The San Francisco call., 1899-09-05

! tache of the German embassy In ParlS IN
1894 whose movements were coincident
with those described as the movements
of the officer in Cernuschis deposition.
Now, this evidence is of transcendental
Importance to the prosecution, and 1t IS
incredible, unless Cernuschi is proved to
/ be a humbug, that the Government COM
missary. Major Carrtere, should have ad-
mitted that he had received q letter from
| him Offering important testimony and
thrown 1t aside on the ground Of Its com
Hg from political refugee The de}R0
that, although the witness said he
69gd not speak fJeneh Tapanst any
an opportunity to. testify was drawn
up in perfect French. He explained that
he had been assisted by his wife in writ
This introduction of foreigner as q
witness tor the prosecution gave Mo La.
bon an opportunity to S submit ns the ,b1ocS most
out The trial-a request which, II granted
by Colonel Jouaust, though this Is ex-
tremely doubtful certainly would have
momentouS consequences.
NJ. Labori announced his intention, in
view of the step taken by the prosecution
inquiry should be made through the reg
ular diplomatic channels as TO whether
the documents mentioned in the bordereau
were actually communicated and, If so,
! by whom. This involves an application
tc the German Government which the
Court partial is scarcely likely TO ap-
prove. In any case the application means
the lengthening of the trial for several
weeks.
The introduction of Cernuschi and the
other developments Of the day, 1t is gen
orally predicted, imply another fortnight's
sitting at the least Cernuscht will be
heard tomorrow behind closed doors. AT
the same time there probably will be
an examination of the secret. dossier, to
which Captain Cuignet referred this
morning and which NJ Labori immediate
ly asked to have produced in court. This
CT Of tI1r11 or
uments, and 1t is difficult to see why, if
| they had any value, the etat major have
not had them produced earlier. The. etat
major are not in the habit of holding
! back documents calculated to prove of
the slightest service to their cause, as
Is shown in the case Of the note concern
ing NJ Hadamard's doubts of the inno-
cence OF his cousin, which was incorrect,
but was nevertheless included in Sc
cret dossier, while the important docu
ment stating, on the authority of the
French Minister to Rome, that an Italian
military attache paid Esterhazy 100000
francs was studiously omitted from the
the Italian attache did not pay ESterhazy
such a sum on account Of, as the French
| say, his beautiful eyes, and the document
was the best evidence that Esterhazy is
the traitor. Nevertheless the etat major
carefully kept this out of view.
M. Painleve, the distinguished mathe-
latter's falsified version of NJ. Hadamard's
remarks concerning. Captain Dreyfus and
the manner in which Gonse sQuirmed and
his woe-begone appearance almost
aroused pity for him. General Roget also
appeared to begin to feel at last the
cruel strokes the etat major have been re-
ceiVing of late. He showed naught of his
cruel, brazen front to-day. On the con-
trary his face was quite livid when he
left the stage after a very poor display,
and he quilted the courtroom as soon as
the proceedings were over, excusng him
self to his brother generals MERCER and
others of higher grade. on the ground
The session ended with an exposure by
M. Hennion, chief Of the Paris detectives,
of the disgraceful tactics of the etat ma
Jor in suppressing his report in favor of
Captain Dreyfus and inserting a docu-
ment more or less unfavorable to him.
Dreyfus began to-day, with the largest
attendance seen in the Lycee. The inter-
est in the trial grows as the denouement
approaches. Six to ten days is given as
the outside limit for the further duration
of the trial. There was an exceptionally
large number of ladies present to-day,
their bright costumes giving a gay look
to the courtroom.
The session opened very interestingly
with the appearance of the witness NJ.
CernuSchi. He was dressed in q brown
lounging suit. His features are unpre-
possessing, and, in fact, his general ap-
pearance did very little credit to the Ser
Wan royal house, to which it is alleged
he belongs. His letter to Colonel Jouaust
offering his testimony stated that, hav-
ing been mixed up in political troubles in
Austria Hungary, he has been obliged to
seek refuge in France, where he had a
friend who was high official of the For
eign Office of a central European power.
This friend, the witness said, told him
that certain foreign agents in France
might denounce him, the first name men
toned being that of Dreyfus. Another
foreign officer, foreign general of staff,
similarly warned him. One day the wit
ness said, when he was visiting the lat
ter, he saw him take from his pocket a
voluminous packet containing the mill
tary documents. The officer said that in
France one could buy anything, adding,
What is the good Of Jews If you don't
use them"
Being asked If he ascertained the name
of the traitor in this case, M. Cernuschi
replied:
No; because the officer had already
said Dreyfus was his informant"
This answer, and the tone in which it
credulity among the audience. Major
Carriere, representing the Government,
asked the court to hold further examina-
ton of this witness behind closed doors,
in view of the diplomatic side Of his testi-
mony.
NJ Labori then announced that since the
prosecution had summoned the aid of for
eign officers he intended to make applica-
ton to have complete steps taken through
foreign channels to ascertain whether the
documents mentioned in the bordereau
We're delivered to a foreign power, and If
so by whom. This announcement, if
Colonel Jouaust consents to the applica
ton, will nave most important conSe-
quences. The words of M. Labori created
a deep impression, as they made it evil
dent that counsel for the defense was on
the warpath to-day.
The second witness called to-day was
NJ Andre, clerk to NJ. Bertullus, Judge of
the Court of Cessation, who received the
confession of the late Lieutenant Colonel
Henry M Andre deposed that he over
heard Lieutenant Colonel Henry exclaim:
Don't insist, l beg of you. The honor
of the army must be saved before every
| thing.
The next important witness was the
well known mathematician, M. Painleve,
who began by tearing M Bertillon's sys-
tenn of augmentation to pieces. M. Pain
leve then entered upon personal topic,
which quickly won him the close atten-
ton of the audience and brought on
dramatic scene, which kept the specta-
tors in state of excitement until he
finally left the bar. M. Painleve referred
to his evidence before the Court of Cas-
sation. and protested vehemently against
the version given by General Gonse of a
conversation with M. Hadamard, cousin
of Dreyfus, in which NJ. Hadamard eX
pressed belief in the guilt of Dreyfus.
| Never" exclaimed the witness, did
NJ Hadamard doubt the innocence Of mis-
| cousin"
General Gonse asked to be heard and
mounted the stage. After declaring that
the whole matter was insignificant. Cen
eral Gonse insinuated that the. faith of