A Bull Fight In Peru

New York, 1895

American gentlemen with British tastes, who, in default of a fox, know how to amuse themselves by chasing an aniseed bag, ought to enjoy a French traveler's account of a bull fight as witnessed in Peru.

It is impossible to describe the poverty of the country, he says, speaking of the shores of Lake Titicaca. The people lank everything, including honesty. At Ancoraimes I saw a bull fight of a new sort. The unhappy people have no large cattle, and so, of course, a bull is never seen in the town, but in South America bull fights are a necessity, and the Ancoraimes Indians find a way out of the difficulty.

At Puno they buy some heads of oxen or cows, with the skins and horns, and dry them in the sun. Then on fete days some of the men attach those heads to their belts and rig themselves out in the most fantastic manner possible. They represent the bulls. Other Indians get themselves up as matadors, and than there is a grand bull fight on the plaza.

The matadors strike with their swords, the bulls butt with their horns, the crowd laughs and applauds, and in the evening there is a feast at the expense of the vanquished party. — Youth's Companion.

Montenegro Residents Unhealthy; Matador Signs Big Contract

1919

Health Ignorance Hurts Montenegro

Paris, Sept. 12. -- Inhabitants of the mountains of Montenegro live in ignorance of the most elementary rules of hygiene and the strangest superstitions concerning diseases still flourish among them, says a report of the mission of the American Red Cross returned from that country.

Mountaineers believed that physical ailments were carried on the wings of baleful breezes, and that contagious diseases were distributed during dark nights by evil spirits. Thus they slept with their windows hermetically sealed and tuberculosis reigned supreme. The peasants received the advice, suggestions and medicine of the American Red Cross without enthusiasm.

--Syracuse Herald, Syracuse, New York, September 12, 1919, page 2.



MATADOR TO GET $600 EACH KILLING

Madrid, Spain, Sept. 12. -- Jose Gomez, one of the most widely known professional matadors, has signed a contract with the owners of a bull ring at Lima, Peru, in which it is agreed that he shall receive $600 for each exhibition if he kills six bulls, and a minimum of $280 if he kills only two bulls. The contract anticipates six exhibitions at Lima, which, it is stated, will probably mean more than $4,000 for Gomez, said to be a record prize for a matador.

--Syracuse Herald, Syracuse, New York, September 12, 1919, page 4.