The record-union., 1899-08-31

Plcot, a member of the institute, had
testified in favor of Dreyfus, General
Deloye testified against the prisoner on
the artillery references in the bor-
dereau.
The evidence of MN. Meyer, Molinier
and Giry, who are handwriting experts
of the first rank, was a strong point
for Dreyfus They were most emphatic
in declaring the bordereau was writ
ten by Esterhazy, and created better
impression than NJ. Bertillon.
General Mercier asked to be allowed
TO reply to M. Molinier. and then con-
firming the professors statement that
Esterhazy had changed his handy1it-
ing since 1894, puzzled the audience.
That Esterhazy should have deemed it
advisable to change his handwriting
since the date of the bordereau which
appears at first sight to indicate that
he wrote it, and that General Mercier
should support NJ Molinier, aroused
discussion as to its import There are
some people who see in Mercier's un-
solicited testimony yesterday in sup
port of the honorable nature of NJ. Mat
thieu Dreyfus visit to Colonel Sand
herr in 1894 in behalf of his brother,
dication of some change of attitude,
perhaps a prelude to candid avowal of
his mistakes of 1894 On the other
hand, many persons think General
Mercier, fearing that Saturdays ex-
posure will discredit him altogether
with the Judges, has conceived the idea
of giving way on certain points, which,
moreover. are almost incontestible, and
thus, to some extent, reinstate himself
by an affection of impartiality.
NJ Picot related an interesting con-
versation which he had with the Aus
tro-Hungarian military attache Col
onel Schneider. mention of whose name
evoked a prompt protest from Major
Carriere in the name of the government
and the State. Colonel Schneider, ac-.
cording to this witness. admitted that
Esterhazy acted as a spy and wrote
the bordereau.
General Roget, with his usual
shrewdness. seized upon M. Picot's
statement that Colonel Schneider ex-
pressed astonishment that French Off
GERS should have had the bad taste to
question the word of foreign officers to
mount the platform and make a short
speech in defense of the attitude of
the French officers. concluding with the
remark: Il intervened because when
French officers are attacked they have
the right to defend themselves"
These words will be published all
over France and will tend to make
General Roget more popular with the
army.
General Deloye repeated his testi-
mony before the Court of Cessation re-
lating to the 120 short cannon hydro
pneumatic brake and the Robin she'll
Dreyfus, in reply. made a really clear
statement. explaining that he saw the
hydro pneumatic brake once at
Bourges once at the school of war,
and that he never saw it used because,
While on the general staff, he was
never present at firing practice
Major Carriere then made application
to have the court sit behind closed
doors tomorrow, explaining that he
desired TO submit to the court certain
documents prepared by the gunnery
bureau. containing information which
it was not desirable to discuss in
public.
The Court. after deliberation, granted
the application. and also acceded to the
request of the defense that their wit
ness, Major Hartmann of the artillery,
be allowed to be present, as he would
give important testimony showing that
Dreyfus could not have written the
paragraphs in the bordereau concern
ing artillery
Following are the proceedings in de-
tail:
The first witness to-day, M. Paul
Meyer, member of the Institute and Di-
rector of the School of Ancient Manu-
scripts, described his researches in the
Dreyfus case which led to his convic-
ton that the bordereau was not only
in Esterhazy's handwriting, but was
actually written by Esterhazy The
witnesses explained that in his evidence
before the Assizes Court he was unable
to be so positive in regard to the writer
because he had only seen a fac sirnile
of the bordereau, but at the Court of
Cessation he saw the original.
Il convinced myself" said NJ Meyer.
''by a magnifying glass. that the bor-
dereau was written in a free hand and
without hesitation, whereas it is pre-
cisely hesitation in the formation of
strokes which reveals the method of
tracing. 1 can affirm that it is in the
hazy. This is perfectly clear to me"
(Commotion.)
At the conclusion OF his testimony,
the witness gave a demonstration OF the
fallacy of the Bertillon system.
Professor Auguste Molinier of the
School of Ancient Manuscripts. gave
similar evidence. He said that each
fresh examination of the bordereau
only served to further convince him
that it was the work of Esterhazy.
Amid deep attention the witness dem
onstrated how the conclusions of the
experts who attributed the borderaau
to Dreyfus were mutually destructive.
and dwelt upon the defects of NJ Bar-
tillon's arguments, pointing out the
striking resemblance of the alleged doe
tored handwriting with Esterhazy's
writing, who, he added, in everybodv's
opinion. had relations with Colonel
Schwarzkoppen, the former German
Military Attache at Paris, and the dis
similarities between the writing of the
bordereau and that of the prisoner
The members of the court-martiaI
were evidently much interested. and
asked Professor Molinier a number of
questions, to which he replied. holding
his conclusion that Esterhazy was the
writer of the bordereau.
General MERCER requested to speak,
and called attention to the fact that in
his testimony before the Court of Cas-
sation Professor Molinier said a change
was apparent in Esterhazy's writing
after 1894, and asked that the Pro
fessor's former evidence be read.
M. Labori, leading counsel for the