The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1905-08-18
Busy Answering Letters From
Sympathizing Friends.
Is Not Yet Decided Whether to
Move to Minneapolis.
Estimated Expense of Trials
TO the Koch Family.

New Ulm, Aug. ll.-After a weeks
rest Dr. George R. Koch is again at
work in his office. His eyes have
frightened, his step is lighter and he has
that care free appearance that was his
on him.
When a reporter called upon him he
chair, and remarked as the man left the
room, "There is a man who has changed
his mind in this matter; he is about the
best friend | have now, and there are
lots more just like him.
Dr. Koch seated himself at his office
desk and remarked, "You will have to
excuse me if l work while you are here, "
| and he began to open one of large
number of letters that lay upon the
desk.
81 have tried to keep up with my an
swers to the letters | have received
since last week, but there are several
hundred here that / have not touched,
and | want to answer them all. The
best | can do is to say thank you and
sign my name, but | would like to write
each of them a good long letter. They
are all very kind and full of sympa
thy"
Most of the letters are from young
ladies, with whom the young dentist
has never had acquaintance, and they
come from all over the United States.
Some of them contain information to
the effect that if he wanted to leave
New Ulm there was an opening for him
in the town from which the letter is
written There are offers of loans of
money, and requests for autographs and
photographs.
Members of the Koch family have re-
turned to their various places in life:
w. E. Koch is behind the cashiers desk
in the Citizens bank, Albert is in the
State bank of Echo, Miss Ida is at
stead where they are resting from the
strain of the past months. Mr. Koch
is recovering his usual strength and is
about the streets as before the murder
and is looking after the harvesting of
his grain.
DIR. Koch has not decided what he will
do in the matter of locating, but has
narrowed the propositions down to two
fields, either he will remain in this city
or will move to Minneapolis. The
chances are that he will select the lat
ter place, but he will not decide upon
the change for some time. He has
friends in that city who are anxious
that he should 90 there and he believes
that he would be freer from the gaze of
the curious and the Sights of one time
friends in that larger field than he
would be if he remained here.
Outside of attorneys fees the ex-
penses of the three trials cost the Kochs
nearly $4,000 The attorneys have not
presented their bills and there ARE some
other accounts that have not been set
tied, but when all are in the amount
will be not less than $25 900, and prob
ably little in excess of that Nearly
s. 900 was expended in an effort to find
the murderer of DIR. Gerhard; several
detectives were on different clues and
were employed for a long time in the
hope that before the case came to trial
the man who committed the crime
would be found.
The cost to the county will be much
larger than to the Kochs The itemized
account of the first trial was made yes
terday and the figures are but little less
than $4,000 The county auditor does
not expect the Mankato trials to be as
costly as the one in Brown county, but
believes that when all the figures have
been returned the total will not fall
below $4,000, so that the money eK-
pended on both sides will be little less
than $50 600