Rock Island Argus., 1899-08-19

somewhere else z Tne document con-
tanning the words: 'Cette canaiIle de
D. 3. A document which is moth
ing but the report of a journey to
Switzerland made in behalf of a for
eign power.
Second Part of the Dossier.
The second part of the dossier."
continued Picquart, consisted chiefly
OF supplementary review of the first.
1t contained the gist of seven or eight
documents, one of which, 'Cette ca
naille de D. will serve for the
purposes of comparison. II also con-
tanned the correspondence of attaches
"A and b. These initials, 1t should be
borne in mind, represent Colonel
Schwartkoppen, formerly German mill
tary attache at Paris. and Major Pani-
zardi, the former military attache of
Italy at the French capital" He then
asked to see the dossier, but was re-
fused as impossible" He wanted it
to refresh his memory, but said he
would try to get along without it.
One Document That Was stolen.
Colonel Piequart then proceeded to
argue that the dossier did not present
anything that should put a man in
jeopardy of life or liberty, and at any
rate there was nothing in it to point to
Dreyfus. He criticized Colonel du Patty
de CLAIMS conduct all through the case
and expressed his regret that De Clam
was not present. OF one document
Colonel Picquart said: This docu-
ment was not the property of any par
ticular minister. 1t was classified as
belonging to the intelligence depart
ment, and, as you see, it formed part
of a well-defined dossier-a dossier
which was shut up in one of the draw
ers of my desk and which was alb
streted from it. This commentary.
therefore, is upon secret dossier docu-
ment which was improperly removed
from my department"
INVESTIGATES MAJOR EsrERHazy.
And Finds Nothing Good-Comp arison of
Some HandwritIngs.
Turning to the second portion of the
dossier, Picquart described a number
of documents in it as forgeries and said
the police reports therein contained
showed nothing serious against Drey-
fus- Concluding his examination of
the secret dossier Colonel Picquart ex-
planned how he had acquired the con-
viction that the bordereau was written
by Esterhazy, and how he ascertained
that the anti-Dreyfus proofs were
worthless. He began by detailing how
he first learned of the existence of Es-
terhazy and his efforts to discover
something about him. What he found
was all bad He finally concluded to
speak to General Boisdeffre about Es-
terhaZy. Colonel Picquart then con-
tinued: General Boisdeffre wrote me
asking me to meet him at the train on
his arrival from Vichy. While driving
from the railroad station to the gen.
erals hotel, I told him all had done
in regard to Esterhazy. / affirm that
General de Boisdeffre knew that this
question was to remain a secret be-
tween us and that / was not to mention
II except to the minister of war"
The colonel then said that he OBJ
tanned a specimen of Esterhazy's hand
writing-letters-and had them pho
tographed and showed the photographs
TO Major Du Patty de Clam and NJ. Ber-
tillon, the handwriting expert, between
Aug. 25 and Sept. 5. Bertillon had
formerly testified that the bordereau
was written by Dreyfus. NJ. Bertillon
said: That is the writing of the bor-
dereau." He also suggested that it was
a tracing, but never thought of ii be-
ing the writing of Esterhazy
Colonel Picquart then continued:
when | saw beyond a doubt that the
handwriting of the bordereau was Es-
terhaZys, and seeing that documents
mentioned therein might have been
supplied by Esterhazy, that the words
i am going to manoeuvers' could per-
fectly we'll apply to EsterhaZy, and that
EsterhaZy had secretaries at his dis
posal to copy a document so volumin-
Gus as the firing manual, / resolved to
consult the secret dossier to see what
part OF the treachery might be ascribed
to Dreyfus and to assure myself wheth-
er the dossier contained anything indi-
eating Esterhazy. ! frankly admit l
was stupifed on reading the secret
dossier.
Il expected to find matters of gravity
therein and found, in short, nothing
but a document which might apply just
as much to EsterhaZy as to Dreyfus. an
unimportant document mentioning
D'Avignon. and a document which it
seemed absurd to apply TO Dreyfus-
namely the 'Cette canaille de D.
document" Colonel Picquart then
went to see Boisdeffre again and he
sent the colonel to General Gonse- The
colonel said: when / informed Gen
eral Gonse of all which had occurred
he remarked: SO a mistake has been
made After my interview with Cen
eral Gonse l did not work any longer
on my own initiative. / said nothing
more until the return of General Gonse,
Sept. Is. At that time EsterhaZy was
at the great manoeuyers."