The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-02-23
Firecrackers Alta ched to the Barbs

Firecrackers Alta
Copyrighted, 1913. by Frank G. Car
penter)
Mexico city.
7 SAW five manificent bulls and eight
horses tortured to death this aft
noon amid the clapping of $4,000
Mexican spectators. The bull fight was
held in the Plaza de Toros, within a
rifle shot of Chapultepec where Pres
ident Madero has his summer home, and
within an equal distance of the mighty
cathedral of Mexico City. the largest
house of worship on the north Ameri-
can continent. This bull ring is the
biggest of its kind and with its seats
rising in concentric circles from the
arena in which the fighting goes on
1t reminds one of the amphitheatres of
old Rome. Altogether it covers acres,
and its seating capacity is just one
fourth that of the Coliseum and 1000
greater than that of the largest bull
circus of Spain. The bull ring is built
of American steel and it cost $500, ,o00.
1t is the best patronized of all the
places of amusement of the Mexican
capital, and today its box receipts must
have been at least $4,000. 1 am told
that the holiday fights often net $4,000
and that the city levies tax of Is per
cent upon all that comes in.
Fifteen Thousand Wild Mexicans
At the fight this afternoon there were
at least $1,000 spectators. The amphi-
theatre was filled from the ring to the
roof. and that with more enthusias-
tic audience than you will find at a
= champion American baseball game.
The people went wild and almost every
man, woman and child acted the part
of a fan"
took good note of the audience. 1t
consisted of people of all ages and
sexes. I saw boys of six and girls of
10 beautifully dressed who shrieked
their applause as the horns of the bull
gored deep into the horses. / saw del
icate young ladies in new gowns from
Paris who broke their white kid gloves
in their clapping, and gayly dressed
dudes who fairly burst their spat-cov-
cred shoes as they stamped in response
to the death stroke of the matador.
There were also thousands of the COM
mon masses of Mexico, ranging from
tue inuidh III MS odHudlS anu bldiNtl
TO the we'll dressed member of the
chamber of deputies and from wrinkled
old women in black shawls to juicy
young maids in mantillas. all forming
it were, a great human flower gar
den rising from the arena to the top
seats near the skies.
In addition to the spectators were
the city officials, on hand to direct
the fighting and give the signal to
start. There was brass band which
burst forth in triumphant marches from
time to time as the fighting went on,
and there was company of soldiers
with rifles and bayonets ready to shoot
at signal if any sign or revolution
or disorder broke out.
l sat in the shade and my place on
the steps cost me 81. The fights always
take place in the afternoon when the
sun is declining, that one-half of
the seats are in the shade and the 9TH
ers in the full glare of the tropical
sun. The shady seats are reserved and
the sunny ones correspond with the
bleachers of our baseball stands. Some
of the box seats are equal in price to
those of our grand opera.
The Gladiators of 1913
Further on 1 give you some notes of
the bull fights as l whispered them
into the ear of my stenographer as
the scenes went on in the arena below
me. The show was horrible one but |
give it as an evidence of one phase
of the character of this Mexican people
1t was as disgusting as any of the
massacres which occurred in the pub
lie shows during the day of Caligula
and Nero on the banks of the Tiber, and
nevertheless the young girls waved
hnf hon 11xAr
as the Roman girls turned down their
thumbs and thus consigned their heroes
TO the teeth of the lions.
Some of the worst features were the
torturing of the bull into killing the
horses. The picadors or gayly dressed
men upon horseback rode in with great
lances which they thrust at the bull
and now and then drove into his shouI-
ders. They rode scrawny street car
steeds, and these were actually ripped
to shreds by the horns of the bull. At
times the horses would be wounded al
most to death. They had been gored
-sain and again. but would be spurref
and whipped to their feet and made
10 continue until they We're finally
killed.
These poor horses were blindfolded
as TO one eye with band of red flan-
mel, the other eye being kept turned
away from the bull so that il could not
head down on the run and thrust in
It's horns to the roots. AT one time the
bull gored a picador, thrustng horn
into the soft part of his body, and It
was only by throwing a red blanket
over the animals eyes that the man
could be dragged out
Pictures From the Bull Ring
But take seat beside me in the bull
ring, and let us once for all see this
amusement which is the favorite of all
among the Mexican people l have de-
scribed the amphtheater. We are sitting
close to the officials. between the ranks
OF the armed soldiers. and about a half
dozen rows above the arena. The band is
over there at the right. 1t has just burst
forth in triumphal march. The bull
fighters are coming. Some are on foot
and some are on horseback. The algui-
elias or police officers of the ring, are on
capering stations. and the plumes of their
hats wave as they prance around the
arena Those horses are different from
the ones the picadors will ride during the
fighting Behind come the matadors, or
bullfighters proper, three walking abreast
They are gorgeous in gold lace, gold