Showman (1937)

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SHOWMAN low the break he deserved. I happened to be that somebody and the job was done far more ethically than when somebody else stole the Turk from me a little later on. An agent of mine saw the Turk in Washington, where he was sent to wrestle a local negro, and wired me that, whether it was human or not, it was certainly something worth looking up. I jumped to Washington, got a good glimpse of the Turk, and agreed. Armed with an interpreter and my customary brass, I then went to work on Pierre. He had promised the Turk $25 a week and board and keep. The Turk had seen practically none of his $25 and been fed starvation rations. My offer was $1500 a month and good feeding. I made it clear to Pierre that, whereas he could never get anywhere with this golden opportunity, I had the necessary money and experience to make it go right. I also softened my remarks by giving him a considerable chunk of cash to bow out. Money listened well to the Frenchman at that point— it had cost him his last cent to get the Turk to Washington. It wasn't only the Turk's looks that sold me. It was also his performance against the negro, a tough customer from Baltimore who had recently cleaned up eight cops single-handed. Yousouf had him on the floor in a few minutes. The negro was scared green and started fouling. At first the Turk looked puzzled and then outraged. Finally, he settled things by picking the negro up and heaving him bodily out of the ring into the empty orchestra pit. The negro lit running and 212