The evening herald. [volume] (Shenandoah, Pa.) 1891-1966, 1899-08-24
.DREYFUS TRIAL GOES ON
Production of the Flimsiest Trash
For the Prosecution.
FIERCE DEBIALs BY PRISONER.


Much OF tho Testimony Would Indi-
cate That the Prisoner was Charged
with Othcr Oncnsc Than Treason.
MercIcr May Go to Prison.
Rennes. Aug. 24.-The session Of the
court martial yesterday was compare
lively uneycnttol The dispositions were
not productive Of any really thrilling
incidents. The systematic production
of the limsiest trash which the prose-
cution deems profitable TO inflict on the
judges, and which the latter accept as
evidence, was proceeded with Much OF
the ridiculous testimony OF the morn
ing was devoted to an attempt to blast
Drevfus' private character, though,
when Maitres Labori and Demange had
finished with the witnesses, their bub-
bles of tittle-tattle were badly prlcked.
Much of the time was occupied in
reading the testimony Of Esterhazy
and Mile. Paws before the court Of cas-
sation, during which many Of the au-
dience left the court. M. Labori again
distinguished himself In laying bare
the veal, points Of the evidence He
was less fierce, however, than the pre-
vious day, though quite aggressive
enough to arouse the latent hostility
OF the judges, which showed itself in
various little ways NJ. Labori is no
favorite either with Major Carriere.
the governments commissary, and the
latter makes no serious effort to con-
ceal his feelings towards the lawyer.
The only dangerous opponent of
Drevfus was General Gonse who
mounted the stage with a quick step
and apparently light heart But he
left It badly mauled by NJ. LabCh. Cen
oral Gonse began by declaring he came
TO defend his honor against those
"driveling" against him. But when
his cross-examination was finished he
returned to his seat with his tail be-
tween his legs, for NJ Labori haa
driven him into a corner on the at
tempts of the general staff to shield
Esterhazy and had shown that the gem
eral staff. for which Gonse was re-
sponsible. had engineered Esterhazy's s
escane from the hands of justice. The
confident tones of the general had by
then dwindled into the proverbial still,
small voice, and his defiant bearing
had changed into the abashed air Of a
Two good samples of the men put up
to sully Dreyfus' private character were
the third and fourth witnesses. First
Major Du Chatelet repeated an al
legged conversation of Dreyfus regard
ing a lady at whose house Dreyfus Is
alleged to have gambled and lost
money But when cross-eXamined Du
Chatelet's memory failed him entirely,
especially when asked the name of the
lady, the street she resided in and the
sum DreYfus lost.
Next NJ. Dubreuil showed equally as
founding forgetfulness on essential
points of his evidence concerning Drey-
fus' acquaintanceship with foreign at
tache, and when M. Demange capped
his successful examination of those
points by promising to show NJ Du-
breuils record in the law courts Is far
from clear the witness left the stand
badly discredited.
M. Dubrieul said he was greatly as
| tonished at the suspicious familiar
| ity'' between the attache and Dreyfus
and that, perceiving they disapprovec
of his presence, NJ. Dubrieul ceased his
| visits to NJ Bodson. When the latter
| asked the reason for this saying, ac-
| cording to the witness, that Dreyfus
was the friend and even the lover OF
| his wife, and asked witness advice as
| to how to get rid of her, witness asked
| M. Bodson If he had proofs, and Bod
| son replied: proofs? Yes. I have even
| proofs enough to drive Dreyfus out OF
| the French army"
Dreyfus protested excitedly against
! the evidence of M. Dubrieul, who is g
! Partisan friend of NJ. de Beaurepaire
but Colonel Jouaust exhorted him to be
calm, promising the prisoner a chance
to reply. This arrived shortly after.
wards, and Dreyfus thundered out: 90
won't speak here of Monsieur or Ma
dame Bodson, except to say that my
relations with Madame Bodson ceased
in 1886 or 1887, since when have nevel
seen her. l wish simply to assert thai
the witness is lying. I never dined al
| NJ Bodson's with any civil or military
attache. The matter must be cleared
up. People must produce definite fact!
here, and not mere tittle-tattle. The
name of the person with whom l an
alleged to have dined must be ascer
tanned 1t must be known here who Il
| lying and who is speaking the truth
General De Dionne. governor of tht
military college, testified to Dreyfus
character at college. The prisoner, h,
said, displayed great intelligence, bu
had a deplorable temper. He recalled I
remark of Dreyfus that the people o
Alsace-Lorraine would be much hap
pier under German rule than under tn,
rule of France.
The prisoner, referring to the re
ordinations mentioned by General d.
Dionne, explained that during his frs
year at the military college he attained
very high marks; that the second yea,
he almost held his place, when, HI
added, he heard that a member Of thu
examining board had declared at {
board meeting that, without knowing
the pupils he put mark five OPPOSITE
the name of Dreyfus simply becaus
they did not want a Jew on the head
quarters staff. Regarding his alleged
remarks about Alsace-Lorraine, Drey
fus declared that the statement wa
the very opposite of his real senti
ments.
Immediately after Colonel Schneider
Rttache of the Austrian embassy, re
turned to Paris he wrote another let
ter to Figaro confirming his repudia
tion of the forgery used by Mercler a
Rennes, and continued
"On Nov. 80, 1897, my opinion wa
absolutely contrary to that expresse
in the document in question. The ad
dition of that date and my signatur
to the text attributed to me constitute
a forgery, even (which l am unabl
to judge without seeing 1.-THE ter