THE ONLY WOMEN BULLFIGHTERS.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2126, 8 July 1907, Page 1

THE ONLY WOMEN BULLFIGHTERS.

lIOW THEY STAND UP TO -MADDENED DUELS. Women appe.ar to have Invaded every known calling of man from the steeplejack to deep-sea diver, yet it will he nows to most to hear that there is a caiulri.Ha oi lady bull figlitters in Barcelona —the only troupe of its kind in the Peninsula. The writer came iipou them rehearsing one afternoon in the great silent bull ring at Barcelona, under the superintendence of •their business manager, Senor Totti. Totti has undoubtedly struck a gold mine in his caudrilla de senoritas toreras, or group of woIniei. hi ill fighters. They have now been at work four or five years, and have performed not only all over Spain, but also in France and bouth America. In this as in other matters. the work of innovation is dilh--1 rult. Spain’s principal matadors unI gallantly sought to drown the lady bull lighters with ridicule, but withI nit success. Even their practice in thf- empty arena was enough to draw a crowd, and Scnorita Lolita, the first of the two matadors, is as skilful a hand with the deadly sliprt I sword as any crack espiula, from San Sebastian to Algeciras.

HER FACE SCARRED. Lolita was capering about and trying to plunge the regulation sword into a dummy made from -a large pail of real bull s horns surmounting a wooden face roughly painted with tar, and adorned with two ferocious white eves. His back-was a wooden plank in which was a square hole two inches across, situated just where

the most vulnerable point would be in the real animal, and where a <f ood matador always tries to strike. This imitation bull was mounted on a kind of go-cart, and was trundled about rapidly and in as realistic a manner as possible by a youth, while Lolita did her best to drive, the bi\U fighting sword straight into the bole. She was weal-ini' skirts during this practice, but when in the arena Lolita and her comrades in arms put on the regulation dress of the male bull fighter. These women toreadors occasionally meet with serious injury. Lolita’s dark face bears a ■ long white scar stretching from her mouth to her ear. She was terribly

■ gored at Saragossa last year, and i nearly lost her life. “It was my . fault,'” she said, “for I let ra- capa • fall iust when I needed it most. \ou may be sure,’ she said,“l need ali I 31.> nerve to get a good clean blow at t the end, and my greatest- safeguard

lies in always keeping as cool as possible.” THEY PERFORM MANY FEATS. Both Lolita and Angelica, the other matadora, are from Catalonia, and like most Spanish gills were enthusiastic followers of bull-lighting from earliest childhood. They often sighed that they were not’ boys and regretted being precluded from taking up tile national sport. One of the girls in the cuadi illa comes of a family of toreros. Her brother is a very expert man in the bull ring, and tlie

gil herself was early initiated into the dangers of the arena. It is a profession which must be taken up veiling, when tho joints are still supple. All the men who were good at it show what they are made of before they are 20. Lolita began at 16, and her sister principal at 17. At present these women bull fighters content themselves with killing livo-voar-old bulls, and so far their manager lias deemed it imprudent to allow bis charges to tackle tho bulls of six or seven years. At the same time, tho women perform many feats not attempted by the men. There is, for instance, the business of jumping over tile bull’s back by means of a pole, and both'Teading ladies” tackle tho bull on horseback with a long lance. Sonor Totti himself superintends the practice in the empty arena, placing the girls in strategic positions, while tlie voting mon with -h< wheeled dummy runs hither and thither, first at one and then at another. _ If one of tlie cuadrilla. is inattentive to the performance the master of ceremonies rebukes her severely.

PAID MISERABLY. Alter this practice has gone on for half ail hour or so an exhibition of pole jumping is given, and this concludes the clay’s exercise. Next clay, it may lie, the lady bull fighters give 1 real exhibition, and attact the whole town. Thousands turn out who would not in tlie ordinary way attend a bull fight, and bets are made as

to tho ability- of the respective matadors. In nearly all respects the corrida of these women bull fighters is the same as that of the men, and the time-honoured state entry, strategic distribution of forces over the arena, entry of tho bull, and miscellaneous day thereafter are all elosejy folowed. Naturally now and then one of the girls grows timid before an unusally determined charge, and takes to her heels with a stifled scream. Tlie audience roars with laughter, even though her life may be m serious danger. Truth to tell, however, these young bulls, known as novillos, have very little of the true fighting spirit. Tlie pay of the women is very small as compared with that of tlie first-rate male bull fighter. Lolita herself seldom receives more than £6 for killing six young bulls, while the rest of the troupe account themselves lucky if they get £1 for their share of the entertainment.

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