Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1899-09-21
LIEUTENANT COLONEL plcoUAI,r,

>,&:sssSSssNAt n
LIEUTENANT COLONEL PlcoIARr.
ed TO have been written by Colonel Won
Schwarzkoppep. the military attache of
the German legation.
All the world knows of the disgracaful
scenes in the Zola trials, the attacks
made upon him in and out of court. the
assaults upon Hebrews and the crop of
ducls.
The next step resulted in Colonel Pic
quarts arrest. He appeared in the cham
Der of deputies, where he declared that
the zee camille" letter was a forgery.
After he was thrown into prison Colonel
Henry was given his place at the head
Of the secret service department.
Then the affair dragged along. Zola's
second trial and the resulting exile the
was fined 5000 francs and sentenced to
six months imprisonment on the first
triaD kept matters alive.
Some time after came the news of the
arrest of Colonel Henry on the charge Of
forging the secret document which con-
victed Captain Dreyfus. Fast upon tho
heels of this came the news of his suicide
with razor which he had been allowed
to keep for the purpose. Then the re-
visionists took hope once more.
Excitement following Henry suicide
had not subsidized when the dismissal Of
General Boisdeffre as chief of staff was
announced. Then came the dismissal Of
Nj. Cnvaignac as'ipinister of war and the
suspension of Dn Patty de Clam from ac-
tive duty. Nine. Alfred Dreyfus made
formal demand upon the keeper of seals
for Il revision of her husbands convic-
ton, and General Zurlinden, who had
succeeded Cavaignac, was relieved. Cha
noine took his place. and EstcrhnZy dis
appeared mysteriously. Just prior to
these falls from grace. on Sept. 20, 1893,
the council of the cabinet directed the
court of cessation to investigate and re-
port upon the propriety of granting Drey-
fus new trial. In May, 1899. the court
decreed that Dreyfus had been convicted
Illegally and was entitled to another
court martial. On the third day of July,
1899. Dreyfus reached France. and his
second trial opened on Aug. 4. with Colo
mel Jouaust, director in the engineer
corps, rs president. General the Marquis
de Gallifet, an 7uncompromisingly honor
able man, had in the meantime become
minister of war, and the conspirators
soon came to realize that no more nom
sense would be tolerated.
Dreyfus' lawyers in his second trial
We're Maitre Demunge, who had defend
ed him when he was first accused, and
AIaitre Labor. whose conduct of the
Zola case made him famous. The latter
was given entire charge of matters. nl-
though for The first week or so Demange
was unassisted owing to the fact that
Labor was shot down on his way to
court. His recovery and his subsequent
brilliant and merciless handling of the
titled conspirators was one of the most
sensational features of the trial.
The first days proceedings We're public
The prisoner was arraigned and declared
his innocence. The bordereau was shown
him, but lie declared he had not written
it. 1t was a long and searching exam
nation, touching his acquaintance with
Esterhazy, Colonel Henry and his alleged
dealings with representatives of foreign
governments. j
General MERCER was the first promi-
nent army man to testify. He stated
that he had become thoroughly convinced
of the guilt of Dreyfus and explained
that his opinion was based principally
upon the conviction that .Dreyfus had
written the bordereau. His opinion re-
manned the same despite Esterhazy's con-
fession that he G1sterhazy) had written
1t. He also intimated that Oasimir-Pe-
rier, president of France at the time, was
fully cognizant of everything that had
been done and made no objection. Cas-
imir-Perier demanded to be confronted
with Mercier and denied emphatically
that the true facts of the case had been
stated to him. He also stated that Lee
brun- Renault, the captain who testified
that Dreyfus had made partial confess
sion to him, had <falsified the truth and
that Dupuy, the then premier. was pres
ent ut the interview. When Dupuy had
questioned the captain as to the cause Of
his presence there. the latter had said
that chad been sent down to the presi-
dent by Mercier to receive dressing
down" for his indiscreet disclosures to
the Figaro newspaper. Casimir- Perier
also denied the assertion of the general
staff that the country at the time had
been on the verge OF war with Germany.
MERCER admitted that an explanation
of the secret dossier, had been prepared,
but that he was unable to produce it, as
it had been destroyed. He felt that he
had a right to do this, as the document
had been prepared for his personal use.
M. Lebon, former minister Of the colo
MES. after admitting that the story Of
| the horrible treatment accorded to Drey-
| fus on Devils island was correct, said
that he had been ordered by his superiors
to adopt course of the utmost rigor.
This WAS the only point in the trial at
which DSeyfus wept.
Nine. Henry, the widow Of the colonel