Iron County register., 1905-02-23

Chicago police, was compelled to leave
Germany January. 1895, to escape i'm
prisonment as an embeZzler and COM
mon swindler. His real name is Jacob
Schmidt. He was born in the town of
Horrweiler, in the province of Bingen
on the Rhine, November, 1862. After
getting married he kept small store
in his native village and later became
a broker and wine merchant in the city
of Bingen. I,
In his capacity as a wine merchant
he lived pretentiously and used his
acquaintance with high society as the
means of extracting large sums of
money from business men, whom he
impressed as good fellow. There it
was that Hoch learned the winning
ways that captivated his American vic
Tins However the pace grew too fast
for Schmidt in Bingen and after fare
well swindle of sugar refinery he
sailed for the United States, leaving a
wife and three children in utter desti-
tuition. A receiver was appointed for
his business, but his creditors are still
waiting for a dividend The people in
Bingen are grimly rejoicing that their
former townsman is at last in the tolls
Hoch wiz Feign Insanity.
From previous experiences Inspector
Shippy declares that he believes the
alleged bigamist will as is usually the
case when he has been placed on trial,
train en- route to Chicago made it ap-
pear that possibly this might be his
scheme when brought to account. His
rambling talk, and repeated declara-
tion that he was "an educated man and
gentleman" give the authorities the
belief that this is to be the defense Of
Johann Hoch. And judging by what
old men on the police force who have
seen Hoch say, the man is no mere
novice at the insanity gag" and they
declare that even the insane officials
who have to deal with such cases of
shamming almost every day, were
fooled at previous appearance before
law court in Chicago. II rather ex-
pect Hoch will sham insanity" said
Inspector Shippy when caught and
charged with selling mortgaged furni-
ture in 1898, he PLAYED the same dodge
"On trial in Judge Bakers court he
cut up queer antics, shook his head at
F. j. Magerstadt, who had furnished
four flats for him, and declared he
never had seen him before, and when
Mrs. j. II. Schwartzmann, of Milwau-
kee. pointed a dramatic finger at him
and said: That man poisoned my two
sisters he made faces at her. In the
county Jail he kept up the farce, raw
ing like wild man until the guards,
who believed in the genuineness of the
seizure, feared to come near him AS
soon as Hoch realized his pretended
insanity would not save him from hard
work, he suddenly became as sane as
any man."
Fame Has Spread Rapidly.
When coming to Chicago on the
train, Hoch was met at all points along
the route by cries of "Hurrah!" There
he is" That's Hoch." "Is that the
face that won so many honest" Ev-
erywhere his pictures have been cir
culated and everywhere people seemed
to be able to pick him out of the crowd
of officials who accompanied the party.
Women waved their handkerchiefs at
the notorious Hoch and true to his
chivalrous instincts, he threw kisses
back at them. Men stood and gazed
curiously at him, while small boys ex-
hibited their incorrigibleness by fling
ing at him remarks regarding his past
Personally Hoch is not of great pre-
possessing appearance, but once a
person engages in conversation with
the multi-bigamist, and the reason for
his winning ways with women Is es-
planned. He is an exceptionally smooth
talker, despite the fact that his speech
Is marked by bits of broken English,
and he has the faculty of bringing one
around to his belief in an amazingly
forceful manner He wears glasses at
times, and the spectacles cannot be said
to improve his personal appearance.