THE BULLFIGHTER

Greymouth Evening Star, 17 August 1920, Page 8

THE BULLFIGHTER

SECRETS Oh" THE ARENA

It was in a 'bus under a cold grey May sky in London that an old lover of Spain and its ancient chivalry read of the passing of Joso Gomez, "Joselito," "Gal.Lto, ' "Maravjlia," or "the Marvel," as they loved to call him throughout the Peninsula. It was under a clear blue sky amid semi-tropical scents and the almost imperceptible "tinge of the East, writes "J.Y7." in the London "Weekly Dispatch), that we saw him last, this Eter nal Youth personified of the most ancent and knightly land of "Manana" —the country of to-morrow, the country of yesterday, but never of to-day. To Spain "Gallito" represented more than an idol, he was an integral part of the national life. So with the news of his passing the mind instinctively turned to the natun oi Us grandeur, for a grander figure never graced the blood-stained arenas of Spain. The Britisher whose travels, commercial or pleasure-seeking, have never led him south of the Pyrenees, would find it difficult to imagine what the passion of the bull-fight is to Spain. It is not only the sport of the oligarchy ;. it is essentially the pastime of the people. To understand the spirit you must begin by visiting one of these l.ttle arenas, surrounded by stables and cowsheds, in the outskirts of the City of Seville. You pay a peseta or two ox even less, and you are led to a "box" which consists of shaky boarding, a table, a few chairs, and you must furnish your table with Manzaniiia, a type of sherry wh.ch cheers, and sometimes inebriates.

FIRST STEPS

Young bulls, their horns covered -to protect the neophyte from disaster, are taught the mysteries of the red cloak, often without paying the supreme penalty, and enthusiastic youths learn there'the first elements of the science of bull-fighting.

Afterwards the aspiring "matador" fights larger bulls, no longer rendered harmless, in the great plazas, and so, step by step he arrives at the threshold of every torero's ambition —the ceremony of becoming a full-fledged "matador."

Thereafter he conquers or dies—for victory or death is the lot of the majority of his profession. It is to be doubted whether we in England real'se the full value o c bullfighting in Spain. Whple tracts of land are dedicated ti the breeding and rearing cf bulls whosj ultimate destiny is to redden the arsnas of Spain. You may journey from Seville to Cadiz, or, better still, from Seville to La Roda-de-Andaluc a, and you will see nothing but bull-farms and their lordly occupants grazing in superb indifference at the insignificant train which to them is but a s gn of a false civilisation which they disdain to ..understand. The expense of a bull-fight—the com mercial value of the two short hoursis enormous. Usually a "corrida" i; simply six bulls, £BO to .£IOO apiece. There is a reserve bull or two, in case the original fighters turn out "mansos"—i.e., "too proud to fight," to misapply a famous dictum. WHAT HE FEARED. The "Matador" is paid fabulous amounts. He often receives £4OO cr £6OO, even £IOOO for killing (wo of the six bulls. .The elder brother of the dead idol, the famous "Gallo," now retired, received as much as £6OOO for killing;two bulls on his farewell tour of Spain in 1918, before his disappearance from the classic scene of his triumphs —and of his failures. Joselito told the writer that when once he met a bull whose mentality he

did not thoroughly grasp at the very moment of its entry into the arena, that bull would kill him. Rumour says that Joselito has left and no doubt he died possessed of a large fortune. But he carried his life in jeopardy every time he entered the arena, and for every moment of homage, for every penny of gain, "the Marvel" at Talavera paid to the last farthing. There are of course, good stories fold f bull-fights, as, for instance, when the Governor of a certain Spanish citywas asked for a State contribution to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. He rerjlied that he was sorry he had no funds to spare but he would organise a bull-fight This he did, so rumour has it; with great results to the funds of the son iety. ( GREAT SOULS. In the magnificence of the recent deeds of volunteer armies, the gallantry of the old-time mercenary is not blotted out. So payment for services rendered at public exhibitions does not ob literate the bravery of the performer. When a great bull-fighter pays the supreme penalty others, rs; to take his place' and the many disaster.? do not deter the great souls of the many who in that sunny delightful land d Spain defy danger and show to the world —the gasping, thrilling world of the plaza—the stuff of which men are made.- '