Polk County news-gazette. (Benton, Tenn.) 190?-191?, 1913-08-21


and not strictly Spanish origin
The Moors in Spain, in their
rare intervals of peace, prac-
ticed Warlike pursuits, from the
- fear-not ungrounded, as 1t
49, Droved-of becoming luxurious
HSM and effeminate. In this way
y began bull fighting, The Moor
VI ish knight anxious to keep him
Nrse fit" pursued and speared the
The ROx CAld cattle of the plains Probably
WAS the introduction of the Dull
Lovers FOLN 4here the prowess of the knight
-Ad and criticised by his friends
VIM. r. RUSsFder was ENDORSED ne eel enaea av
, " with his sword. One mar
1ISkS, Jk.&ith scimtar; but possibly
the thing VITA had adopted the straight
e minds of the, the Spaniards with whom,
) people of thatZ,e e they not infreQuently
ising to the occasion la - toros in which both
halienges the admiration IN friendly rivalry az
country. 1fS. To quote MT ABEL
es over $4,000 900 to n.IbSpain": AT this pc
southern cities with dteenth and fourteenth cen
very year HeretoforSwho lance in hand, had Deen
alth has come.ne saddle might draw his sword ana
soutigeall, his vassals being allowed to pace
9 pEebu (by deft display Of coored cloaks) IN
position to facilitate the death stroke Here
doubtless originated the art of playing the bun,
and incidentally sprang the professional Dun
fighter" l need not quote Mr. Chapman further'
as this is sufficient to show the origin OF the
pro" matador, and the present decadence Oh
the sport is not difficult to follow.
AS time went on owing to opposition on the
part of kings and queens and popes, the arls-
tocracy of Spain gradually fell away from tne
snort and the mounted spearmans portion OF
the spectacle became of less and less importance
ss the knights withdrew from the contests. Thus,
in due course we arrive at the CHASTITY farce OF
the present day, when the skullful rider VINO
was IL not disgraced, at any rate poorly tnought
of IL his horse sustained damage in the contest
is replaced by the professional picador, whose
SORRY nag is never intended to escape the bulls
horns AS the horsemans role In the snow mas
shrunk SO has the footmans part increased
until we come to the highly paid matador OF the
present day Though not much patroniZed by the
aristocracy or the army, and nominally con-
dernned by the church, yet bull fighting stlll re-
mains the sport of the people, and consequently
of the press. Shooting, racing and polo nave
taken its place among the upper classes; but La
Corrida comes before everything in the popular
estimation. You may go to race meetlng IN
Spain and see English and French Thoroughbred
horses English French and Spanish Jockeys
fashionable and crowded paddock, ponce ana
troops to keep the course-but no crowd 10 De
kept in order!
Co much for the importance of the sport of
bul-fghting. now as to the animals employed
in 1t and the method of training them. IL must
first of all be borne in mind that the spanish
fighting bull is a very different animal from the.
big stoid and solid shorthorns and Herefords
which we see in this country Like the race
horse he is an artificial creature, bred by selec-
ton for generations for one purpose, namely, 10
fight and assure the reader that, with every
circumstance against him. he will fight from the
fall of the flag to his last convusiye EFFORT 10
get on his feet again when stricken to the heart.
In various parts of Spain there are many STUD
farms which keenly compete with each other
in producing the best fighting stock. That OF Don
Miura Is perhaps at present the most Famous
Fighting bulls 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) or 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-
seconded directly from the Aurochs) The most
common OF all is Jet black all over; at least,
nersonally have most of this color. The
carly days of calfdom spent In luxurious
idleness on the plains but at one year old some
sort of trial is held, believe. This have not
personally Witnessed 50 | cannot give any de-
tails. AT two years old comes the second trial.
and of this will endeavor to give short de-
scriptlon
/ personally witnessed tentadero CtriaD
through glasses. and from safe and fairly COM