G REF ID:'A.4148932'1 

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AMERICAN TELEPHONE AND TELEGRAPH COMPANY 

TELEPHONE AND TELEGRAPH BUILDING 

195 BROADWAY 

.JOHN .J CARTY 

CHIEF ENGINEER 

BANCROFT GHERARDI NEW YORK March 27. 1919. ENGINEER OF PLANT 

KARL W WATERSON 

ENGINEER OF TRAFFIC 

Lt. Col. J. o. Mauborgne, s. C., U.S.A., 

Office of the Chief Signal Officer, 

Washington, 

My dear Colonel Mauborgne: 

D. C. 

For your further infor~ation in connection with 

our ciphering system and Colonel Fabyan's efforts to break 

it, I am enclosing herewith a copy of his letter to me of 

March 22 and my reply of the 27th· I do not know whether 

Colonel ~abyan is fooling himself or has tried to f~ol us • 

Enclosure: 

Photostat Copy of 

letter from Colonel 

Fabyan to Mr. Gherardi , dated March 22. 

Copy of letter to 

Colonel Fabyan from 

Mr. Gherardi, dated 

March 27. 

BG-GJ 

Yours sincerely~ 

Acting 

dr~' Chief Engineer. 

@'pp roved for Release by NSA on 11-19-2014 pursuantto _E .0. 1352a 
0 

0 

Co.lonel GeoJ."ge Fabyan. 

Riverbc.nk, 

Geneva, Ill. 

My dear Colonel Fabyan: 

REF 'ID:A414893~ 

I ha~e your letter of March 22 with reference to our 

cipheri,ng machine' a.rid note that you have. with a few minor errora, 

deciphered message No. 2. I have no doubt you. have also deciphered 

No. 3. If you will reread my letter to you of June 11, a copy of 

which! attach.for your convenience, you will note in it the follow-

,.,-~ 

i.~. ·ins statements: 

0 1 am i~ot a cipher expert and would not presume to 

say what can.and cannot be done. but should you and Professor Friedman decipher messages Nos.l, 

5, 6 and '1, I sh~ll feel tha.t I owe you both a 

good dinner.· ! have. no doubt· that you can decipher Nos. 2, 3, and perhaps 4. These. however. 

as you understana are not the arrangement which 

we· propose.• · .r:. The messages which you have deciphered are Nos. 2 and 3 

which I stated I had no doubt you could decipher. but which were 

not the arrangement which we propose. When you have deciphered 

\ Nos. l, 5, 6 or 7, something will have been act:@~plisbed in break-

\ lng the system in question. I shall. be glad to know whether any 

\·progress has been made in deciphering· messages Noe. l, 5, 6 and 7 J 
0 

0 

0 REF ID:A414893() 

Colonel Fabyan. 

With beat regards. I am 

Attached: 

Photostat Copy of 

Letter to Colonel 

Fabyan from Mr. Gherardi, 

dated June ll. 1918. 

BG•GJ 

Yours sincerely. 

# 
.e 

REF ID:A41489e 

1'arch 22, 1Sl9. 

My dea.r r.~r. Ghere.rdi: 

I went to your office le st ~·a.y and had the pleasure 

of seeing a very clever cipher machine and with thn confidence borne of 

past experience, conceit and egotism, I gave a.n off-hand opinion that the 

work so enciphered could be deciphered e.nd I re:menber the pitying looks 

I received from these present. 

Many things have happened since then. 1-'.~r ;.·orking 

staff was tE..ken over by the Government and \'.'e r.e.d a erAat dee 1 of work to 

do beside. 

I now want to say that the ms.chir.e is da.rr.n clever 

and I have a. great respect for the bra.ins ·which thought it out but I am 

still of the opinion the.t the cipher is brea.ke.l~le ,although it has cost me 

severe.l thous£md dollars t.o confir:r:J. my off-hand opinion expressed in your 

office when you handed me the attached message • 

iith cordial,personal regards 

To }[r. Banc·~oft Gh~rardi, 

En~ineer of Plant, 

P.merican Telephone and Telegraph 80., 

195 Broadway, 

Nevr York, N. Y. 

cincerE:ly yours, 
- I 

Govt. File;l682. REF__!D:A41489. ........ 

l'.Iarch J.5, 1919. 

( ' 

COPY OF ONE OF THE TEST llESSAGES ENCIPHERED BY THE CI?HER PRINTING 

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