Show CRISIS IN THE I DREYFUS e CASt Prediction That Something Starting Is to Happen 5 4 SPLIT IN THE RANKS I OF ARDy4 OFFICERS I Three Cliques Formed and Are Fighting One Another The Case Assuming a Favorable A pect to the Prisoner Has Caused Consternation Among His Persecutors Perse-cutors and There I a Feeling That They Are About to Rest r to Desperate ieansSecret Session Ses-sion Will Be id Today I Tennes Aug 30The all of Ren1es this evening Is fled with rumors of conspiracies and predictions or coups de theatre but nothing precise can be asc rtalned General erciers attitude atti-tude during the last few days ha my tided his followers In the case HeiS extremely clever and the general feel lIng l-Ing Is that he is preparing something the existence of which wi be revealed In a few days I Is now accepted as beyond que ton that there is a serious division of opinion on the part of the generals II nth I While the case was running smoothly against Captain Dreyfus they al pulled together but since the tide of evidence began to turn in his favor as was notably not-ably the case during the testmonyof Captain Freymetter and Colonel Cor flier which proved much more damagIng damag-Ing to the general staff than the later anticipated certain dividing lines have become manifest between the various cliques General Roget Major Luth Captain Culget and M Grlbelln the principal keeper of the archives of the war office form one coterie General Mercer and General Gonse form another an-other and General Blot and General le Bolsdefre a third According to one report the first two coteries Intend to throw over General de Bolsdeffre whom they feel to be faltering and declare that he is responsible respon-sible for all the error and illegalities or the courtmartal of 1894 thus makIng mak-Ing him the scapegoat Roget Will Cut Loose According to another report General Roget who was not implicated In 189 and tvmo even fought against Dreyfus because he inherited from his predecessors prede-cessors the responsibility for so doing and placed overconfidence 1n the accounts ac-counts of the mater furnished him by the general staff will cut himself loose from Generals Iercler Gonse and Dc Bolsdeffre This Is a plausible hypothesis since Roget has assumed throughout the role of the defender of the army thus making mak-Ing himself popular with the army and with a large section of the country and he probably would not lose by separating himself from the wrongdoers wrong-doers of 1894 and declaring that his opinion had been changed by the evidence evi-dence given durlng the present trial Yet another story Is that the generals gener-als are going to give way to the authorship au-thorship of the bordereau in view or the strong expert evidence and will admit that Esterlaz wrote It aleg Ing however that Dre3fus furnished the information not direct to Ester hazy but to a third person who acted a intermediary without Dreyfus knowing Esterhazy In this connection i was asser edo ed-o 1 > this afternoon that Madame Rstan who was housekeeper for Colonel chwartzkoppen the German military attche in 1894 and who Is understood to have acted as a French spy has been seen In Hermes and will be summoned 1 sum-moned a a witess concerning Schwartkoppenl espionage These rumor ru-mor may be without foundation but In any event they are symptomatic of the feeling In nennes that something Is going on under the surface and that the complexion of the trial may be al fered by some coup at any moment In the mat r of evidence today was quite a Dreyfua day only the deposition deposi-tion or the last witness General de Loye being unfavorable The testimony testimo-ny of 11 Picot a member of the institute tute Is little likely however to serve the cause of the accused material I at all because his introduction of Colonel Col-onel Schneider the Austrian military atache as a champion of Dreyfus was rather calculated to arouse resentment and adversely to influence the judges especially a It was folowed by General nogets tactful protest against Colonel Shneldcrs complimentary allusions to French officers S Behind Closed Doors Tomorrows proceedings behind closed doors wi deal with the question whether Captain Dreyfus was in a p0 p siton to divulge the Information regarding re-garding the artier which was promised prom-Ised in the bordereau The session will be very impQrtant and Is bound to have a tremendous influence upon the judges one way or the other because they are all artillery ofcers and will be able to appreciate such evidence better than the cryptographic intricacies that have been laid before them by the handwri Ing experts The Dreyfusards express confidence that their artillery witnesses Major Hartman and Major Ducros will effectIvely effect-Ively satisfy the judges that Dreyfus was Ignorant of the maters mentioned In the bordereau or as an artillery of fleer would not have been guilty of stating the errors which It contained The court 1001 continues crowded and quite a number of ladles now succeed suc-ceed In obtaining admission Town loafer are making a regular business of forming a line outside the