The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1899-08-17
CROWD EXCITED.
Sensational Close of the Second
Open Session of the Drey-
fls Trial.
General Mercier, After Berating
the Prisoner, is Denounced
as a Liar.
Crowd Hoats and Curses the
Former War Minister as
He LeaVessgourt.

=
of the second open session of the Drey-
fus courtmartial opened tamely, and
the hopes of sensation which had
brought very large audience to the
hall of the Rennes lycee began to flag
as the morning wore on and matters be-
gan to get tedious, as M. Casimir-P erier
and General Mercier reiterated what is
already known. But this was only the
calm before the storm and when the
storm broke, it carried every one with
it into whirlpool of the widest ex-
element.
Dreyfus on entering the court saluted
the president with the same studied
mien as last Monday, and the president,
Colonel Jouaust returned the salute
and said
"Sit down Dreyfus.
The chair for the prisoner was placed
further to the right of platform. In
stead of facing the judges, Dreyfus sat
with his back to the table of his coun-
ga, Hkhs:l oeK1h acress .thec plaEfaIn}
straight at the RAD af which the a*it.
pssses stood. i,
On brsyfus being shown, by. Colonel
Jouanst, the document. found in the
lining of his, waistcoat by a'penitentiary
officer, he admitted keeping it as SOU
venir copy of the bordereau. He owned
to this calmly and without any trem-
bling of the voice. Then he listened
calmly to the reading of DR.. Ransom's
report by Major Carriere, the prose-
ottor, which occupied about 10 minutes.
NJ. De la Roche Vernet, one Of the
secretaries Of the French embassy at
Berlin, was then called. He is man
about IS years of age with heavy
brown mustache and was smartly
dressed. He testified regarding the
translation of the Panizzardi dispatch.
stirring scene at tho Close.
A stirring scene closed the days ses-
sion of the Dreyfus trial. General
Mercier had spoken nearly four hours
in ruthless. denunciation of Dreyfus,
who had listened unmoved until Mer-
cier concluded by saying that IL he had
not been convinced of the guilt Of Drey-
fus, and if the latters conviction had
not been fortified since 1894, he would
admit he had been mistaken. Dreyfus
jumped to his feet as though the words
had galvanized him into life and shouted
In Nlice which resouhded through the
halH he trumpet note: ~
"Yot have Lied, scoupdreir
The audience burst into wild cheer,
whereupon thea1shers called for silence.
But, when Mercier replied that he
would admit Dreyfus was innocent if
there was any doubt, the prisoner
shouted again: lsaH SO ast sa
why don't you thenf" I'd
At this there was another ousburst Of
applause. .st,.ssl s,l.s4z.s 4
M. Cassimir Perser thsn rose and dsa-
matically demanded to be confronted
with General Mercier, in order to deny
some Of his statements. u ~.
Cursed by the Crowd zas
Colonel Jouaust ordered the court 70
be adjourned until $3.50 a. m. for the
conformation, and as Meroier turned to
leave the court, the audience rose On
masse and Missed and CURSED him, those
at the back Of the court standing on
chairs and benches in order to better
hound him down.
The gendarmes placed themselves be-
tween the general and the audience,
who showed strong disposition to NAL
treat the former minister of war.
General Mercier hurried out Of tn.
court room through a side door, amid
fierce denunciations from the audience.
On emerging into the street, the
crowd outside cheered him and cried
"Vive PArmee"
"Ah," cried a spectator Of the scene
in court, ''if they had heard the inhu-
man monster speak they would not
cheer him now"