The evening herald. [volume] (Shenandoah, Pa.) 1891-1966, 1899-08-30
THE TRIAL OF DREYFUS.
Ex-Premier De Freyoinet's Testi-
mony Favors the Accused,
COLONEL oORD1BRs TESTIMONY.

IL Il Combattod bv Procession OF
Generals aud Omccrs, Including
General Morcler-The Latter VIII
Not Throw Up the sponge.
Rennes, Aug. 30-Neither side was
pleased with the outcome Of yester-
days proceedings before the court mar
tial that is trying Captain Dreyfus
The Dreyfusards expected that Colonel
Cordier, who was deputy chief Of the
intelligence department under the late
Lieutenant Colonel Henry, would tes-
tify that the bordereau was received
directly by the late Colonel Sandherr.
Had this expectation been realized the
testimony would have been a strong
point i'm favor OF the accused, because
it would have been a reply to the anti
Dreyfusards, who have all along con-
tended that Henry received the border
eau and forwarded It to Sandherr, a
thing he would not have done had the
bordereau been. as the Dreyfusards as
sert. written by his accomplice, Ester
hazy, for in that event Henry would
have recognized the handwriting when
he received the bordereau from the
German embassy and would have sup
pressed it, instead OF forwarding II to
Sandherr.
Colonel Cordier, however, testified
that he was absent from the intell-
gence department when the bordereau
arrived. but that he believed It was re-
ceived by Henry. Naturally this state
ment elated the anti-Dreyfusards, but
they had no good reason to congratu-
late themselves upon the remainder Of
Cordier's testimony as it was wholly
in favor of Dreyfus.
On the other hand the procession Of
generals and officers of the general
staff who demanded an opportunity to
confront Colonel Cordier was a good
| piece of tactics from the point Of view
of the anti-Dreyfusards. All the points
they contested were not OF the first
Importance but their very appearance
on the stage and the contradictions of
some of Cordier's statements left dis
| agreeable impression.
The appearance of General Mercier
| to question Colonel Cordier came as a
surprise to many in the audience, who
1 had supposed that after last Saturdays
scene, when Mercier was confronted
with Captain Freystaetter, he would
I remain quiet But Mercier is game to
/ the death.
His action is interpreted as intended
| to show that he is not going to throw
up the sponge. The part he played in
| 1894 lays him open to arrest, and this
| is a constant topic of discussion in the
cafes and at other meeting places in
| Rennes. There appears, however, to
| be a good reason why the government
will not take any such serious step
until the trial is over. Colonel Jou-
/ aust, president of the court martial,
! could adjourn the trial indefinitely II
| Mercier, who is an important witness
were arrested. If the trial were ad-
| iourned for more than 4S hours II
would lapse, and the proceedings
| would have to be gone over again from
the beginning.
Yesterdays attendance was the larg-
est since the opening of the trial
Everybody was on the qui vive to hear
the testimony of Charles De Freycinet
former premier, former minister OF
foreign affairs and former minister OF
war This adroit politician, the white
mouse" of French politics, sat upon the
fence as well as he could. His ex-
preston of a fear that the Dreyfus
agitation would injure the discipline OF
of the army greatly annoyed the Drey-
fusards, as calculated to influence the
judges against the accused. But he
followed it with an eulogy of the
pioneer of the Dreyfus campaign, NJ
Scheurer- -Kestner, former vice presi-
dent of the senate, whose character he
said he held in the highest esteem.
NJ. Labori then secured another con-
cession favorable to Dreyfus by get
ting NJ De Freycinet to admit that he
could not recall a single fact going to
prove that money had been sent into
France from abroad to promote a
campaign in favor of Dreyfus. The
general feeling, however, is that his
appearance on the witness stand has
not materially helped the accused.