Skagway
I went to Skagway a few days ago. There, I took a tour called the Klondike Gold Rush Tour. I enjoyed the stories abou "Soapy" Smith, who was famous for tricking people.
He once sold soap for $1 a bar, and normal soap was only 1c a bar. So he said that his soap would wash everything off, and that it could also wash off your bad deeds. Still nobody would buy the soap. So then he said that there were $20, $50, or even $100 bills in some of the soap containers. One person came up and got a $20 in his soap. And then somebody got a $50, and the next person got a $100. THis was enough for everyone to start rushing forward for the money-making soap. After the soap all sold out, Soapy left through a back door with the three people who first bought his soap. They were his henchmen!
Another time, he offered a telegram service to anywhere in the world for $5, and promised a reply in an hour. A lot of people sent telegrams, but they all ended up in the ocean. If the person looked rich, Soapy's henchmen would keep getting money from him/her by saying "We're awful sorry, but the recipient sent their call collect" and lots of other things. If they didn't look rich, they would just make up a response and give it to the person.
Even though Soapy was very mean and greedy, I still think he was pretty smart to have come up with all those schemes.
He once sold soap for $1 a bar, and normal soap was only 1c a bar. So he said that his soap would wash everything off, and that it could also wash off your bad deeds. Still nobody would buy the soap. So then he said that there were $20, $50, or even $100 bills in some of the soap containers. One person came up and got a $20 in his soap. And then somebody got a $50, and the next person got a $100. THis was enough for everyone to start rushing forward for the money-making soap. After the soap all sold out, Soapy left through a back door with the three people who first bought his soap. They were his henchmen!
Another time, he offered a telegram service to anywhere in the world for $5, and promised a reply in an hour. A lot of people sent telegrams, but they all ended up in the ocean. If the person looked rich, Soapy's henchmen would keep getting money from him/her by saying "We're awful sorry, but the recipient sent their call collect" and lots of other things. If they didn't look rich, they would just make up a response and give it to the person.
Even though Soapy was very mean and greedy, I still think he was pretty smart to have come up with all those schemes.
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