Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1885-11-04
A Mku OF MANY TONGUES.

MAN OF MANY TONGUES.
EIr. Henry l.. Thomas, translator of tho
State Department in Washington, has had
quite varied experience, and now, after
travelling over the greater part of the globe
and devoting a large portion of his life to
the study of languages, is one of the most
widely posted and cultured gentlemen it is
ones good fortune to meet. For sixteen
years he has been connected with the State
Department, and in that time he has kept
up his study of languages till to-day he
can speak some eight or nine, and is able
to make himself understood in as many
more When y boy he took but little in
terest in the study of languages, but start
ing out in life as printer he found his first
start, and used to employ himself during
all his leisure hours with poring over the
grammar of some foreign tongue. Along i'll
the ''Gfties' he started on his travels, and
was professor IN q college i'll one OF the
West India islands for sevcrN years. lie
became tired of this kind of life, however,
and during tho "sixties" returned 10 this
country. In 1860 he was appointed trans
lator in the State Department by Mr.. Ham
ilton Fish, then Secretary of State. Ho has
served constantly ever since during all
changes of administration.
To representative of this paper he said:
MY duties are sometimes very light, &ad
sometimes very arduous. II is hard to
average the work, as some days there will
be q rush Of matter, and on others but lit
tie. My duties are confined largely TO
official correspondence, though often let
ters addressed to the President or some of
the Cabinet officers are handed to mo for
translation, most of the countries repre-
sented at our courts use their own language
or French in their diplomatic corresroa-
t!encc. Some, however, use English.
Austria, for instance, used its own Ian
suase up till about six years ago, when it
changed, and now all its official correspon-
dcnce is carried ss1 in English. Italy and
some Of the other European countries use
French So did Germany until the anti
pathy between her and France became SO
bitter Since then her correspondence has
been in pure, hard German. The South
American countries all use Spanish, and
their official correspondence must al! be
translated"
"In what language are tho treaties writ
ten ?"
"ln the language Of the country with
which the treaty is made and in English.
Some of the old treaties have been rather
loosely translated, though there have been
no serious errors. Once in q while / have
to 90 back to the old correspondence and
treates of years ago. In this way can
see how the translations were made. Some
time since | had to go back some thirty
years to the official correspondence between
this country and the Argentine Confeder&-
| m a
| in the correspondence to those old days"
"Does the department ever receive per-
sonal letters?"
Yes quite often, AMI from al over the
world. Every President who has occupied
the White House since have been i'll Wash
inpton has received moro or less letters con-
tainiug advice or begging for something
Subjects of ether countries often write and
jtell the President how he should act. Many
| OF the foreign letters come from Germany,
and a man wrote from Holland the other
day advising President Cleveland to pay of
| the Confederate bonds.
"But puZzler was received some months
apo from Samoa. No Que could read it,
and we had about given it up when an
English translation was discovered. 1t was
pretty fair English, too. | have to make
an abstract OF the letters, which are sent to
the persons to whom they are directed
Some of them are answered and some are
not. We get good many letters from
| Germans living in this country. During
President Arthur's administration an old
man out West wrote to him asking the
President to pay of a mortgage on his farm.
Ho had gotten into difficulty, so he said,
through no fault of his own, and ho wanted
it fixed up. The second letter was filled
with threats, and the third was filled with
abuse After President Cleveland was in
augurated he wrote to him, but since no at
tention was paid to it he has stopped.
"During General Grants administration
some funny letters were received. One of
them was from woman who claimed that
her neighbor threw slop over her back yard
and she wanted it stopped. The slop throw
ing may be going on yet for all know.
There are so many incidents of this kind
that forget some of them. But theseletters
come from everywhere. One came from
Palestine the other day written in Hebrew.
The Turkish language stumps all of US,
though. But fortunately an English trans
lation accompanies it."-PiHsburg Chronicle.
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