@>pproved for Release by NSA on 07-16-2014 pursuant to E.O. 1352(] 
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I The 

i 

1 American Black Chamber 

By 

HERBERT 0. YARDLEY 

I 

• 

., ~ 

! 

0 

1 

'· 

I 

~ ~ ' 

• A I ' I J I 

PUBLISBll1BS INDIAl!l'.t.POLIS 

THE BOBBS-MERRILL COMPANY 

•••••••••••••••••••••••• 
1 

,. 

\ 

CoP'l'ln:OFf'l", 1911 

BT HEll.11"'1 T 0 1· , .. It.ET 

I 

. ' 

' . 

• 

Pnnted In the Un1tecl Stot .. ot America 

PRA90F 

•RAUllWOllTN 4 CO. ,.,C. aoox lllANU"ACrUHSRI 

DllUl.IKI. Ytl N t 

Th• PeriOBn•I of Ml-8 • 

Our Ski 

The For" 

JYho ihU r•m"'" beluntl 
I I 

20 THE A!III:IUCA~ BLACK CHA!llBER 

wnes of copies of telegrams to read there the authentic 

record of his machinations. There too I found the thrilling stories of the seizure of the Panama Canal, the Vene11uelan incident ~~hen America. was on the verge of war 

with England, and other great moments of American 

nationalism. I was ag:tin sitting on a :flour barrel in 

the village l.mkery, listening to intrigues of the vivid past 

as recited by the baker, an exiled German nobleman. 

"\Vere our cliplomatic codes safe from prying eyes! 

"\Vho knew? From the p111.res of history I had had 

glimpses of the decipherer who could unravel military 

nnd diplomatic cipher telebrrams. Other countries must 

have cryptogru phers. "\Vhy did America have no bureau 

for the reading of secret diplomatic code and cipher telegrruns of foreign governments? 

As I asked myself this question I knew that I had the 

answer to my eager young mind which was searching 

for a purpose in life. I would devote my life to cryptography. Perhaps I too, like the foreign cryptographer, 

could open the secrets of the capitals of the world. I 

now began o. methodical plan to prepare myself. 

I quickly de,·oured all the books on cryptography that 

could be found in the Congressional Library. These 

were interesting but of 110 practical \"wue. Next I 

searched Edgar Allan Poe's letters for a glimpse of the 

scientific·treatment of cryptography. These were full 

'- of vague l•ua~ts of his skill--11othing more. To-day, 

1ouking :it eryptography from a scientific point o{ view, 

for the American Bia.ck Chamber has never had an equal, 

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e :•uthentic 

d the thrill-

'rge of war 

~ .\merican 

r barrel in 

c \-hid past 

nobleman. 

ying eyes! 

I had had 

·el military 

ntries must 

eno bureau 

cipher telet I had the 

searching 

to cryptogptographer, 

e world. I 

'rsell. 

graphythat 

ary. These 

e. :Yext I 

impse of the 

sc were full 

To-day, 

oint of view, 

danequal, 

THE ST • .\TE DEPART:.\IE~T CODE UOOll 21 

I know that Poe merely fioundcre,] around in the dark 

nml did nut understand the great um.lcl'lying princi11lc~. 

At l:ist I found the American ~\ rmy pmnphlet on the 

solution of military ci phcrs. This p.1111 ph let w:u; u~t:u as 

a text-book for a course in cipher solution at the Signal 

Corps School at Fort Leavenworth. The book wus full 

of methods for ,the solution of various tYI>es. The only 

trouble was that the types of cipher it explained were so 

simple that any bright schoolboy could solve them without a book of instructions. I was at the end of the trail. 

It was obvious I would have to do my own pioneer 

work. I began at once. Due to friendly connections 

previously established, I h:id no difficulty in obtaining 

copies of code and cipher communications disp:Ltched by 

various embassies in \Vashington. Progress was slow, 

for the clerical work incidental to the solution of mes-' 

sages is enormous. (Later I was to lmve fifty typists 

busy making elabor:i.te frequency tables.) Some I solved 

and some I did not. But I wns learning a new science, 

with no beaten path to follow. 

One nigbt, business being quiet, I was working on the 

solution of a ei pher when I heard the c:ible office in New 

York tell the White House telegr:iph operator {we used 

the same wire to New York) that he had five hundred 

cocle words from Colonel House to the President. AB 

'the telegram flashed ol·er the wire I m:ide a copy. This 

would be good material to work on, for surely the President and his trusted agent would he using a ditlicult code. 

Imagine my amazement when I was able to solve the 

I ? , ... , CJ ·; • I - -r 

•/ 

'I I i 
ad little respect for 

ith them every day 

this was incredible. 

le had just seen the 

over British cables 

every cable went to 

'Y· 

'cs' best informant! 

y when they hal"e 

s with the Emperor, 

trial leaders. And 

le that a man sits in 

ing himself a muker 

·man, a mediator of 

schoolboy ~phersf 

ecI"et but what can I 

'ors. But what then! 

tempt. Besides, this: 

and adverse criticism 

ave some one's head 

resuming to read his 

' 

uses for my head.•,!, • 

per and destroyed th~: '/ 

onfidentia.l agent con- f • 

.. ,' 

had a penchant ·_for,, 

rganizmg the Aoieri- . 

Amcricu cutcrf'd tbe' , 

THE STATE DEPARTlllENT CODE ROOM 23 

... (3 1:. ;; ,.; () ' 

/, 

I . I . 

' . ' 
.. -. ~· 

:.' ·:·· 

.·' 

. :.. ·. ~- . 

26 . . ·THE .AMEl\IC~ BLACK ~ER. 

distinguished audience present, I requested, in the name · · · ',.·· 

of. the State Dep&rtment1· that· the wire ·from Galve8ton, .· . ;l 

Tens, th~ cable from Galveston .to V ~ cruZ, th~· tele- . ·? 

gr~ph wire trem Vera Cruz _t.O MGico. City,·~ held 

open. A few minutes after seven the operator a~ Galveston said, ··Heie you. are. '~ words _from ~ ·.:--.. ,~ 

. Ci?':•~ ... -: ~ . ~~: .. ~,:~: '.?;?.'.:p~~<·~:;_>· ~-.:\. :;~;-· ·.:> .. :: ·<1~~'.r.~:~~~·"-:._i:·, .. ·,:~-::,:.·.- ~: ~:· ... 'Wbat 111tr . demanded DaD1e1s. ::·.,.,~·- '"'" .. · . 

,.. ·. . . . ·. ·~ .f 

;. : ".The m.ess,.,P· y0u u-e·' ~ting ior,~' ·.I iepW and 

turned to my Qpewriter, beginning to copy. .. As t1ie· 1o~er spelled. out the code words, Seeretary .. 

Daniels _began· m·a &Ql.emn voice,. "Gentlemen, we are . -.~' 

. noW r~Ting tb~·ni:ost Vital message ever ·«m.fronted by . ··; 

this· A.dminis~ation." . · ., . . . ' 

: · .I deciphere4 the ~sage ~d banded ~t to· tlaem, .. 

Mexico refused. 'l;hey 8.ctually turned pale, but had 

the ·g0oc1· sense io run·. to the President •. · .: . . . . . 

All this time my wark on the deciphennent ol the 

.American· ·diplomatic.~·was slowly progressing. ·•t ~t. I laid .some one Ji~ pages of tjpewritten exposition before my·~te superior~ .. · . ··~ . . . . "What'sthisf'he.aSked. .. · .. : · ·. "---:-. .. -~\ · • • AO ., .. ~'• 0 ,• ·, 

"Exposition on ~e.'Solution of ~.:piplom•tic ·;· ; . COdes,'" I i-ep~~.-~ _:.. · .:.~~~--·.,,'.~:--:·: · . ._. .. -. ! 

"YOU "wrote itf' ·. . . .. : .. : 

·J :· ;; ·' l " " . t -.. ~ l-' o.s ~->' Yea. . · . , · .. .. . · 

i .:~ ~Y · ~ ~:;./~....,~P "You mean to s~y our com." areno1i aafef' He turDecl ... ,.·-~ I'.\; ·" . . ! ii l v;-tv· i\ :~~e. ul don't believe it.'• . . · .. : . 

·. ~ !~f .·: · · ~ .... tJ~'. ~'Ver,;.~·~ I ans~~~d. . _•1-This memorandum repre-

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-14~~£\ . . . -· - ··-

- ====================================================== 

THE STATE 

sents over one thou~ 

and tedious detailed 

years. I merely ask 

.As I left him he 

for he had compiler. 

secret communicati1 . 

. A.Side from· t1iiS 

m,..bmous· trick, an 

so.me oecult power. 

the coinbinatiOn. oft 

and as he. did BO h 

Saturday, ind I -w 

failed to tell. me. tl 

himfor~t. 

A1J this I realjRc 

morning. He bad~ 

peimjt Us to~ f 

pockets. Instead, ". 

telephone figures 1 

book, anagniliimed 

· resented the com.bi 

· Interelted in sol: 

would be great fun 

phoning for the cc: 

the telephone woul 

· change the CQIDbin 

· I sat down and tl 

laughing ii.bout wh; 

before! He must 
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11 when I w::is iu Lornlon stuuyiug crrptogmphy. wit~ the :~~ 

:~.r British, an J<..:nglish Colonel told me that Capt:un II1tch- ;-.!'; · 

(~''. .·; ings, their most brilliant cryptograp_hcr, was worth fou~ ~~~~ · .~. divisions to the British Army. • , ~,;k}! 

