The Van Buren press., 1899-08-19

ments. Ill the time he refused 10 tell
I her of what crime her husband was
4ceusefI or where he vas. lie also for
babe Aer TO frY 10 communicate With
/ him or discover where he wsis.
/ Du Pafy de Clam threatened her
with the worst penalties II she m
formed her relatives of her husband :
arrest. He told the wife that Capt.
Dreyfus had been leading 8 double
life Of seeming honesty aud virtue
With her. and Of treaehery and de
baneherY ont Of her sight.
II the same time the prisoner vas
subjected daily 10 more interrosa-
tories and writing tests. Not one Of
these written sheets. BY the way. ever
has been made public. though the ar
resi- vas made On the stren1h o the
fiFSt one.
II Iast Il became necessary that The
arrest should be announced. IRE IIbrr
Parole was inspired 10 ask, On October
2s. whether al important arrest for
high treason had not been made The
next DAY the Eclair replied that i vas
So. On November ! the LibHe Parole
published an article headed Arrest Of
Jewish Officer"
On December a, 1894. the eourt-maT-
tai bee4n More than three years Ia
ter the ..aete d'aeeusation,s drawn up
bt an officer named D'OFmesehKiils.
was published in the sieeie. % the
public now has a fair idea Of the
grounds On which Dreyfas mas con-
demned.
Tie trial vas secret and when Maitre
Denange. lie prisonersscounsei, asked
TO plead the point for an open trial
he was peremptorilF sileneed with tn
rt mark that sofheF interests were 81
stake Fear of war with Germany
Vas the prefext of the secrecy. The
court consisted of Col. Alaurel, presi-
dent: Lieaf.-Col. Eeheman, Conn
mandants FIorentin. Patron and Gal
let. and Captains Roche and Freystot-
ter. Commandant Brisset conducted
tie prosecution.
The seven military Judges had VI.
Berfillon.s testimony that the border
eau was in Dfeyfus' handwriting. but
this and the assertions of the ..acte
d'.eeusation. seem to have been insult
ficienf 10 convince them. Then Min
ister Brisson came forth with the ia
to the judges alone in their private
council room he read the extract 10
them. inserting the name of DreyfuS
for the blank.
lie also falsely stated that the letter
was in cipher, and refused 10 let the
Judges see the paper. The 'canaille
dt. D letter and the bordefeau to-
gether. backed by this virtual order
Of the minister of war TO find the
prisoner guilty, decided the Wayering
judges. and Dreyfus WAS condemned
to be degraded and expatriated.
This "canaille de D" letter was
supposed TO have been written by the
attaehe of foreign embassy, and read
like this: This eanaille de D is
becoming too extortionate.s This was
fer money in payment for the secrets
he sold.
On january ), 1895, Dreyfus' deera-
dation took place ON the Champ de
Mars. His sword was broken, and the
gallons and buttons were torn from
his uniform, but he never wavered.
II am innocent. ! swear that j am
innocent. Viye la France!" were his
only words; and in reply to this pa
thetic declaration came the cry:
Death to the traitor" from the vast
throng which witnessed the degrade
ton.
On February Q the French chamber
adopted Premier Dupuy's law by yir-
tue of which the unfortunate captain
was deported to DEVILS island, eff the
he remained in solitary confinement,
always under the watchful eyes of
qua .ls, until he was brought back to
Francs for a reopening of his case
only Il few weeks ago.
In 1895 Col. Picquart succeeded Col.
Sandherr as head of the information
He was an honest man,
with a taste for justice. BY accident
he learned that Dreyfus was appar-
entity innocent. and that Commandant
Esterhazy was the traitor and author
OF the bordereau. One day in May,
1896. the fragments of local pneu-
matte tube card, or petit bleu," fell
into his hands. The card Was ad-
dressed to Esterhazy, and its contents
seemed TO SAVIOR of suspicious mys-
terry lie took the trouble To get sam
pies of Estrrhazy's handwriting in or
der to be prepared for further deyol-
opments. His first glance at these
convinced him that the writ
ing was the same as that of the fa-
nous bordereau. which had been pub
to everybody.
Inquiry revealed the fact that Ester
hazy was an unprincipled character;
had been hard up for money; had ma
ligned the army; had formely belonged
to the general staff, and had borrowed
an artillery firing manual. which he
had never returned. In short. il was
proved that he was the author of the
bordereau. Before Col. Picquart's dis
coyerN was announced, EsterhaZy's
stock broker, named DE Castro, inde-
pendently discovered the same fact.
When Picquart first told his supe-
riors. Generals Cons and Bloisdeffre,
OF his discovery they showed great in
terest and told him to 20 ahead. But
b. also told Du Patty de Clam After
few days his superiors changed their
tone aud enjoined prudence" All
possible obstacles were put in his way