The age-herald., 1899-09-03
TELLING EVIDENCE GALORE Tide Turned and Hope for the
 Prisoner is Bright. THE AUTHOR OF THE BORDEREAU No Man as Familiar as Dreyfus With Artillery Matters Would Have
 Committed Such Silly Blum
 ders as Are Contained
THE AUTHOR OF THE BoRDEREAu

Rennes, September 2.-Elation is the only word that expresses the feelings of the Dreyfusards after today's proceedings. The tide has turned at last, they say, and Drey- fus can not be condemned after the evil dence given this morning. The spirits of the Dreyfusards are quite mercurial. Every day since the opening of the trial has seen them rise and fall recently they have been falling heavily, the close of the morning sessions generally finding them in anxious conversations, accompanied by omnibus shaking of their heads. Todays buoyancy therefore, is all the more note- worthy. Yesterday was fairly good day, but today's session, they claim puts the verdict out of doubt and the judges must acquit Dreyfus
 Major Martmann, of the artillery, oecu- pied nearly half the session with the con- clusion of his expert evidence to the eff feet that Dreyfus, as an artillery officer, would not have displayed such ignorance regarding guns and brakes as was shown in the bordereau, while the other subjects of the bordereau were matters upon which any officer could inform himself.
 No Point Refuted
 Major Hartmann's testimony practically stood uncontested, as neither General Deloye nor General Mercier who replied, refuted any material point therein.
 M. Havet, a member of the institute then entered upon the grammatical aspect of the bordereau and in vigorous but elegant language devoted himself to showing that the construction of the bordereau bristled titt, marks of Esterhazy's handiwork, while the phraseology bore no resemblance to Drey- fus' style.
 The next stage of the proceedings was the reading of the Gonz-Picquart corre- spondence exchanged at the time Colonel Picquart suspected Esterhazy and wanted General Gong to probe the matter to the bottom This brought M. Labori to the front and in a series of questions he brought out sharply before the court the machinations of which Colonel Picquart was the victim at the hands of the gen. eral from the moment he showed a desire to thoroughly sift the matter.
 M Labori, for the first time, got Gen. eral Gong to admit that he ordered the tampering with Picquart's letters in order
 
 while he was chief of the intelligence de- partment
 Gong Badly Disconnected
 A little later M. Labori evidently discon- certed General Gong, for the latter blurted out that Lieutenant-Colonel Henry com mtted his forgery in order to have fresh proofs against Dreyfus. The audience smiled at this explanation and General Gong then added: But it was unnecessary since tine diploma tic dossier contained in- eliminating documents 'Dreyfus' written in full"
 General Gong apparently meant the Panizarddi dispatch which has already been ruled out of court M. Labori pro- tested indignantly, exclaiming: "There are no such documents and then asked General Gong to enumerate the documents to which he alluded.
 Colonel Jouaust, president of the court martial, however, declined to put the question, whereupon M. Labori said he re- served to himself the right to submit a for nal application for these documents.
 Then came the leading witness of the day, M Des Ponds Lamothe. probationer con- temporaneously with Dreyfus, who is now a civil engineer, and so has no reason to fear the wrath of the military clique. The witness opened by declaring that despite the fact that he had brother in the gar rlson at Rennes, he came to tell what he knew in favor Of DreyfuS, and he proceed ed to make a statement, which, according to the Dreyfusards, practically decides the case.
 Circular to Probationers
 First he recalled the fact that circular was sent to the probationeers on May II, 1894, informing them that they must not go to the maneuvers, thus showing that the man who wrote the bordereau in August and said "I am going to the maneuvers," could not be Dreyfus.
 The witness then pointed out that none of the ministers, who he believed acted in good faith, were informed of the existence of this circular, which he declared, "I con- slider a vital point in the case"
 ''This circular" he continued, ''shatters the prosecution, because after May 17 Drey- fus could not say I am going to the ma neuvers,' for then he knew he would not go while prior to May + he could not have known the five documents comprised in the bordereau."
 point Alluding to the notifications of the disposition of the troops he said the writ CT of the bordereau used the term new plan" Now" said the witness. 'it has been impressed upon you that on October 15 a circular was sent out from the war ministry containing those very words and that, therefore, the writer of the bordereau must have been an officer of the ministry. But one thing has struck me-who sent out that circular? It was the third bureau, the chief of which was Lieutenant Colonel Du