38 THE AMERICA~ BL..\CK CH.A'.\InElt 

I

;: - · J' udging from the letters I found in the files of :!he ~&:f flj ·' ' \Var College, nearly.everyone in the United States bad.~ l',~~.'J: :[

1

-: .' ·· ' ' dabbled in ciphers. 'l'be authors of these letters wer~i~ ~, , either offering their services, or had a new and inde--.:~ ' •'I b Wd • d' ~.f"j; ' 1l· cipherable cipher that the government s o 1mme 1-, ;f'.,. 

, l~ ·. ately purchase. . ... - :. ,. !-~/ 

· f 1. ' , , fAi-~ · scholars who appeared to have a superficial knowledge of:~ i I~, ' / ( J.. 1 From among the former ! quickly selected a few .~ 1 

~:,tt:·(~ II ·1. n j-,n~ ': fk,QL.u-~i .I ciphers, and ordered them eommissio~. · '··:~ 

·· :1·1 l ! . L J The spectacle of an eager thin-faced lieutenant, sur-· ~.ut ' I 'lo I r. r .'/ iJ,.., 1 . Jr, :. : !,UA~ ·-··7undcd by~ group of scholnrl~ captains, "':as indeed a•; .. 

:t~: . · ei-c""7i ''"'f• _ J notcwortby sight, and I was obhbrcd to submit to a great;..,;; "•If( I " '~f""Uf t 1',"~ 

'1.~·· .. r ~....... aeal of good-natured raillery. llowever, they seemed ii 'i' I ~ 

' ;~' .{; 1• J to enjoy my energetic illiteracy, which they kindly Y• ~ . . l; t • ~ 'l f:· :~! termed "native intelligence," .an'.I I was amused at their.!~ 

: !f11 : .~ eagerness to master the prmc1ples of cryptography. :~1 

;: I~..; -J( Here was a problem not found in the classroom, and not,il 

:./Ji. '. '.' many of them would succeed. Scholarship, I. suddenly".;, i.t 

· 1· r : : · discovered, was nothing more thn.n the capacity to ab- ··• I 1,.I.,,. I I 9 r, ! ,~ ' ~ sorh learning. These scholars were faced with n quite •< 

i 1t" ·' • diJfcrent problem, for.there was not a great deal o('. 

j l';f ! learning to absorb. They would be obliged to make } ~ ! j,) their own discoveries. I•'or this reason most of them were ' 

, ... , :·r d. 1 r ·1 

: i !·}~ · 1

1 1sma u.1 ures. . '·..-!.. 

' : l ,\ The first of these captains to arrive was Dr .. Tohn l\I. -: ~I · . '° : 'J. 

I •t: : ' 

. ' 1· ,\, ,· .. ~· .. ; ! 

' A1 

1\Ianly, n. small 'J 

the Englibh 'Del'i 

Fortunately for t 

originality of rμi 

brnins." He w11s 

ful IJ.Ild brilliant 

Captain !IIanly t.h 

I achieved as he: 

Bureau .. , -

I had just begu 

instruction on the : 

plans were upset l 

Secretary of State 

This communicatic 

grnm sent from r~ 

Government consic 

of coding cablcgr 

menace to secrecy . 

the Germans we 

passed through th 

The seriousness 

pleof the United S 

nothing of the co 

the War Depnrtm 

American Army d 

reports and instru 

tercept and read 

strntagems of the 

bottom of the oec 
I, 

• ' . •• 

. 

·~ 

i r 

(' 

• J.'• 

• 

• 

. 

•• 

•, 

United Stalel and ED1J1am1, paa the.e sec:ret 1De11agea. 

Cloae h;r thi• cable. at the bottom or tbe AtL'llltic, la;r 

German 1uhman111111. Tbc eublei eaa. not be tap1>ed. but 

b;r 1tniwhing olher wha alongsidit for ~ distnnce or 

R\"l'r.d hundred feet tete,cra!Jh operaton 1taLioncd in 

the mhmariael Cllll. mp;r tbe p•11ing m··..- by illdue-

'tion. • II I I Ill 

. No wuader the mmummdum. rzmD the Alliltlnt lilm- ·. 

ntary ol. State friPl:ened the War Departmca.tl The ·· 

Chief ol. Std mme a pnoml nqumt far a pmmpt n- • 

port. f o ii! I I '1I1 I I .,11 

I .I' I .... 

Upcm. imlltiptioa. I leameil U...t a mpy or the W11r 

Departmmt CIDCle book bad hem stolm ia. )laico dmUag 

om punitm m:pedition in 1118 and that a photograph 

or tbil WU :reported to he in the baadl of the Gennaa 

GCJnl'llllHID.t • Furtbermme, I dilcoweted from ICtual 

teatl that ...... UIC ol. thf terbniml mtrw:ticm. of the 

eode, it could he llO!ved within a llhart time by the intereeptan evm thoush tb&.7 wan DOt in pir11e•ion or tbe : • 

hook. •• 

I prepared IDJ' meman•""'"" after tbil inftltiptioa. 

but I dou&t that it wu blJrm ftrJ' mioully. Bowcrer, 

•. the opiDioD ol. the British Government wu held in nlpellt and in••uch u Eqlmd had reporteil the 1111-

l&fety ol. C!01111111111ieatiom which 111ul he kept sec:ret. !. 

1 1• 

/ 

wu ordered to drap cweajthi118 and nrile tbe eatin 

·: mb;m ol. War Departmmt........,...,.. •-· 

~ • • __._ --~ ._.._ • 4 

I .j , ~-tJ, Iprompt:IJ'cboleamaa.'intheStateDeparlmentCode 

. i!( .. : I D :r*f;. Boom.fawhuu.a I ClCIDlid=cl bmt ciu•lifted to follow 1lf1 :•:J"' f.I I I 

:j,1 ~~· ~ 

, I~·· t'~I--' "/Ii; ~-t'"(,.~ ..:.i I pv-,; ,,.. .., 41 • 

~~ ~.A,.._,,~!.. , • .: 

t · ,.... · .r •. ~ .,,_ i'}J>'" It •t 'A. ti' 

• 

direction•, and 

him tu tnl.c • 

would ewnp1l1: 

being O\"l':'\\"ht' 

Juuimw:heJ.e 

lllllllt WU W 

daaeweU.and 

.m day to 

tail&. • I 

This lllllllCCtM 

far!l!O!ll!!Umi 

•peeial llpllil. c 

attaiMI. Gencn 

the lllllllllllmdi111 

don. llDd Genera 

The campilal.k 

Onlen, a Sipal 

the anprepamJn 

Stat& Howmu 

liifllier o111ccr or 

appointed a mi1it 

WU not intended 

lllld decode tbeir 

teDipaae course t 

lmawledp of botl: 

preeiate tbe impOi 

m..r~a1 

.. 
llt'e 

neJ in 

in duet Sece inter- ,., n of the 

ligation, 

Id in rethe unsecret,!_ 

e entire 

cntCode 

llow my 

'l'his ·subsection prepared codes, ciphers, t:iblcs, etc., 

for communication with Military Intelligence officers, 

special agents, Ordn:mce Department agrnts, military 

nttnches, General Bliss of the Supreme \Vnr Council, 

the commarnling officer of .American Forces in London, :mJ Genen1l Pershing. 

The com1lilatio11 of codes and ciphers 1'"ns, by General 

Orders, a. Signal Corps function, but the wnr revealed 

the unpreparedness of this department in the United 

States. How much so is indicated by o. to.lk I ho.cl with a 

higl1er officer of the Signo.I Corps who had just been 

o.ppointed a military attach.; to 1111 Allied country. It 

was not intended that o.ttache_s &bould actually encode 

nnrl decode their own telegrams, but as part of an intelligence cour~e they were required to have a. superficial 

knowledge of both processes in order th:1t they might appreciate the importance of certain precautions enforced 

in safeguarding our communications. 
'-.•1", " '1 ,,.• I' \." • •• ":<",,1,.. ..,:: _.. ~...C.f'1i:' .... ,..,,, "'..:"''••I~ ..... II 1:' .J''• :0- i:, •- "".. ·~ '• 'I 1 "' I.- , "''. • •, .. 'lo' • • 

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~,."";ft"1...-'' -·ii.~ ~ 1 .. :p-1t:'0t.l.c'>!"" r'"•~ .4.'~T ~ • .,_,C'!·., ''::':,> • .. ~-....;:-;:. •:,, .. ,.,,,.:=:.'i!;.r;'..;. ..... ~ ... =""2' '\ ·~ ,l" l:o•t J•-'"·....., 1 •l:" .• ~.' .. t,.,,' ·" ,!_._... •..i-~ "'. {l."='J: ."t: •'/~;~;..'-;;:1\ ...... o ~~ .. ~ 'I'! "l-.1:"•t\.'•l'8":'.:~~e 't,~~-;: >""~ft' -.• .. \,. ... ,t~~9.~~~~).·\;~lf"'U'~:si: .. 1 ...""..r. I Ui"(~f ·,,;~~ .-._';..\~/j, -:::"" .,_-,YJ ,~'! .!.~·ll .. r... -;:,-cf•";Z:•.:.._ ~ ·-~Y-.(tt~~··· .. ,. • r ~•:.e:,:,'i.J.".-. If"" ~ 11 ;

1

t-."'· . ,-...t"l"~,t '"'' f..{/~,·."'(,_l1-."'-,.·~,,.'"• ~.' .1-'.J.~~·':;...'":f -"t..\tt•,..:.j"{ ~_..:..; \ .. -... ~ Ji.~:~:··,, 

.··~-f{.r;".. -;:. .. - "' ;r ... • • ...,.. •= ""~;y::;;N:,r:"i-:}h:f#t·z 

·"1..s,.. ,-.:1 ~. :is I '~ 

~ ~ ,~ ~ ·~ ' . " ~'\f. 

