Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1915-10-21

TYPICAL Englishman on his way back
from Jamaica to join his regiment
TO an American school teacher travel
ing Tor the summer. Parenthetically,
~ may be remarked that If you want
10 spot a real hypocrite, pick the per-
son VINO says that he or she wouldn't
IKE to see anything so brutal as a
bull fight. True, the civilized man,
whose idea of sport is a fair contest,
may be disguised after he gets there,
put there is something atavistic left
IN each of us to which this primitive
exhibition irresistibly appeals.
so even the school marin from
ohio was disappointed in the first
pun. He was obviously a creature of
aomestlc rather than pugnacious tenn
permanent. When the big coffee
colored and rather poorly banderillero,
VINO looked like a shabby edition of
Henry VIII, gracefully put the be-
ribboned barbs into the animals
shoulders, he appeared amazed and
insulted, but not at all angry. He abb
solutely refused to charge anyone un-
der any circumstances. So they gave
him up as a bad job and the boys
drove him out with rocks. The sec
ond bull took one look at the crowd,
felt the prickle of cold steel in his
shoulders and decided that the game
was too rough for him. He hurled
the runway, ran back into the corral
and refused to play under any cir
cumstances.
BY this time, all of the spectators
were convinced there wasn't going to
be any bull fight at all, but the third
pull was a surprise. He made a fly
ing jump through the gate and caught
a bystander with one horn. Then he
chased everybody out of the ring ex-
cept the Panamanian Henry VIII.
This bold gentleman proved himself
to be really a bull fighter of talent.
He planted the banderillas in the
bulls shoulders and wore him out
with futile charges at gracefully
firted cape. At last the bull was
staggering with exhaustion. The ma
tador came forward with his sword.
The school teacher from Ohio COW
cred her face with her handkerchief:
the young Englishman remarked that
1t was a bum sort of sport; the Pa
namanians leaned far out from their
seats, shouting and gesticulating with
excitement.
One Good Stroke
Meantime, the matador had maneu-
vered until he had exactly the right
position, and drove the sword in Just
behind the shoulder and through the
lung. 1t was considered a great
oIIOhS. DOA anu gallery went Wllu
with applause, and the young bloodS
showered the successful matador with
their headgear. There was something
peculiarly grotesque about the spec
tacle of lot of excited natives
throwing two dollar American straw
hats at a shabby matador, while the
ill-treated bull staggered and cough
ed his life out.
Such is the Panamanian bull fight,
t, H.
rapidly falling from it's high estate /;
for as the Yankee has more than
once gone to the bull fight, so the
coming generation in Panama has ex-
perimented with baseball and found
it good. On many a Sunday after
noon, whether there is a bull fight or
no, about half of young Panama will
be found on the diamond at Balboa,
roofing and coaching in staccato Span
ish. Very good baseball they play,
too, and have shown themselves good
sportsmen and plucky losers. Even
the girls have taken up baseball in
Panama, and some of them know but
three words of English "ball, 4"
strike" and out"
The City at Play
So two conceptions of amusement
have met and modified each other on
the Isthmus. The Yankee has per-
haps shared to some extent the primi-
tive thrill of witnessing bloody COM
bat. The Panamanian has learned to
stretch his legs and lungs and be a
sportsman. In society it is the same,
Some Panamanians may be seen at
the balls at the Hotel Tivoli. adding
yet another note to those interesting
gatherings of soldiers and sailors, en-
gineers and tourists from all parts of
the world, while the American more
and more frequents the cafes of the
town, where the natives take their
pleasure. For music and ldrink are
the most important amenities of exist
ence to the Panamanian. I hasten to
add that he is no drunkard. 1t Is
very seldom indeed that you see a
drunken man in the streets of Panama
City, and when you do, he is almost
never native. The Panamanian idea
of drinking is not to gulp, but to sip.
One of his drinks, for example, con-
sists of dash of West Indian rum,
q little sugar and the Juice of a lime
in a tall glass, filled with ice and wa
ter. Over one of these, long cool re-
freshments the Panamanian can chat
ter and mediate and smoke and watch
the senoritas pass by for all of an
hour. And this long, cool drink is as
typical of the Latin as the short and
fiery highball, gulped over the bar,
is of the Yankee.
Every evening all Panama City puts
on it's best and hires a cab and drives
about the town. Ever and anon
1t alights and buys a drink and lis
tens to the strains of excellent music.
And in this crowd that fills the plazas
and cafes with mirth and chatter,
there are many Americans.
There are probably more drinking
places in Panama City in proportion
to it's size than in any other town in
the world, and all of them have plenty
of chairs and little tables. The lobby
of every hotel is cafe, opened to the
street. Very likely, the basement is
another, and sometimes the roof a
third. Everywhere is light, laughter
and music-above all, music. The
night life of Panama moves to tune.
Stand on the balcony of the Tivoli on
Saturday evening, and up from the
city comes a chorus of revelry, vast
musical murmur, compounded of
bands in the plaza, orchestras in the
cafes, and guitars and banjos and
pianos in the houses. Panama City