Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1899-09-15
TILL BORDEREAU.
How THE FAMHUs DOCUMENT CAME
INTo HANDS OF THE GOVERN
MENT.

| pubic KNOWS, Allreu OTellus WI
tried and convicted. According t.
the most accredited verslon-th
real facts of the case never have beer
and never will be made known--thi
borderean came into the hands of tn
government IN this way:
An agent Of the military secre
service, disguised as Il rag picker
who was in the habit Of collecting The
waste paper thrown out into tn,
street by the servants at the German
embassy, discovered it among thi,
refuse. 1t was written on buff
colored paper and had been torn into
four pieces. The writing closely re-
sembled that Of Alfred Dreyfus anC
was pronounced by two experts tC
be in his writing, whilst another ex
pert commissioned by the govern.
ment declared the contrary. Accord
ing to the friends of Alfred Dreyfl.
this document was not written by
him and they attribute it to another
officer, whose writings certainly re
Scmbles it far more closely. Count
Ferdinand Watson Esterhazy has
since, on several occasions, confessed
to having written the borderau)
JARED HARD IN PRISON,
From the day of his arrest until the
day of his trial Dreyfus was kept II
the most rigorous confinement. HC
was not allowed to see anybody, mol
was he allowed either to read OF
write. 1t was not until December 9th
that he was allowed an interview witt
his advocate, Maitre Demange
During the first week of his confne-
ment he was visited by Major dr
Patty de Clam, who was charged
with the inquiry into his case, anC
Intercepted in his cell. -NaioI
Forzinnetti, who has recently beer
dismissed from the service by tho
government, states that on one oc
casion the major asked to be allowed
to rush into the cell with a bright
light in his hand, when Dreyfus was
not expecting him, so as to be alb,
to read the expression on the pris
oner's face. Beyond the fact that he
WAS charged with high treason
Dreyfus ignored, or professed &c
ignore, the charges against Inn. He
used to say to his jailer, who was the
only person besides Major du Patty
de Clam who was allowed to enter
his presence: What compensation
shall | ask, for when my innocence has
been established? l shall ask for the
cross of the Legion of Honor, and
then l will send in my papers. That
is what have told Major du Patty
de Clam, who has mentioned it in ms
report to the minister. He has been
unable to find a single proof against
me-"
l. is very well known that the trial
was conducted in absolute secrecy.
Not even the prisoner was permitted
to know what evidence there was
against HIM. Finally, on December
%, 1898, the court reached con-
clusiOn, the prisoner still uniformed
OF the character of the testimony sub
mitted to prove his guilt.
Col. Marurel holds a paper in his
hand from which the reads Judgment
as follows, in a short, commanding
voice:
"In the name of the French peo-
pie, the first court martial Of the
military government of Paris was as
scmbled this day, December %,
1894, celebrating with closed doors
The President placed the follow
inc question before the Court: "Mons,
Dreyfus, Alfred, Captain in the
Fourteenth Regiment of Artillery,
stagiary of the staff corps, attached
10 the ministry of war, is he guilty Of
having, 1894, procured for foreign
power a certain number of secret
documents concerning the national
defence. and ofhaving in consequence
practiced Vaccinations or of having
entertained inteligences with this
power or its agents, to engage it to
commit acts of hostility or to I'm
dertake warfare against France, or
having procured it the means to do
SOP"
"The votes of the court having
been taken separately, beginning
with the lowest rank, and the colonel
presiding having given his opinion
last, the answer was unanimously.
Yes, the prisoner is guilty"
"In consequence" continued Col.
Natural, "and unanimously the
courtmartial condemns the man called
Alfred Dreyfus to transportation for
life to the fortified enclosure, and
condemns him to military Migration.
That same evening Dreyfus, on the
ADVICE of his counsel, signed an APP
peal TO the court of revision that lis
conviction should be quasiied on the
graund of mformality and that new
trial should be ordered. The court
refused the appeal, and found that
the first trial had been conducted
with all the formaliiies imposed by
the law Dreyfus was accordingly con-
victed and sentenced without any
further appeal, being possible.
Following came the transportation
to Devils Island, the terrible tortures
suffered there by the prisoner, the
unceasing labors of tile faithful wife
to clear the name of her husband the
sensational accusations by Emile
Zola, and finally the 1ecision of the
Court of Cessation granting the new
trial.