entrance to the public park and court room as early as 2 or 3 oclock In the morning i and sellng places at from 3 to I francs according to the position The ordinary public arrive at 5 or 6 In the morning and must purchase these places b cause only a limited number can secure standing room The local papers publish the statement state-ment that 11 Charles de Freyclnet on leaving the court room yesterday after making his deposition remarked to a friend I am leaving an atmosphere of acquittal IS ESTERHAZYS EA1IDWRITING I Exerts Gave Testimony That I Fa vorble to the Accused Rennes Aug 30The first witness today 5r Paul Meyer memberof the institute and director of the school or ancient manuscripts described his researches In the Dreyfus cas which f sc vf t al I led to imis conviction that time iord reau was not only m Estrlhzys handwrlt I lng but was actually wliteU by Ester I hazy The witness explained that In I his evidence before the assizes court hm I h sas unzble to be so positive In regard I to the writer because he had only seen a faa simile of the bordereau but at time court of castion he saw the I OriInal S S S S orilal I convinced myself said M Meyer I by a magnifying glass that the bor dereau was written in a free haid and without hesitation whereas it I is precisely pre-cisely hesitation in the formation 0 of strokes tat reveals the method of I tracing I can affirm that It Is In the I writing and the very hand of Ester i hazy This is pertecty clear to me Commotion At the conclusion of his testimony tetmon the witness gave a demonstration of I I l hveeB r8 the fallacy of the Bertillon 1 system I Professor AUJuslc Iolnler of the school of ancient manuscripts gave Ilmlar evidence He said tht each fresh examination of the lorder au only served to convince him tht It was the work of Esterhaz Knocks Expert Testimony Amid dEep attention the witness demonstrated dem-onstrated how the conclusions of the Ito I experts who attributed the bordereau to Dreyfus were mutually destructive and dwelt on the defects of M BertH Ions arguments pointing out the striking resemblance of the alleged doctored handwriting with Itcrhaz s writing who he added In everybodys opinion had relations with Colonel Schwartzkoppen the former German military atache at Paris and the dissimilarities dis-similarities between the writing of the bordereau and that of the prioner The members or the courtmartal were very much Interested and asked Profesor 1lolnler a number of questions ques-tions to which he replied holdmt hi conclusion that Esterhazy was the writer of the bordereau 5 Mercier Is Alarmed General Iecle requested to speak and called attention to the tact that In his testimony before the court of cas saton Professor olnler said a change was apparent in Esterhazys writing after 1894 and asked that the professors profes-sors former evidence be read M Lborl leading counsel l for the de fen e Inquired If General Mertier intervened in-tervened with the object of verifying Professor Ialniers evidence Counsel added that I seemed to him that General Gen-eral Iercler Intervened less in the character of a witness than 3S a government gov-ernment commissary Ht therefore would be grateful to the general If he would explain the bearing of his remark re-mark Mercier replied that the special point he desired was to conlm the evidence of Professor Molnler which he said corroborated 11 BertonE statement that Esterhazy the man or straw changed his handwriting In order to replace Dreyfus In conclusion General Gen-eral Herder said Having emphasized the point In regard re-gard to the change In Esterhazys handwriting In 189 perhaps before I am satisfied Commotion Another Positive Expart Professor Giry also of the school of ancient manuscripts traversed about the same ground covered by Professor lolnler He said the brdereau only had a superficial leene to Dreyfus handwritng and asserted that It was I i certainly the work of EsterhaZ The witness also said the borderu was I not written with the aid of keywords M Laborl asked If the witness had noted a change In Jsterhazys cal gaphy and Professor Gir replied that he had studied the question but did not think there had been any change Counsel then asked whether General Iercler had meant to intimate that Esterhazys handwrIting had become less like that of Dreyfus since 1894 to which the general replied that he had not wished to express an opinion but he reiterated that 11 Bertlon had shown that Esterhazys handwriting mad become more lke that of time bor deeau 1 Lborl retorted that In that case ercler should not have repeated the evidence or Grenier before the court df cassation as Grenier showed that Esterhazys calgraph had become less and less like the wring of the bor dereu and of Dreyfus 31 Bertlon at this junction said he desired to speak but the president or Continued on pao 2 I CRISIS IN DRHfUS CASEI C I I I Continued rem page 1 I the court Colonel Jounust hastily roe and said amidst laughter The sitting Is suspended Then M Bertlon resumed his seat in high dudgeen On the resumption of the sitting M Georges Picot a member of the IsH tute was