The Anaconda standard., 1899-08-13
GENERAL MERCER KISSED
CONTINUED from Page One.)


nanity of the means resorted to for
the purpose of proving the innocence
of the condemned man of 1894 in spite
of the evidence accumulated and in
spite of the millions of money eNpend-
ed
Colonel Jousaust then said: Have
you finished?"
General Mercier replied: Yes"
Colonel Jousaust then announced that
| the sessions of the court martial would
be resumed Monday morning.
M. CasimirPerier thereupon rose and
said: After the deposition of General
MERCER. l shall ask the court to hear
me. and l would prefer to be in con-
| frontation with him.
Mercicr Cursed.
This announcemnt caused sensa-
tion. Then followed thrilling dem
nstration against General Mercier. As
| he turned to leave the court the audi
ence rose en- masse and hissed and
cursed him, those at the back of the
court standing on benches and chairs
in order to better hound him.
| The gendarmes placed themselves be-
! tween the general and the audience,
| which showed strong disposition to
| maltreat the former minister of war.
| General MERCER hurried out of the
| court room through a side door. On
| emerging into the street the crowd out
| side cheered the general and cried,
"Nive farme."
All" cried a spectator of the scene
in court, IF they had heard the human
monster speak they Would not cheer
| him now"
One newspaper man in court was
arrested for calling General Mercier
| as he passed by him. a murderer. But
| later on the man was released. Drey-
fus was hurried out by gendarmes,
who Immediately cleared the court
| room.
Scare Is Worn Out.
Mercier played the now well-worn
scare to-day. The effect must be very
| discouraging to him, as his hearers lis
| tened without stirring a muscle to his
story of how France was on the thresh-
| hold of a war with Germany. The
anti -Dreyfusards have cried wolf too
often.
At the outset of General Merciers s
| testimony he prepared the court for a
war scare by declaring that the en-
peror of Germany personally took an
active part in organizing espionage and
then later, when he defended his action
in communicating the secret dossfer to
the court martial of 1894 he sad:
II no longer have reason TO keep
silent, and | am going to accompl sh
what / consider my duty. In 1894 the
diplomatic situation was perilous. M.
| HanotauX, then minister of foreign af-
fairs, has indicated this. M. Casimir-
Perier has spoken before the criminal
chamber about the unusual step taken
by Count Won Munster. He also ex-
posed the somewhat unusual way by
which he could double himself into an
official parsonage and a private per
sonage, later giving Count Won Mum
ster information which was at first re-
fused him.
But, Nj. CasimirPerier amended his
deposition. saying he had not said that
the same day he, NJ. Dupuy and myself
remained from O'Clock in the evening
until 1890 o'clock in his private office
at the Elysee waiting the result of tele-
graphic communications between the
emperor of Germany and Count Won
Munster. He remained four hours and
half awaiting to see if anything
would result from this exchange of
kilograms"
Here M. Casimir-Perier shook his
head and hand in emphatic denial of
General Mercier's statement.
Within An Ace of War.
The latter continued: II had been
informed in the afternoon that the sit
uation was very grave. Count Won
Munster handed an order from his SOW
ereign to ask for his passports if his
demands We're not conceded. / was
prepared to give the order for mobil-
ization You see, we Nere within an
ace of war. 1t was only at 1890 o'clock
that NJ. Casimir- Perier notified me that
Count Won Munster had accepted the
insertion of a somewhat vague note
declaring that the ambassador was not
involved"
M. Casimir-Perer here again made a
repudiating gesture. General Mercier
continued to explain that this was the
h n1ti no 10
secret dossier.
If Dreyfus is guilty he must possess
superhuman nerve, for he listened to
General Nercier's pitiless arraignment
this morning until he approached the
end of his deposition with sphinX-like
rigidity of features, but watched Mer-
cier as a cat watches mouse. No one
would have suspected the volcano with
in Dreyfus, which burst forth when
human flesh and blood could stand it
| no longer. The only sign of the fire
within was the heaving of his bosom
and the parching of his lips and pal
ate, which he occasionally moistened
| with his tongue. A casual observer
might have missed these Indications
and have imagined that he was an
| image cut in stone, with the eyes fixed
| on MERCER. But. when at last his
| feelings obtained the mastery and he
| sprang to his feet and faced his ac-
| cuser, man to man, one appreciated the
| depth of his previously suppressed
emotions, and Mercier, who. startled,
had jumped to his feet at the ringing
sound Of Dreyfus' voice, from the chair
| in which he was seated. while giving
! his evidence. recoiled before the terri
| BILE look Dreyfus threw at him. and
| stood aghast. wondering whether the
! prisoner was going to spring upon him
Colonel Jousaust and the other men,
bers of the court martial in the mean
time had arisen and seized the two
! men, while the court rang with the
| cheers of the spectators.
Has Proved Nothing,
General Mercier, when he had finished
/ his testimony. according TO general
opinion, has said really nothing, and
! proved nothing. The overwhelming
proofs he was to have thrown down
/ before the members of the court mar
tial like a bOmbEhell, failed to appear
and he left the court.
Though the general was cheered by
the crowd outside the court, none OF
4 II