~.~.-~.. ·~2 'rHl•: AMERICA~ Bf.ACK CII.\l\IBER ~~\: ~ w· i _?i;:, 

~;~.~.e~t-. When the new :i.tt:i.che, IL veteran or tl1e old Al'll'ly, !~~· 

.. ~ ~'!;i'~>(!'. ;~. :~:re;~~~ :c ~::~l~~t:!~~ ~r ~~~~:~ :~::u::~::~:~. ~Y~;~ . :~~r appreciate his attitude, the reader should understand '~J 

that the so-c:i.lled additive or subtractive method for ·~~~ 

garbling a code telegram (used during the Spanish- :~· 

,' 

·' '· ., 

. i 

.. 

. .. ' 

•. 

.· ·"' 

. ' 

•'!I' American War) is about as effective for m:i.intaining ··'.:ii 

sc:crccy as the simple substitution cipher which as children we read in Poe's The Gold Bug.· 

Ile listened impatii:ntly, then growled: "That's a lot 

of nonsense. Whoever heard of going to all that trouble? 

During the Spanish-American \Var we didn't do all 

those things. \Ve just added the figure 1898 to all our 

figure code words, arid the Sp:mio.rds never did find out 

about it." 

He outranked me gre:i.tly or I might ho.ve o.dded th11.t 

we were not at wo.r with medie\·al Spain but with 

twentieth-century Germany, who h:i.d g:i.thcred the 

bra.ins of her empire behind the greatest wo.r machine the 

world hnd ever seen. 

Amazing as it may seem, his attitude was characteristic, even at the :Front. One of the young officers whom 

we had trained confirmed this when he arrived :it Gcner:i.I 

Headquarters in France. lie had received his instruction :ind pr:icticnl experiem.-c in my hure:i.u. ll:i.ving 

\

ob5erved the necessily for revising the War Depn.rtn1cnt's communications in this country, he was eager to 

learn whether the codes and ciphers of General Pershing 

(n use at the Front were safe. 

The firsi: t 

in" in F r:inc 0 

wireless our 

the Americai 

to transmit t 

by thoscwhc 

Without B 

enciphermen 

within a few 

and as ameB 

a fo.rce. 

Throughd 

messages, ou 

enemy nmin1 

phcrs. All ra, 

cans were in' 

Bureau for 111 

wns still met 

these messag1 

long experiei 

question liad 

more quickly 

the enemy c 

person to wh 

As it hap 

cipherment 

per11tivc• that 

matter threw 

From these\ 
~-1.nny, 

.- went 

n. To 

·rstand 

od~for 

1a.nishtaining 

:t_c; chil-

's a lot 

touble? 

do all 

all our 

ind out 

ied that 

ut with 

red the 

hinet~ 

racteris3 Whom 

General 

instrucHaving_ 

Departeager to 

Pershing 

. ,',,•ii•¥F-'):i!·~LA1ff~Ei7 ~ ' '," ' 1-· ' .;-:•ti . . ·.:; 

··}*,~,~~,~~~i;~lli;~tl;'b 

AT THE WAR COLLEGE 43 

The :firsi thing which this young officer did after arriving in France was to induce his_ superiors to !nterceE_! by 

wireless our own radio code and cipher messages along 

the American sector. These codes and ciphers were used 

to transmit the most secret and important messages and 

by those who employed them they were considered safe. 

Without any knowledge of the American method ot 

encipherment, the young o~cer solved these messages 

within a few hours. The system was wholly inadequate 

and as a means of insuring secrecy was little more than 

a farce. 

Through decipherments of German intercepted cipher 

messages, our Ciph~r Bureau in France knew that the 

enemy maintained .. a large staff of skilled cryptographers. All radio messages oi. the Allies and of the Americans ·were intercepted and sent to the German Cipher 

Bureau for attack. If this young American officer, who ) 

was still merely a student cryptographer, could solve 

these messages, the German cryptographers, with their 

long experience of code and cipher solution, without 

question had also solved and read these telegrams even 

more quickly than he. .And once the system was broken, 

the enemy could solve every message as easily as the 

person to whom it was addressed. 

As it happened, the contents of this particular decipherment were so import~t and their secrecy so imperative that the young officer's memorandum on the 

matter threw the General Staff into a panic of confusion. 

From these wireless intercepts he learned the disposition \ 

--------------- - -

r ,_ { 

\ 

\ \ I . \ :·_.~-

I 

\ !:_ 

~ .. i-'.'.'.--

·~ 

..• ~ J1··-

t1~-

fl 

~·­ . i . 

--. -

.. , •= aw 

i= 

• i 

ii 

-
'l'HE Al\IERICA!'i DLACK CIL.\:\IBEll 

\ of troops along the St. )'[ihiel salient, the number and 

\' I names of our divisions, 111111. :fin:illy, the actual hour at 

~ ... :· ( which the great American offensive would be launched. 

i . ' \ 

·,,.' '' 1 This, then, the enemy knew I 

. j:•{ ./ . l ,lYl · The herculean effort of flattening out the sulicut, 

. 1~pL .'\\ . 0 l' 1 which for four years had formed a huge "pocket~' inside 

·. ~i: j~~'" :J ~\ ~e Fre~ch lines, cutting off communication and st<ip-

·l ;r;; ·> ~:J . 1 'pmg railways between Verdun and Toul, was the task 

J A'..' q1' Vt{)_ (' of the Americans. And by reading the iritc1·cepts, the 

I~!.~ i¥ ' IJi Y-_ Germans had already learned in detail, jtL~t as easily as .... ,, ··4""' \ f':.:: !~ ,.· ~"· .<-·'_. this young officer had learned, plans and preparations ''' I ·~ .,~~- i; '.:1r:,~~' •·}r: for the great American'"offensive. Incredible! No 

, r: ijH V'l 1 · ;,\ .. wonder the General Staff was in a panic. In these mes- ~· 1·!-11 !\.,, • • • 

·

1111.!11\NlJi I sages were contained some of the most important strata1 Jr '1t \J I 

~!' !It \ gems of the '\Vorld War. .. .. I' • 

ir·;Sl ', \ The Germans considered their position in the salient . I .~~: ,. • o •"'-' I 

·~::;il·~· [' impregnable. General Pershing knew that the enemy ~ ;i 

'.1;-i' 1tf · had several lines of defense, the second known as the ~:J.J 

'·( .it· Schroeter Zone, another as the Hindenburg Line or · ",ii 

I :····1 \Kricm11ilde Position. \Vhnt was· to happen to the great ~~ 

,,: ,: :

0

Americrui offensive of l!ll8 if the enemy wns prepared ·.j:~ 

.i i,; :' /' for it1 Or, if the defenses were not considerecl strong ft ••.:f.li • 

l:'1t· ;';, ~ ~ •

1

-•· ':;. enough now to meet the offensive, was the enemy, we.med : I ,1 I 

.• i1 '' · ~: ! by our messages, withdrawing? . 't·'i .f· .-~ I o m h--• 1, •: 'lt 't' - 1.'he latter was the case. ur young o cer '"" 

l., t ; J' \ shown the Gcnernl Stuff the leak in the offensive, but it 

I ' I .. I I 

I!~'.,··-. 1 \was too lute to swoop down upon the Germans inn sur-

: I: r. l t2 t· "t ·;• . 1

/ prise attack. The messages were already in their posses-

: i !: l:f 0'. lsio11 and a retreat hacl begun. The American offensive 

I

! ~t ;~:··!' \ • ' 1 ... t: ·: ·' ;_l ! i" , ... ,- . }~ :,; t:· •'':t ,°.{ li;·; 

.. 

AT THE 

of September 12, 1918, 

it represents only u smiil 

l:rememlous story in the 

mnn~ not hcen fore,.·ar1 

in iu:11Jc11!mte code :md ____...,__ - at the :Front. 1.'he enc 

American confidence, 

munications. It was n 

achieved. Pershing pu 

and entered St. Mihiel 

salient was broken, but 

pass. Too ml1.lly staff 

authorities in '\V nshingt 

b-ust in. any encipherm 

sight. 

