Worcester morning daily spy. (Worcester, Mass.) 1888-1898, 1898-02-09
lola SURROUND
Citizens Threatened the French
Novelist With Violence.
Police by Mistake Locked Zols in Court
Yard With An Angry Mob Composed
of His Enemies.

from the jury door, this afternoon, after
his trial He was obliged to seek refuge
in the robing rooms, the doors of which
were locked after he had entered.
The crowd remained outside, yelling
Spit on lola" etc, led by a number of
young barristers, in their robes, who
roughly handled Mr.. zola's sympathiz-
ers Until detachment of republican
guards cleared the approaches to the
court
| M. lola then emerged, pale and trem-
bling, and the moment he appeared on
the steps leading to the court yard,
! there was an immense clamor and
shouts of Down with Zolar' Long live
lola" and Death to Zolap' the last
| cry dominating the others.
The novelist, with his few friends,
had difficulty in keeping his feet amid
the surging crowd.
| In the meanwhile the police, misun-
Outstanding their orders, closed the
! gates, and NJ lola thus found himself
inside the court yard, surrounded by a
| bowling, threatening mob. The police
were powerless, and for a moment it
looked as though Zola would be
| lynched with the friends who formed
his bodyguard
Eventually the gates were reopened
J and the police, having been reinforced,
! escorted NJ. lola to the street, while the
majority of the mob was confined in
| the court yard, shrieking threats
against the novelist as he entered a cab
and drove away.
| The women in the crowd We're es-
pecially violent. A man WHO clleered
for lola was set upon by a mob which
| hustled him to the st. Michel bridge,
! where it tried to throw him into the
river Seine, but the police saved him
| The crowd remaining in the court
yard greeted M. Rochefort's exit with
great cheers for France and the army
The session itself today Of the trial Of
| Emile lola and NJ. Perreux, manager
| of the Aurore, in which Zola's denounce-
ment of the Esterhazy court martial
| appeared, was the scene of many I'M
usual demonstrations and episodes more
or less dramatic.
The entrance of NJ. lola was the signal
for an outburSt, during which the few
cries of 'Vive zola!" were drowned by
shouts of "a bas ZolaI' The crowd
| pushed and hustled and ladies climbed
upon the benches recklessly, in order
to avoid the crushing.
The presiding judge, NJ. de Legorgue,
read letter from Maj. Count Ester
4AebHys III WHICH Tie ldIIeF refused TO
testify. Thereupon NJ Laborie, counsel
| for NJ. Zola, insisted that Esterhazy
| should be brought to court by force.
| The court admitted the claims of the
defense, and also decided that Gen.
MERCER, the former minister of war,
and Mai Patty du Clam should be re-
summoned.
| today M. Laborie asked what she
thought of M. Zola's good faith, and
whether she could say under what cir
cumstances she was informed by Mai.
Patty du Clam, in 1894, of her husbands
arrest. The judge declined to put the
last question.
M. lola here rose and cried: ST desire
the same treatment as the assassin or
the thief They have always the right
to defend themselves. You see, gentle
men of the jury, the position I am in. I
wish to have my witnesses heard, but
am prevented"
'But do you not know the law?" the
judge asked M. lola.
mo, I don't know, and I don't want
to know" was the reply.
The scene caused great excitement
among the spectators and NJ. Laborie
interviewed and demanded that the
questions be put to the witness.
The judge answered: 81 will enter
your protest If you desire, but I cannot
put questions which are foreign to the
Indictment, in order to arrive at re-
vision Of the Dreyfus case, which has
already been determined"
NJ. Laborie then proposed to submit a
list of questions, leaving the court to
indicate which of them might be put,
and the session was suspended in order
to allow the questions to be drawn up.
On the resumption of the session of
the court, NJ. Laborie presented a state
oIa;y fu1,f 20 ocIy
DreyfIls certain questions in the inter-
ests of justice.
The advocate general, M. Van Cassel,
argued that the court could not rejudge
facts already legally decided, and turn
ing to M. Zola he exclaimed: You say
you don't know the law and don't want
to know it. Well, we do know the law
and will have it respected, with the aid
of the jury in which we have the most
complete confidence.
The apostrophe delivered in the most
vehement manner, evoked marks of APP
prevail NJ. Laborie responded with
great warmth.
Finally NJ. lola said he would submit
to the law, and to justice, adding: 81 do
not revolt against the law. What want, |
gentlemen, is that you should end your
hypocritical schemes"
This was greeted with shouts of
Bravo bravo" and murmurs of dis
sent. The court then decided against
the defense, saying that no question
not contained in the indictment would
be allowed.
M Leblois, a lawyer, and a witness |
for the defendants, testified that he and
Col. Piequart were old friends. When |
Piquart was connected with the war |
Intelligence department, he consulted !
the witness on certain grave matters he
had unearthed in connection with the
faft. OF oY,d
regard to which he had received menac-
ing letters. When doubts on the Drey-
fus matter arose, M. Scheurer-Kestner
questioned the witness, and the witness
gave him certain information, including
letters which Gen. Come wrote to Col. |
Picquart, which convinced M. Scheurer-
Kestner of the innocence of Dreyfus.
NJ. Scheurer-Kestner, a senator and |
former vice president of the. senate, who
was next examined, said he learned last
July that Col. Picquart had discovered
that Bordereau had not been written by
Dreyfus, and he submitted Maj. Ester
Hays handwriting to M. Bertillon who
agreed that it was in the same hand as
the Bordereau.
NJ Scheurer-Kestner sketched the
contents of the letters in which Col.
Picquart wrote that fresh facts had been
discovered which would he eagerly
seized upon by the Dreyfusians, which
would create great scandal.
There was much stir in court when it
was announced that NJ. Casimir- Perier,
the former president Of the French re-
public, would be the next witness. When
he was called. the presiding Judge said;
"You swear to speak without animus
and fear, and to- speak the truth and
nothing but the truth"
NJ. Casimir-Perier, at this point, in
terrupted the Judge, saying: Pardon
me. I cannot swear to tell the truth,