The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1899-03-01
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"a TALK WITH MADAME DREYFUSS {
Her Story About Her Husband the Famous Pris- z
oner of Devils Island. {:

has been OBTAINED by MISS Mary spencer
Warren only after great difficulties. Hell
correspondence while she was In Paris was
tampeisd with, and even the letters to ouI
ONCE have met with similar treatment.l
I am writing this in Paris, where
nearly every question of the day is
relegated to the background, and the
Dreyfus case is still the one absorb
ing topic OF the hour. Furthermore,
1 have just returned to the city from
a long and interesting chat with the
much-to-be-pitied, brave and true
hearted lady who is one of the victims
of this nineteenth century tragedy.
1t is not easy accurately TO picture
the situation here-the difficulty one
has in gaining even the location OF
Madame Alfred Dreyfusl People are
simply afraid to say what they know,
they may be speaking to police spy;
and whatever their own private
opinion may be, they would rather
not state it, or, in fact, r5e drawn into
any conversation on the subject.
Said prominent French parsonage to
me when we were discussing the mat
ter together; "Donot write to Madame
Dreyfus and trust to the post; your
letter will be opened Go to her; or,
if you have anything you wish to say
by letter, send trusty messenger, or
deliver it personally" This from o
country whose boast is "Liberty,
Equality, fraternity"
For some time now Madame has re-
sided at quiet little village on the
Seine, few miles out of Paris. Here
she can obtain greater. seclusion for
herself, with fresh country air and
the delights of q garden for her chill
dren. The village is beautifully situ-
ated, and the house stands in charm
ing garden, bright with fower-beds
and lawn, hanked by pine, acacia and
other trees. The letter which L had
carefully deposited in the hands of a
servant of the house two days before
had prepared Madame Dreyfas for
my visit, and in few moments after
! arrived we were engaged in IN ami.
mated conversation.
The fest thing of which 1 became
convinced was that the lady with
whom 1 was talking was extremely
anxious to avoid all unnecessary pub
licity. Well aware of the great inter-
est the countries of Europe are taking
in the painful case of her husband,
and compelled as she is by the force
OF circumstances to keep herself be-
fore the pubic, yet she shrinks palpa-
bly, from self advertisement, and
would prefer, if possible. to live alto
gether apart from the world. "For
the children's sake" a bright, cheerful
face bellies the aching heart that must
be the lot Of her who is forcibly separ-
ated from one who is dearer to her
than life itself. And for "the chill
dren's sake" the mother has an added
desire for seclusion. The bright
eyed, merry, and altogether light
hearted little ones do not understand
the sad tragedy that has darkened
their home; they think that their
father is travelling, and talk joyfully of
his return, planning in their artless
way the many things to be done when
father comes home" 1t is better to
keep them in ignorance as long as
possible; and in response to my re-
quest for photographs, Madame Drey-
fus tells me that she is sorry to have
to refuse, but that she does not wish
either her own or her children's feat
ures to become familiar to the public.
There are no photographs of either of
them in existence, and she would
rather that such continue to be the
case. One could not press the mat
ter--it would be both indelicate and
but when I sought permis-
sion to reproduce the portrait of Cap
tain Dreyfus, 1 was rather. surprised
10 hear that the gentleman had only
been photographed once in his life
thai was many years ago, when he
was a young lieutenant-it was
lone by friend and bore very
little resemblance to the clever and |
energetic Captain of the Staff of more |
recent days. Any portrait which
has appeared of either husband or
wife is neither authentic nor author
zed, and Is, in fact, only imaginative.
has no photograph of her
in the house, neither has she
he remotest scrap of his writing. The
eason for the non-pCssession of the
after is obvious; the authorities were
90 anxious to establish the guilt of
he captain to leave much in the house
which might be helpful to his de.
enders.
Much is said about the monthly let
ers the unhappy prisoner at the lie
lu Diable sends to his wife, but no one
iced laud the leniency of the Govern
nent in this respect-these letters
ever reach their destination. They
o to the Central prison and are there
lltered. 1t is only what the authorities
re pleased to allow which ultimately
caches Madame Dreyfus. Even then
be contents are sad beyond all ex-
ression, and though the captain de-
lares his trust in God, and believes
is innocence will be ultimately estab.
shed before the world, yet he cannot
revent the ring of despair at his lot
nd the occasional expression of acute
uffering becoming paramount. His
evoted love for his wife runs through {
very epistle, and one cannot but feel
le deepest sympathy for the unfor-