The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-08-31
GENERALS MAY YET GIVE UP.
RUMORED ROGET oR MERCIER MAX
NOW TELL THE TRUTH.


Serious Division of Opinion Among
Generals Promises IA Sensation.
PicOt'S Evidence Startling.
Rennes, Aug. 30 The air OF Rennes this
evening Is hled with rumors of conspra-
cies ana predictions of coups de theatre.
but nothing precise can be ascertained.
Gen. Mercier's attitude during the last
few days has mystihed his followers in the
case. He Is extremely clever, and the
general feeling is that he is preparing
something the existence of which Will ba
revealed in a few days.
It Is now accepted as beyond question
that there Is serious division of opinion
on the part of the generals. While tho
case was running smoothly against Capt.
Deyfus, they all pulled together, but since
the tide OF evidence began to turn In -
favor as was notably the case during tue
testimony OF capt. Freystauer and Col.
Cordier. which proved much more damag-
ing TO the general staff than the latter an
tcputed, certain dividing lines have be-
come manifest between the various
cliquos.
Gen. Roget. Mai. Lauth, Capt. Culgnet
the archives of the war office, form ona
| ooterle; Gen, Mercier and Gen. Gonse form
another and Gen. Biilot and Gen. de Bos-
deffre a third.
Talk of Roget Farming.
According to one report the FIRST two cots
cries intend to throw over Gen. de Bois-
deffre whom they feel 10 be falterlng and
declare that he is responsible for all tho
errors and nlegalities Of the courtmartaI
of 1884, thus making him the scape-goat.
According to another report Gen. Roget.
who was not implicated In 1894, and whd
even fought against Dreyfus because he
Inherited from his predecessors the res
! possibility for so doing, and placed over
! confidence in the accounts of the matter
| furnished him by the general stan, VIII
! cut himself loose from Gems. Mercier,
Gonse and de Bosdeffre.
| This is a plausible hypothesis, since Ro-
! get has assumed throughout the role OF
the defender of the army. thus making
! himself popular with the army ana with u
| large section OF the nation, aud he proba-
! Dly would not lose by separating himseh
from the wrong doors OF 1894, and declar-
! ing that his opinion has been changed by
! the evidence given during the present trial.
Yet another story Is that tho generals
are going to give way on the authorship
Of the borderoau In view of the strong
| expert evidence. and will admit that Es-
terhazy wrote It. alleging, however that
Dreyfus furnished the Information, not dl-
| rect to Esterhnzy but to a thlrd person.
| who acted as Intermediary without Drey-
| fus knowing Esterha2y.
| In this connection It was asserted this
! afternoon that Madame Rastan. who was
| housekeeper for Col. Schwarzkoppen, the
| German military attache In 1891. and who
| Is understood to have acted as a French
| spy, has been seen in Rennes, and VIII
| be summoned as witness concerning
| Schwarzkoppens espionage system.
| All these rumors may be without foun-
datlon, but IN any event they are sympto-
mntic OF the feeling Ia Rennes that some-
| thing Is going on under the surface, and
| that the complexion OF the trial may be
| altered by some coup at any moment.
II Was n DreyfuS Day.
In the matter of evidence to-day was
| quite a Dreyfus day. only the deposition
| of the last witness, Gen. Deloye, being
unfavorabic The testimony of NJ. Picot,
a member of the institute Is little likely,
! however, TO serve the cause of the accused
| materially, If at all. because his Introduce
! ton Of Col. Schneider. the Austrian mill
| tary att1che, as a champion OF Dreyfuss
was rather calculated to arouse reseat-
mcnt and adversely to influence the judges
! especially as It was followed by Gen. Ro-
| gets tactfu protest against Col Sehneid-
ers uncompllmentary alluslon to French
officers.
To-morrow's proceedings behind closed
doors will deal with the question whether
! Capt. Dreylus was in position TO dlvulge
| ihe informa tion regarding the artillery
which was promised In the bordereau.
The session win be very important and
| Is bound to have "A tremendous influence
upon the Judges one way or the others
/ saIr nff
| will be able 10 appreciate such evidence
| better than the cryptographic lntricacies
that have been laid before them by the
| handwriting experts.
| The Dreyfusards express confidence that
| their artillery witnesses Mai. Hartman
| and Mai Ducros. viii effectively satisfy
| the judges that Dreyfus was Ignorant OF
| the matters mentioned In the bordercau,
and as an artillery officer, would not have
been guilty OF stating the errors which 10
| contained.
Loafers Making Money.
The courtroom continues crowded. and
| cutie a number of Sadies now succeed in
| obtainln gadmlssion. Town loafers are
making a regular business Of forming
| queue outside the entrance to the public
| park and court room as early as or
| O'Clock IN the morning and selling places
| al from three 10 five francs, accordinB To-
| position The ordinary public. arriving at
| or in the morning, must purchase these
places. because only a limited number can
| secure even standing room.
The local papers publish the doubtful
statement that Charles de Freyclnet, on
| leaving the court room yesterday after
| his deposition, remarked 10 friend =
am leaving an atmosphere OF acquittal'
written by EStcrhazy.
Following are the proceedings In detail:
The first witness to-day, NJ. Paul Meyer.
| rocnber OF the institute and director OF
the School Of Ancient Manuscripts, de-
scrlbed his researches in connection with
the Dreyfus case which led to his con-
| viction that the bordoreau was not only
! In Esterhazys handwriting, but was ac-
| uually written by Esterhazy.
| Il am convinced" said NJ. Meyer. by
2 magnifying glass that the bordereau
was written IN free hand and without
hesitation. whereas Il IS precisely hesita-
lion In the formation Of the stroke which