The times., 1899-08-17
4 CONSPIRACY IN FRANCE
(continued from as Page.)

riously i'll, said Lebon.
M. Lebon spoke of his own kilograms en-
quiring as to the prisoners health, saying
that the replies he received were always
| reassuring. This grim Jail record remains,
nevertheless, the most impressive piece of
evidence yet produced and tends to COM
pletely eounteract the somewhat repellant
and unsympathetic personality, which is
! Dreyfus' misfortune in a country where
reserve counts for eoldness and lack OF
emotion arouses suspicion.
Colonel Henry's Widow.
The next to proceed to the witness box
was the widow of Colonel Henry, dressed
In black and of somewhat Insignificant
| figure. She spoke in voice almost in
audible She said very little. The sub
stance of her statement was that If her hus
band had committed forgery it was in or
| der to save the army and the country. In
regard to the relations between her hus-
band and Esterhazy, she only knew that
the latter came to her husbands house
five or six times Her husband told her
that the bordereau was brought to him
personally by Madame B., a servant OF the
| German Embassy, who had acted as his
agent on other occasions and brought him
many papers.
MysteriOus Questions Asked
In the course of Nine. Henry's brief ex
| animation one of the members of the
court-martial asked her two or three mys-
terious questions, the significance of which
was unknown TO anyone but the judges.
1t is now learned that these enquiries in
volve the only new point in the case which
has transpired of late and one which is
expected to prove of the greatest import
ance. Nine. Henry had told of her hus-
bands bringing home the bordereau after
it was obtained from the German Embassy,
and of his examining ii in the dining room,
she also looking at it. The judge asked
WAS it written on heavy or thin pa
per?''
The witness replied 81 do not remem-
ber''
The judge: WAS there a table in the
room covered with oilcloth?'
The witness: Yes"
The judge: Did your husband examine
the bordereau on this table?''
The Witness Yes
The Judge: WAS there portion of the
top of the table which the oilcloth did
net cover, and a wooden surface that was
bare?"
The witness .-4'Yes."
The subject was then dropped, and the
spectators who heard the examination were
mystified. 1t now happens that that pre-
cious scoundrel, Esterhazy, in his latest
tale, insists that what the authorities
always regarded as the original bordereau
is merely copy which he. Esterhazy,
made by Colonel Sandherr's orders. The
original bordereau, Esterhazy says. was ON
heavier paper and in an entirely different
handwriting.
Three weeks ago Esterhazy offered to
sell to London correspondent docu-
ment which he energeticaiiy affirmed was
the original bordereau. He asked $1,000
for it. He, also offered it to other cor
respondents and to the London newspa-
pers, but none OF them would buy it. 1t
is now said that the document has been
sent to the president of the court-martial.
Besides the ordinary folds, it is said that
the paper shows faint crease, on one side
of which the microscope reveals traces OF
pressure upon the figured surface of an
oilcloth. while on the other side of the
crease are traces of pressure on wood.
There May He "a New Bordereau.
II this is true, the full significance OF
the Importance Of the judges questions tc
Nine. Henry is evident. as. setting aside
the question of Dreyfus' guilt or inno-
cence, the production of an entirely new
bordereau would, OF course. destroy all
, the evidence based the handwriting oi
the document, which Mercier, Roget, and
: other witnesses swear was the work oi
Dreyfus, and the search for the traitor
would have to begin again at the origina
J starting point.
General Roget next appeared, and his
testimony. more than that of anyon,
', except General Mercier, made one regret
the absence Of NJ. Laboris skill in cross
examination. He addressed the court in ar
easy and jaunty manner. Although Gen
eral Roget's testimony retraversed the
weIl-known ground covered by his previ-
Gus depositions he was even more une-
e quivocal in most of his statements thar
! formerly. He began with some pride re.
calling the fact that he had said month.
ago that If Esterhazy declared that h,
| wrote the bordereau he would not beliey,
him. How, he asked, had he done so? TIL
[ witness said he was more firmly convinced
than ever that Dreyfus wrote it. He re-
peated his version of the interviews be
| tween Colonel Henry and Judge Bertulus
: wherein the latter says that Henry brok,
I down confessed his forgery and virtIia II,
confessed treason. General Roget affirmed
: that it was Bertuus and not Henry wht
2 was discounted.
The Insalence of Roget.
g He then 6tufared that he was convince,
: that Dreyfns had written the bordereau
because of the fact that when NJ
Casimir- Perer informed the German Am
bassador, in January, 1895, that the borde
reau had been brought to the French Wa
e Office from the German Embassy. the Am
bassador did not Immediately deny tha
there had not been dealings with Dreyfus
/ Roget repeatedly emphasized this point up
I ON the court martial, urging that Coun
: MINISTER'S silence constituted tacit ad
I mission of relations with Dreyfus, ant
$ therefore proof of the prisoners guilt
There was even a ghost of a smile OF
= = Dreyfus' face at this ingenious argument
: General Roget added that he had seen al
the papers in the case, and that nowher
h was there trace of Esterhazy He wa
: convinced that mon ce canaille de d" re
!. ferred to Dreyfus 1t was absurd to sa,
e that Dubois, poor devil well known a