The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1899-08-30
HINDERED BY A SICK MAN.
Col. du Paiy de Clam Very Much wauied by
Dreyius' Attorney.

Dreyius' Attorney.
Dead men tell no tales" This Ia
the barrlcade behind which Gen. Mer-
cier and the general staff who are OPP
posed to Dreyfus have intrenched
themselves. But there is one weak
point In their defense-Col. Du Patty de
Clam--and the military clique know IL
and are striving to the utmost to keep
him out of NJ Laboris clutches. If they
can prevent Du Patty de Clam, who Is
now called the sick man of the Drey-
fus affair" from appearing Mt the wit
ness bar, they can cffectually put the
silence of the tomb between truth and
Justice. NJ. Labori Is fighting tooth
and nail to drag him into court but
Col. Jouaust persists In refusing him
the necessary assistance.
NJ. Labori hit the nail on the head
Saturday when. replying To Gen. Mer-
cler's last remarks, he exclaimed: AL
ways the dead. Sandherr dead, Henry
dead; Du Patty de Clam is not coming"
Col Jouaust Immediately cut HIM
short. declaring he must not make OBJ
servations, as NJ. Labori staggered and
fell back into his seat with a despair
Ing gesture.
The conformation OF Col Manuel
Maurel, Capt. Freystaetter and Gen.
Mercier was an instructive exposure of
the fraud and dishonesty of the general
starr, which the absence of Du Patty
de Clam alone prevented from being
complete.
Capt. Freystaetters opening state
ment was a discharge of grapeshot for
the Mercier gang. He enumerated four
documents that were secretly com
municated to the 1894 tribunal The
first Capt Dreyfus energetically denied
and no reliable evidence has been ad-
duced I'm its support. The second was
the 'canaille de d" document, which
hn Oh.
at all. The third was the d'Avignon
letter supporting the second, which
therefore falls to the ground with It,
while the fourth was the Panzzardi
dispatch, which has been proved in
correctly translated and ruled out Of
the proceedings by Col. Jouaust In
the present trial as utterly unreliable
The announcement that the Panlz-
zardi dispatch was one of the secret
documents was another hard blow to
Mercler's reputation, because he had
declared In his deposition that this
dispatch was not communicated to the
tribunal In 1894.
NJ. Labori asked Col Maurel TO ex-
plain his declaration that only one do
cument was read. Maurel gave the
Jesuitical reply: II did not say only
one was read. I said only read one"
capt Freystaetter did not hesitate n
second when NJ. Labori asked him If he
MS open statement. lie re-
piled: Not only did I read the docu-
ments. but Capt. Maurel read them and
made commentary of each" This was
the lie direct to Col. Maurel, VINO did
not protest. but merely objected to the
term commentary" Maurel thus
stands before the world as a self-con-
fessed liar
In the court-martial Of Captain Al
fred Dreyfus. last Saturday, charged
with treason. two OF the judges sitting
at the former trial confronted each
other and passed the lie. the same be-
Ing the case with one of the Judges
and General Mercier, former minister
Of war.
NJ. Bertillon made the Dreyfus pro-
ceedings Ridiculous last Friday by at
tempting to prove Dreyfus guilty by
mathematics. by means of charts,
diagrams and instruments he gave a
demonstration which put most Of the
audience to sleep and proved nothing
against the accused.
Labori cornered Gen. Mercler on the
Schneider letter, which the latter had
used In evidence and which Col.
Schneider had repudiated as n forgery.
The general was surprised when La
Dorl suddenly demanded that MERCER
be recalled. Evidently he hoped the
tribunal would support him In refusing
TO explain how he got copy of let
ter which was of later date than his
incumbency at the ministry of war.
But Labori was not to be denied. He
insisted that Mercler should give some
explanation. Then, after hesltatlng,
Mcrcier declared that he would as
sumo all the responsibility attaching
to his possession of the document. This
as Lasori intended 1t should be, was
demonstration of communication by
the general stan of part at least OF the
secret dossier to any ordinary soldier.
such as Mercier became Immediately
on leaving the ministry Of war. When
Labori had attained his object and
forced confession of grave violation
Of law on the part OF Gen. Mercier, he
gave smile of grim satisfaction and
then added significantly
i shall have other questions to put
to Gen. Mercier"
The scene was highly dramatic and
made profound impression upon all
the spectators.
Gen. Mercier made a pltlable exhibi-
tlon. NJ Labori, In n passion, fairly
Numbered his questions.
What can be the value OF docu-
ments." said he, (which we can not see
and can not discuss. documents for
which II is impossible to know who
takes the responsibility I appeal to
you, Mr.. President, to be good enough
to ask Gen. Mercier how this document
came into his possession"
Mercier. driven into corner, feebly
evaded the question.
Mr.. President" continued Labori,
II Insist that a reply be given. Gen.
Mercier has sworn to speak the whole
truth. / must insist that questions
respectfully rendered by the defense be
answered by him. / insist that Gen.
Mercier answer me. for II Is my right"
After Mercier's shuffling collapse NJ.
Labori sank back into his arm chair,
great beads of perspiration standing
on his forehead, but his countenance
was radiant at the impression he had
made.