The Washington critic., 1885-07-08
Mr.. THURMAN AT HOME.
Glimpse at the Ohio Senator in Pri
waite Life.

a Glimpse at the Ohio Senator in Pri-
waite Life.
Speaking of Senator Thurman, writes
Cleveland correspondent John G.. Thomp-
son tells me he has moved into his new
house at Columbus and that he has retired
from public life His chief amusement
now is the reading of French novels in
the original Senator Thurman Is one of
the best French scholars among the poll
ticians, and this recalls to my mind the
story have heard somewhere as to how
he got his knowledge of the language.
Senator Thurman learned French as u
boy in the little Ohio town of ChIllicothe
and pretty romance clusters around his
acquirement of 1T. Mr.. Humans father
was q Baptist preacher, who, when his
boy Allan was years old, moved from
Lynchburg, Va, to Chillicothe, Ohio and
there taught school and started a small
woolen mandatory. Shortly after this
there came TO Chilllcothe tine-loolSing
old Frenchman, with daughter about
the age of young Allan, and Allan's
mother took the little French maiden into
her house to live on condition that her
father should teach young Allan French.
This Frenchman, whose name was Mon
sieur Gregoire, had been educated by his
family for the priesthood, but had fallen in
love at the time he was about to take holy
orders and that with beautiful girl, whom
his family considered beneath him. He
bad 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 years of grief Gregoire determined to
come TO his great estate in the new world.
When he arrived he found his Utopia u
track of stony, mountainous land, worth
nothing, and he had to work to keep him
self alive. In doing this he drifted to
Chillicothe, and his daughter was taken
understand a word of English and Allan
did not understand n word of French.
They played together, and with the teach
ing from the Frenchman and mis- practice
with the daughter the boy soon became
quite Frenchy. He kept up his studies in
after life, and French is now as easy with
him as English. Another amusement of
Senator Thurman is the working out of
mathematical problems. He is one of the
finest mathematicians i'm Ohio and has
been noted for his skill in mathematics
since he was boy, and was nicknamed
by his schoolmates "Right-angled Triangle
Thurman" He is also very fond of whist
and cannot endure playing with green
hand as a partner.
Allan G. Thurman is now y years old
and he told me at Chicago that he had
never felt better in his life and that his
stomach was as strong as that of an ostrich.
He is, you know, the nephew of old Fog
Horn Allen, and during his later years he
and his uncle quarreled on account of
their Presidential ambitions. Mr. Thur
man has been Presidential quantity for
ten years past, and at the Chicago Conven-
ton his friends wore as their colors red
bandanna handkerchief about their hats
and made the Palmer House a bedlam
with their cheers for Old Snuff, as they
lovingly called him. 1t was from this
French teacher above spoken of that Sen
ator Thurman learned to take snuff, and
he has kept the practice up all his life.
He always uses red silk handkerchief to
blow his nose or as polisher, and from
this he gets his title, 1.-THE Knight of the
Red Bandanna."