The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-04-03

was never another man like him. I thought he would be good to me-" The keynote of the stories told by each of the wives that have thus far been found is, T thought he would be good to me-"
 He told Mrs. Stricher that while they would have to be satisfied to be- gin life together in a small way, he
 hoped to be able to take her eventual ly to Germany, where he believed they would be able to live possibly in lux
 ury. As to her daughters, he was go-
 ing to do everything In the world for
 them. He even went so far as to pro- mise a set of furniture to Mrs. Stricher's niece, who was married the day before they were.
 It was always some practical pro-
 mise that looked as if 1t might be car- ried out. Before, their marriage he referred many times to his first wife," and in way that made her believe he was surely in love with her.
 On one occasion a man living near them beat his wife and Hoch pretend ed to be mortified, saying that such a is now thoroughly convinced that he tried to poison her.
 One of his peculiarities Is that he pretends to be, or really is, very religious man. He has spent a great deal of time in the presence of his vari- ous wives reading the Bible, and his favorite character in the Holy Book is Moses. According to the stories told by himself he has done a great deal of good. and frequently while walking through the streets he has taken money from his pockets and thrown it to mendicants. He was always we'll supplied with money, and in telling of him his wives and acquaintances con stantly relate how he has taken rolls of bills from his pockets and exhibited them. Where he got his money can only be surmised, and it is assumed now to have been tho proceeds of his many marriages.
 Was He a Hypnotistf
 Another one of his wives, who is fortunate enough to be still alive. be- lieves that the whole secret of his power over women was hypnotism. This Is Mrs. Elizabeth Goerk Hoch, whom he married under the name of Jacob Schimitt. She has turned over to the police of Chicago trunk in which has been found a diplima from 8 hypnotic school in Michigan, testi- fynig that Schmitt was a graduate of that place and was an accomplished mesmerist. They met while Hoch was boarding with her, and were married within three weeks of their meeting She became suspiciously i'll, and Hoch volunteered to be her nurse, but she insisted that she would go to a hos pital to learn what her trouble was if she did not improve immediately. Strangely enough her illness ended as suddenly as 1t had come upon her, and Hoch left her. He told her that he had become heir to some German es-' tate and tried to borrow $500 with which to get back to Germany. She declined to let him have this money, and within a few days he disappeared, and she has nsver seen him since. Like the other living women whom he mar ried, she has been able to identify him through the great publicity given to his pictures, and will bs on eof the im- portant witnesses against him.
 Hoch's most recent Chicago home was at 6430 Union avenue, where he lived with Mrs. Mary Welker Hoch. who was said to have been his twenty fifth wife, and who died under most peculiar circumstances. Within a few days detectives have searched this house from top to bottom. have turned over every inch of soil in pursuit of bodies, and succeeded in locating five white powders In Hochs private desk Prior to her death Mrs. Marie Welker Hoch was i'll and was attended by pr. Reese of the Englewood Union Hos pital, who declared most emphatlcal1y that he had ordered no such powders to be administered. Chemists have analysed these powders and have made known the result of their analy- sis to the police, and it is this analy- sis as much as the analysis of the con- tents of her stomach that has convin- ced the Chicago detectives that she | was poisoned. It is said that Dr. Reese | had specically told Hoch not to give | his wife any medicine except that | which he himself had prescribed for | her, but that nevertheless he did give | 1er two of the powders.
 TOI OIReOpen Grave.
 Reports las night from various titles where Hoch Is saad to have married were to the effect that the In St. Louis the authorities lave decided to examine the remains If Mrs Schultz Hoch, and the Chicago r police have asked the Wheeling (W. lt Ya) authorities to do the same thing.
 The result of the investigations up O date show almost beyond. a doubt hat Hoch's one thought in his many marriages was money. In some cases e secured only a few hundred dollars, nd in others several thousands. In ot one of the weddings brought to ght has 1t been shown that the wo- nan was penniless
 William Nusser of 1S1 Ontario street. hicago. tells of how he married Mrs. Iercfeldt Hoch in 1895. Mrs. Here aldt lived with her sister on the sec- nd floor of my home" he said, and Toch, who at that time posed as a reat religious worker, was frequent 5Isitor. He soon married her, and hen she told him that she had S1.- 10 he did not appear to be in any way