, · Address reply to • 

CHIEi:.lSIGNAL OFFICER OF THE ARMY, ,flt' 

' /,;W~~hington, 0. C. 

Eng-ineer-i-ng-- DIVISION 

and Research 

haf:ho 

REF ID:A4148~7 

u I i WAR DEPARTMENT, 

OFFICE JF THE CHIEF SIGNAL OFFICER, 

! 

I WASHINGTON. 

26 9 November 1916. 

~lORANDDM for Lt. Colo J. o. Mauborgne: 

l. In clearing up my desk towards final settlement, I find the following 

subjects on which you may desire information: 

MECHANICAL !<'OUR UIU'r CIPHERING DEVICE. 

Briefly, the following defects have been noted in the mechanical four unit _ 

cipher device. 

First, the shutte~ and shutter rods are considered too delicate and flimsy, 

as they get out of adjustment very eaaily and it is quite possible for them to 

cause inaccuracy in the machine without their being out of adjustment being 

noticeable. 

Second, the:·. tape stepping mechanism gets out of adjustment very easily• 

and while the adjustment is easily restored, it would seem to be too delicate. 

Thirdly. additional tape guides are necessary as the tape seems to run 

side-wise in the guides and cause some of the pins to stay down when they really 

should come up through the pertoration,and this of course, immediately causes 

inaccuracy in the cipher. Guides placed on the first machine .have failed t~ 

remedy this defect entirely, so that it may be possible that there should also 

be an additional adjustment incorporated in the transmitters. 

JiXERGENCY SUP.FLIES FOR C.IPHER PRINTING TELEG:RAPH SY5.rEM. 

Attached will be foiln4 co~y of~telegram dated 21 9 November 1918, to M.r 

McMurry for a; .machine .perf'orator relay and this relay will have to be included 

in a regular purchase request at a later date. Purchase request has not ~een 

issued for this relay due· to the fact that supplies of this nature will doubtless frequently be ·.?lee4ed on short notice, and lt is th01.~.ght that they should 

be ordered direct from the Wester.ti El~ctric Compa.n;y, and a purchase request 

inaugurated ~t intei~vals to cover spare parts, and supplies thns ordered. This 

agreement ha.'s,'b.een .talked over personally Vfi th·Mr Howk and is satisfactory from 

the man\lf.a.cturer's point of view; All. back material ordered to date, with the 

e~cepti~~ of this machine perforator rela¥, has been covered by purchase request 

on the Western Electric qpmpany. ' 

' ' ' ; ' ~; ,. 

" 

l Enclosure. 

,, ... 

Q 

.. 

~· ~· Fo~11.e:r:, Captain,,· Signal Corps. 

e' \, . 

' '' 

roved for Release b NSA on 11-19-2014 ursuantto E .0. 1352 
Q 

D'H GOVT 

R C MCMURRAY 

REF ID: A~14Bfill\7 

\_./ 

WASHINGTON DC NOV 21 

CARE WESTERN ELEC CO.NEVIYORKCITV 

PLEASE SEND TO WASHINGTON ONE REL.AV USED INSIDE Of MACHINE PERFORATOR 

NO NUMBER OR NAM~ ON SAME 

CAPT' H A FO\VLER •• ROOM 2322 MUNIT'IONS BLDG.,. 

) 

\ 
0 REF ID:A4148~7 

FOUJ! UNIT CODE 

l, 

' \.../ 

EbT 0 AN I R SH D L U C M * P 

. ~...---------------------------....... --------------~ E P N I R T 0 A L U C S H D * M E 

T N P S H E L U d A M I R * D C T 

" • 0 I SP P L'E C T MAN* R H U 0 

A R H D P U C E M T 0 * N I S L A 

N T E L U P S H I R * 0 A M C D N 

I 0 LE C SP D N *'R T MAU HI 

R A U C E H D P * N ~ M T 0 L S R 

S L 0 T M I N * p· D H E C U A R S 

·HU AMT R *·N D 0 P S CE L 0 I H 

D C M A 0 * R I H S P U L E T N D 

L S I N * 0 T M E C U P D H R A L 

U H R· * N A M T C E L D P S I 0 U 

C D * R I M A 0 U L * H S P N T C 

M * D H S C U L A 0 T R I N P E M 

* M C U L D H S R I N A 0 T E P * 

P E , T 0 A N I R S H ·D L U C M * P 

0 ' 

. The t)·pe wheel has the 0 following characters; 

Normal posi,tion E T 0 A N I R S H D L U C M P * 

Shifted " 'ffFYWGBVKJXZQ,. II * 

* represents the "shift signal".. This shifts the typa.., 

wheel from the normal to the shifted position. After 

printing one shifted character the typewhe.el auto"' 

matically returns·to its normal. position. 

Note: In arranging a message for transmi-ssion by telegrapho 

·any of the letters in the lower row may be used to 

represent the shift sign~l.