Evening star., 1901-05-04
DREYFUS' OWN STORY
Extracts From the Diary He Kept
on Devils Island.
his HARDSHlPS AND SUFFERING
Enough to Drive a Man to Mad
ness or Death.
WHY HE WAS PARDONED
Copyright. 1901, by A. F. Jaccaci.)

Copyright, 1901, by A. F. Jaccsci1
| After the conviction of ex-Captain Alfred
| Dreyfus and his removal to the barren. sea-
| bound rock appropriately called DEVILS
| Island, there arose and ragged In France
| that controversy which convuised the ma
| tion and radiated its disturbing influences
| throughout the nations of the world the
| Dreyfus affair. 1t is hardly too much to
| say that the one intelligent and educated
man in the whole world who was complete
| ly shut off from knowledge of the strife be-
| tween the Dreyfusards and the anti-Drey
| fusards was the cause and center OF 1t all.
Girt about with such barriers as have shut
| of no other prisoner of modern times, he
knew nothing of the swift. crowdng events
| In France.
| On the other hand, the world knew moth
| ing of him; how he Jared. to what treat
| ment he was subjected, how he was bear
| ing himself in the ordeal of his island i'm
prisonment. There were long periods when
| the public did not know whether he still
| lived. More than once his death was ru-
| mored; there were whispers of suicide.
| Thousands believed that whatever the out
| come of the struggle in his behalf he would
| never be permitted to return to France
| alive. But whether for the honor of dead
| man or the reclamation of a living one his
partisans kept up the fight.
|
| ing the record of his weary days With in
extinguishable faith he believed that one
| day he would obtain Justice
II shall have the necessary patience" he
| writes in his diary. The Vaccinations of
| which l am the victim must be discovered;
| 1t must be so. .. Sooner or later in
life everything is bound to come out
This diary, together with his account of
| his trial. condemnation, retrial, conviction
| and pardon make up the book Five Years
| of My Life the first public utterance by
| Dreyfus himself since his arrest in 1894.
From this remarkable bit of history the fol-
| lowing extracts are taken. as typical of the
| victims own view of the ordeal through
| which he has passed. After describing the
| now historic court-martial and conviction
| anu degradation, he tells how he was sent
| to the lie de Re. and from there to the lie
| du Diable. Here he was imprisoned In
| stone hut, with armed guards always on
| duty. BY day he was permitted to walk
| about in a half-acre space. His correspond
| ence was rigidly censored, and even his
| every reference to his case had been ex-
| cised- All his cooking and washing he had
to do himself. 1t was life reduced to it's
| lowest and most Wretched terms. OF his
existence on the island he writes:
| His Own Record.
Since L landed, a month ago. l have
remained locked in my pen without once
leaving it, in spite of all the bodily fatigue
of my painful journey. Several times all
but went crazy; l had congestion of the
brain and l conceived such horror of life
| that the temptation came to me to have no
care of myself and so put an end to my
| martyrdom.
Al 10 o'clock they bring me my days
| food-a bit of canned pork some rice some
| coffee berries in filthy condition and lit
tie moist sugar. have no means of roast
| ing the coffee, which in bitter derisfon is
given to me raw. / throw it all into the
sea. Then L try to make a fire. After sew
eral fruitless efforts succeed. l heat wa
ter Tor my tea. My luncheon is made up
Saturday, April 20, 1895, IL O'Clock in the
| morning.
II have finished my cooking for the day.
| two: one piece is to boil, the other for a
steak. To cook the latter l have contrived
| grill from an old piece of sheet iron
| which picked up in the island
| For drink l have water. Ny food is all
| prepared in old tin cans. 1 have nothing
| with which to clean these properly and
| have no plates.
| My days are interminable: every min
| ute of every hour a long drawn-out weari-
| ness.
| II am incapable of any considerable
morning until in the evening the heat
| makes it impossible for me to go out
| cannot work at my English all day long
my brain will not stand it-and 1 have
nothing to read. My only resource is a per-
| petuai companionship with my Thoughts
| , "wednesday. May /, 1895.
| oh. the horrible nights! Yet rose yes
terday as usual. at $50 O'clock toiled all
! day long, took no siesta, and toward even
ing sawed wood for nearly an hour. until
| trembled with fatigue. Yet 1 could not
| sleep till long past midnight.
| If only L could read or work through
| the evenings. The lantern of the guard
post, which is insufficient for my waking
pursuits, is still too strong for me when
Saturday. Sunday, Monday May II, IL.
| BAD days. Fever. stomach trouble. dis
| gust for everything. And what is going on
| in France all this time? At what point are
| the Investigations?
| Sunburn. too, on my feet, because 1
| went out without my shoes for a few
| seconds"
In Close Confinement.
Entries In the diary through the summer
| relate how the prisoner was kept confined
to his hut much of the time In the extreme
| ly hot weather because convicts were at
work on the island and 1t was feared that
he might communicate with them. He
| suffered greatly from the bites of mosaui-
| toes and other poisonous insects, from
heat, fever and stomach trouble. BY fall
he was very weak, hardly able to walk or
tai exertion.
October 6, 1s95.-Awful heat The hours
are leaden.
October IA. 1S95-Violent wind. Imnos-
| sible to go out. The day is of terrible
| length. no longer know how L live. NV
brain is crushed Violent heart spasms
The sultry weather takes away all energy.
They will certainly end by killing me
through repeated sufferings or by forcing
me to seek in suicide an escape from in
sanity. The opprobrum Of my death will
be upon Commandant du Patty, Bertfllon
and all those who have imbued their hands
| in this iniquity.
Each night I dream of my wife and
children. But what terrible awakenings
When l open my eyes and find myself in