Seldom are the curt· 

tricate secret plots, d 

known. In a history of 

story of this a.mnzed yo 

formative gcneralibtio 

cipher systems were inad 

reveal his :findings and gi 

The story of his revelntic 

enacted behind a curtaw 

was too late to undo tbe 

ha.cl revealed the inacleq 

Of this whole episode w1 

tory of the World 'Var: 

~ .. · '\' .. • • •• =- ... .. ~"S-~· ~.;: ... .\iig:~·l.' • ~·:ic. .... '~.t .. · .. ; . . -::. . ~ 

~ ... ~~·"..::- .;~~·;:f.,' ··:i': ... p:~,.· ~"-{.'!;~"}~"~"{-;m:"' ~·~ . .,.,..,., .. •;.;-:.v .... 1'· ~~- ~~.,, ,, ,\-;"'11;.;;:,;"'f.·:··~~:~::·!~.;,,';.:;;?;~"t -· . , -~· -!',...,, ~~ ..... ~, ••. "' "·· :'!\-},:!.,. ..,.~,""~~ ..... ~""-···~ ............. ~.tJt.11."._ _,,,.tr;, .... -:.&··~ •. .t· c ..., ....... ·i· - . ..- ' .~ ~-_?..7'1,..,_~;J'if=:~•~~s;•:('~._,"'•n:-~·~~F::""~..:;.!°,~'.,•\.r ,-.,.·~· .. 't; !If ~'!' .... _'f"IY.Ot~ ··~-•.,..,1'1i 

.,""-f.'4•,j.~~;~ ~.':..."..'::',,;. 1'":;:~~ ~lf~·:;~~:~~ttJ'~~.;;~}~~~,i}J:~:,:,~·;:<tr}<';~~; >-•'J~ -~~:,-~,?~~ .. };~·~-~,'~i~J.;;.(~ :-rT~,.~.::ftl!'~ .. -~ .,.,..~.i(~rq .. ~~~ _•:'i...<:lr-~..;--r.~-.. ,;a· .. t~1~~~-·~~.it~ .. ,.. ·~ *~,,.. ti~·-~.-.... !' ... ,.,..:..:. .. • ?~"" :f·-:; 

f.~~ . "i ~ ~· .. ";'W®~ ~~:-1i ... ;?·;~ ~~u~·~Jk-~~~~.,.~ ;:.~~\~ .... s,~~""~~~(, .. ~ea~'71-~~ ,Jt.~~ ~ .. -~~r .. ~~~.:'fF·1r;~ ~ .. ~-t'c..:.7s.i~:=: '-fJ;';,. ~: J ... • ~ 't f~ .. ., ·i 'J:riif'): ~ .... _ ... - .... E"'.. '""'""" '~ ~J-,i!~· ............ '1 • ,.. y_~~ .... ·-=-· '"i .. .p. -. _ .. , "1 (,;o..,c-:.::,·~ • .. !h ... · \'"-.., p'""""-J."' •'"".',:I'..!:' ·:.~··':D •=Cl.~.r":1:.~~ ~i../IS" tr-,•I~· ;, ~[\.:..:~...,_\=,.: l~J·:-:..-~-l.l;.1.., ,",£~.v•;;- "'•. ,t8 -. ... 'I.;•, 

-, - ·~~ -~-"'~'..i-3-·iil''~~:';. .... ;..< -;,w,1'!",t"jl;,~~rllj-4! '"tji},f',;} ' ~"!,.b,~;r::~~~ ~ • .f.;~· ;k-i~l··~';!~"'~.-..... "..;f~~~;,.• ~~/-. '!1 ~ '.. ,.e-:~~jt'.,·~· .• 

