 He was considered very strong in Mathematics and he spoke not only French and German with which, as an Alsatian, he was equally familiar from childhood, but also in English.His own account of himself was, that he had entered upon the business life, for which he had been so carefully educated, in Paris, where he and his brother were put in charge of the "dépôt" of the family establishment at Mulhouse.He was thrown out of business by a commercial misfortune, and then he began to support himself by giving lessons in Chess at the "Café de la Régence".