The Lake County times. [volume] (Hammond, Ind.) 1906-1933, 1907-11-01
SAL LOONKEEPER HANGS
HIMSELF At STANDARD
John Fratich Believed His Beautiful Wife Loved An
other Man-Left Note Saying She Had Dis
honored His Name

Becouse OF the fact that his beau
tiful young wife was untrue TO him
and that she loved another better than
himself. John Fratich. a saloonkeeper
living in the southeastern part of the
Standard Steel settlement. hung him
self at midnight last night by a rope
which was attached TO the screen in
front of the main entrance. and he is
supposed TO have died within a few
minutes. Dr. Reiss was called in at
o'clock in the morning and he found
that the man had been dead for some
time.
The case is one of the s1wasx ptifuI
that has yet developed al ssettle-
ment and much interest is fakerSsh the
unusual case among the foreigners
There is a romance attached to tho
case which starts way back in the old
country in which a lover shot himself
for her sake. and now the man who has
succeeded in marrying her committed
suicide for the same reason. The cause
of the two deaths and many a bitter
quarrel is a handsome woman in every
respect and was idolized by her hus-
band although the latter was twenty
two years her senior. The coroners 5
inquest was held this morning and a
verdict was rendered of suicide by
hanging. 1t developed at the trial that
the deceased had left in a small ledger
which he kept in the saloon. a farewell
letter to his wife In which he stated
that he still loved her dearly and loved
his little child, but that he thought she
had ceased to care for him and that
she liked another man better, and that
she had dishonored the name OF the
family. He ended by saying that he
thought 1t best for him to end his life
so that he would not bother her any
more and she would be free to live
with the man she loved better than
himself.
Had Two Suitors.
The story of the tragedy began In old
Hungary. where the woman was the
cause of the first suicide. She had two
sJSst 3IR at that time and loved one
much more than she did the other, al
though she had great respect for the
one she did not love. Her family com
PEELED her to marry the one she did not
love because of his position, and the
other broken hearted suitor shot him
self. Soon after the wedding the
young couple moved to America to at
tempt, If possible. to forget the trouble
but the woman never seemed able to
love Fratich. and there was continual
trouble in the family. But one child
was born TO them and this Is a beau
tiful little girl that has attracted much
attention as she sat there listening to
the process of the inquest
PrOspered Mt Standard.
The unhappy man and wife opened
up a saloon in the Standard Steel set
tlement where they were prosperine
and making a great many friends. HI
seemed to be absolutely devoted to his
wife, but as for her. she never coulC
love him although she is known K
have had great respect and admira
tion for her husband.
A short time ago another man hy
the name Of Steven Dennis, who fl
employed at the car works. won tn,
affections Of the woman and in a shor
time the whole settlement was awar'
of the situation. The knowledge of tn
fact that his wife was in love will
another man better than himself wa
more than he could endure, and writ
ing the epistle to his unfatthful wife
he hung himself with a rope afte
closing hours last night.
He was discovered about II o'clocl
by his wife who saw his reflection Il
the mirror and she knew that he ha'
killed himself The alarm was raise
and the boarders who live upstair
came down and attempted to Motif
the police, but being unsuccessful tn
two men. who gave their names a
John Fratich. nephew of the deceased
and Victor Meier, returned upstair
and went to bed again, just as If
had been a dog that had been KILLED
Being unable to understand Hungaria
the police did not know what the me
were talking about and did not respon
to the call.
Three hours later, however, DR.. Reis
was made to understand what wa
wanted by the frantic woman, and h
came and cut the man down. He ha
hung there three hours after he ha
been discovered. The police were i'm
mediateIy notified by the doctor an
investigated the case at once.