The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1899-08-18
Added to the Bloody List Connected With
the Dreyfus Prosecution.
DEFENDANTS ATTORNEY SHOT
NJ. Labor Stricken Down by an Assassin While o n His WAY to the
Place of Trial-An Accomplish Searches His Pockets and Takes
off the Contents-The Wounded Man Doing Well at Last
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Over the Assassination.
Yesterdays Proceedings of the Court-Casi.
mir-Perier and Mercier Confronted.

marked the rise of the curtain on the
Dreyfus drama this morning. NJ. La
bori, ~counse for the accused and the
man on whom the defense had relied
for the demolition Of General Mer-
cier's testimony, was shot from am
bush on his way to the court soon after
6 o'clock.
His assailants, of whom there were
two, escaped, and it is impossible yet
to say whether NJ. Labori's name will
have to be added to the list of strange
deaths that already p~unctuate this
mysterious romance.
1t was announced about the close Of
court today that NJ. Labor might live.
The wound in the lower part of the
back is serious, however, and even
should he recover, he nay be par
TALLY paralyzed.
Madame Labori, his wife, is with him
constantly, although almost Frustrated
by the shock. The stalwart counsellor
has borne his intense suffering man
fully. His first word after being shot
was to send a message to suspend the
sitting Of the court.
The excitement caused at the Lycec
was intense, as might be we'll imagined,
under the intense strain of factional
hatred and it was necessary at one
time for the gendarmes to interpose
between the excited spectators who
precipitated a fight in the court room.
| The attack on Dreyfus through the
| person of his most effective counsellor,
was wholly unexpected, as was shown
by the lack Of precautions against it.
| How seriously it may affect the pr1S-
| oner's nance before the court is yet
! doubtful, but it is sure to renew the
! high tension between the opposing fac
tions both at n n Paris. What
| added factor of sympathy it may
| arouse for the defense is also uncer-
tain, but so deep is the hatred on both
| sides that the factions'will not be prone
| to weigh the means by which their
| ends are attained.
SCENE OF THE ATTACK.
M. Labor and his wife left his house
| for the court at about 6 o'clock this
| morning. His residence is situated in
the suburbs of the town about a quar-
ter of an hours walk from the Lycee,
the route being along a solitary roai
beside the river Vilaine.
Just before the outrage his wife turn
ed back, having forgotten her card of
/ W I1AS AAi( SAS "oN
gone M. Labor met Colonel PicQuart
n M. CAST. Immediately afterward,
while passing a narrow lane, two men
sprang from behind the hedge and,
one, placing a pistol close to his vic
TINS back, fired, turned and fled down
the lane and across the fields. The
murderer, or murderers, for accounts
differ as to whether there was one
man or two, was pressed by NJ. Cast
and Colonel Picquart. They were both
too old and heavy to OVertake him and
soon returned, leaving chase to the
crowd that had been attracted.
HIS WIFE GIVES THE NEWS.
His wife arrived while M. Labori was
lying on the ground and Colonel Pic
quart and M. Cast were pursuing the
murderer. M. Labori said to his wife:
go to court and ask to suspend the
sitting"
Madame Labor ran into the court
gave the news that her husband had
been shot and ran back to him. She
sat down on the ground beside her hus-
band and took his head in her lap.
The shot had been heard 200 yards
away from the avenue de la Care
where a crowd had gathered, as usual
to witness the arrival of the principal
~personages connected with the court
martial. These spectators ran in the
direction of the spot where the shoot
ing had occurred, followed by gen
darmes on horseback.
When DR.. Reclus arrived, he knelt
beside M. Labori, putting a bottle oil
smelling salts to his nostrils. Around
these central figures were grouped thu
| spectators, all deeply affected, some
indeed crying like children. At a lit.
tie distance was gathered another
group, the central figure of which wa!
the commissary of police, notebook il
hand, taking down the testimony of The
witnesses Of the affair.
An ambulance, which had been sum
moned, arrived with -four attendant!
of the military hospital, bearing an or
binary stretcher and mattress. On thi!
M. Labor was tenderly laid and TIL
stretcher was borne by friends of NJ
Labor and some newspaper men, Will
Madame Labor walking beside it.
DESCRIPTION OF THE ASSASSIN
Accounts of the shooting related b.
eye-Witnesses differ considerably, espe
cially respecting the appearance of tn
would-be murderer, of whom the f0l
lowing is told as a description
Twenty to thirty years old; lial
man, in a blue blouse
A force of gendarmes, headed by NJ
Hennion, sub-chief of the secret %
lice, is securing the country in search
Of NJ. LabOriS assailant n a cOrnpa
ny of infantry has been dispatched t.
surround and beat the wood wherein
the man is supposed to be hiding.
An incredible side Of the outrage i!
the fact, it is asserted, that severa
passers-by saw NJ. Labor shot, an
passed on indifferently, neither offerin:
to help the victim nor joining il tht
pursuit Of the assassin.
THE WOUNDED MAN ROBBED.
Still more incredible is the fact tina
an individual who went to the side o
NJ. Labor as he lay wounded on tn
ground is said to have searched tn,
pockets of the suffering man on III
pretext Of a~scertaining his identity an
stole their contents.
The assailant fed after the shooting
holding his revolver in his hand, witt
his finger on the trigger, threatenin,
several men who showed a disposition
to block his way. The correspondent
of the Associated Press at 10:45 o'clocl
this morning, saw n of the doctors a
NJ. Labori's house, which was guard
ed by four gendarmes. The doctor sal