ENGLISH BULL-FIGIHTER

Hokitika Guardian, 26 July 1924, Page 4

ENGLISH BULL-FIGIHTER

DAD'S 1-I. CL K IN Si’AfN. .MADIUD. -May I!/, due ol the boldest young bull-light-ers in Spain at present i- an English lad of good family numcfl Jfomviiio, suvs a ei.rrespomletit in the "Daily .Mail."

j As a life'll!tier Ills task I- only to tin- ihe livsli luill liy a . i-riiust.M cloak, lull lm stands its savnp;e charee so coolly anti side-steps tin. 1 Mnliliin-r upper-cuL of llie vicious lionis \ with such neatness that the (it'cj), . ten-thousand lliroatctl cry of "linen I niuchaclio< *•( tom I lad!”) explodes . a;;ain anil uoaki from the tieht-paclieil tiers ol people who watch his dance , with death. Three years njm I met another liri- , tish fiill-liehter in Spain, a yoimu oili- . rial of the I'.asiem Telegraph ( oini pany at (lihraltar. ile used to appear , til I,as I.iueas as a matador, the star man who iinishes the wounded hull with a sword-thrust he! .veeii the shotilder-hlatles. . 1 Their countrymen at home may iiml it ditiieult to understand the eiithus- . iasin el these venturous voting ama- . tears for what most ih.p.li-lime 1 con- , d'eiun tis ;i i nld-hlnndcd and cruel sport, lint it is the special characteristic of hull-liehtiiie to thrill some i deep-lyin;;, tierce instiuet of human nature that overwhelms the more superficial emotions of |>ily and distills! . 1 lielore making I'.p my mind to wateli ■ n I ill 11 - l*|e| il I laid I,roll live limes to j Spain. I exprett d it to he horrihle. I.ookiiie l.ael; on a hat I saw last Sunday. I know that imieli ol it was Imr--1 lihle. Hut at lire Imll-iime itself I was t,iilv i ouseioils ol a passionate exeiteluent that came in ;;llsis which almost literally shook one's' Imdy. And I had come there prepared to |oel; on detached and critical ! A CIMITiX;: Sl'Kl TAt l.l'i. ' The same trancelike eolieeiitration ol alii ill ion gripped tile whole ercal 1 ''loud. Il was uncanny. Our ilritish j foot ha II crowd' are partisan, various, diversified, lint the Id.nun spectators in that Madrid liull-rinp. shared l.v- ---' t u a:: tia i,i luii one < a I. ptilpu al im* soul. ' In hnll-iiolit Hie. snpei h coura;'c and ! eraielulness arc thrown into splendid ! reiiei liv heiiiji displayed within six niches of l.uiital death. I'xccpt lor one j jilia-e midway lliruili'h every Olicotin--1 ter. there is nothin;.' in the spoil to ■ which any Ihiiilishman can take excep- ; lion who has ever winded a pheasant. or Imiiied a lex. or shot hi;' «mni'. j Ihi! ilull >.la.e.e of a Inill-li.i'ht in i which worn-oili horses are llop;"ed with leue eaues into laeiile the hull so that il may j'oiv them while Ihe rider plunges a heavy lance deep into its slionlder. eaiisiim a loss ~f Mood that may eventuallv enahle the matador to plant his fatal thrust, is foul and revolting harhai iiy. Towards the llieiitselves ii!miratio:i and envy are the only emotions one can feel—admiration of their (hiring ami hit'll athletic skill : envy lor their onniinvs of C-MIl to L'Aifll in

an alicriioou. ■ ; AN INCH MI’O.M DEATH. Compared with their calling, tin . lion-tamer's is as unadventurous as ( poultry-keeping. Mur these highly I bred and deliberately selei-led hulls that ennie galloping into the great arena are as formidable animals as Nature has made at her fiercest. Tliey dart alter their enemy with the ze't ol a terrier; they twist like a polopony—and at the end of every rush conies that deadly upward sweep ol the wide, sharp horns which would split the man they are meant for il lie did not delleet their aim hy an inch or two with a pass of his hallling, dazzling i ape. Last Sunday I saw one eapadero gored before his comrades enticed the hull away to charge them instead of hi.- prostrate hotly. It is a mail's sport, and far too magnificent a spectacle of courage to 1 lie besmirched with the cruel killing of I Mune dfl.dilO horses a vear.