Bull, tiger and authentic wild beasts
Born 24 July 1904. The bullring of the Txofre, inaugurated a year earlier, welcomed a very special bullfight. The first part of the event was a classic in which four calves were played. But the scholarship did not arouse any interest, as most of the viewers approached the plaza with the idea of a different show.
In the second part, an unusual battle was announced: “Tomorrow in the bullring the struggle between the tiger and the bull that we all hope will be exciting and attractive,” said the newspaper El Correo de Guipúzcoa, the day before. In the center of the sand a cage was installed 20 meters in diameter, and around 7 pm the two animals were taken to the plaza in smaller cages. On the one hand, the Bengal tiger named Caesar, sold by the merchant of Marseille Mr. Ramband for 7,000 pounds. On the other hand, Hurón, a five-year-old bull, raised in the marshes of the Guadalquivir by the farmer Antonio López Plata.
The two animals were heated to shots and blows before the albats were opened so that they would go to the battlefield with all their strength. But the struggle was pretty slow from the beginning. The instinct told the tiger to escape the bull. Huron managed to blow the tiger and Caesar struck the bull with the claws at the tip, but then the tiger started spinning around in the cage, sticking to the bars, looking for the exit, and the bull stayed in the center, growling and scaring in the sand, without too much desire to kill the tiger.
So the spectators, very disappointed, asked the animals for a new incitement. The frightened tiger was thrust by rockets and stings, and Huron sailed and corneed the feline. Then yes, Caesar threw himself over his adversary with claws and bites. The bull also responded aggressively and pushing in the fury broke one of the cage's doors.
When the two animals left the cage, the square was panicked, among other things because, although it was wounded, the tiger could easily jump over the stands. The miqueletes removed the pistols and the Maüsser rifles and started shooting at the animals. Viewers carrying weapons joined madness and, as a result, the blind shooting lasted for several more minutes in the area.
The chronicles of the time gathered one death (Juan Pedro Lizarriturri) and eighteen wounded. Well-known names were also highlighted in the list: The Deputy of Tolosa Julio Urquijo, Marqués de Pidal... But two innocent victims were left out of the list: The tiger Caesar was shot to death in the arena, and the bull Huron shortly thereafter, on the block.
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