Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1919-07-01
BULL FIGHTING UNDER ATTACK
Public Cor =. - Becoming Aroused
Against Barbarity.

| 'CarranZaS eQlct WHICH dDollSneu
bull fighting in Mexico and converted
the famous Gran Plaza de Toros OF
Mexico City into an open air house,
and the Ibanez novel which, recently
translated into English, may be termed
the Uncle Toms Cabin Of the bull
fight, have aroused keen interest in
the national sport Of Spain," says a
bulletin from the Washington head
quarters Of the National Geographic
Society.
| Charles Upson Clark, in a commun-
ieation to The Society, gives a word
picture of bull-fght in Madrid, as
follows: a
"On Sunday afternoons gar throng
gathers: the bull-fghters march out In
their brilliant costumes, and the cere-
rhony of Staying the bull begins. 1t Is
| almost a ritual, and every de- Ill must
be punctiliously observed. First, the
bull is made to charge the horsemen,
the picadores, who jab him with short
pointed spears; the horses wear q
binder over one eye, so that their
rider can keep them from seeing the
bull onset If the horses are not kill
ed at once when the bull cores them,
they are sewed up and made to meet
another attack. This Is the revolving
part of it. After enough Of this, nimble
banderilleros throw their darts into the
bulls neck and shoulders at just the
proper place and interval. These men,
and the espadas (matadors) who fol-
low them, show great dexterity and
grace. The espada Is seasoned bull
fighter: his function is to plunge his
rapier into the bulls heart, and his
| calmness as he maneuvers the beast
into q favorable position, teasing him
the while, is fascinating to watch. The
audience, with eyes keen as hawks,
applaud every good stroke, and hoot
il derision at any misplays"
Concerning the history Of the sport
the bulletin continues:
1.-The American speaks of bread and
butter as the elemental necessaries
of life; but the Spanish equivalent for
ftfat stniffe pan = terosG or 'bread
and bulls The sport is a deposit Ut
Moorish civilization, or lack Of 1t, car
| ried to the peninsula afioat the high
tide of the invasion, and left as an un"
fortunate sediment after the hosts re"
ceded. Spaniards and Portuguese i'm
planted it in Latin American nations
| especially Mexico and Venezuela.
| Roman amphitheaters. built in en-
ulation Of the stadia in which were
held classic Greek games, later usurp-
! ed by the acrobatic and crude burlesque
Of the circus crumbled away amid
Moorish bull fights.
Some Spanish kings practiced the
sport. The wizened Charles V killed
! q bull as a part Of his inaugural cere-
mony, and the ill-fated dilettante, Phil
| ip w, was an amateur matador. Other
kings sought to suppress bull fighting;
popes threatened it's devotees with ex-
communication, but by the early 18th
century it was thoroughly established
as a profession.
Cruel though bull fighting seems to
most other peoples cruelty is not its
appeal to the Spaniard. Rather he sees
in it a drama-a drama, he will tell
you, in which the human being Is more
evenly matched and the animal suffers
no more than in hunting foxes, or
shooting bigger game with the unequal
advantage Of modern firearms.
1.-The bull fight is more than q COM
bat; it Is fraught with tradition and
ceremony. The procession Immediately
preceding it suggests a circus parade
fer it's vivacity and color. Mounted
messengers, or aguacils, are in six
teenth century costume. They go
through O. ceremony of receiving from
the president the keys to the gate where
the bull enters, though usually the
gate is not locked. The picador Is the
survival of the cabelleros who fought
en- horseback, with lances. From the
matador, literally the master of his
own cuadrilla, or troupe of banderiller-
os and picadors, to the wise monkeys
as the attendants of the horses are
called, the place or participants in line
is as fixed as the precedence at a diplo-
matte reception; and the costume of
each as rigidly determined as Amer
lean evening dress.
always there are the three acts
| &c, . ha ho1 o,.1 yo1o "
of the picadors, then the affiXing of the
darts by the men afoot, and finally the
combat Of matador and bull In the
major league corlidas this last is the
real conflict Of the tragedy. which has
many opportunities for an o. Henry
quirk, as when an enraged bull cowed
all the matadors and their aides, and
terrified the crowd until a resourcetul
gar which placated him! At least
that is a story told Of a Mexican City
exhibition. But in great majority
Of the fights the bull was permitted
to gore so many horses, and was so
thoroughly tired out, that the exper-
fenced matador took little chance in
dispatching his weary adversary.
Bull fighting in Spain is an indus
try. More than 200 towns have their
plaza de toros. These range from the
provincial ones of small size to the
great amphitheater at Madrid into
which $4,000 spectators may crowd.
But all have two features in common,
q hospital room for treatment of the
wounded, and chapel where matadors
may receive the sacrament before en-
tering the ring. In Spain alone at
least a thousand bulls are killed every
year.
THE Gran Plaza de Toros in Mexico
City seats a fourth more people than
that at Madrid. Made Of steel and
concrete, it cost 100000. The govern
ment's fifteen per cent Of the gate re-
ceipts on a single days fight would
amount to about $4,000.