Page 62 - Exercise 1

Page 62 - Exercise 1

The sale of the century

Arthur Furguson was probably the greatest salesman of all time. He was also a criminal, because he sold things that didn’t belong to him - not just small things, but some of the most famous buildings and monuments in the world.

He was born in Scotland, but he began his career as a con man in London in the 1920s. One sunny day, he was sitting in Trafalgar Square when he noticed an American tourist admiring Nelson’s Column. ‘That’s Admiral Nelson up there,’ said Furguson casually, and he pointed to the statue on top of the column. ‘He won the Battle of Trafalgar. That’s why this is called Trafalgar Square.’ ‘Is that so?’ said the American. ‘This is a fine square that you have here.’ ‘Can I show you around?’ offered Furguson. The visitor gladly accepted, so Furguson told him all about Nelson, the column, the square and the lions. He also asked the American a lot of questions and found out that the tourist was extremely rich. ‘It’s all very impressive,’ said the American. ‘Thank you,’ replied Furguson. ‘It’s such a pity that we have to sell it all,’ he added. ‘Sell it?’ The American was amazed. ‘Yes, unfortunately Britain is no longer a rich country,’ said Furguson sadly. ‘So the government is going to sell our most famous buildings and monuments to pay some of the debts.’ ‘I haven’t heard anything about that,’ said the visitor. ‘No, well, the government has to keep it secret for now,’ whispered Furguson. ‘If news of this gets out, people will be very angry. There will be a lot of trouble.’ ‘Yes, I can understand that,’ said the American. ‘But how do you know about it?’ Furguson moved closer. ‘As it happens,’ he said quietly.

I ‘m the person who has to find a buyer. That’s why I’m here. I’m looking for people who might be interested in buying it.’ ‘Well, I’m interested,’ said the American. ‘Could you tell me . er . How much does your government want for the square?’ ‘About £5,000,’ said Furguson. (That was a lot of money in those days.) ‘We already have three possible buyers.’ ‘Do you think you could put in a word for me with your government?’ said the American. Tn fact, I’ll gladly pay £6,000.’ ‘Six thousand?’ said Furguson, and he thought for a while.

Then he said: Just a moment. I’ll go and phone my boss.’ When he returned, he congratulated the American.

His offer was accepted. ‘But we must complete the deal immediately,’ he added, ‘because other buyers might offer more if we wait.’ ‘That’s not a problem,’ said the visitor, and he wrote a cheque for £6,000. Furguson gave him a receipt and the address of a shipping company that would send the square to the USA for him. Then they said goodbye and Furguson went straight to a bank to cash the cheque.

The people at the shipping company, of course, were very surprised when the American phoned them. The police were called in, but by then Furguson and the £6,000 were gone. That summer, Arthur Furguson made a lot of money from rich American visitors. He ‘sold’ Big Ben for £1,000, and another tourist put down a deposit of £2,000 on Buckingham Palace.

In 1925, Furguson decided to try his luck on the other side of the Atlantic. He travelled to the USA and started ‘selling’ some of the famous monuments there, including the White House in Washington DC. He was soon very rich, but before he retired, he decided to have one last big sale.

His victim for ‘the sale of the century’ was an Australian from Sydney. Furguson persuaded him that the city of New York wanted to sell the Statue of Liberty. ‘They’re going to make the harbour wider,’ he explained, ‘because modern ships are much bigger now. Unfortunately, Liberty Island with its famous statue is in the way.’ ‘But the people of New York will be very angry about that, won’t they?’ said the Australian. ‘Yes, they will,’ said Furguson. ‘That’s why you mustn’t tell anyone about it.’ They agreed a price of $100,000. However, the Australian needed a few days to get the money. In that time Furguson never left his victim, in case he told someone else about the deal. One day, while they were visiting the statue, the Australian suddenly stopped another visitor and said: ‘Excuse me. Would you mind taking our photograph in front of the statue?’ ‘Of course,’ said the other visitor, taking the camera.

Furguson couldn’t refuse, so he stood arm in arm with his victim for the photograph. And that was a big mistake.

Before the money arrived, the Australian started to become suspicious about the deal and he went to the police with the photograph. They knew all about the super salesman’s activities and the photograph matched the descriptions from his other victims. The Australian led the police straight to Furguson. He was arrested and sent to prison for five years.

Furguson was released in 1930, but he didn’t change his ways. He moved to Los Angeles, where he became very rich again with more of his tricks. He lived there in luxury till he died in 1938.