The record-union., 1899-08-27


SO tiresome, the audience brought out
newspapers and chatted in low tones.
NJ. Jaures, a member of the Chamber
of Deputies, and strong Dreyfusard,
openly showed his impatience, but was
not rebuked for so doing.
M. Bertillon at once advanced fresh
proof against the prisoner, namely, in
the Dreyfus papers seized at the War
Office, and in which the specialist said
he found two words had been traced.
As he proceeded the witness became
| imbedded in paraphernalia. His lee
ture, delivered in funeral tones, began
| to pail on the Judges, who finally only
paid the most cursory attention to the
! examples submitted. One of M. Ber-
| tillons demonstrations was handed to
| Dreyfus, who closely scrutinized it,
and returned the paper with disdain-
| full shrug of his shoulders and without
uttering a word.
NJ Bertillon said continuing: Fully
understanding the responsibility of so
positive statements, on my soul and
conscience 1 declare to-day, as I did
in 1884, on my oath, that the border
eau is the work of the prisoner here"
(Sensation.)
Dreyfus heard this assertion un-
moved. The witness was asked by the
Court how he explained the similarity
of the handwriting of the bordereau
and that of Esterhazy, to which he
replied that since 1894 Esterhazy may
have practiced initiating the writing OF
| the bordereau in order to render pos
sible the substitution of himself for the
prisoner In support Of this theory,
! M. Bertillon produced a fresh array OF
hypothesis in regard to Esterhazy
There were murmurs of assent and dis
sent
The witness pointed out that in Es-
! terhazy's writing there were certain
caligraphic blunders, which, he assert
| ed, did not exist in the original bur
| dereau, but We're found in reproduc-
tions of the document in consequence
of imperfections in the methods en-
ployed to reproduce them. This, he con-
! tinued tended to prove that Esterhazy
| had intended to appropriate the writing
of these reproductions.
"EsterhaZy,' exclaimed NJ Bertillon,
''is a man of straw and a scoundrel. /
I have said this in the commencement of
| the Zola trial"
There was a sensation in court at this
remark which was turned to laughter
as the witness, in his excitement,
knocked his portfolios to the ground.
NJ Demange asked M Bertillon if
he had submitted Esterhazy's hand
writing to the same tests as the bor-
dereau.
The witness replied in the affirmative,
complete than in the case Of the pris-
oner.
Counsel reminded the witness that he
said in 1894 that he found in the bor-
dereau a cryptographic signature al
fred Dreyfus."
NJ Bertillon replied that he was not
now positive on this point, to which he
added that he attched mo Importance
whatever"
Referring to NJ. Bertillon's statements
yesterday that he found in the border
eau words Dreyfus was in the habit
of using in documents of the War De
partment NJ. Demange asked how the
witness accounted for this, and the wit
ness responded, with some confusion,
that it was a necessary counterpart
of the precautions taken by the pris-
oner when he wrote the bordereau, ''in
order to make out that he was the
victim of a plot" (Sensation)
Asked his opinion of the letter from
Matthew Dreyfus, called the plotting
pad letter, from which the specialist
alleged the prisoner took the keyword
for his work on the bordereau, NJ Ber-
tillon replied that he had no opinion
on the subject, but he maintained the
letter had been written by the same
system as the bordereau. THAT is my
hypothesis, said the witness Many
similar ones can be found (Murmurs
Of disapproval)
NJ. Labori asked how NJ Bertillon
reconciled the result of present experts.
namely, that the bor&ereau was written
by Dreyfus tracing Esterhazy's hand
writing with his opinion in 1894. that
the bordereau was written by Dreyfus,
unless it had been most carefully
forged. To this NJ. Bertillon replied
that it was only a hypothesis, where
upon NJ. Labori remarked that the for
gerry was then of such a nature as to
constitute proof in favor of Dreyfus,
yet to-day it is made proof against
him.
Continuing, counsel said: "Since the
witness admits Esterhazy has written
by the same mathematical methods as
Dreyfus why has he attributed the
bordereau to Dreyfus. rather than to
Esterhazy?''
NJ Bertillon-It was on Dreyfus'
pad that the keyword interest" was
found, and Esterhazy might have had
access to this word
M T.ah hoi-j-Daac NJ Ear+illo,o
that Esterhazy is a traitor?
Colonel Jouaust refused to put the
question to the witness. (Sensation)
III. Labori, continuing his questions,
asked NJ Bertillon's opinion as to what
system of defense might have been en-
ployed by the writer of the bordereau.
if the document had been found on
him.
The witness. in a confused and in
audible tone declared that the prisoner
would have maintained that the docu-
ment was a forgery and would have
adduced it as plot.
NJ Labori-In that case the prisoner
must have foreseen the appearance on
the scene of a man so eminent as NJ
Bertillon, capable of imagining q sys-
tenn so ingenious as the one he exposes
to-day. Laughter.)
NJ Bertillon retorted that in his opin-
ion a man of the ability of the ac-
cused would have made a model line
in a quarter of an hour every time he
had occasion to write.
Replying to further questions, NJ
Bertillon admitted he had discovered
in Esterhazy's writing peculiarities
| similar tn those in fho bordarao,