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Tiger and Bull Fight at San Sebastien

We acquired the sole Bioscopic rights and procured an excellent series of pictures of the event as described by the Temps correspondent at San Sebastien. A fight between a royal Berigal tiger, aged ten years, bought at Marseilles for £280, and brought specially by steamer, and a magnificent five years old Andalusian bull was announced, and hd attracted aan enormous crowd. A cinematograph had been set up to take pictures of the scene, but the bull, before his opponents' appearance, made a dash at the operator, and the latter, though protected by a barrier, decamped like Iightning, upsetting his apparatus in his haste. A cage fifty feet in diameter bad been placed in the centre of the arena. In this the tiger and bull were to be let loose. Some spectators thought the enclosure hardly looked strong enough, and the correspondent says that, notwithstanding reassuring statements, he proceeded to ascend to the gallery.
After several corridas came the chief spectacle of the afternoon. Guards armed with Mausers were stationed in the arena. The two animals were brought on separately, and the bull eyed his opponent savagely, but the tiger at first refused to get out of the cart. Eventually a squib was fired which dislodged him. Instantly the bull dashed at him with horns down. The tiger was gored, but caught his opponent in the neck. The bull, shaking him off, remained stamping the ground, while the tiger retired, crouching for a leap. The self-same attacks were repeated over and over again for half an hour, when the spectators, impatient because they had expected something more exciting, began to hoot. A photographer got into the arena and prodded the tiger with a pole over the barrier. The two beasts attacked each other again, but soon fell apart, and stood looking at one another, apparently having not the least inclination to fight.
Spectators, in a fury, thereupon jumped into the arena, and shouted all the names they could think of at the animals, hissed, lit squibs, and danced like mad creatures round the cage. The bull, excited by the noise, gored the tiger once more, and got him against the bars of the enclosure. At that moment the ·latter barrier was seen to yield. In a few seconds it fell, and the cage was open.
There were yells of terror, and the crowd fled in a wild panic. Simultaneously reports of firearms were beard, and several men fell wounded. The guards and everyone possessing a gun had blazed away indiscriminately. Fifty persons were hit by bullets; twelve by Mauser bullets. Fourteen are severely hurt, three are in a critical condition, and one man is dead. An American, Mr. Livingstone, of New York, was injured, and will bring an action for damages. The fusillade eventually killed the tiger, which, for that matter, had made no attempt to attack anyone, being too badly mauled.
The bull all the while stood calmly in the middle of the arena, as peaceful as his dead adversary had been. He was eventually led off, when the spectators fell like savages on the tiger's carcass, actually hacking off the head, the tail, the paws, and pieces of the skin, to take away as mementos.

CUT 1905

Tiger and Bull Fight, St. Sebastian

This fight was arranged to take place in a large iron cage occupying the centre of th e arena at San Sebastian, and a battle royal was confidently expected by the thousands of spectators, closely packed in the seats rising tier upon tier from ground to roof.
The bull is first seen in his pen-a magnificent animal- pawing the ground and generally showing impatience for a fray. Suddenly the door is opened, and he is observed to rush forth.
Next we see the tiger in his den, but the big striped cat is far from thirsting for a fight ; on the contrary, his one desire is to be left severely alone, and he snaps and snarls in an ugly manner as attempts are made to induce him to enter the cage and meet his antagonist.
He is ultimately persuaded, however ; but, instead of the spectacle the crowd is eagerly awaiting, a more sorry one, of tiger fleeing from bull, is presented. Bull overtakes tiger, and upsets him, but tiger won't fight.
Again and again the irate hull returns to the charge, only to be met by a recumbent or grovelling foe. The tiger doesn't want to fight, won't be goaded into fighting ; in fact, he shows a disposition to take his punishment lying down-a situation of which his antagonist is too magnanimous to take full advantage.
Subsequently the disgusted bull ultimately forced one of the huge gates, and retired to his pen, while the Civil Guards, in their frantic attempts to pot the tiger, laid out eight or nine representatives of the first families of Spain.

CUT 1906-11