THE DREYFUS DRAMA.

Auckland Star, Volume XXX, Issue 208, 2 September 1899, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE DREYFUS DRAMA.

GLIMPSES OF THE REAL ESTER-

HAZY.

The Paris "Figaro," which has distinguished itself by the extent and peculiarity of its sidelights on the Dreyfus case, came out on Monday last with a document of some interest regarding the notorious Esterhazy. It is 'the information laid before the Public Prosecutor by M .Christian Esterhazy against his u,ncle "Uhlan Esterhazy" for embezzlement. When the latter heard of the death of young Christian Esterhazy's father, he wrote to him a letter of condolence, which concluded with the question, "Have you money?" Christian replied that his interest in his father's estate, I after paying off liabilities, amounted'^ to thirty pounds, but his mother had j | a small fortune of her own (£4,000). . Esterhazy, who had l^ever been in 1 correspondence with his relatives, became at once most kind. He said he would in time make a position for his nephew in Paris, and meanwhile would lay out- Madame's savings to such advantage that she could live quite comfortably. He was an old schoolfellow of Baron Edmund de I Rothschild, and had been of use to him and the Baron showed his grati- ! tude by placing him in the way of I fine investments. (The whole story, |of his acquaintance with the Baron was fabricated.) He- knew an investI ment bringing in 20 percent per annum interest payable monthly. "My dear boy," he said, "your mother can send me as much as she likes for this investment. Baron Edmund I I know will do it for me. There is no i . i

.'risk. Besides, I guarantee it. You J I can get back your capital at a few ; . hours' notice." ; [ Later Esterhazy tells his nephew •that he must aim at two things—, •securing an heiress for a-wife, and . shirking military service. He (tbe I Uhlan) will help him to avoid the , latter and get the former. "1 would i have done better in business," tbe i Uhlan remarks in one. of his letters, • "than in this idiotic profession." s Here is the Esterhazy plan for getting • off military service: — i "You will call on a doctor and : complain of some ailment that can- ' not be seen—a pain in the stomach, : for instance. He will give you a , prescription which you will not use. i You will return to him several times, ' saying you are worse each time, and ' when time for undergoing the mccii- : cal examination comes, this doctor will give you a certificate." Ester-, ' hazy's view of marriage is summed I- up by him as follows:—"In marriage ' one of the two parties is always ■ taken in. You must try to be the other party." Here is another of his ; maxims of life: "You. must dress up truth, and know how to hoax people." Another apophthegm expressed in slang may be translated: "When you tell a lie do not always stick to it. ,' You must sift your statements intelligently, giving up some, in order to defend the others all the more.".