The evening times., 1899-08-18
A couRTRooM SILHOUETTE.
Pen Portraits Of Witnesses at th'
Dreyfus Trial.

lowing pen picture, made by Marcel Pre-
vost, Of the four witnesses who gave testi-
mony at the Dreyfus trial yesterday:
General Roget-He sits well forward
| on his red velvet covered chair, and in no
| wise unwilling to turn toward the prisoner
and his advocate. He is very restless,
| leans his elbows on the chair arms, lofls
back. makes gesture as il he were pre-
senting an argument in the open palm of
his outstretched hand, quickens his speech
| from sentence to sentence.
The head.5 which is seen frequently in
profile and sometimes almost full by the
auditory. is keen and handsome, the fea-
| lures clear cut, the mouth spiritual" the
eyes arch. Despite all that, the general
| impression is not that he is very intelli-
gent man. His method Of expression COR
responds marvelously to his physiognomy.
| General Roget; speaks rather we'll His
words and elocution are easy, but there is
| no solidity nor Yigor General Roget is a
| gossip, pleasant gossip, but none the less
a gossip, and, thanks to this countenance
and this voice, 1t seems to me ] can easily
reconstitute the psychology of the person
| age 3CF
The mind is light, the character blunder-
| ing and prompt TO unconsidered interven-
| tions. This Is indeed the man, who, while
in no sense called by his functions to in
terfere in the Dreyfus case, threw himself
| into it for pleasure, from a taste for action,
at haphazard, with vaingiorious convic-
tion that he would get out OF it what 9TH
ers had failed to extract from it, At any
cost he had to be in it.
| And the solitary effect of his collabora-
tion so far was the discovery of the eras-
ures upon the famous petit bleu," and as
| a consequence of that the rendering of a
signal service to Picquart whom he wanted
| to Destroy
4 Today, while he chatters away. sitting
| forward in his red chair, does he regret his
rash enterprise? / am inclined to think so.
| He is no fool when all is said and done, and
| he undoubtedly understands that he has un-
| luckily got on board the ship just when she
has sprung leak. Perhaps he would like
| to get back on dry land, sever his lot from
that of the Merciers and Gonses.
Ii is too late now. Their fate will be his.
| He is going down with them.
| But he is going down amid the clatter of
his own tongue in the kinematography OF
his own gestures, and l really think that
this man of light heart is still well sat
isfed to be there 'en evidence" in his red
chair, rattling away with his tongue and
gesture.
Magistrate Bertulus-His eyes, his face,
his gestures. his voice. and even his name
| are those of a fantastic character from
| Hoffman,, and the things he tells of are
extraordinary also. At the outset they
arouse an incredulous smile. The scene in
which Henry throws himself upon the
magistrates bosom after confessing his
completely with EsterhaZy is one of the
most incredibly romantic scenes of the
whole affair. None the less. after hearing
NJ. Bertulus' deposition the court OF cas-
sation threw away all doubt-it ranged it
lself in opposition TO General Roget.
, And / believe that the present court
martial is now allowing itself to be con-
vinced. or, rather, magnetized, by this in
dividual with the eyes of a ''jettatore,
with the odd voice and complicated gest-
ures. Is ii not likely that il was the same
secret power of his words and looks, by
the strange enchantment which eXudes
from all his person. that he tanned and
vanquished Colonel Henry: that, so to
speak he hypnotiZed the latter to the point
of depriving him of all power of resist
ance and forcing him TO make a fearful
ayowal of his crime?
Nine. Henry, the widow-There she
stands upon the little stage before the
judges, face TO face with Bertulus. Colo
rel Jouaust who has doubtless noted tn
magnetic power of the magistrates eyes
requests him not to stare ct this woman
in mourning. She speaks. therefore. into
Bertulus' back-a motionless back, in 9
tightly fitting black coat.
| Why does not this worsn in Grape who
is giving evidence in the name of her
tragically deceased husband, and who
would like to confront his accuser, not
move US? Certainly her physique IS not
prepossessing her form without dignity
her face bilious, her gesticulation quar-
relsome, without distinction; but st:ll shs
is young. a mother. widow, We should
like to be affected TO the po.It of saying
Poor womani" We are not Where
fore? Why should this sorrow, this hate
even, give US a sensation of uneasiness
not of pity? The reason is that iil-ad-
ivised counselors have substituted for ths
sincere sorrows and hatred OF the woman
an artificial sorrow and hatred. Oh, thai
unhappy phrase, evidently recited from
memory, in which she pretends that il
was Bertulus who embraced her husband
and in which she describes this allege:
embrace as the kiss of Judas,
AS soon as Maitre Demange ques ton:
her. presses her TO say under the influenc:
of what hallucination the magistrate
gins 10 stammer, she doesn't know, sht
returns. routed, to her chair there to si
| In impotent anger-in nowise touchins
spectacle
Meanwhile the character from Hoff
manns fantastic tales in his turn leave
the stage, gravely 6escends the step:
leading from it, and with a glance from
his 'jettative" eyes covering the who,
audience, moves away to the witness
| room.
Colonel Picquart-Those who saw hin
testify at the Zola trial would not recog.
niZe him now. At that period his uniform
and his tenacious sense of hierarchical re-
spect enveloped his answers. Now ne ha.
been stripped of his uniform; the las
scales have fallen from his eyes durins
the eleven months of his Imprisonment
Tall, pale, distinguished-lo looking, he ad
vances, takes his seat, and almost mmedi.
ately begins to speak in clear, strons
voice of extraordinary authority. His ges
lures are restrained and show off two ad
| mirable white hands, which he generally
rests upon the bar. There is religion.
| silence.
Some few preliminary sentences are ut
tered, and 10 and behold! all the gall 81
abundantly distilled yesterday by Roget i
scattered to the winds. Some few sen.
tences more and the history of the Dreyfu
affair is traced in mastery fashion.
This is a disposition without restric
tions. without mental reservations, withou
| hypothesis. Certainties are backed UP will
proofs; hazy recollections are given as un
certain. There is no acrimony but tn,
serenity of a man who has suffered fo
truths sake, but who never for an instan
, | refers to his suferngs.
Use of the Sword.
(From the Kansas City Journal)
'fThere is thing writes Sergeant Ozias
, THAT should be spoken of correct misappre
| hension cf facts general Funston is spoken q
and pictured as rushing at the insurgents wit
uplifted sword and scabbard swinging high II