The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1924-10-13

&raLy INC
who are not mata-
dors wear silver coats instead Of gold,
but it is not an invariabie rule.
:. Four picadors come into the arena,
I the toreadors stand ready, the bugie
blows, and we all sit with our eyes
fastened on the gate through which the
bull is to make hist entrance. lie
rushes in, seems always to stop LOT
minute with his head up getting his
bearings. Then one OF the toreadors at
tracts his. attention with his Drliiiant
cloak. and the bull makes a rush that
literally takes your breath away. Inc
foreador plays with him, leases him,
and lodges him till tired, and then an
other foreador attracts the bull.
After a minute or so Of this comes
what is to me the inexcusable part OF
the bull fight. was glad to discover
that Zuloaga, the artist, who, as said,
s. a mad enthusiast, agrees that this
part should be eliminated.
The bull fighter, Belmonte, himself
said that he had never been able to be-
come accustomed to the cruelty Of it.
The horses which the picadors ride are
usually thin, pathetic beasts, and they
are brought in with eHe eye blindfolded.
They are literally forced at the bull.
who rushes them, raises them in the air
1.-THE picador falling under the horse
or thrown, and practically never being
hurt, or perhaps presses them aginst
the wall, goring them horribly. Ii the
horse is alive enough to be able to stand
he is pushed and prodded until he stag
gers to his feet and is again forced to-
wards the bull. Many die in the arena.
AL this fight which l witnessed only
four or five horses were killed and this
annoyed the people very much. When
the bull gets the horse, the whole crowd
cheers and whistles; they take an I'M
holy delight in what is to me the most
barbarous, cruel, disgusting sight
have ever seen. There is true sport in
seeing men match their agility, skill ana
brains against the bull; risking their
lives and thei bodies every second. But
there is certainly no sport in seeing
weak. blindfolded animal thrown again
and again in front of certain torture
and death.
A raher unusual thing was done in
one Of the six fights of the afternoon.
The bull in this fight absolutely refused
10 look at one of the horses. SO when
Che time allowed the pieadors was up,
instead of using the ordinary sticks,
they used sticks that stuck in the bull,
instantly caught fire, and then exploded
five or six times like a fire-cracker. 1t
was an amazing thing to see the bull
1unging around the arena with bursts
Of flame leaping out of him.
After the six sticks have been stuck
into the bull the matador comes out
with his sword hidden under a piece of
red cloth held ON stick. With the
toreadors every now and then helping
him out, he plays with the bull in way
that keeps your heart in your mouth.
There was one matadOr who was better
than theothers and who had trick of
once in a while touching the bulls horn.
Zuloaga told me that that was one of
Belmonte's famous tricks Zone of many,
for he is courageous to the point of in.
sanity, and that the matador was do
ing il because he knew of BelmOnte's
presence that afternoon. After the
matador has played with the bull comes
the tense moment. He takes his
sword from underneath the cloth, and
points it at the bull, which means he is
going to try to kill. The good ones kill
their bull with the first or second stab /;
others taking much longer. If they take
too long they are given three warnings,
and at the third warning the bull is
taken. away. This is a disgrace from
which the matador can never recover.
One matador had an extraordinary
escape when the bull caught him by the
sleeve, ripped it off him completely,
which saved his life, and tore his hand.
When it looked as if he couldn't escape
being killed he miraculously got free.
The moment of killing the bull is
much the most dangerous, as can be
readily understood. Standing in front
of the bull, the matador has to be near
enough to trust the sword in a mortal
place right back of the head. AS this