The sun., 1895-04-08
WAS HE 40 YEARS oLDs
The Great Age OF Man who Claimed "a
Have the Secret of Longevity.

Trom The 81. Louis Republic.
Back of tho death OF Or. William Hotchkiss,
which occurred early last Wednesday morning
is story as strange as it is unusual. 1t deals
with an existence prolonged beyond tho cen.
whole life was given over to the search for
universal panacea. He was a man Of many
steadfast refusal TO talk about himself All thai
is positively, known of him is that ho came
the practice OF medicine after his own original
ideas: His patients, or as he termed them the
learn anything Of his past life further than that
he was born In the latter half Of the last century
In Binwiddie. Va, and that, ere, ho began the
study OF materia medica. he had practiscd law
One Of" tn. circle" prompted by curiosity as
asking some information about the strange man
and received an answer that was startling. 1t
was to the effect that DIR. William HotcRkiss
was remembered there by many of the oldest in-
haSitants ,Sa S & as AM an &npeommonly queer ipdydqe;
sonic order, in the beginning OF this CEN
tury, being then an old man. and had finally
drihtted The away from the village and gone West.
terious physician, he smiled Significantly. aud
did not deny that he was the one to whom tho
teenth century rival OF Old Parr is horn" w.
by his remarkable memory OF events that hap
that so long us he has lived in this city no adj.
ditional sign OF age set itself as a seal upon his
was one of his first patients years ago. the dead
physician looked even younger n week before hs
demise than he did fifteen years before the civil
Tho complete story Of DR.. .Hotchkiss's life,
OF his researches into tho realms of alchemy,
thaumaturgy. ana other occult sciences and OF
his power over his disciples would be remindfnl
Of the 9ltlandish stories Of the philosophers OF
elixir vit,e Is strongly suggestive Of Beppo Sal-
samo Paracelsus and st. George the Formo-
not assumed for mercenary motives; and that
he did possess some strange control over tho
forces OF nature is proved BY the fact that when
hny, ,pI
the three score and ton years allotted as tho
Among those not impressed with his thccrie,
he was best known as the dirty doctor" an
unpleasant sobrquet that arose from his re-
eschewed water for the purpose of cleansing his
body. Like St Anthony of Padua. who dwrlt
undergoing an ablution, DR.. Hotchkiss held tho
use of water in abhorrence. and, 1t is said. went
fluid to touch his body. In addition to tIis lie
held that the vital principle could be best ob-
tanned from the smoke Of certain chemicals, and
standing over a burning braZer which emitted
dense, cloud Of smoke and allowing tho
standing this. he is said to have kept himself
clean by some mysterious process, which may
method OF cleansing much in vogue among the
Arabans. Whenever necessity forced lin 70
tore it into strips so that the freedom Of his mo-
tions might rema in unhindered. The huttering
pieces ,y.a Wers tied With gayy so9rsd ribbons:
was matted and bound in elf locks.
DR.. IIotchkss lived at .,?o4 Washington ave-
who kept house for him. and were known Us his
adopted daughters. Other friends, of his were
Isaacs, and Judge Portis. Besides the local cir
Gle there were others in various adjacent towns
old sd Fl to sS by
been marvellous, and were brought about by
what he termed his vital ,electro-magnetic'
cles." free from all relg ous bias. for he was an
orthodox Christian. and non-committal on all
questions involving controversy. His "propo-
sition," as set forth upon his business card was:
Life or vitality is the result Of molten:
moti9n ;'tIp is continual change Of place; that
and magnetism are both alike properties Of
force, but when employed conjointly are denti-
magnetism is a term used to convey the idea
that life. health. and longevity result from tho
joint action and mutual cooperation of these
two properties of force
In his later years the remarkable man added
to his other quaint remedial theories by prsc-
Using the smoke cure and the swapping OF fin
gers, by which he claimed to generate an electro
magnetic powor within himself capable OF COM
rendering such treatment, he would be CON.
plotely exhausted. and would lie unon his bed
Victim of St. Vituss dance; or, on other occa-
sions, he would spin around like a wheeling
deryish. snapping his fingers and making str.nss
He was taken sick upon his return from visi.
to a"c circle " at Havana, ILL.,. about two weeks
being pronounced heart failure.
gntil the last he retained the most extra
manuscrIpt of a book he intended publishing
upon longevity: He held that Christ had prom;
who followed the precepts laid down by him.
So far as Is known he leaves no relatives.
that ever lived In q strange world. and it is un.
fortunate that SO little is known of his life and
| extraordinary doctrines.