The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1899-08-31
CHANGING TACTICS
General MERCER Pretends to Have
Something Up His Sleeve
WHICH WILL BE EXPLODED.
Since the Tide Has Turned in Favor Of
Captain Dreyfus
THERE HAS BEEN MUCH DISCoRD.
A Split Among the General Staff Is Likely
to Occur.
GENERAL BoIsDEFFRE TO Be OVERTHROW
The Evidence Today Was Dccidedly
Favorable to the Prisoner, which
Discomforted the Prosecution.

Rcnncs, August 3O.--Thc city OF
Rcnncs this afternoon Is GiIcd with
rumors of conspiracies and prcdic-
lions of coup de thcntcr but moth
ing precise cnn he nsccrtnincd. Gem
crnt Mercicr's attitude during the
Inst few days has mystiHcd his fol-
lowers tn the ease. He is extremely
clever and the general feeling In
that he is preparing something, the
existence of which will be revealed
in few days.
II is now accepted ns beyond Gucs-
ton that there is N serious division
of opinion among the generals.
When the case WAS running smooth
~ against Captain Dreyfus they all
pulled together, but since the tide
OF evidence began to turn in his
favor was notably the ease dur
ing the testimony of Captain Frey
stnettcr and Colonel Cordier. which
proved much more da maEing TO
the general stan than the latter an
ttcipntcd, ccrtniu dividing lines
have become manifest between the
various cliqucs. General Roget,
Major Lnuth, Captain Cuignet and
NJ. Gribeiin. the principal keeper of
the archives of tho war office, form
one coteric, General Mercicr and
General Gomsc form another ana
General BiIIot and General De Bois-
deHre IL third.
According 10 one report the hrst
two cotcrics intend to throw over
EenernI De DoisdcTrc, whom they
feel Ia he fnItcrinG, and declare
That he is responsible for NIL the En-
rors and fIlcgniities of the court
martial of 1894, Tins making him
The scapegout. According to an
other report General Roget, who
who even fought against Dreyf"s
bccause he inherited from his pred
eccssors tho responsibility for so
doing and placed ovcrcOnfidence
in the accounts of the matter furn-
isbcd him by the general stnff, Will
eut himself loose from Gdncrnls
NIercier, Gonse and De Boisdenrc.
This is a plausible hypothesis, since
Roget has assumed throughout the role
OF defender OF the army, thus making
himself popular with the army and with
a large section OF the nation and he prob
ably would not lose by separating him.
self from the wrongdoers OF 1884 and
declaring that his opinion had been chang
ed nv the evidence given during the pres
ent trial.
Yet another story is that the generals
are going to give the authorship OF tne
bordereau in view Of the strong expert
evidence and will admit that Esterhazy
wrote 1t. alleging, however that Dreyfus
furnished the NV 49,
Esterhazy but to shird person VINO
acted as intermediary without Dreyfus
knowing Esterhazy, In this connection u
was asserted this afternoon that Madame
Rastian. who was housekeeper ior
scbwarzkoppen, the German military at
tache. in 1894. and who Is understood 70
have acted as French spy. has been
,een in Rennes and Will be summoned
as a witness concerning schwarzkoppen's
espionage system
All 4hcss rumors may be without foun-
dation. but in any event they are SYM
ho,ical to feeling in Rennes that come
thing is going on under the surface ana
that tho complexion of the trial may Do
altered by some coup at any moment
In the matter of evidence today -
was quite Dreyfus day only the aep0s.
,,on Of the last witness, General uo'oss,
hs,nv unfayorable. The testimony O