Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1899-08-08

The supcrhuman VIII That Tri-
umphed over Torture.

umpheu ONeF
paris Correspondence Of the London
Telegraph.)
The first stage was the public degrade
ton. Then came the physical sufferings
caused by the ..dasma o, the tropics,
where even Europeans enjoying all the
comforts of home cannot live longer
than two years on end. Nobody believed
that the despised and heart-broken
wretch could survive even so long. II
seems that many actually wished for his
death. and now regret his coming back
10 the land of the living once more, ana
his friends maintain that the treatment
melted out TO him was intended 10
put MIN out Of pain" Sunstroke alone
and unaided might have killed him.
And several times his jallers fancied it
had. as they carried his senseess body
from under the fierce rays that beat
upon the earth i'm the courtyard where
he had fallen, and flung him upon his
bed in the suffcatng chamber inside.
But gradually he revived. The strong
Will mower triumphed over the weakness
of the lacerated body, and lent 1t
strength and endurance. As he had 10
choose between the fiery furnace OF the
little courtyard and the thick, stlilins
atmosphere of his cell, and often prefer
red the former, he over and over again
lost consciousness, and fell heavily TO
the ground as II stunned by a blow from
a death-dealing club. And each time
the iailers would shake their heads, ana
think This time he f. done for IN real
earnest" and they would eaten MN py
the head and feet, carrying MIN H. anu
fling him on his couch, wondering at lhe
rightly of his limbs, which clearly be
smoke catalepsy or death. Ana thus one
attack followed the other, rendering lie
a terror, yet death came not. HIS Jallers
themselves grew weak ana rem H. anu
left one by one, but Captain Dreylus en-
dured and lived for the supreme hour ol
Justice and retribution.
sunstrokes were but one OF an endless
series Of physical suferings. Fever was
another. The fever which burns the very
marrow Of ones bones and causes the
brafn itself. as il were. 10 melt ana seetHe
m Temporary madness permeated the
.oul and racked the solitary dweller OUT
nine was the only palliative, ana us EN-
cheney depended on its abuse. AS II was
a choice between sunstrOke out Oh doolS
and suffocation within, 50 II became u
,hoice between shc maladles caused Dy
qulnine and the Diood-boiilng' heart-sha"-
ING fever. .,,,.
and one OF the most dangerous. IL threat
ened at last to end his torture ana MS
life. and his jailers did much TO ala us
work. For instance, they suddenly stop
ped the supply OF preserves which he was
wont to receive from Cayenne, and at the
same time abolished his rations or miih'
condemnng him the while TO live upon
forms OF food which his stomach reiuseu
TO take. and then at least the end hove
al
But the supcrhuman will-power OF the
man triumphed again. and he still lNed
on. while his jailers We're slckenlng ana
going home After some months OF TINS
wanton aggravatlon Of his pell upon
earth he was again allowed TO receive
the preserves and milk, For II Is only
lust 10 acknowledge that this treatment
was determined upon not merely for the
purpose Of inhictlng pain. The captain
friends hold that It's object was the less
inhuman one TO hasten the end ana Cd
tain for the prisoner happy release II
So. il proved Intellectual, and was nnaly
given zip.
4 MARVELLOUS ESCAPE
IT is wonderful when one comes 10 think
of il that Dreyfus should have supported
this unendlng ordeal, and escaped mad
ness and death. Frequent attacks OF sun
weakness and anaemia. aggravated by bad
food. combined 20 undermine his consti-
tuition. yet still the man survived. Nor
does this list exhaust the series OF
causes that were working TO his destruc-
ton. But the most maddening of all, from
which there was neither remedy nor Ie-
spite. were those moral tortures when
no physician can probe and no writer
can describe. In his case they constituted
the worm that died not. AZ first the pri-
soner used TO receive letters from MS
dearly devoted wife sad missives, whose
very sadness was balm to his bhghled
soul Then some Jealous public servant
suggested that these letters be copied,
and the copies alone given TO him. Ana
mis- humane proposal was acted upon al
once without any OF the red-tape delays
mat commonly characterize bureaucracy
Thenceforward he perused letters writ
Ten in the handwriting or some copyist'
and was ever after deprived OF the poor
cancellation OF contemplating the ZEN
strokes of his widowed wife. Of divining
here a tremor In the sentls hand that