Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1885-07-14
SANyyANA THURMAN,
H"~ thc ohio Statesman Learned French
aud the Use of snuti.
Speaking of Senator Thurman. writ,

speaking Ot senator thurman, writes
a Washington correspondent to the
Cleveland Lcd,ier, John c. Thompson
| tells me he has moved into his new
| house at Columbus, and that he has re-
tired from public life. His chief amusc-
mcnt now is the reading of French
| novels in the original. senator Thur
man is one of the best French scholars
among the politicians and this recalls
to my mind the story have heard
somewhere as to how he got his knowl-
edge of the language.
senator Thurman learned French AS
boy in the little Ohio town of Chilli
cothc. and Il pretty romance clusters
around his requirement of IT, Mr..
| Thurman's father was Baptist preach
cr who. when his boy Allen was years
| old, moved from Lynchburg, Va, to
| Chilicothc. o., and there taught school
and started small woolcn manuiac-
tory. Shortly after this there came to
| ChillicOthe iine-lookiug old French.
man with daughter about the age of
Young Allen, and Aliens mother took
| the little French maiden into her house
| to live on condition that her father
| should teach Allen French. This
| frcnchmau. whose name was Monsieur
| Grrgoirc. had been educated by his
family for the priesthood, but had fall
en- in love at the time he was about to
take orders. and that with Il beautiful
girl whom his family considered be-
meath him. lie had left the church and
married her. and then finding things
rather uncomfortable about home had
invested in an estate of thousands Of
acres in Virginia. In due time this
daughter was born, and, after the state,
She was named Virginia. His wife died
in giving her birth, and after few
wears Of grief Gregoric determined to
come to his great estate in the new
world. When he arrived he found his
utopia tract of stony mountainous
land. worth nothing, and he had to 90
to work to keep himself alive. In do
ing this he drftcd To Chillicothe, aud
his daughter was taken into the Thur
man family. She did not understand
word of English, and Allen did not un-
= derstand a word of French. They
played together, and with his teaching
from the Erenchmau and his practice
with the daughter the boy soon became
3 quite Frcnchy. He kept up his studies
in after life, and French is now as easy
for him as English. Another amuse-
e ment o. Senator Thurman is the work
, iup out of mathematical problems. He
is one of the finest mathCmatlclans III
J Ohio. and he has been noted for his
skill in mathematics since he was hoy
and was nicknamed by his schoOImates
"rirht-anglcd triangle Thurman. He
g i also very fond of whist. and can not
I endure playing with green hand rs II
partner.
Allen &. Thurman is now ~ years
: old. and told me at Chicago that he had
never felt better in his life. and that his
stomach was Us strong as that Of an os-
trich He is. you know, the nephew Of
old Fog-Horn Allon, and during his
later years he and his uuclc guarreled
on account Of their Presidential amD-
, tuns. Mr.. Thurman has been prosi-
. dental quantity for ten years past, and
r at the Chicago convention his friends
wore rs their cOlors a red bandana
handkerchief about their hats and made
the Palmer house a bcdlam with their
cheers for Old Snuff, as they lovingly
called him. 1t was from the French
q teacher, above spoken OF, that Senator
4 | Thurman learned to take suuf. and he
has kept the practice up all his life. lie
: always uses red silk handkerchief to
r blow his nose or rs poIisher. and from
o this he gets his title, The Knight OF
the Red Bandana."
When Thurman first learned to take
snuff the practice was common, and
there was hardly q man in the United
states who was not addicted to It,
! Clay was an inveterate snuier, ano
there's a story that he once stopped il
.ne midst of an argument before tn,
supreme court, and stepping to th'
t front. asked Chief Justice Marshall TO,
, a pinch of snuff. Capt. Bassctt, tn,
venerable doorkccper OF the senate
tells me that there used to be snuff.
: box on the desk of the president Of the
4 senate, and one of the duties OF the
pages Of the past was going to this
r box and bringing a pinch Of snuff tc
!. different senators. Capt. Bassett was
a page when Van Burcn was vice pres
y ident, and Van Buren, gave him every
Il week 80 cents to buy snuff for his box
q The last week of his term he told Capt
Bassett to ill the box but forgot to pay
1t him, to this day. When Fillmore be
came vice president he grew disgustc,
with the senators rushing up to his dcsi
y in the midst Of speech to get pincl
J. from the vice presidents snull-box, ant
a he told Mr.. Bassett to buy two and pu
them on each side Of the desk in tn,
l. recesses Of the wall. Mr.. Bassett die
e this, and the snulf-boxes are kept ther,
and kept filed to this day. n the in
cidental expenses Of the senate yol
may see the item of the cost Of tn,
snuff which the senate uses. 1t is
:, small item now, and there are very few
senators who use the titillatiDg powder
is Joe Brown snufis. Edmuuds adds to tn,
n redness Of his own nose by taking
pinch now and then, and bluff old W adj
z Hampton and Senator Beck take al
v occasional snecze.