Arizona republican., 1899-10-07
WHY DREYFUS
WAS INDIFFERENT

fears that his younger brothers ma!
grew up to plot against him he adopt!
q policy whose origin is lost in this
mists of the cynical past. An old wo
man, In her solitary rambles, gather:
1.-THE dead flowers CT the flaming poppy
Alone, she soaks them in bowl of wa
ter, and with the detection makes :
sherbert. 1t is the young princes
sherbert. No enc else may drink q
it. Soon the young princes wish nc
other. Each day the old woman comes
back with the wicked faded flowers
So the young princes grow up to be
quiet youths, not talkative, but cen
templative. doing in tie palace shade
Such princes do net plot Should
chance bring them to a court of jus
tice, charged with treason, they would
show even greater apathy than that
with which Alfred Dreyfus astonished
the world at Rennes. The poppy spell
has many varying degrees, from heav-
emily serenity to british torpcr.
Every one will recall illusions that
have filtered through the barrier Of
silence, illusions to the prisoners cen
dltlCn that have only served to mys-
tlfy and arouse suspicion; discraet ref
erences to ''stimulants'' and crises de
nerfs, hints about the prisoners less
CT memory, and speculations why he
used to recOmmence the same letter
twenty times, copying and recopying.
only to cast the sheet aside. Indeed.
1t is strange the truth was not guessed
after the publication of the report OF
the minister OF colonies. where the es-
sence of the secret was betrayed for all
gifted with the ability to see the cen
nectlon between subject and predicate
From the first month CT his deten-
ton until his return to France Drey-
fus had to make constant use of q
calming potion OF choral and. later on,
10 absorb opium pills to calm l'areth-
lsme cerebrale' and cardiac troubles.
from which he suffered" Cerebral
erethism' means unnatural energy Of
brain action Drevfus's brain w,s
too active. 1t was necessary to calm it.
Between the enc extreme of an ORR
entail Supplying policy and the other
OF humane jailer's indulgence toward
thought-tCG mented life prisoner
there are so many possibilities that
every shade ct opinion may have its
explanation fC!r the dTugging CT Drey-
fus- But after all is said the fact re-
mains, as terrible today to Nine. Drey-
fus as en- that fatsful morning when
she learned the truth. A year mere
and Dreyfus would have cared no long
er fer his rehabilitation had he not
mere Drobably-succumbed to mcr-
phinic c&chexia.
''He is thin. his muscles are afro
pinned, he can only digest milk and
CT
DR.. P0zZi- 'Dreyfus is a wreck He
can never be brought completely back
TO life. When he RECEIVERS his liberty
he viii live on. but wrapped in cotton.
Sc tc speak, like a Part that has suf-
fered too much to recover its first
vigOr''
1t is true that DR.. Pozzi has not ex-
a mined DIeyfus any more than have
the other celebrated physicians, Reclus
and Brissaud, who found themselves at
Rennes during the trial. The Dreyfus
family. far from making request for
declared themselves. very
positively, satisfied with the care ct
the prison doctor-an army surgeon
bound to silence by the professional
secret. 1t is known that the latter
made honest efforts to raise Dreyfus
from MS lethargy by the temporary
use of cocoa (perhaps even cocaira)
This was the stimulant mentioned by
the reporters.
1t gave Dreyfus spurts Of mental ac-
tiyity, but it may not be continued:
for if opium is satan cocaine is Be
elzebub. Evidently Dreyfus is one of
those physiquss untitled fer lotus eat
ing from the beginning The bad
nourishment Canned gcods), the lack
CT exercise (the palisade), and the
physical Inconvenience t. which he
was subjected all worked unfavorably |
to the habit
A French doctor-an anti-Dreyfus
ard, a rank pretorian-has been giving |
The reasonable explanation of the |
lrugging of Dreyfus, stripped of its !
base inSinuations.
"Dreyfus arrived at the lie du Diable |
n a state CT mental agitation that |
threatened his reason. Cne has only !
% read the medical report Of his So
Ourn to ascertain that this tendency |
continued during his entire stay, and |
had to be c0mbated continually. His !
Imagination floating in the infinite |
by the emptiness around !
him. wrote the jailer Deniels, plunged !
itself into agitated meditation that |
would draw Thin into crazy and dis
ordered prCmenades.' Strong crises |
we're of weekly occurrence. He suf-
cred from sleeplessness.
AT the beginning the penitentiary |
loctor-the only merciful person in
-Ouch with the Wretch-deemed It |
proper to bestCw en- him the balm of |
nightly sleep. It was a choral syrup; |
out as the choral persisted in is sim !
ply a nerve eater, a destroyer, its use |
was discontinued after a few bottles. |
It is said that opium was substituted |
because OF its additional power to calm |
1 heart trouble, of which Dreyfus al |
ways complained. If enc chooses to
zee in this rather humane weakness /
On the part of the good doctor, there is |
10 justification for going further. The |
nan was condemned fer life. and his |
lie was a long misery. 1t. Therefore, !
S probable that Dreyfus grew into ac-
eepting the drug as willingly as the |
loctor drifted into giving it. Certain |
=, ,NI,x TIT, ~