The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1891-01-08
DR.. KOCH's PRIVATE LIFE.
DR.. Biewend Talks EntertaiDingly of his
Distinguished Kinsman.
Boston Advertiser.

Boston Advertiser.
DIR. Robert Koch, the suddenly IA.
nous anti-consumption discoverer, has
several relatives living in this country.
One a cousin, who resides in Boston,
is the Rev. Adolph Biewend, pastor OF
the German Lutheran Church on Par
ker Street, Roxbury.
Mr.. Biewend says that DR.. Koch
had eleven brothers and one sister.
The sister and three ofthe brothers live
at st. Louis and another brother lives
in Iowa. AS Mr.. Biewend's mother
lives at Fort Waye, Ind, DR.. Koch
has a great many ties binding him to
this country, and it is his intention to
make his relatives visit in 1898, when
he comes to see the Worlds Fair. Mr..
Biewend hopes be will make long
stay in Boston. He describes DR..
Koch as follows:
Personally he is of medium size, with
very broad chest, blue eyes, rather
prominent nose, on which is always
seen a pair of spectacles high fore
head, full auburn beard and auburn
hair. He talks with a noticeable lisp.
He dresses neatly neither elegantly nor
in the sloYenly-way that many Ger
~nlan doctors do. TO look at him one
would never imagine that he would
set the world talking about him. He
is without exception the most quiet
and modest man I have ever seen. I
sent him a congratulatory letter yes
terday, with a copy of the cartoon in
Saturdays Record, in which the
Thanksgiving turkey is asking for his
cure for consumption, and I have no
doubt it will cause him a great deal of
amusement.
My wife and I visited Germany in
1866, when he had just made his ia
nous researches into the nature of
cholera. He was then living in fiat
at No. is Magazinstrasse, Berlin, and
came to the depot to meet US. AS I
was born in this country and had
never before seen him, we failed to rec
ognize each other by our picture, so
my wife and I took a droshky to his
home, and when he returned he found
US there. He thought this little thing
characteristic of the Americans, their
ability to take care of themselves in a
strange city. We sat down to dinner,
and he jokingly asked where my re-
volver was. I Iretorted by asking where
his umbrella was, for I never saw a
German, rich or poor, come into this
country without an umbrella, black,
brown, green, blue or yellow. He took
me through his hygienic institute,
where the dogs, monkeys and other an
imals were being inoculated with the
cholera germs. He was receiving Wis
its from great physicians all over the
world then as now, and was very IA
nous and very busy, but he took us
all over Berlin. Germans who like
each other say du, or thou, not sic, OF
you, when they speak to each other,
1t was always du with us. We used to
sit and smoke together a great deal,
though the German cigars are not good.
They are just like straw.
Between 1870 and 1875 he first be-
gan to receive aid from the govern
ment to assist him in his scientific re.
searches. He was appointed physi-
clan of a circuit which, among other
duties, involved the study of the symp-
toms of any new disease which might
appear. A book be published about
this time, embodying some of his
scientific theories and discoveries, at
tracted the attention of Prince Bis
marck, and paved the way for further
government recognition. His life has
been published pretty nearly in full
with that exception. I never heard O.
his connection with the Speichart
poisoning case before I saw it in youl
paper.
am afraid the report that his health
has been injured is true. When he
was sent out to india to investigate tht
cholera he bent day and night, owe!
the corpses in the dissecting room
He told ME that he never felt th'
slightest fear of contagion. He wa
too busy and too intent to think of th'
DANCE. He was more bent than b.
ought to be when I saw him last.
have several letters from him writer
in business like script. The first wa'
dated 1851, when he was eight year:
old and he sent some toys to me. He il
two years older than I am. His only
sister married my cousin, Bergratt
Riewend, of Klansthal, and his brothe!
Wilhelm was engaged to my cousin
Matilda Biewend, when he died, so W.
are very closely bound together. HI
married Emma Franz, daughter of {
Lutheran clergyman, and has single
child, daughter, who is married tx
one Of his assistants.
That Tired Feeling"