The Washington times., 1924-11-03
BULL FIGHTS IN
PORTUGAL ARE
HUMAN"
Beasts Horns Padded and Old
Horses BIindfoIded, For
National Game
By DONALD COPPER,
international NgaHn aerYioa.

LISBON, Nov. 3.---The bullfight
in Portugal Is supposed to be more
humane than the same thing AZ
conducted in Spain. In Portugal
they do not kill the bull. nor are
the horses "gutted." This is the
word used in speaking Of this fea-
tpre Of the fray and IL the only
word that is adequate.
The horns Of the bull In Portu.
gal are padded. Therefore, in at.
lacking the defenseless, blindfoid.
ed horse, which can do nothing
but stand. in his tracks, the bull
merely lifts the steed clear off his
feet, or pushes him all over the
place and attempts to trample on
him. While the attack on an un.
suspecting and unseeing horse IL
the only thing to arouse objection
to the Portuguese bullfight. this
heartless. unfair and unsportsman.
like charge makes an Anglo-Saxon
at least. grit his teeth in fury.
The men on the horses are sup
posed to spear the bull to avoid
having the horse tossed, but In
most cases the man is as old and
emaciated az the horse. than which
there are no older, because only old
ones are used for this part Of the
program, and In too many cases
the man with. the spear misses the
bull entirely. The result is that
the horse and the man get a good
tossing, which, after all, is perhaps
what the public wants.
Horse Protected.
The horse Ii slightly protected
by a heavy leather saddle, with
suspended leather flanks, and the
man is encased in leather armor,
something like knight Of old. It
is almost impossible for him to get
hurt, and when toppled to the
ground, he cannot arise unaided be-
cause Of !, his encumbrances, but
has to be lifted and stood upright
by aides. Mounted on his rickety
old steed, with his long spear in
his hand. he makes one think Of
how Don Quixote or Sancho Panza
must have slooked.
In Spain the horns Of the bull
are not padded, and he Is killed,
after he has been played out. by
the toreador planting a sword in a
vital spot at the top Of his spine.
And the old horses, because of the
unpadded bulls horns, are "gut
ted" Large rips are often torn
In them, but they are sewed up
again, as a sack of meal would be,
and are sent back into the fray
blind-folded. These ore always old
horses for which there Is no more
use.
The, real sport In a bullfight
lies in the agility and dexterity Of
the toreadors, who are on foot.
They are so skillful that from a
position directly in front of q
charging, mad bull, they simply
step pace to one side or the
other and lei the bull plunge by.
After fifteen minutes Of playing
the animal, they usually have so
much the upper hand in wits that
they can stand right in front Of
the bull and place their hands on
him without the latter so much as
making an attempt to move.
run Bulls Tail.
The toreador usually begins
these didns by pulline he inf,iri.
ated bulls tail. And It takes an
expert to maneuver into that posi-.
ion where he has the bull com.
pletely turned away from him. Then
the bullfighter gets closer and
closer. through confidence and
keener wits, until eventually he
.eH ses the bull right at the animals
road. One toreador went so far
chat. with The bull apparently
lypnotized into submission, the nan
linelt on the ground at the bulls
head, placed his hand on the horn
and with the other mOpped his own
brow With handkerchief. He even
looked away from the bull mo.
mentarily to bow to the raving
audience and, by that act, demon.
strated the fact that he had reached
the highest point in the bull.
fighters knack.
The enthusiasm Of the crowd at
a bullfight is intense, but orderly.
Spectators pitch their hats into the
ring with the same regularity, when
a toreador has subdued bun suf-
ficiently to put one of the hats on
the animals head. that the fans do
in an American ball park when
Babe. Ruth hits a -homer.
The bullfight continues to be the
chief sport in Portugal, Just as II
is In Spain.