The Grenada sentinel., 1899-08-19

Resume Of the Fiawsy Evidence on Which
Capt. Dreyfus was Degraded and De-
ported to the Terrible solitude Of lsls
Du DisbIe, In the PsnAl settiemest Ut
french Guiana. a
A brief of the Dreyfus case covering
the important steps from the day Of
errest in 1894 up to the present time
will help the newspaper readers to
understand the significance of the evil
dence now being submitted at the trial
in Rennes:
In September, 1s94,a servant brought
to the intelligence department OF the
French war office the torn fragments
of an unsigned memorandum-the bor-
dereau. He said he found it in the
waste basket of Col. De SchwartzkOp-
pen, the German military attache IN
Paris, but subsequent developments in.
dicated that he had stolen it. Its con-
tents showed that the writer of it was
Systematically selling French military
secrets, presumably to Germany. The
servant got the pay he sought, and the
department of intelligence set to work
at once to discover the traitor.
Here is the bordereau:
In the absence of any news indicat-
ing your desire to see me, l, never
theless, send you, sir, certain infor-
nation of interest:
/. A note on the hydraulic brake of
12O (method of operating this piece).
2. A note on the troupes de couver-
ture Outpost troops). A few modiii-
cations will be made by the new plan.
3. A note on notifications in artil-
lery formation.
4. A note relating to Madagascar.
s. A scheme relative to the manual
of field firing March IA, 1so4).
This last paper is extremely difficult
to procure, and can have it at my dis
posal only for a few days. The min
istry has issued a definite number to
the corps, and these corps are respon-
sible for them; each officer is obliged
to return his copy after the maneuvers.
If, therefore, you wish me to take from
it whatever may interest you and hold
it afterwards at my disposal, l will
take it, unless you do not want me to
make copy in extenso and address it
to you. l am just leaving for the
maneuvers.
Col. Sandherr then was at the head
of this department of the secret sery-
ice. He was man with strong bias
against all Jews, but in other ways
above reproach. Chiefs of other bu-
reaus were NJ. Du Patty de Clam, who
saw spies everywhere, even in his own
family; Col.Henry, who had risen frcm
the ranks, brave, but coarse, and cara-
BILE of carrying zeal to criminal
lengths, and NJ. Bertin, the son of a
Jewish mother. +.
Among the officers then employed on
the general staff was Alfred Dreyfus,
the first Jew who ever received an ap-
pointment of the kind. He came OF a
rich and patriotic Alsatian family, had
refused a brilliant business opening
in order to enter the army, and had
passed through in turn the Ecole, Pol
ytechnique, the Ecole d'Application
D'Artillerie and the Ecole de Guerre.
He had married in 1890 Mile. Hada-
mard, the daughter of wealthy
Partisan merchant. A devoted hus-
band and the father of two children,
he lived entirely for his family and
his work.
AS NJ. Du Patty de Clam said that he
recognized the handwriting of Dreyfus
in the memorandum, he was at once
intrusted with the judicial investiga-
ton. Experts in handwriting were
summoned, and NJ. Colbert, the most
eminent French authority, pronounced
against the supposed Dreyfus author
ship. This SO enraged NJ. Du Patty de
Clam that NJ. Colbert was forced to
apologize.
From NJ. Bertillon he received a
more favorable opinion. But NJ. Ber-
tillon was not handwriting expert,
| but a police official, who has invented
q system for Judging handwriting, by
which it is possible to prove that any
document has been written by any
body. His favorable opinion was given
on October IA.
| On the same day Capt. Dreyfus re-
ceived letter from N. Du Patty de
Clam asking him to call at the war Of
fee the following morning to receive
a communication which concerned
him. Meantime Gen. Mercier, the
| minister of war and violent Jew
hater. ordered a cell to be prepared
for Dreyfus in the Cherche-M Midi pris-
on. He also ordered that the prison
er's name should not be inscribed in
the prison register, but that he should
be put ''au secret" so that no one
should see him except the chief ward
en-, who was also to take him his food.
| All this was done before the prellm-
mary inquiry, which, by law, must
| precede formal order to prosecute in
a military court. Dreyfus was treated
as condemned man even before he
had been informed of the charge
against him, and ten weeks before the
| verdict Of the court-martial. I.
When Dreyfus appeared at the war
Office the next morning N. Du Patty de
Clam began to dictate to him letter
4 W q i v . B