The Portland daily press., 1899-08-26
WHAT Is 4 DOssIERl
a crumb from the Bakery OF Forgotten
Journalisn,.


public than the doesler. Let ME explain,
brethren.
! had nsver heard OF the tiossiei until
the last week Of the bloody episode Of
the Commune MAY, 1871. Paris was In
flames Citizens were being shot down
in the streets by the thousand. Literally
week previous to this final act however,
the Palace of the Tuileries had been
sacked and the Chamber Of the Archives
had been Quilted. This Chamber OF the
Archives contained whit Is known in the
French capitol as dossiers. They were
contained In huge sets Of pigeon holes,
where documents relating to each case
were carefully folded. Endorsed and tied
up in bundles. according to the French
fashion Of neat regularity.
When the Palace Of the Tuilsries was
sacked the A merican section Of these
archives was plundered by French com
munist officer, who had married an
American girl (married or not. je ne sails
pas). happened to be acquainted during
my bohemian life In Paris with the
mother of this girl. She was one OF those
nameless characters that you see around
the capitals Of Europe. and with no APP
parent means Of livelihood, as she had
passed the limit where the nd dresses of
men would afford her compensation. In
fact, she lived by her wits, but she was
not by any means witiess woman.
happened TO learn that she had what was
known as the American collection of dos.
siers. Then on the New York Herald, my
chief being DIR. G. w. Hosner, we agreed
that 1t would be an important thing, both
as q matter OF news and interest, to get
hold OF this American collection, which
she held safely guarded. With this I'M :
derstanding made rendezvous with
the woman. found that 5000 francs
(Si0C0) would produce the bundle that we
wanted. The negotiation was swiftly
carried TO contamination, and DIR. Hos
mer and sat up for two mortal days and
nights splitting our sides with what
Did phools Americans can be when
they want TO, from high dignitnries down
to oranks.
The particular American dossier to
which ! will refer now was letters adj
dressed to the Emperor from American
doctors. many of when wers Of national
standing. as to how to get an heir to the
throne. This, Of course, was before the
Prince Imperial was born, and If some Of
those writers were to be taken literally
the suggestion that we found would be
that the Em error would have nothing to
uO peEnuhiiy Win prObhSdbluB MS ituo.
Among other letters were those Of a
celebrated journalist, Fred Schwab; Ger.
DIX. minister to France during the en-
pire and hundreds OF others that repre-
sented themselves to the Emperor In
very ridiculous lights, all hoping for i'm
perial favors, Mt time when the Frence
court was the most brilliant, and, at the
same tim e, the most dissolute In Europe.
The late DIR. Evans, dentist, whose for.
tune, amounting to millions. has been a
matter of public speculation figured large
ly with sage advice to Napoleon l.
1t is enough to say that these were as
founding chapters to DIR. Hosmer and
myself, and with tho impetuosity of
youth believed in publishing the whole
thing, but Hosmer. with his kind heart
and executive discretion, said sNo." A
couple of pages In the Herald was enough
only a few of the clean and the curious
and the indicative were put into print
Now, this Is what u dossier means In
France; That you cannot write TO O
French official tha5 he does not preserve
every fragment of your handwriting evsn
to the envelope. 1t seems to be inbred in
the Gaul. FlippEnt things, dear Forman,
that you would throw into the waste has
ket ara carefully packed AWAY and in
dorsed, and they constitute what is
known as dossier. II, In an unguarded
moment, you were to give jocose letter
20 crank introducing him TO the Presi-
dent OF the French republic and the said
Drank were to deliver same It would be-
fully inscribed and filed away.
1t Was stated by Labor in the Dreyfus
the German Embassy, written by Colonel
Won Schwarzkoppen, the German Military
Attache. to Estarhazy inviting him to
call. 1t was torn up, the writer having
changed his mind about sending 1t. This
Esterhazy contends is a forgery.
The Weyler Letter. - A forged letter,
nominating Dreyfns sent TO the War
Office. Author, probably DE Clam.
"Ce Canaille de D--.''-A phrase In
one of the.documents of the secret dossier.
Does not refer to Dreyfus, bnt to q subor-
dinate, whoss name is said to be known
to the French War Otfice.
The document Liberateur. I'm other
words. that beginning "Ce oannailie de
d., was the famous one which
Esterhazy threatened Felix Faure he
would disclose. aunleHs protected against
Piequart he alleged it had been stolen
by Picquart for a foreign embassy. Es-
terhazy eventually returned it to the War
Office, after 1t had served Its purpose.
Lieutenant Colonel Picquart Former
head OF the intelligence department. took
up the carse OF Drey fus on the ground of
insufficiency of evidence, ard also pro-
duced the famous petit bleu (teiegram,)
alleged to have been written to Estefhazy
by the German Attache. Colonel Won
Schwarzkoppen, making an appointment,
but then torn up and the pieces thrown
into the waste paper basket, whence they
were removed by secret agents. He was
removed from the army and imprisoned
on charge OF forging the petit bleu him
self. Since liberate d. The Bayard of
the "Affaire."
NJ. Zola.--The novelist, published his
now famous letter of accusation ("J'Ao-
cuse") against the entire French general
staff. accusing them, in point OF fact. of
a gigantic conspiracy to convict Dreyfus.
Put on trial, convicted, fined, and .sen-
tenoed to Imprisonment. He appealed
and his sentence was quashed. Again
prosecuted, but on a sentence lin his arui-
Gle which barred any reference to the
Dreyfus case. Hence he permitted judg-
ment to go by default. and, being con-
deinned, left the country, appealed. and
lived In England, returning only recently
to France. His celebrated denunciation
is now proved to have been founded on
bsolute truth.
Commandant Forzinetti director of
the Cherche Midi Prison, where Dreyfus
was first confined. He denied the prison
err made any confession, and eventually,
for affirming belief In his Innocence,
fall tnfa fiieuraoa