'r-..;i1 ,~~~ ,~···~!t ... ~~·.,0· 1~-:!'l."'l?l'p :t;t..•if' ........... ~ ..... ·~ n...:-., 11:q, ~ .. -.... "?.t•:?.t-.1\.W ~A:> ff. ..... 'i•:tr .. ~ ~ .J .. .; ,. • "lo\'...(,i f ~ 

~~~~~~~~it~t~i~c~~t1~~~!it!i{\,!"11!i:r.;~~~~~~~=~::~~tt~:;~1~:~7~~;.:{&·r~<£~ .... '1'~n· ... :2Jlt,~w"-:::~·fi.:1Cft"":.~ .. ¥'~.,:~..,¥'~~,-I' ...... ""~~- ~- ~-.1 ~..-r.r: :.-"'-~~I' rn· .. :lri•"";JO.,. ., ... _ ...... ,, ... _ .. _ ·- ....... ... ...... ""' .... • • .. 

.• 

·,, 

'·. 

i 

'1. 

1~ 

i '" 

46 THE AMERICAN BLACK CHAMBER 

Despite all Pershing'.s precautions for secrecy in the St. Mihiel sector, the Germans 

expected attack and began to _withdraw. 

I~: ,, g~·.:!l~. By readfug contemp.or&ry 'history of the World War 

1a '/: we a~e led to believe that. inefficiency was f mmd on this 

·°ff. 'j'~ . . . side of the_.Atl~t~ic oru:· Such is not the case .. In fac~ 

' , · ~ . • . . . the f oregomg mc1dent IS but one of the tragedies of the 

. ·· i • ~r, i _· ( erica.Il ExpeditiOD.8:1Y ·For~~' led by General Per-

. i 'j~°"'~~ ~ ~ ~ef!_.~ye sodes and Cliphers t~~ ove~ ~~ 

i ::~Y 1'1:rt }, less the secre orders of the ~e~eral Staff m r nee. • 

i! ,·_l}1v\r._ k.-. q..~J..../tl· We have now see~ the r1.mc ous spectacle of Pres1-

. :n ljii ~ "f 1 dent Wils. on, Colonel House, the Department of State. : n.: ff~ -?.1 H ~ George ~reel, .the War Dep~ment, and General Perri· '.i\ ;\ [ ,,v}. ~/shing in France at:tempting to conduct successful diplo-· 

. ~. l·H· ~~ .t._t-f,".;,1 macY. and warfare with sch~oiboy codes and ciphers. · 

t_ f ~:~,_:tL~[tJ;;v.1Later. on, as late as 1~29, _we shall hear somet~g of 

') 1;, ·<~.;1\· a novice on whose shoulders rests the responsibility of 

. ;~L·~~fi. i"'' ma~taining inviolate. ,the. diplomatfo, ~,e~ets of ~~ ~f·. · :·, Umted States Government. 

:R~ ;

1

;{f The Code and Cipher Compilation Subsection in 

:~~-~ ;)~; America ~on a great deal of praise frorri the ~ar Def;.t : " partment m the form of letters of congratulation. One 

'vl~ . '. ~ letter directed me to inform all the officers a.Iid clerks who 

• :\ ~ . ' '. had contributed to the preparation of the new codes that ~ .. ). I 

· i ~ , the ingenuity, skill and painstaking labor involved in 

'i~ i ' ! ; their conception and execution were thoroughly appreci- · · "· .· ? ~ <(,'..· , ! ·;r1t :.~'~ 

I!·:f_ i:: 1. i .. _: .. 

I '• , f Hh I: \~ .· 

\\ill::~ ., ' '. 

A 

ated and that th• 

the Chief of Staf 

in lvII-8. 

Such letters w 

abbreviation for 

No. s. It becam. 

· graphic-Bureau. 

containing five s• 

I. Code and C 

2. Communica 

8. Shorthand ( 

ments) 

4. Secret-Ink J 

5. Code and Ci 

The Code and 

~carcely been org. 

'Military Intellig::-

tions. Van Dem 

agents, some ·with 

Bits of inf ormatirlected by these 8!; 

hands of Van D:-

eva1uated and diss 

was of a sensation 

activities of so-call 

era1 orders prescrH 

Army encode and 

•. -

·-- --·-
. ' -·.. ....... . " '1·· .. ...... o:.t',• ... ~ ....... r..-;~"I"'·"'·;:...:..,~"'·,,.· .... :;,..:;,.· .. " •· . . ........ " :.. 1 "'t_' ,..,,,...... 1 ... ... ~ !:,.._ '""" rl •.ft •I lo '·'•,~.' o ~ •.,'Jl"• ' ..... ..!~~ "''~,.,,, ..... w,.:"" o!I."' • 'r- ••• .('t,..~ •" •'"( • I • .. • -•-=-._.., -·•, .. • I' )',"" """' • . _i'\ .. .................... .,. ... :.o ... ,-=--r- ... ~· .......... - . ,_, ,•, •..).... J .-.. \ ... • • ""'. 

:. •,:. ..... ;:~r ... ' J, · ... . 1 .. -i."-'•' ...... ~ ""°i~." ,:"' ' · .. · ... , ... -;:; -!P ·-~; .. '·~..1.·:~ ."'''- ~·~""77~·..:. ."'·-.. ~--:·,· ~,,. :~?J-;':!"'··· .,~ T;f~-~ •=-;_: ;'~;-., .... • I '>t:;:"' .... ,}:. • 1.•'" l .~ .. ~·•,•'"' t.,• o:: _._..,..~r···~•,.11'?;~ 11 • .JJi "' '•"'~~ "~olk-~ • ,•- -"=.t.:'"i. ~"' ;:_...:• ~ · .:. ~Jt • .. · ... ·'"· .. : .. ,., ;.,!'1· "·:k:_·,i:_.i' ~ · ~,_ ~ .. ..--;~:. ..;~..:. -.. ~... '.il~~:;.1::__ .... '": ::. e:c:...:t~+; · .£ .. ,g..J;.tE'! _1 .. ~:- :m..1: 1 l:u Q-.1.':" .~· ~ !!&~.'"· "t;.t_ C"'~ .. •,•:.,: ,.r .. :; ·~•'!." ;·~.._T'.,.,~-!./,rY-fF.J..i:!.,,.~j~~·,-,,-.· ... '!i'":a'l"'tfJ:!i'"ll:.•O'.;..;; .. J,,}fol'.._,·rr.· ._;:a.~.'-. ,.,!-" ;,~~-• ,._ •l ,,._,, .'' ~fl/\ I 

.,,,,..::,•·":It:,- .. •• :1!.~-:..~· .. i" .. ~-· .,CJl"f'.!'~1-- ... ~- ... ~,, ~i.'"/_"'• ., '-':l "!"' .,$_. ;o.,, .. t.•·, . •: .. ~ ,- .. .. •t .. .; ..... ;. .... -; ... J 0 

.... 

0 

'"

0 

' • °' • "'" " ' ll'!o" ~"' :'1,,'0 .,\ ~ ~ '" I JI..; C. ..... ,, • '"' ' o fl/U1.,•',/. ;t I ·'I . • •. .1•" ... )"' • • •• I 

• ..... '11 ., 

i~ ~. ~ 1~·~ ~-·· Ii. 1 .::i.•.l·'ii 

.. 

I• 

i . : · .. -.J. I b.· \ oJ 

. ' r 

II ... 

..... ~ .. ,! 'l'HE A:\IERICAN BLACK CILUIBER 

seemed obvious that u. .Military Intelligence should control its own communic.itions if it were to be hdd respo11~1blc for its ,·it.ti occrets. 

t.· 

..'!:.t 

'T~:i,_" 

, ~~~ 'I here fore I cnnuni~siuncd another man from the De- · '-' ---- .; ... · pu.dmcnt of State Codt! Room, dr<:w up a pl:m of org:.mi- .. '.·· .. ., .... :I") 

zation, cut in direct wires ~o ~h.e cable p_oints, employed a ".~ 

corps of code clerks and telegraph operators and within";_~ 

o. few weeks we had a subsection which rivaled, in speed, '~~ ' <'i'!i.ll'I 

accuracy and economy of transmission of cables, that of ,:•"""1 

. ~· .the Associated Press. It was also the duty of this sub- }f~~ 

section to trai!'- clerks for our agencies abroad and to ~~~ 

instruct the numerous liilitary Intelligence agents who 1· 

passed through l\II-8, in the use of codes and ciphers. ., ~· 

Although I had already surrounded myseIC with men ':Ji r\ 

and women who were interested in codes and ciphers, and \~ 

had drawn up a.course of instruction, it began to look as "~jl if the war had conv.ert<.-d me into an executive instead of 

a cryptographer. ,

1

, 

AI d . h' . 5~ s turne my attention once more to t e orgamza- ,., . 

_tion of the Code and Cipher Solution Subsection, I was ~ seriously interrupted by a curious document which crune : J~ 

from the Department of .Justice. (See facing page.) :?l£ 

• <;v"r...-. Colonel Van Dem:m callerl me to his office and banded · . . {fl_ 

me this strange letter. , There were several pages. . ~.:;: 

· "\Vhat's this, Yardley? Cipher?" '1-;f 

I looked the l~tter m·er very carefully. °JJ,~ . , . • "Looks like shorthnnd to me." 

"I've already showed it to my secretary. She says it " ,: 

isn't Gregg or Pitman." 
.,,, 

.. .:G 

e!liS ;1 

·::~~ ~lie °;!I,~ I .... ~ 

t:a. .,~. 

nm 

n.-d 

.u-ti, 

ID. 

.~~ ~ .. /~.YJ~ -, '>.." u ~ r::. 't: • 'l' i \ f .,~~'J ·. \." l . .1) ,.. •). ~ ~ b C... f"/1~1i JI 

~.,y { y.' <·l ~ . -i '1.. . . .. · .. .: .u y II 'I.._... • ., :\) 

'"' ~ ~"Ir r:i· '' ~~ . CHAPTER III '~~.{~"J\v,V',rt• . · · SBCBET L~D · • •f ~./\.. y.. ·I' 

Tm: Code and Cipher Compila.tion SubsectiO:. the~ · · 

CommWLicatiom Subsection and the Shorthand Sub- ~­

section were all neces5a.ry •. But the really exciting ac- \{ . 

tivities ca.me through actua.I conta.ct with Germa.nspy cipher and secret-ink documents. If' I ha.d never 

dreamed that the orga.niza.tion of' the three foregoing 

BUbsections would f'all to my lot, a.s a cryptographer, 

the :6nal surprise came when Van Deman c.'lllcd me to 

his oJnce and handed me a folded sheet of ordinn.ry blu.nk 

writing-paper. 

I unfolded it a.nd held it up to the light. There was 

not a tra.ce of. writing. I wondered what the next mystery would be, f'or a Department of Justice agent had 

just brought me a dead carrier-pigeon and wanted me 

to determine whether or not its perforated feathers cnrried a hidden message. There seemed no limit to the 

variety of problems which I w111 called on to sob-e. I 

wondered if this sheet of blank paper, like the dea.d 

pigeon, w111 but a mistake, a f'alse alarm, a.nd whether 

or not I could determine its meaning so readily. For I 

ha.d, after examining the pigeon ca.rcfully, plucked 

several of the unperforated feathers and placed them 

in my desk drawer for examination the following day. 

