The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1909-09-02


San Francisco, Cal.-One of the
most remarkable confessions ever
made by a bigamist in the United
States has been obtained from Chris.
tian c. Johnson.
This nice old gentleman bigamist,
now in San Quentin prison, serving
term OF seven years. is a living testi-
monial OF the fact that the women of
this country are on a stampede to the
hymeneal altar. Johnson did not be.
gin his Bluebeard career until he had
reached the ripeness of sixty, was
portly, gray.haired and a trife stiff in
the joints. Yet he had only to step
into the open and announce: Ladies,
I am looking for a wife, and they
flocked to him in headlong rush.
In three years this venerable Don
Juan married six and proposed and
was accepted by eighteen More than
a thousand others wrote to him that
they were hunting a husband and his
description of himself sounded allur-
ing. Had this nice old man" been
able to arrange his dates with facility
he might have led bride to the altar
every day in the year.
MY experience has taught me-"
said the bigamist, on his way to pris-
on, that women are fools. Any kind
or condition OF man can marry as
often as he wishes. He need only
bear in mind the following rules:
Don't be soft or sweet with them.
Treat them a little harshly.
BE a little distant, and she will
surely come to you.
do not waste time with manoeu-
vres."
Johnson says that the women he
met fell in love with him after he had
talked to them few times. He did
not indulge in what he termed calf
glances" or "goo-goo" eyes.
But this mily. whitehaired enchant-
er was not in the marrying business
for sentiment. He had been horse
trader all his life, and wearied of it's
tedium. He had read how Johann
Hoch and other notorious bigamists
had iieeced their squadrons of wives.
They had begun a little earlier than
he Consequently he thought ne could
better their plans with more mature
Judgment.
Bigamist Johnson could not recall
the names of all his fiancees. Their
names had been legion. He named
eleven from whom he had obtained
sums ranging from 500 to $1,000 and
left in the lurch, for the most part
waiting at the church.
There may be others, he admits, as
his memory is not absolutely to be
depended upon in the rush from altar
to altar and hurried fit from one
honeymoon to another. He courted,
for instance, he says, ten women at
once in Portland, Ore.
The majority of his victims are
widows. Some of them still love the
nice old bigamist. Mrs. Josephine
Henninger. of Oakland whom he
crrelly deceived followed him to
San Quentin Prison. Johnson had TAX
en- all her money from her, she said,
but she still loved him. Others in
the California lot of his wives have
confessed to the police that they can
not shake off their love for the pro-
fessional enchanter, even though
they know he did not return the SEN
timent.
The officers on the train which bore
Johnson to San Quentin would not al
low Mrs. Henninger to approach
him. Nevertheless, the woman fol-
lowed him to the gates of the prison
and threw a kiss as he entered the
jail yard. The old bigamist has been
put to work in the iute mill.
In his detailed confession this
amazingly fascinating old man not
only gave suggestions on how to WOO
and wed wholesale, but uttered a
caution to womankind.
Il would warn all women against
marrying man who talks too sweet"
he said. He has something up his
sleeve every time. Marry a business
man-one who will talk business al.
ways. Widows particularly should
pay heed TO this advice, for they are
most easily influenced"
Johnson said that in many cases
he had 10 resist the ardent wooing di.
rected against him. IF a man saws
nice things TO most of them" he said,
they will smile and smirk until the
poor man finds himself taking pity
on them and proposing. You can win
them either way-by being stern or
distant or being sweet. II one way
does not work, the other surely win.
some are so eager to marry that you
fairly have 70 race away from them