called for the defense M Demange of counsel for the prisoner explaining that PIcot was summoned because In May last he had an interview Inter-vIew with a foreign military attache In the course of which menton was made of the document inertea m the dossier by General lercler Colonel Jouaust cautioned the witness to be careful In his statements Then nfter promising to uaq care Picot stirted with saying that 31e had an IntervIew with the AustroHuragar JocaU5t military atache Colonel stopped the witness saying You cannot can-not contnte Ite this Some Sensational Testmony Major Carrie ± the government commissary com-missary also exclaimed sharply r protest In the name of the government and the state against the indiscretion committed by the witness M rot then recommenced his testimony tes-timony saying he lad an interview with a certain military atache and that the conversation turned upon the Dreyfus case The atache expressed surprise at the Incorrect attitude or the I I French Officers In doubting the word of foreign officers My impression added the witness was that he was anxious to assert firmly and unequivocally the absolute InnOcence of Dreyfus Sensation bordereau continued Regarding the contn ued M Picot the atache said only three documents enumerated were referred re-ferred to the fact being that the fith era were padding meant to swell the dossier The witness noticed that the at tache employed the expression hY drulc brake and never pneumatic brake In regard to Esterhazy M PIcot said the attache declure that he considered him a swindler The atache also asserted that sterhazy had relations wIth Colonel Schwartz koppen who dismissed him because Esterhaz always brought information devoid of Interest Plotings of Eterhzy I was then continued Picot tat Esterhazy tried to enter the tri ole and almost succeeded ud t was ten that he wrote that to Colonol Schwartz i i koppen what is since known as the bor dereau In reply to the writer If the r dereau said 3L Picot Colonel SchwartzkOppen wrote the telegran card known as the petit bleu but on re I fecton he crumbled It UI and thrw i Into the fire place At this juncture General Roget ask I 1 < ed leave to rpek an statlnll lmm J self beside he witness saId 1p mst GtronglY prdt fJiist M IIcot s I j dence rSar1n the military atalhfs surprise at the fat that Iriencli officers I offi-cers did not believe their orelgn colleagues col-leagues Wht dces the lnes thlnle1 con tnued General Roget of the foreign officer wno having caused the publication caton In the Figar3 of a dental of 1 statement of Gen rl Mercier ma afterwards af-terwards obitd to acknowledge the authorship uf a 10culeut te pHcr1lty of which he at frt denied M Picot retorted tat he hal only repeated stJelp It made to him and Id abstalri from i I 11111 io thlll Hf had therefore n 1Jln to say in reply re-ply to General ltntmts questions M Demang intervening asked General Gen-eral Roget If he did not think the foreign I for-eign officers mistake WS excusable i since the word report had been apPlied i ap-Plied to a 101IIrt nt osaing rte I character of the report Defends French Officers I It Is not for me to accuse or excuse ex-cuse replied the general I confine myself to pointing out to the court that the conversation repeated occurred 11 May that Is to say at the time the investigation o the court of cassaton was already known For my part r only Intervened because French officers have been arraigned and when being accused French officers have the right to reply Excitement The general then returned to his seat and General do Lye director of arti ler at the war ofce was called to the wines bar He repeated his explanations given before the court of cassaton as to the various peculiarities of the artillery particularly with reference to the brake of the 120 short gun The witness sid he considered that In 1894 I would have ben Impossible for any officer serving with his regiment regi-ment to communicate anything in regard re-gard to the brake of this gn He added that although the gun was In use at Renne the officers iurming the courtmartal among whom was one of fleer commanding a 120 short gun had only the agues Ideas about this gun while in 189 the details of the pneumatic brake could have been known to very few officers Secret Session Today Major Carriere announced that ho had received a letter from General Chamoin Informing him that by order of the minister of war the third artier department i de-partment had prepared a dossier of the documents the defense requested and that those documents could be submitted submit-ted to the court by General de Loye under un-der the mme conditions as observed In regard to the secret dossier The major therefore asked the court to sit In secret or behind closed doors J Demange asked that Majors Burt man and Ducros be allowed to atEnd when General de Loo communicated the documents After the curt had delberated In private Colonel Ji1Ut announced that i would sit In secrEt tomorrow morning In order to consider the dossier and that Majors Harman and Ducros were authorized to attend The court adjourned at 115 oclock |