But upon taking them out n.ga.in, to ma.ke tbis inquiry, 

SS 

, 
..,..., .. i~·I \-I .... ;.,, 'I\•• "'"' "'•"'"' I I 'C, rf •fl 1.1'!1. •''' N,il.' ,._,. p• • ••lfr.C ..:41, 

?1:ghc. 

I }11J-

:6.-

tone. 

r sur-

'ng in 

a.ting 

d to 

This 

shoe." 

de red, 

con:&.-

> fond 

ht or 

1ot be 

ittle I 

gland 

mo.L."'C 

Ilut I 

rt bad 

1rl discovered secret inks for the u~e of their spies which could 

not be de\·clopcd by l1eat or any other knowu chemical 

reagent. But perhaps th~e new major inks h:ul not yet 

reaehed Germun agents operating in Mexico and the 

United States. 

I immediately telephoned the National Research 

Council wl1ieh ·kept a list of sCientists, and asked them 

!or the n11me of the most skilCul ehemist in \V ILllhingto.u.. 

Within an hour he was in my o&lee. '1 , . 

Af'ter,l had handed him the sheet of blank paper 

and told him my story, he so.id, "I am a chemist but I 

know nothing or secret writing. \Vhy d'on't you send 

this to the British laboratory in Engla.nd f" . 

'"!'hat would take tl1ree weeks. V llD Deman wants 

quick action. \Vhy not subject a small portion of' the 

paper to hcaU I'm afraid to try it myself; afrnid I'll 

scorch or seriously bum the paper. You can do this, 

cm't you f" 

"Yes, I can apply heat without injuring the po.per." 

"Suppose we go down in the basement mid try it." l 

suggested. "Would a lighted candle dof Or a hot 

iront" 1'"r I 

He told me he had what he wanted in his laboratory, 

and I suggested he write a note for delivery to his assistant. 

Immediately I sent a messen&er to get the equipment 

he needed, and within a half-hour we were buried in the 

basement. TheTe, in our improvised secret-ink laboratory, the experiments began. 

• 

9 ~..t.-..e J) ,, .. 1. 'f'lkl.. .. k ..d.~.LriL -zi.....d.ilii: :; r ?J-A;.....J , ' 
. - , .... .......... ·! .•• .::=-:-· • •.,.•/:, .. ,~~-.. i..,,:::t)" .. ::' ... :--t:-..:. 1 : • .!··· ··.:,;-:.':": -..... ~- ·~- :, •• _.,.;\.2' • ..:-::-: .:·-~-~~·v;~ . ~·~·-~ .. "\,:~ ~. • • .... : ..... ••!-!:'"'~~~-.:-=';&;.:·• •,;o"'t!.'"·--~·..:.-.~~ ...... :'.:! .. '5~- ;-..... ~~./'•,,-:;; : .. ~;~ .... --il'•-t·.-.~1~'"'s). :--,•~ ,•·'·r 

• ...... · .. · .. -, • -_.r-~~-""'"'-~ -~ r~..,-- ... ~.··1·.:..!'.;.1;; •• ~."i.,::l.t·:. ir:.·· -. ,\•, ""'!. -.-. f . .. · ,_ -~ ~· .. ,:;-., · "'·-~--\.· .. ·· L ..... - I ... ... ...... -. .. - -""'•1-·:s:•'• ••• •I.=-,.. lT.'•I, '"\'!·":ol'- -.,.,, ... .. ...... ">!I ... ..;;~ ~~lf'c:h .. •'":... ... -"J • $.1 ~ •• : -, ... ... : ... "!' :.. ... ~ • ... r.• ~ ....... - •• :·. ·--:. .. ""-;.~.,..,.n"')" J·~-- :t, .. '*~·v.i· _ .. .,..... ~. >. 1:.-~~!:t.~T.ra. =-~""'JI E~U'f ,._ ..... ~~":·-~"t~:. r.i: •1.1-,;, •• ..... • •• , I - ,!,.~;-.. .... ~ ...... ::\~;;. .... ~, .... "'"'i' 1'1 I ,, ..... :&.: & -·~~~·~·l~. I ~ .... 'r'.t ........ 1: ..... t• :'.''I' '.,,,'• "". '-") ~:;_,' .. _+ :...,-.:1' t .... 1;_• .~~.:;,;-~::,;Ii ~-j~;l'~'°t,,, • ;'', l.,.,,.: ,.":~''-a¥!F~ 11 ,:; • • • '1/4' l':Ofl1 .. • • .-\ ,;; ~:~ t.;~":.,.a -.11 '_. ~ "'"I:•,,-.~~~ f,.t: ,- ... .' : ';,~' ~(~ • •":v• '• ··:-.- .. ·' ..,. ·~ .1.,.i.o,'1' .. \/,.,~~"i../f ,.-.-.;."A:-'--~ '•NJO'- '!..I" i"'""•·· ,.,,_., 1· -· 1.1"•-.•'r,,. ...... .- '••1•' 

• l,~·.J.;·~ •:.,:,:5i_:'! ~ •:;} r--... ·•:· .. l''...-, ~"','~s.~"' ..... ;~~" 11·..'!,;!~· ; .... _J .. ~~!1~~~ .. "t',,.,_~';'.,J.i'\'\I~ ~ • •.. C:..i, •· _··~.f~l ..>.I-:· ,·1..:: ",.J._..,•, .,· ,~\."= f1·l<",,.. 

: •''J/...at • •, :.,->,,"":-,. .. ~ ~· •• r:.•.f I I ' ~ ·, _?... ~.:~.~~'I 1 ~~j.1 ... , /I •t.·~~ 1':. ,.:....!°!!_~ ...... , -, ~~ .. 1~1,...,, i • ~·-·._.. ''-: -: I ; ~11,.; -""~~-.:: ..... ;' ~ 'I._~,-..:.·.~, ~('tf IL:.,._.-a.:t::;:..l.11._u.o , 0 1 'I.~-" " .... ~ ...,., ...-., ;e, .... i:;::o •-.Ji.: ..... • , I ' " '• • •tt ... ' .._ -~~· 'C.. - _. ............... • "" i-:. ....... ~ .... ..rr. .. ~~"l;l..:f. ;" c. •':ll+T"""''ii-.fi·~,"lr(.@*(~;- . ..!'· ~ ~- . • - - J '" ' s: •• 4·.~ -.I'.;- i.i .... -~ ,.. '* ':- '• -,,.. >" 0 '§ • • ·• r - ,;\ ~ •" • 

•I :t~ •''-t!"' J":Or 58 THE Al\IERICAN BLACK CHA:\lilER • .;· ... ~r-";. 

.,~~~ 

I w:1tcheil him c:u-efully as he took the paper in his .~~f 

skilful fingers and passed a smalJ portion of it back ~t}; 

and forth over the heat. .Again and again he did this, ::,i:T.~ - .11!.'~ii. but the endeavor seemed to be useless. The page re- i'·'¥} ' ,, mained blank. .; ,, 

I had given up all hope of developing U1e writing, if :-'.i$.1_ 

it contained writing, with heat. Suddenly I heard him -•:~ 

cl • • . . ... .. . - . ~ . ' . . .. . ' .W.';'JI. _ex aim. • 1 '"' ~ ,I • \').SP,!' 

"Here are traces of writing!" ',' 

IIe lowered the paper closer to the lamp, then held ~lt 

it under the light while we both studied the curious char- •fif. 

aeters which had appeared as though by magic. Dut _ ·-1; 

despite our encouragement only small portions of writ- ~~ 

ing were visible and these were too faint to be made out. -~~ 

It bud been impossible to anticipate in what language tl1e · i.&.1 

message might be written although we had expected .~: 

German, Spanish or English. '\Ve t.'Ontinued to study :"' , 

the faint traces of what was revealed to us thus far. 

Perhaps it was cipher. Then suddenly, as I bent over, 

studying the characters, my ~eart stood still. / /. , ,J. . 

"The writing is fading awuyl" I cried. ~ ll>Wt'r ..I..-• 

But the chemist, sure of his ground now, laughed at 

my distress. · 

"Ileat will bring it back again," he assured me. "IIave 

you a photostat-room here1" (fl,. ~'rll-., J .. 'Yes." . 1··~,._1+7 

'"Have them get a camera ready. \Ve will have to 

stuts, wondering ho 

velopments had tak 

to his assertion, facl 

Or had the continue 

message elearly1 · 

As I bent over th 

was true. Distinct! 

which had been, ju 

blank paper, were th 

of the message. 

'\Ve rushed it to 

"It's written in G 

camera ready 1" 

"Yes,'' I said exc 

"I don't know,'' h 

Greek scholar." 

A few moments l11l1 

the color of death ur 

photostat-room, hande 

rious message. ( Sc-e i 

After the seemingly 

feat of producing visil 

paper had been accoi 

Greek schoJu.r was ne~ 

a translation of the me 

o.nd within a few ho\r 

me the mysterious pa] 

the solution of the pro 
: I .. l . 

... ·' t -t. t 1 .. 

' 

60 

- \' 

., " 

THE AMERICAN BLACK CHAMBER 

l\[r. --, 

San _llitonio, Texas. 

I beg you to betake yourself quickly to Galveston, in order thnt the reprcsi:uta.tive of--

may deliver to you the $119,000 which you ask 

for in your letter of 5-8. 

There is no need of your having trouble (disputes) with the !.W.W. 

·~ 

.t{:j • 11~1~ 

, .. ~·-:· .. •=s.J 

• '!f'·· " .:·.i ;. 1,, ... 'lo ..-;., 

~ ;_"':)~·, 

"'·~ J!!Jk; 

:"~ .. ::ft~ 

. ;· 

Your friend, ·''. •••• •. L. de R. · ·:.i;. r" ' I I• (, •I 1 0 ~l!-t.l't' I! 

• •• " ,·In the excitement which followed, I returned to my · •!• 

~ffiee and drafted :a· cable, for Van Deman's signature,;·'~ 

to our 1\-Iilitary Attache in I~ondon, requesting that the .~~ ~ 

British · Gove~nment cable full instructions re~arding }~-i 

necessary equipment and personnel for a secret-ink lab- . ~,j 

oratory. The message also urged thnt they send at ,"~'i 

once one of their best chemists to the United St:Ltes to '..;{~~ 

act as an instructor. · ·. ~ N/lf· · '..'{it~ 

._ 'Ve received an immediate reply, stating that :0?. S. :,:kf:'i1 

\V. Collins, England's foremost secret-ink chemist, .~~ 

would sail as soon as possible. The answer also gnve us . .f(t; 

specific instruction for t11~ orga?izntion of 11. secret-i~k .; 

laboratory. I therefore 1mmcd111tcl~cred sQ!!Jmis- ~j~ 

sfonecl several of our most brilliant chemists nnd in- · ·t~ 

structcd them to se~I;ili;;atory according to the ~~ ~~~, plan outlined in the cable Crom England. :J-: 

While awaiting the arrival of Doctor Collins these ~~ 

chemists scoured the country for scientific information -1~ 

on the subject of secret ink. But as all had suspected, '.~ 

