The Wheeling intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1903-1961, 1918-12-28
Georges Benjamin Clemenceau, Prime Min
lister Of France

elder Clemenceau's liberty. and as he
was being led away handcuffed to
prison. his little son whispered into
his ear. Never mind. papa. l will
avenge YOU"
If you walt to arense me. work!
was the somewhat cryptic reply.
At that period. except for his revo-
lutionary tendency. there was nothing
in Georges's activities to justify hope
Of his future greatness. OF all her
children. Georges was accounted. by
his mother, the least promising
At sixteen he knew scarcely more
than any normal boy OF twelve. al
though 1t Is said that he made an CT
fort to master the English language
about that time. Another boy had
told him the story of Robinson Cru
soe;" and 10 be able to read It In
its entirety and without the Glaring
hiatusss which he felt that his COM
panlon's narrative contained, he set
about to acquire the authors own
language.
When he attained his seventeenth
year his sudden mental awakening
was almost startling in It's effect. He
began to read omnivorously and. as
he had developed an amazingly reten.
tive memory, he remembered nearly
all he read.
At nineteen he went to Paris TO
study medicine. He lived il the Quar-
tie- Latin. and his room was the rem
devious for kindrcd-Spiritcd revolu.
tionaries. Hiddeng there. too, was a
small printing press. from which a
constant stream of anti-kingcraft
pamphlets was poured forth. ColIab-
Grating with Emile Zola and Jules
Malige. he published 1 small newspa-
per. Travail" r'Worli'D, which landed
all three into the A1azas Prison.
Seeks Fortune in America
Some weeks later. when they were
released, young Clemcnccaus high
spirit vented itself in Il shout Of '+vive
Ia Republlque."' in one Of the busy
streets OF Paris. An uneGuivocal hint
was thereupon dropped from official
sources that. perhaps tho air of
America might suit his health better
than that Of France. lie had already
obtained his degree Of NJ. D.. and so,
without further delay and equipped
with no assets beyond sufficient money
TO pay for his way across, and
boundless ambition. he set sail for
America.
He lived for while In West Twelfth
street. New York city, eking out a
precarious existence by practicing
medicine. He had plenty OF spare
time and a great deal Of this he spent
at the Aston Library. storing his mind
with literary and philosophical treas
ures Of antiquity and the scientific
discoveries of modern times. And. in
return. hd bestowed upon the great
library. which has since become
merged with the Tildcn and the Lenox
Libraries into the. great Public Library
OF New York, a small volume entitled.
LIE ID GenerallOn QcS Elements
and bearing the follow
ing inscriptions:
Presented TO the Aston Library, by
the author. New York, October IL,
1857. G.. Clemcnceau."
1t was tho thesis with which he had
won his doctors diploma in 1865.
Recognition Of his ability AS a ply
stclan was too slow for so ardent and
impatient q nature, which cravcd for
quick results.
Accordingly. having heard that
young ladies' academy in Stamford.
Conn. was looking for a competent
teacher of the French language and
literature, he applied. was accepted and
without the least regrets closed up his
New York office to enter upon the new
career.
1t was Il .fateful step. Among the
pupils was Mary Plummer, New
York heiress. for whom the eloquent
projections o. the new professor had