The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1901-08-12
IL $1,000 FAKTRs TRADE.
Johnny Mack, ex-Clown, is One Of
the Most Successful.
New YORK SIM

the Most Successful.
New York SUM
Twice every year the travelling fax
irs show up in this city to stock up
with those trinkets best calculated to
attract the public in the small towns
on their circuits. A more interesting
crowd than these travelling fakirs 1t
would be hard TO find. Many Of them
are old circus men who learned the
business of bambOOZling the pubic IN
a hard school and they are promo OF
stories of adventures encountered
both with the canvas and red wagons
and with the patent soaps and tooth
powders which they hawk about the
| country to the profit OF their own
rockets. but to the detrimenT or scores
! of compilations and teeth
II takes more than q smart man TO
be a successful travelling fakir. one
must be a ready wit and fearless
liar. have great stacks OF nerve, an
q bsoIute. lack of constituencies and q
gift of the CAB to make money the
business With these qualifications a
man NAV be successful despite the
lack of merit in the article he IS sell
ing
Although the fakirs are fond Of tell
ing their audiences how pitless mono
poles. with millions behind them, have
forced them TO go about in bugg1es
dispOsing of their wares, they are not
averse to a little mutual protection
business themselves. They have an
organization, with headquarters y.
this city. and during the winter
months they plan the summer cam
paigns.
In a summer. the crowd will get
away with several truck loads of cheap
jeWelry and medicine. Each man
takes a couple of trunkfuls with him
when he starts out on a trip, and he
varies his wares according to the tenn
per of the people he encounters. Thus
faklr viii pose in one town as the
disCOverer of a reTparka BILE tooth prep
aration, while in tge next place. the
tooth powder will remain under cover
while he describes the merits of his
cure for badness and ali troubles of
the scalp. So many years have the
falziTs been at it. that they come Dret-
tyI near knowing what is the most
saiable article in each district. In the
FaklrS' trust, a man does not go over
the same route any Oftener than he
can help. 1t is a dangerous thing to
visit region where one has been sell
ing an injurious preparation. until
/ those who have used it, and suffered
from it, have had a chance to cool
of. The experience of fakir who
came to town last week, affords a
good illustration of tGis.
A year ago while travelling through
southern New York selling tooth paste
he struck a town where the people
{ snapped up mis- tooth paste greediIy.
/ A week later all who had bought and
! used the paste began TO have trouble
/ with their gums. A week after that
! the paste began to eat its way
/ through the enamel of the teeth Many
/ We're the vows of vengeance made
against that fakir if ever he should
come back He did come back about
Z a month ago. and although he was
selling face bleach this time the Deo-
pie remembered him and gave him such
a reception that he felt himself lucky
TO get out OF town with half his stock.
/ and no more physical damage than a
Few cuts in the head. black eye and
. a swollen lip.
Each f8kir has his own way Of sell
ing goods. and where il IS possible. a
fakir always presents himself as an
example of what his wares viii do
Tor the purchaser Andy Watson, one
Of the old timers. who worked the
smells with a Mississippi river circus.
many years ago when his fingers were
as dett as his tongue is now, has made
small fortune in the last twenty
years by selling a tooth paste simply
because his own teeth are big and
strong and white, and he tells the
people that his tooth paste did it. Ha
and says.
Now gents. it isn't only this tooth
paste / have to offer YOU. That's ali
sell you But for the purpose of in
Producing our goods we are distribut-
ing a few little presents to each Dur
chaser. On Saturday night you
give your wife 81 TO do the market
Ing. She takes her basket under her
arm, and see the load she comes back
with. But if your wife gave you 50 on
Saturday night TO do marketinf.
see what a load you'd come l. me with.
Now gents, I'm going TO show you,
not s. load. but the biggest load for
10 cents that you ever saw in your
life, and then the garrulOus Andy
proceeds TO drop a gold chain. a pair
OF gold sleeve buttons. a scarf pin and
few other things into bag. the last
thing a cake Of the tooth paste. done
up in tinfoil. Then the packages go
fast as a rule.
The petty jealousy. common in other
trades, is not found among the fakirs.
Therefore, when they agree that John
ny Mack is the best all around man
in the business, it is pretty safe bet
ting that Johnny is all that his col
leagues say. Johnny Mack is a good
I subject for a student Of human nature
A little, thin man, apparently very
deliCate. he is one Of the richest fakirs
in the business today.
If you meet Johnny Mack on the
street YOU would size him up for q
b0okkeeper. bent double b. his toll over
a desk. and would forget him the next
second. But standing Up in his buggy
with his open satchel before him. the
gasoline torch throwing shadows over
his face. he is a master Of men. and
he can sell them anything from cheaI
pocket handkerchiefS to patent medi-
cines- He rambles along somewhat af-
ter the fashion Of the late Mr.. Kelly
Of rolling mil fame and ne says almosi
as blight things. People that stroll
F.. over 10 Joh1ny Mack's buggy general
[ Is stay the rest of the evening and Fl
t they don't buy. it isn't because d grea'
/ TO bear uFou them~
OF proofs Of what his different stuff.
/ VIII do. Johnny Mack has an unlimited
supply. John ny sells many things, bu
! his Soaperina is his faVorite. and III
! has sold tons Of il around the country
/ In the last twenty years. A sun re
/ porter encountered the great Johnn.
! Mack in 2 small ci.y in the souther;
! part OF this state about a week ag
and .Vas one OF the crowd that gath
ercd about his buggy When Johns
stood up in his buggy he had a greS
shaggy Wig on tt was q Sangled u
affair. and so palpably false. that PEG
pie wondered why he wore it. That [
| one 81 Johnny's long suits getting PEG
/ Ple wondering.
Jcbrny arranged and rearrauged tn
/ things in his valise for fully FIVE min
ute. while the crowd waited for hin