almost nothing was known in America on this subject. :~ 

\Vith the exception of a few scattered references in the ;{l'g!-
-: ..... ""!., 1• ""·-: ,· .. -··;:.- - c . ----=· .. ·-~ ... . (.·:-1 ... '· . ..-..!'I- ....... -;.,., .. -.. ----;.;'"1.•.:,.... ···1"3!· ......... , ..... , .. _1'"'-.---....... f1'-'\'"' ........ :.,.1-,.. '. t ,.,, - ..... ,,,... .... , .... ~··" ~.-.- .. - .--· - ·~ .• ... ~·:a.... ... . ... _I. 

.... ·..:.1" .. r".:. .. .. t.~ :· -. ·:, \.? ·= . ........... ,1

• -.:::: ... ~..;. .. ,':... ·;.-:.. ~ ~~~,:·:..-~"'""~:-,"" $;.•t,':!\.;"-.......... i:-:f;.-'~~~·!;i' .. ~~_o:.t ~=L--.. ~.:.-:.·:.k.:..:-,,, .. ~. -; ... ~t .. ~~~" ;1-\_, ... _:.:· 

.::-;~-V-l:'/":"',';oi'':.-"·~-~..::.-: .... -.."",'..,,·{'" ... ,,,.·":t:~ ~:"'·.:.~~ .. , .... ... .:.~ ... ')' ..... ,•:,~ ... ..,J?,' ".J.,..·~~ .. :· . .. ! •. ..,· --.:.1 • : .. ;~·-~·· ..... ~· ,,·;; •, ......... ~ .... ,, ... , '"'•

1 0 

''"r \ ,;,. •"' •'•O ............ "!.."ft ... •o 1'-;1 .... I •,f•,. , , .. 'I: 111 .. : 0 ."

0 

' • '"•' 

0 

, I .. ,.• 

·-=:..·~·~..; ~s--~ ... "-.... ~.!". ,_ "l; ~ .. ·.r..,~-·- ?";;·::..:.1" :;t~-~~~.:i-"r~~ ... ..t.:.:l::~~ .. r...~~--"'~if .. _::. _, 4-~~W~ll:Jrlt.5:~§1;.~-.:...;;.~~-~C'-=-' .;'ii,# ::.,., a- ... ,. ·,_. -.'.J'"_,.,.-.~... ,•_,."a":l,f.I~ -"\..:.."I: .,...:'"'i• '• ."'~_...l•llf"2"!"" P,'f' ,J, J!ill"¥C .. ~ .. 'I ._•:vii-.~::!.'•_.._ !•""•"• '• -, • -. ·~,.;_.-• "ll. - • ..... i-:'" .: .0-#1 'tl-t ,'l-.; I ... , .......... -.... ... t_,.,.,.. .... """'!w.: ........... ":p'°- "col""·-·~ -"'.rc:'f'' ..... -ii --..... c'I. ... _ • .,, .. 1 o:1 ...... , t • =... •• ~. ~ • 

,:' '):f.:~"t'(; .""• =..I'.. ~ ~·~:• :,-""' :<tJ:_,.~.(. -4;=r-, . .;,. '-4, · .. :..' ;~c ._..._~. ~ ~=~, . •' ·~·:.,,, ~ ... ~:~ ,\:r· • .-.t,;•;,, :r-!""'.;::"· ··;' ~:-. . ,'l - .,: ,· ~~ ..... • ~·· t ... ~· :..· ~ -~ :"?.. · .. 111. • ; _L: :.:. ~ e .. ·· ·~v ~-. .-

~/~~~.!.~f_f~~~ ·dr')/ • ._;;: .. ~\._'.,~_~: ~!.~:.,;~5· ~ti'. )~;~:l:;~i;~~~:;: 1::..J; ;~: .1th~·~~·/ ::t:Ji§:..·~;;:;~': ~'· .''j.:~~~~ ~ ~;·. · ~~·t":""' ,,"xo.'" "---~ .. .::~ .. ~.,,.~ =1.-. .:.t...;;;:. • ... • ·"' • • ·~· · , d=-.-. , ..... -;p .... 0::.pi::=•:r!- ·~~ ... ~';"°}:"'-~: ~"'=""- --~ •I ' ~ ''"- 1.4:'°"- -.,•~ 'I ' f--' "' ,-c.;_: •r.'t{r~ I ... ,,"·•'.,,.,. J 'I '{'• I ~ '"'.t"'"c' ' • .i' ' ~·r"'I .! .e.!..\,.., • .,. <· '"1~J • it=:~ i . • 'Y"_Of~~ 11•"' •' ~ • "= - • .,,.... ' , ._. • ..,, •• .._ , ..- • ~ I 

., -. Ir,~,. 

.. :....::· 

• 1 

., 

• 

.. 

., 

., 

,.. 

. . I 'f : :i- 1 • ,•,. 

' • I :t, 

.. 

• 

.·.n ....... • '1'1 "t. .. 'l'HE .A:'.llERIC.:\..Ti BLACK CILUrBEU ; .. <\;:_ J 

•' ~,,;fci. 

him convinced now that he was well fitted to instruct. ~~i·~~ ' 1•:!~ 

them in the intricacies of this scientific battle of wits. · ··,:.'k 

"There are many ingenious _ways of carrymg . secret '· .:·. ·1· _ 

inks," he continued,.'.'so as-not to arouse suspicion. In._: ~·1· 

d rt ... .lij one case, because or the discovery of forge passpo s, · ~ l 

we carefully examined the belongings of two suspects·~'~!?.~ 

who had j~st arrived in England and fi~~ll~ concluded \I:~~ · h had. · k • h • · · aith h .·'"2ftv'!t that t ey no secret m - m t e1r possession, oug ··~{!iff.'.j 

our authorities were certain or their respective missions. :,,;[::;; 

• • £"'"!tr.~ But at the last moment, we discovered tbe mgenmty o .. ~~~ 

the agents. · IIad they carried cobalt salts, potassium·· 1f!l-;.,. 

£errocyarude . or other secrct-mk . mater1a • Is WI "th th em · 

t 

·.ti~~ ~-'I 

openly, we would have seized them without dellly. But. ;,.'.!g: · th&spies had brought them in con~cntrated £or~. . ?ne ,··~ 

spy had cleverly concealed potassmm ferrocyamdc ~ a · :~~ 

tube 0£ toothpaste. The other German agent carried . ;.<»:.r:; . .,;~; his supply in a cake or soap. . · l~i. :; ....... ..\ "This discovery of ingenious concealment led irpme- ·J•~-''· .. ~ diately to the institution of more thorough search or sus- ?}'ft_ . d' .,."!:' pected persons, and this, in turn, led to amazing is- ·J;:a,7~; 

covcries. 1'he German system of se<>ret writing was ;·Q 

based on carefully considered chemical reactions, but it. , ;.~ 

was also based on practicu.bility. In every possible case . ·;'¥~· ··~· 

German chemists labored to devise as which could ik{ 

pass as something else if discovered. of their in~s. }~-~ 

reach a concentration so low that only a spectroscopic 'IJ!. 

f ·1 • th A .. "t(f, analysis can detect the presence o s1 ,.i: m e~. mong .,!'i::\ 

the seized possessions of one agent the mk was m a scent .~·~ :< .-;,1~ ,-, 

bottle. The container concealed fifteen cubic centimeters , ~;ff~: 

.~ ·~ 

.~ ' Y. .. ~' 

s 

of colorless liquid wh 

types of perfumes, a 

though faint aroma. 

one one-hiindredth p 

"As the Germans 

slowly with their seer 

and less common for t 

any kind.·' 'Th'e° Ger 

developed to a point w 

impregnated, without 

silk lingerie, handkerc 

silk scarfs, neckties 11 

soak the garment in d 

scribed solution, in ord 

then wrote his letter, u 

threw .away the imme 

dried the garment an 

the same manner. Of 

the impregnated gar 

"There was one c 

thorough search, seeme 

However, we noticed 

his black necktie. 0 

and soaked in distilled 

one of the stains 11p1 

yellowish. 1\-Iicrochc 

proved the presence o 

particular spy was of 

reactions £or silver wo 
r 

il 

n 

·. 

p 

: 

, 

SECRET INKS 

disqrnrc thnt I w1111 utterly unable to defend 

m)sdf P.n1pi:rly. I feel that onlr mr mother's 

ple.i. to l'he111.lun: Rou..c:\·t:lt and thut gr.ind uld 

Jiun'11 insistem:ll on cleme11e)•, toA,rether witli the 

good heurtt.'<lnei..~ of the Br1ti.'lh, made the continuunce of life on this planet possible for me. 

I thought you might be interated ir1 hearing 

from one or the leading chlll'ILcl:erS in your 

story. It has created gre1Lt interest here 1L11d I 

find myself IL sort of local historical ch1Lru.cter, 

for the time being--a somewh1Lt sinister histor-

. · ical character, however. 

· Cordially, • (S~) Gl!:OBGK V .&t::x B.&cow 

'11 

Doctor Collins suggested that live now tnke up the. 

problems already before )1:1-8, but 11re begged him first 

to tel( us about other secrel-inlt spy e1LScs. He smiled 

good-bumored.ly and continued: 

"There is an earlier case of Pickard, a German spy. 

This man carried the first example of a really cleTI!.l" 

secret ink. Before his time tl1e enemy hwl relied on 

simple processes such as lemon juice, poh1S11ium fcrrocyanide and alum, as in the eai.e told_ rue b)' Captuin Yardley in wbicb he developed by heat Be\.'l't!t writing in a )<. 

sheet of blank paper which a woman had concealed in the 

heel of her shoe. Pickard WllS convicled of espionage 

and condemned to. death by cuurt martial in September, 

1016. He carried his ink in IL bottle which also contained IL small q111U1tity of alcohoi a.ncl perfume, hoping 

that the scent would be a protection. 

"Alfred Ilngn, like Pick1Lrcl, carried the same ink. 

He po1111essed two botUes of this, one bearing the label 

~ f"7 J_ .A(}Utll .d.. ~-d;.itu~ - \Y+ r..7-: J . ..-:t-2 -p,..., ... t-...,t..:; C' •,1,,,....,, .......,_._ '"'"""~~ !I 

• • I ~! 1 z;-;; 'Ai.k~ !-l"f"..J-~- ,...:~ ,,.(. ,.., -

r 
this secret formul:i. for de\·eloping all kinds of inks, the 

' . . life or every one of our spies ?.·ho uses secret writing .'.·"::·:-~: 

hangs bv J a threud. In this respect we are helplc~s. It '· • ·~~1:r. 1;._I!~ 

is useless for us to develop new inks. But once we dis- ;~i 

cover this general reagent, we doubtless will discover a . ..,/!.\ 

defense against its successful use. <'ti. 

"The last words of my superiors just before I sailed, -~i · 

were: 'For God's sake, :find this general reagent. Beg.· ~i'.(if, 

America to join us in our researches.' " .-,-,., ··~"t 

or:~-~-:~+.·~.L. ~~.-\: .. ·-··.-.:~I ,. tJ •' :·~....... -, .· . ·, ,,.~ ,J"+. ·~t 

·. 

• ' 

i I 1, 

. ' ', 

,• ~ • • f •• • 1- ...... 

:' ;.. - ' ,-. '). i of 

- ~ ~.,,. '~'.:t "'it 

