| Mary Lou's Father
The
Terrible Turk
L:
Was Toledo the place where the Terrible Turk used to practice
wrestling? I remember you were telling me about these two
wrestlers who used to work out at the Y.
Si: Oh yes. That was in Toledo. Yes. I was Membership Secretary
then.
L: Tell us about them; they sound like characters.
Si:Yes,
they would come in and in their practice, well now, I can't
remember exactly how that was. Bring it up later...
Si:
...A fellow rooming in the building that had the nickname
Terrible Turk because he just had everybody that watched him
fight think he was the dirtiest fighter that they had ever
seen. And they used to practice every afternoon on the gym
floor. And the people would come there to see it. And they
thought they were putting on the dirtiest scrap. One fellow
was just gouging the other guy's eyes out, and then they stopped,
and rested a few minutes. And then they said, "Let's go through
that again." And the same thing repeated. And you would just
think they were dirty players.
And this fellow was able to make the audience at the fights
hate him because they just knew he was dirty. Yet the
judges never stopped him. And one night at Erie, Michigan,
they were going from the fight, and someone in the aisle stabbed
this fellow twice. And it was a question for a while he would
live or whether he could fight again. But he got back.
L: Was he actually a Turk?
Si: Yes, he was. He was as fine a fellow
as you would find anyplace. It was all put on. A good actor!
[laughs]
L: Dangerous work, too.
Si: Yes.
Note
on the Terrible Turk
This
was one of many "Terrible Turks." The original was Youssuf
Ishmaelo, who defeated Evan "Strangler" Lewis, the former
American champion, in Chicago on June 20, 1898, before a reported
crowd of 10,000. He won $3,500, and insisted on being paid
in gold, which he added to his other winnings in a belt that
he always wore. Then, he boarded the liner La Bourgogne
for the voyage back to France. Off Nova Scotia it hit another
ship and sank, taking down 500 people including the Terrible
Turk.
The survivors
remember Youssuf acting "like a wild beast." With a dagger
in his hand, he forced his way through the frightened crowds
waiting to board the lifeboats. By the time he reached the
rails, a fully loaded boat was already being lowered. Ignoring
the shouts of the crew, he jumped into it. His huge weight,
together with the violence of his leap, overturned the boat
and all its occupants were thrown into the sea. Youssuf, although
a good swimmer, was dragged down the weight of his $10,000
gold belt.
Read
more about the Terrible Turk
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