Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-09-01

l
sition to which the Germans attached
| great Importance as a means OF checking
| a French advance This position, witness
continued was westward of Mulhausen,
and Dreyfus said ne reached this opinion
| after following the German maneuvers on
| horseback.
| The prisoner at this point quietly point
! ed out that the position mentioned by Capt.
| lie Monnier was situated in an entirely
different locality from where he, the pris-
oner is supposed to have followed the
maneuvers. Dreyfus added: capt. LIE
] Monnier must have confused it with a po-
sition which 1 described from knowledge
| acquiredwhen traversing the whole dis
| trict on horseback while youth"
The prisoner reiterated that he never at
| tended the maneuvers in question.
NJ. Villon, tripe merchant. and another
| of the friends of M. de Beaurepaire, de-
clared that when in Berlin during the year
| 1894 he overheard a conversation OF some
German officers who were lunching in an
| adjoining room. One of the officers. the
witness said expressed Indignation that a
| French officer should be guilty or treason.
| and his companion replied:
ut is a good thing for us. You know
we We're getting the plan of mobilization
from Dreyfus.
At the request of NJ. Demange, NJ. Villon
| detailed the alleged conversation and said
he had not mentioned the conversation in
1891. because Dreyfus had been arrested,
and knowing him to be guilty. the witness
foresaw he would be convicted
Special Commissary Fischer of the East
ern Military railway system deposed that
he was ordered to investigate a leakage
in the gunnery school at Bourges and, he
added, the results of his inquiries did not
seem to incrininate Dreyfus.
Guilty Man Discovered.
Fischer asserted that he was not long in
finding out that a former artillery man
named Thomas had communicated to a
foreign power documents affecting the
national defense Thomas, he added, was
sentenced to death for attempted murder in
1856. but the sentence was committed to
penal Servitude for life.
The witness went to Avignon and Sc
cured the convict'S confession that he COM
municated sketches of "shel 80 of the
horse artillery gun and of the '.120 siege
gun for which he had received a thou
sand francs.
clared that as Thomas arrested in
1856 he could not have been a spy at a
later date.
Lieut.. Bernheim testified that while in
garrison at Rouen he furnished Esterhazy
with information and documents re-
garding the artillery in which Esterhazy
was much interested. The witness was
never able to recover the documents. He
supposed at the time that EsterhaZy was
anxious to increase his military knowledge
Replying to NJ. Demange. Lieut.. Bern
helm said he had not testified at the Ester
hazy trial because his testimony was then
Easy to Get Information.
Lieut.. Brugere of the artillery reserve
the next witness called, said it was per-
fectly easy for any officer to closely in
spect the "12O short gun. Moreover, he
added, the detailed explanations and in
formation regarding the brake were given
fired. On two occasions. witness also said,
when the gun fired he noticed the
presence of a group of non-artiilery Off
GERS. Therefore, the lieutenant pointed
out. it was plain that access to the gun
was quite easy. In May. 1894. Lieut..
Brugere continued, the new firing manual
was distributed. copy given to
each battery. and as the captains lee
copies of the firing manual We're printed,
and all officers and non-commissioned Of
ficers so desiring could obtain many
they liked. In some regards even the Or
binary gunners secured copies, and among
these favored regiments, Lieut.. Brugere
pointed out, was the 9Th Artillery, station
ed at Rennes. {Excitement)
The witness said he gave his COPY of the
firing manual to infantry officer May
II, 1894. A Paris military society also
printed the manual and distributed it
among its members
Captain lie Rond here interposed, saying
that no batteries of the '120 short gun
were at the Chalons camp in 1894, and
Lieutenant Brugere retorted that he only
referred to what he saw in the month of
May. A lively discussion ensued. General
Roget and General Deloye denying Lieuten-
ant Brugere's statements.
General Roget asked Lieutenant Brugere
If he was not the officer who wrote NJ.
Cavaignac, then minister of war; a violent
letter, rendering his resignation, and de-
claring 1t was dishonor to serve in the
French army. (Sensation)
Lieutenant Brugere energetically protest.
ed against such a meaning being given to
his letter, which was quite contrary to it's
effect.
General Deloye. to whom General Roget
appealed, said he had been consulted by tho
minister of war as to what ought to be done
in connection with the letter, and witness
read the report which he made on the sub
ject to the president of the republic, who
he added, Immediately signed an order rele-
eating Lieutenant Brugere to the terri
torial army.
Brugere Denies Again.
After this Lieutenant Brugere again arose
and emphatically maintained that he had
made no statement in the sense indicated
by General Roget but had only alluded to
some personalities, and had not mentioned
the French army. 1t would have been alb
surd to do so. he continued. since the
French army consists of all citizens over
twenty years of age.
NJ. Labor said he thought 1t would be
advisable to produce the letter in ques-
ton, and Colonel Jouaust promised to ask
the minister of war for the document
Capt Carvaiho of the artillery also tes-
titled to the ease with which the 40 short
gun could be inspected. He said the gun
was frequently opened in the presence of
non-artllery officers who were told every
thing they desired to know, including a de-
scrption of the hydro-pneumatic brake.
Regarding the 1895 firing manual, witness
said coolies were obtainable in 1891 in all
the regiments of the army, and asserted
that he had purchased copy Of the man
ual. which he placed at the disposal of the
court. At this juncture NJ. Labor read
letter from a spy named 'Corningue,"
stating that he had copied the firing man.
ual in the room of Maj. PanizZardi, the
Italian military attache at Paris, in the
presence of Col. Schwartzkoppen. the Ger
man military attache at Paris. referred to
az and "B. He said he was not GER
tain whether this was the 1894 or 1895
manual. and begged the president to ques-
ton Col. PicQuart on the subject.
Picquart said he believed il was the 1898
manual and that the copy was made in
1896 in Maj PaniZZardis room, in the pres
ence of Maj. Pan!Zzardi and another per-
son. Col. Picquart added that Maj. Lauth
ought to know something about a certain
mark on the manual All the manuals at
the Versailles garrison We're ordered re-
turned to headquarters. to see which one