Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1899-08-26

0CtCr - buDDleS OI 1ltttcsA attAC
Easily Pricked-AltO4eth Was a
Good Day for Prisoner-Trial Will
Last Twenty Days Longer.
Rennes, Aug. 24.-The fourth sitting of
the third week of the second trial by
courtmartial Of Captain Dreyfus on the
charge of treason began at $3.50 o'clock
this morning with the reading of The
deposition of Nj. PenOt. No special in
cident marked the opening Of the days
proceedings.
M. Labori's vigor and tact have dis
armed the distrust of the judges. He
Is succeeding, like skillful, but kindly
surgeon, who uses the scalpel at just
the right moment, and carries the In
cision only just so far as is necessary TO
reveal the true nature of the wound.
They feel that he does not probe merely
for the sake of probing. but in order to
diagnose and prepare the wound for the
proper sort Of dressing. He takes no
unnecessary advantage of them. They
are beginning 10 look upon him as loyal
Frenchman, convinced only that the in
terests Of France require courageous
determination to deal with the case
resolutely.
The session of the cOurt-martial yes
terday was comparatively uneventful
The depositions We're not productive OF
any really thrilling incidents. The
systematic production of the fiimslest
trash, which the prosecution deems
profitable to inflict on the judges and
which the latter accept as evidence, was
proceeded with.
Much of the ridiculous testimony Of
the morning was devoted to an attempt
to blast Dreyfus's private character,
though, when Maitres Labori and De-
mango had finished with the witnesses,
their bubbles Of -tattle were badly
pricked. Much of the time was occu-
pied In reading the testimony Of Ester
hazy and Mile. Pays before the court Of
cessation, during which many Of the
audience left the court.
NJ. Labori again distinguished him
self in laying bare the weak points of the
evidence. He was less fierce, however.
than On Tuesday, though quite aggres-
sive enough to arouse the latent hos
tility of the judges. which showed itself
in various little ways.
NJ. Labori Is no favorite, either. with
Major Carriere, the governments COM
m!ssary, and the latter makes no serl-
Gus effort to conceal his feelings towards
the lawyer.
NJ. Labori bore little traces of the ef-
fects of the outrage upon him. He rose,
sat down and moved his body and limbs
apparently without much difficulty.
Only occasionally he put his hands to
his back as though suffering pain.
The only dangerous opponent to Drey-
fus yesterday was General GOnse, who
mounted the stage with quick step and
apparently light heart, but he left it
badly mauled by M. Lebori.
General GOnse began by declaring he
came to defend his honor against those
"drivelling" against him. But, when his
cross examination was finished, he re-
turned to his seat crestfallen, for M.
LabOri had driven him into corner on
the attempts of the general staff to shield
Esterhazy and had shown that the gen.
eral staff, for which Gonse was re-
sponsible. had engineered Esterhazy's 8
escape from the hands of justice. The
confident tones of the general had by
then dwindled into the proverbial still.
changed into the abashed air of school,
boy caught telling lie. The day proved
certainly poor one for the general staff
Two good samples Of the men put up
to sully Dreyfus' private character were
the third and fourth witnesses.
First, Major de Chatelet repeated an
alleged conversation Of Dreyfus regard
ing lady at whose house Dreyfus Is al
legged to have gambled and lost money.
But, when cross-examined, De Chatelet' g
memory failed him entirely, especially
when asked the name of the lady, the
street she resided in and the sum Drey-
fus lost
Next M. Dubreuil showed equally as
founding forgetfulness on essential
points of his evidence concerning Drey.
fus' acquaintanceship with foreign at
tache, and when M. Demange capped
his successful examination of this point
by promising to show that Dubreuirs s
record in the law courts Is far from
clear the witness left the stand badly
d!scredited.
The special correspondents here agree
that. although yesterdays sitting was
monotonOus, 1t was altogether a gool
day for Dreyfus. The proceedings
though much less exciting than on the
previous day, were still dominated by
the strong personality Of Maitre Laborl
People are beginning to see likeness
to the opening of Gambetta's career and
are asking whether Labori will go as
far.
The most important point in the pro-
ceedings. perhaps. was the disposal Of
xx,ho oott onI1 haI ar
confess that the general staff had shield
ed Esterhazy. Thus Mercier and Gonse
are both practically shelved. and tho
general STAFF is beginning to show signs
of wavering.
Another good sign was when point OF
law arose on q certain matter, and Col
onel Jouaust. the president of the court.
martial, replied: Il am not up in law
will make inquiries. and. IL I find
have the right to do SO. will make the
order"
This was in reply to Labori's reques,
for certain information concerning tho
character Of a witness. to be furnished
by the public prosecutor, and 1t seemed
| to indicate q desire on the part Of the
judges to honestly seek the truth.
NJ. Jaures, the socialist leader who.
/ with Matthew Dreyfus, sees Labori every
day after the session. and who is ac-
| quainted with the entire tactics of the
| defense, says: II am convinced that
Dreyfus will be acquitted. He must be
acquitted, for no new fact has been
brought up against him. The generals,
I believe. are going to make their last
stand on Bertillon's system, which they
Murderer Possibly Located.
Dover, N. H., Aug. 24.-Sheriff Hayes
is in receipt Of telegram from the
Oklahoma authorities, enquiring II ~
A. Simpson" is wanted In this state.
That was one Of the aliases borne by
Julius II. Macarthur. the horse thief who