The recent brief two-line despatch from Mexico City announcing the the death of Jose Martinez may ican little to the world-at-large, but to millions of Central and South Americans it marks the passing of 2 national hero who was by ¢ar, to the Latin-American mind, the equal of any contemporaneous figure either the English or American sports scene.
For Jose Martinez was one of Mexico's leading bull fighters. "One is used advisedly, for so strongly' does feeling run' in the nati temperament below the Rio Grande 4 to preclude any desire to call one matador better than another—in public.
Unlike prize fighting there are no bases of judgment by which one matador can be proven better than another. It is largely a matter of personal taste, depending on the Inyman's liking for the finer aspects lof the sport. Some prefer those who kill neatly, with despatch and little blood; others like a flashy matador, one who plays to the gallery by daring displays of controlled nerves at the crucial moment, and still others favour those whose actions, at the apex are such as to cause considerable amusement to the spcetators, at the expense of the bull.
Naturally there are many men in the business who shine in certain of these particular departments, and it follows that any man capable of a blending of the three reaches the pinnacle of success.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.