Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1906-07-19

OF capt. Ai1reu DfeyIuS Oh lne charge
of treason has been practically as
sured, and it is said he will be given
the ribbon of the Legion of Honor.
Prosecutor General Baudouin, in
concluding his address to the SUI
preme court, formally asked the
court to quash the verdict of the
Rennes court-martial without re-
trial.
THE peace of the country" the
prosecutor said, demands it, and the
whole world awaits the courts sum
mary disposition of the subject, which
will be a triumph for justice and
truth"
With the government prosecutor
asking the court to quash the Rennes
verdict without ~retriai, the supreme
courts decision goes without say.
ing.
Quashing the Rennes verdict leaves
Dreyfus an officer in the French army,
cleared of all dishonor. 1t entities
him to a command. He will be in the
line of promotion.
The French people years ago ceased
to look upon Dreyfus as a traitor.
Instead he long has been regarded as
a martyr, and the judgment OF the
court restoring him to the army Will
be acclaimed as an act of national
restitution to a greatly wronged man.
Story of the Dreyfus Tragedy.
Alfred Dreyfus, a Jew, was a cap
tain in the French army in 1893. He
was a modest, unassuming man, liv-
ing happily with his wife and chill
dren. Fate made him the victim OF
one of the greatest conspiracies de.
veloped in the history of modern Eu.
rope.
For some months before 1894 1t was
known to the French government that
some French officer was traitorously
selling French military secrets to
the German staff. 1t was known tat
Germany had bought the secret of the
French method of charging melinite
shells and also the secret that bat
teries of the new No. 100 guns had
been assigned to the Ninth army
corps.
1t may be stated right here that
1t is now generally admitted that
the real traitor was one Commandant
Esterhazy, a blackguard, a gambler,
and a degenerate, who for some mys-
terious reason was shielded by every
one in the conspiracy. When he
could NO longer be used Esterhazy
was driven from France. He went to
London, where he lived and died in
wretched poverty, after selling the
secret of his treachery to a newspa'
per for a few shillings.
No one outside of the conspirators
knew that Esterhazy was the officer
who was selling French military
secrets to the German staff. The task
Of discovering the traitor was placed
in the hands of the intelligence bu-
reau of the French general stah. IN
1898 the chief of the intelligence bu
reau was Col. Sandhurst. He set his
spies to work.
Discovery Of the Treason.
1t was not until September, 1894
that the spies of the secret intelli.
gence department discovered in the
waste paper basket Of Lieut.. Col. vor
Schwarzkoppen, the German mill
tary attache, fragments of a paper
which, when pieced together, formed
a memorandum, of which this is thu
translation:
"In the absence of any news indicat
ing your desire to see me. neverthe
less send you, sir, certain informa
ton of interest: Cd A note on thu
hydraulic brake of 100 (method o
operating this piece); a note on Thu
OUTPOST troops Ga few modification
will be made in the new plan); (3)
note on modification in artillery, for
nation; az a note relating to NADIA
gascar; 80 the scheme relative t
the manual of field firing of Marcl
IA, 1894. . | am just leaving TO
} the m~aneuyers."
The foregoing memorandum after
} wards became known as the famou
"bordereau" which figured through
, out the entire Dreyfus case.
: Choose Dreyfus for Victim.
Col. S%andherr, chief OF the secre
Intelligence bureau, was the first ma
to directly accuse Dreyfus of writin
the bordereau. He it was who frs
suggested that the writing resemble
that of Dreyfus. He pointed out tina
Dreyfus was a native of Alsace, an
t that he spoke and wrote German a
huently as he did French. (The boz
l dereau was written in Germany
' On October Is, 1894, Capt. Dreyfu
was called to the war office. He wa
ushered into a room where he foun
Mai. Du Patty de Clam seated at
= table. He was asked by the major t
seat himself and to write at dictatiol
Before witnesses Dreyfus began t
write a pretended letter, dictated b
Du Patty de Clam, beginning with il
' significant words, but little by littl
introducing phrases from the borde
eau. The witnesses afterwards swol
= that when Dreyfus wrote the word
dictated from the bordereau his han
: trembled and that he complained thu
the room was so cold that he coul
: hardly write. Yet the temperature
the room was moderately warm.
Is Arrested and Convicted.
d After he had finished writing Dire,
y fus was informed by Du Patty de Clal
d FORM AMTI-STORK PARTY