The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1899-08-31
70 PROVE DREYFUS GUILTY
Bertillon System introduced
by the Prosecution.
THE PERFORMANCE FELL FLAT
As Last Resort, the Prisoners Coun-
sci viii Call on Germany for the
Documents-Bertillo Excited.

Rennes, Aug. 2s.-After NJ. Bcrtil.
Ion, the handwriting expert, who is at
the head Of the anthropometric depart.
ment of the prefecture of police of
Paris, had concluded the first Install
ment of his so.callcd demonstration of
the guilt of Captain Dreyfus, prom
inent Dreyfusard referred to him as
the fin de steele Cagliostro. The Drey-
fusards refuse to regard him as any
thing but the prince of quacks. They
cover his remarks with ridicule and
protest that the admission OF his fam
tastc theories as evidence before the
courtmartial is a disgrace to France.
&C est une hontc." was the remark
heard on all sides when the session
closed, and the audience, mainly made
up OF Dreyfusards, was being pressed
outside by the gendarmes, who clear
the courtroom as soon as the court ad.
journs.
Nevertheless. even the Dreyfusards
do not deceive themselves as to the
effect of NJ. Bertllon's testimony or
demonstration" may have upon the
judges. who. they fear, will he gulled
by what the Dreyfusards consider spur
ious. All the judges have passed
through the Ecule Polytechnique. the
highest school of science in France,
and they are thus peculiarly interest
ed in such evidence" as that of Der.
tillon. Moreover, with the aid of the
innumeiable diagrams and specimens
Of In icl ha ~,
they may be able to follow his reason
ing lntelligently, which is more :lIan
any member Of the audience could do
today: Ii the judges accept Bertilon's
premises that Dreyfus, as an expert
spy, did not write in ordinary hand
writing, but in close imitation, even
cOntriving to give letters the appear
ance of having been traced, in order to
be able to repudiate them as forgery
il detected-then the structure built
upon this groundwork may be scien-
tifically correct. Even Dreytus, when
shown Bertillon's demonstration, ad.
mitted the ingenuity and plausibilty
of the system. though he naturally de-
clared that it was built on false basis.
A remarkable feature OF Bertillon's
deposition was the heat and excitement
he put into what was expected to be
a calm, dispassionate exposition of his
theory. He Numbered. shouted and
waved his arms as though engaged in
some terrible dispute. Once lie literal
ly shrieked. and numbers of the usual
audience who had been unable to fol.
low him and were taking air in the
courtyard, rushed back INTO the hall,
breathelssly inquirng what had hap
pened. imagining that he was fulminat-
ing some dreadful denunciation of the
accused. Their excitement was turned
into hilaiity when they found that he
was momentarily impiessing upon the
judges the significance of the exact
space. measured in centimetres. DO.
tween two words in the boiderau.
The Echo de Paris announced today
that the counsel of Dreyfus had OBJ
tanned possession OF certain documents
mentioned in the borderau, in Ester
hays writing, which they would pro-
duce in Court next week as a coup DO
theatre. The press correspondent in.
quired as to this in competent Drey.
fusard quarters this afternoon. lie
was assured that the statement was
erroneous. but was also told that the
defense intended, in the event of Cap
tain Dreyfus being re-condemhod, to
ask the German government to com.
municate these documents proving his
innocence. and that they had reason to
believe such request would be granted.