The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-01-21
MAKING TERRI BILE TURKS.
HOW THE FAST COMMUNIIY IS
 GULLED.
They Never Saw Turkey-Some of Them
 Have Given Away the Snap.

One of the latest and most profitable industries in sporting way is that of manufacturing "Terrible Turks" The completed articles are taken around the country, everywhere receiving much mo- tice from the newspapers and inciden- tally netting large sums of money fol their promoters and manufacturers The raw material for first-class Ter rlble Turk is man of any nationality who weighs over three hundred pounds and is tall and muscular A few weeks careful training in wrestling and, if necessary, in speaking English with queer accent, together with red fez and feigned liking for Turkish cigarets will do the rest
 The first of the long line of Terrible Turks" who have driven native-b born wrestlers into hiding was Yousouf, the "sultan's lion." He made his first ap- pearance in this country-at least, as a professional wrestler-in the early part of 1898 and swept everything before him. Before he got through he had ac- cumulated the title of champion wrest- Ter of the world" and something like
 
 like, thrifty man, he sewed in a belt, which was then tied around his waist. Yousouf started for a European trip on the ill-fated steamer La Bourgogne, which sank off the coast of Newfound- land. Together with five hundred and forty-nine other persons he was drowned, the weight of the gold about his waist being too much for even his enormous strength to overcome.
 Since the spectacular end of Yousouf the supply of Terrible Turks" both imported and domestic, has been plen- tiful. The latest arrival is reported in the papers of yesterday morning as having just reached New York direct from his ancestral home in Bulgaria, where he has accumulated three hum dred and forty pounds of muscle. His name--at least, for wrestling purposes lis Nouroulah Hassan, and he stands six feet six and one-half inches high in his Turkish slippers. He is looking for wrestlers who are desirous of being devoured alive in the most approved Turkish fashion.
 This is the story of how one Terri ble Turk was manufactured and put on the market by a thrifty gentleman who realized that the so-called Sport ing public" is more easily gulled than any other portion of the community. It Is true story and the names are not given simply because there is no desire to expose a somewhat prominent sporting man to the vengeance of his fellows.
 The sporting manager in question, who may be called Jones, was in hard luck. The mayors of several large cit les had stopped prize fighting and his ''stable'' of pugilists was consequently unprofitable Jones had tried to get up some interest in foot racing in the rural districts, but had failed at that an- eient game and was at the end of his string. Tn the language of his class, ''there was nothing doing and he was up against it hard"
 One day when he was walking along ithe streets of Boston, reflecting on the vanity of human affairs, he happened to glance into the window of a confec- tioner. In the window sood tremen- dous giant of a man busily engaged in pulling taffy candy. MT Jones ad- mired the splendid height of the candy maker, and saw on a second glance that he was built in proportion to his lofty stature Suddenly an inspiration seized him. Here was the raw material for a "Terrible Turk,'' who would make the late lamented Yousouf look like a pig my in comparison. To think was to act with Jones in his then condition of financial embarra assment. He hurried +I,.o o-ao, edo @l,a <rt< candy-maker on the back
 My friend,' he said, you may not know it, but you are Hali Ben Arif, the Terrible Turk You are the champion catch-as- catch h-can, Greco Roman and Cornish style wrestler of Constantino- pie, the Balkan states and Asia Minor You have come over to this country to challenge all corners and incidentally win a pot of money for yourself"
 The candy-maker was naturally as- tonished. He resented the familiarity on the part of man he had never seen before, and turned on him with a threatening gesture. In broken English he declared that he was not Turk, that he despised and spat upon the en- tire Turkish nation. He was a Greek,
 
 and his business was candy-making. He knew nothing about wrestling, and expressed wish that his visitor would | clear out before the "boss" sawhlm
 But the sporting blood of MT. Jones was up. He was more than ever struck | with his idea after getting closer look | at the mans huge arms and elephan- tine proportions. He handed the can- y-maker a ten dollar bill, and asked | an interview at his hotel that evening. | The Greek appeared, accompanied by | one of his countrymen who could speak | English fluently There the scheme l was explained. Jones agreed to pay | his discovery more than his regular 1 wages for a couple of months while he went through a course of training in | wrestling. At the end of that time he contracted to take him out on the road as new "Terrible Turk" and to pay him quarter of all the money taken in on the trip The candy maker want ed to know what would happen if he should not be able to throw all the professional wrestlers with whom matches were made, and was assured that he need not worry about that. It would be easy to make satisfactory ar engagements which would result in his winning the championship without a possible chance of failure.