhaps at present the most famous
Fighting bulls are in appearance not unlike the
old English longhorn breed on smaller scale;
but as they vary In appearance, they might
equally be likened TO Jersey bulls with longer
horns) black Welsh bulls. They vary in color
as these comparisons suggest-white with black
spots and patches, white with red spots and
patches or dark purple brown with light muzzle
and ears and light brown stripe down the
backbone. (This last variety is said to be de-
scended directly from the Aurochs.) The most
common of all is Jet black all over at least.
personally have most of this color. The
early days of calfdom spent In luxurious
idleness on the plains. but at one year old some
sort of trial is held, i believe. This | have not
personally witnessed, l cannot give any de-
tails At two years old comes the second trial.
and of this | will endeavor to give short de-
scripton.
personally witnessed tentadero (triaD
through glasses. and from safe and fairly com