Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-09-05
Startling Story Of the Death Of Two
French Officers.
700 GALLONS OF WHISKY LAID IN
With Wines Galore for ParIiament's
Next Sitting.
TRIUMPH OF THE JARVIES

SpeciaI Correspondence of The Evening Star.
LONDON, August %. 1899.
Events in France, all more less asso-
ciated with the Dreyfus case. are beginning
To he looked upon here as the forerunners
OF very serious political crisis. The ris-
ing of anarchists. the partial wreckirg of
a church. the burning Of k:osks taken with
the defiance OF the government by NJ.
Guerin in the offices of the anti-Semite
League are all evidence Of the existence of
q state of things which might easily end
In n general upheavel The government is
evidently afraid TO act against M Guerin
any other government would act. 1t
could easily, of course. blow Guer;n and his
handful of men into the air, but it is be-
lieved that 1t is afraid to violence lest
the opening of fire would he the signal for
q general rising in Paris. The end of the
trial of Dreyfus is anticipated with some
thing like alarm. Whether the verdict IS
acquittal or condemnation 1t is feared that
a CONFUSION will take place with which
the present government will be unable to
cope.
Gen MERCER affords another Illustration of
the extraordinary ignorance of foreigners
and foreign ways which exists among peo-
pie who ought to be better informed. An
American journalist sought an interview
with the eN-war minister, but his request
was biuntly refused. His son. however
EfiN Illt -Ouiil dlSt ana tol1 MIN tnat Gen.
MERCER would have nothing to do with the
foreign journalists. for all foreign news
papers We're in the pay of the Dreyfus
syndicate. This is on a par with the OF her
statements made at RenneS that the funds
for the defense of Dreyfus were obtained
from England According to Mercier's son.
by the way, his father Is certain that d. ev-
rus VIII be reconyicted.
Another Blow at the Army
The startling story which is told of the
death of nfHc
is barely credible, and there is a natural
disposition to wait for official confirmation
before accepting it as true: but should If
prove to be accurate il must necessarily
deal severe blow at the French army
of whose honor are now learning so
much at Rennes. 1t is perhaps as yet too
early to consider what the effect on the
native population will be IT, in fact French
officers intrusted with mission by the
French government have actually ordered
their soldiers to murder other French Of
ficers. also acting under the orders of the
government. The two officers who are al
legged 70 have been guilty of such an ex-
traordinary crime both of them well
known in West Africa Indeed. il is only
short time ago that they were awarded
gold medals by the Paris Geographical
Society for the excellent work they did in
the exploration of the Niger bend during
the campaign of 1861 Captain Cha
nome is a son of General Chanoi1e, ex-
minister of war. whose name has been
prominently associated with the Dreyfus
case. Captain Nouet, who is an officer in
the marines. Is senior to Captain Chanoine
and leader of the expedition. and it is he
who is alleged to have given the order to
fire. The mission intrusted 10 the eXpedi-
ton was the exploration of the strip of ter
ritrry which lies between the Niger and
Lake Chad south Of the Saraha and mort h
OF the British frontier il was fixed 10y
tho Auglo-FrenCh agreement of June last
year. Captain Noulet received his inStruc-
fipEfS a most lrnnetlf9 fply after fbn signing,
o. the agreement, but it was not until the
beginning of January in the present year
thar the expedition was finally organized
at place called Lausanne Hansa. some
distance TO the north of Say. on the
lcf- bank of the Niger. The charges Of
having abused their power and treated the
natives with excessive cruelty, which it
was Colonel Klobbs duty to investigate.
were first made by Lieutenant Peteau who
laid a formal complaint against his chiefs
before the French resident at Say. That
official, in conjunction with Colonel Grave,
the military commandment of the eastern
Soudan. held preliminary investigation,
aud il was on their report that the minis
ter for the colonies instructed Colonel
KIobb, who was in military command of
the rnrthern district of the Soudan. to
hasten after the expedition. 10 thoroughly
Investigate the charges and If he found
them proved to take over the command of
the expedition and TO place Captains Vou-
lei and Chanoine under arrest. II appears
TO be suggested that. having burned their
boats, the whole of the French officers. to-
grther with their Seneealese tiraiiieurs.
have taken TO the bush" which means.
preSuma bly,. that they will resist any at
tempt 10 arrest them and will set the gov
eminent at defiance. Should this really
prove TO be the case, the French govern
ment will find itself under the painful ne
cessity Of sending expedition against
French officers and French soldiers. for il
Is obvious that a crime of so terrible a
character cannot be allowed to go unpun-
ished.
II wor Should Follow
haze now learned details of the forces
which the British government is preparing
to pit against the Beers in war should
arise out of the present crisis which still
remains unsettled, To the great disgust of
the lingo newspapers. The forces will con-
sist of 1900 infantry. 1900 cavalry. > $50
artillery. 1870 royal engineers and 800
mounted police Half of the infantry will
go from India, some Will be moved up from