The world has always had history and sickness. As such, when Norman Baker came to town, people trusted him with their lives, literally. Despite the already said ‘healing properties’ in the water. People easily believed him.
A now famous hotel, praised for its haunting, used to be a cancer hospital in the 1930’s, or it was supposed to resemble one anyway. Norman Baker was clever and took people’s hope into consideration. So it’s no secret that people with cancer, who were likely to pass, would come seeking his help. They likely thought that the reward was greater than the risk.
He would inject said patients with random items, none of which actually cured them. His career was mainly used through propaganda. He went after many of his enemies in the medical department, even going as far as saying the American Medical Association was trying to assassinate him. The patients who weren’t cured in three to six weeks were promised they could return for free, only without the room, board, or transportation.
When people attempted to stop his methods, he left, and found a new place to announce his heinous lies. Articles were published to squander his name and tell people the truth; as well as trying to get him behind bars; only, that didn’t go as planned, he only was forced to serve a day. However, mail fraud got him in jail for four years, and then he retired until he died. Never being convicted for his crimes of a false cure. People are still keen on listening because the impact sounds promising, and they completely ignore the risk.
In 2019, near the Crescent Hotel, old bottles were found, though some were broken, others had alcohol in them, and some contained floating bits of unidentified tissue. The bottles had been rumored to contain human flesh, to which Norman Baker displayed to make himself look the part of a doctor. Today had someone saw that they probably wouldn’t be as reluctant.
The worst part of the story is that he was already wealthy. He was the child of a well off engineer and inventor, and he was simply a radio broadcaster who had made it big selling a musical instrument named the Air Calliaphone. The wealth mattered more to him than the lives he risked. If people don’t take into consideration his story then it could very well repeat itself.
Today, people wouldn’t have easily fallen for his deceit. They would need to verify what he was saying was true. Even with newspapers explaining his lies, people had still gone to him. Now, there are ways to better help people. Also, people are taught in school not to trust everything they hear and or see. Especially with social media, people aren’t always so intent on believing easily, and there are others who are.