'·~..: ·,·1 -:. 

" 

I LEn these 

diemicals and r 

for a direct lfai 

of the French 

Our group of 

sections: one, fo 

other, for techni 

included the rest 

opening and resr 

diplomatic seals, 

envelopes in case 

of post-marks, re 

of these duties 

most adept crim" 

ing. I 

The problem 1 

which the United 

limited to one fi1 

letter written in c 

not based upon • 

merely to keep th 

was there another 

touched paper dis 

premises seemed 
the 

s..;. It 

~ e dis-

,~er a 

;ailed, 

Beg 

•• 

CHAPTER IV 

. . . .. PATRICIA 
I 

' . 

' ' .. : 

• 

, were therefore installed for photogrllphing a.nd enlarg-

~ · !. ia.g letters written with distilled wo.ter. '.l'hough. ~t. 

, I' )· seemed obvious to all that the Bber h:id been disturbed 

t'.. ;i by the wmcr, photography brought no results. 

f.• !f '/JJ For months chemists and photographers worbd over 

• '.:, J~-~ this problem. for they were eonv.inced that wliatever 

~ ~ • ~<ruill • t'orm a. general reagent might. take. it would inevitably 

· . ) · f~'r}j_ be one which revealed these disturbed fibers of the paper. f' • 

1 

, And then overnight the discovery! Credit for this 

. . ! ~. \ ,.. di&e0very which revolut.ionized the technique or secret-

. f~ ~ /~.L l- ink laboratories is ha.rd to plaee. There wa11 such a close 

l

. : j f /(f'u.. t'""- liaison between the scientists of all Allied lnboratories, 

. I ;,~ ~ 1- ~ , .. each idea wu flashed bock and forlh by cable, that 

1," • · ~~ I hesitate to mention one man or one nation. S~ it "' : I:. f: JJJ. ~' to say that the long-drenmed-of general reagent wu disr~ I~ { ~ covered. And like llll greAt diSCOl"el'ies, it WU BO ob-

. 'il Ji vious, so simple that it left all the chemists dazed, won-

:f~ i ~ 1 dering why they bud not thought of it beCore. 

.j I I I A 1--- • di I N 1.ln- I ' • ,_., :· g,,.,... ease; an 10 ne vapor - ot.--e more . -~ 

· H' ~1 Insert a secret-ink letler in a glass case and shoot in a · . . . 

U., t thin vapor of iodine. This Yllpor gradually set.ties into ' '.{y,;_ 

!-,~l all the tiny crevices or the paper, a.ll'the tiunes that had . . . 

·' )r \been disturbed by pen and water. Even to the naked 

.• ~· ~ eye there forJDB a clear outline or writing. 

; .. i . No longer did it matter at all what secret inks enemy 

I . , ~ spies used. An iodine-vapor bath and, like magic, I !I ;· a.ppeu.n.'11 secret writing! Sf- - ;, ,ll '!'here wu rejoicing throughout tbe American and 

~~-· ~t 'A1!ied espionage circles. Ow-/ehemists bad now eaught 

.,.. . . , I I t I 

I 

. · 1· : t 

• •J 

I ' . : 

r ~ ~ ~ I 

similar treatmen 

out. could devel 

l\Iany of these s 

to death. The 

Providence. 

iDrisl"ble writing 

process • 

While enga 

received a most 

ible. but we were 

reported that i 

writing eYen in 

lutely Jmown to 

able sources of inf 

meant but one thi1 

the Clll'll o[ enemy 

with true genius 

quickly disco,·ereti 

the iodine-vapor t; 

for which Allied el 

German chemi•ls 

It may seem i 

covery WBI SO qui< 

ventive method de1 

mission of secret 1 

is nec:euary to kee: 

subtlety of the es: 

:uf. ... ., r; _,· .. u..;;.-.. v-- • ... -;, 

• _..L..' /J <' .·'· 

,:'tu ' - , ,.u....., =.t (.. •. 
O\"er 

lc\·er 

t:i.hly 

:!.per. 

this 

·retdose 

o~ies, 

that 

'ce it 

~disu ob-

'l\On• 

.. . . t :n a. 

lnto 

thud 

:iked 

.. 1;1; 

.emy .... /11 

:igic, ~).:l ,.,..J 

., 

• 

and .. .,.~ ' . ght .,. 

P..\TRICI.\. 79 

up with those or our enernie~. ]Jut we must surpass 

them. Ger111Bny too knew of the iodine va.por or some 

similar treatment imd, as Doctor Collins had pointed 

out, could develop the secret letters of the Allied spies. 

):[any of these spies had been ca.ptured a.nd condemned 

to death. The lives or others were in the hunds of 

Providence. Our cht.'IJlists mu•t disrover a formula of 

' 

.. 

invisible writing that deft~ iodine vapor or any 1imiln.r - n .. process . ~ ' While engaged in. this worthy cause our scfontist.s J,,.,_ -rf • . received a most disconcerting blow. It seemed incred- t-0,, ~ · 

ible, but we were faced with the flLCts. Our examiners '1!r1'.l/.,-ff 

reported that iodine vapor no longer revealed secret 7Ji.,,. U .• 

writing even in easel where invisible \\Titing was abso- r • · 1 

lutely known to exist-known to exist from unimpea.cJ1-2r--j-. 

able sourres or information I Whnt rlid this r.iean l It ~ 

meant but one thing. Our great disco\-ery had reached jl; 

the ean of enemy spy headquarters in Germany. Ancl ~ 

with true genius in l'hemistry German scientists harl 'i·~ 

quickly discovered a melhod of r.ecret writing in which ~ 

the iodine-vapor treatment was not eft'ective--« method , 

for which Allied chemists had been feverishly searching. I 

Gennan chemists were still one step ahead of us I l 

It may seem incredible that the iodine-vapor dis- I 

covery w111 so quickly known by tile enemies and a. pre- I• 

venti\•e method devised. To understand this rapi<l trans- lj 

mission or Set.Tel discovery to German headquarters, it i J 

is necessary to keep in mind conslantly the intricacy and 

11Ubtlety of the espionage system. . 

~;z .. ~/,. 

r_;L If''-
~son 

tary 

nto 

hose 

ting 

hese 

ture 

out 

the 

ture, 

his 

• rel>W 

-· 

PATRICIA 81 

were the Frcneh to kuow that there was not, c.'l·en in the 

uniform of an .Americ11D Intelligence offietor, u German 

spr to send back to enemy headqm1rtcrs the scns:itiorllll 

outline of French espionage which hlld been given! This 

story "ol the indiscreet liaison o1ficer sen·es to iJJustrate ~ secret and rapid transm.i&.•ion of news, lllld by 

keeping it in mind we can bet:ttt grasp the whole problem of secrecy •. No wonder thu triumph of owi1sccret.: • • • Ink Laboratory iras discovered I . • 

Now our scientists had to begin all over again. What 

l1ad the Germans done to prevent the 11ucccH of iodine 

te1tsf What made iodine-\·apor lei.ts possibler Diii- ? ? 

turbed tiuues of the paper-disturbed by the pen or~ 

11uid. How could this disturbance be prc\·entedl/ ~ ~ 

After over one bundred?expcriment'I American chem)<~• ~ 

ists cliscovered that if a letter is written in 11ec.:ct ink, r£.J-:/ 

dried, dampened lightly by a. hrtL'h di ppcd in distilled ti,. 2'...; 

water, the11 dried again and pressed with an iron-tlie "'· 

seeret ink ca11 not be del"elopcd hy an iodinc.'-vapor bath. 

\\'hy? Because the dampening process disturbs all 

the fibers of the paper. Since the original crevices 

formed by pen and water were now destro)"Cd, the iodine vapor settled on the entire surfa\.'e of the letter but 

revealed no outline of scc:rct writing. 

'l'his was a. long-sougbt-ror disc:O,•ery. Germany cuuld 

no lmiger del"lllop tbe secret-ink letters of our own spies. 

Nor could we develop those of our enem;rl 

'l'he dcvelopmL'Dl of sLoerct 'ltriting WDll now a.ta i.tandstill on bolh sides. \Velhad a.t last caught up with the 

• 

ff 1'-J. ;k.1.li:itltl. ;:-:11117 aw..~ ~ ~ 11:. tu-i--r/ .:d..... "".:..f ........ ,,.J,,.,..., r~ ¥...,t!..rAP .... .1'~V-J.... . 
' p 

.) 

; 

1 

.../) 

. . 

. . . . 
~ 

.:: 

'::! i ~ :.,) ~ 

; I c -e-; 

fl: I :.. ,. I I ...... ' I -! 

~ i ':: ~.; I I: 

- ·-= • I -

• 

~ 

~ 

·~ 

' .. . r. 

.;: 

.:! ·: - .. . --

f MJ-.J_ 1_ ........ ~~~ •• .:........., ev.-,...... ~F Shortly after our chemists made this discovery our • 

ceDllOI' on the ll:Mi="n llllMu intercepted the letter 

facing pages 82 ~ 83-~eeause of the hie~gi'fr on.-.? / _. 

pages 2 md ._ 1'_~ &Jlii. ""N'W'J .. ~ ~r~.L. . ~.'I- ~.Jc, ~ • 

The character Of the ~ ink and the ilnpOrtanee · . 

the plan revealed by the secret-ink writing indieate that -n..f ··. · 

this letter is from an important spy. 

The secret ink as clevi:J.op~ relLds: .. .· I 1 I 1 • I I ,.• 

I 1 1 "' ••• , .. \I .. II 

.. .. ., I -. , .. 'I '1 .... "I I I 

I wrote you about t.he inearceration of the 

I :1 

• • 

trio, ete. .. . -.. . "' ~' I 

• This must refer t.o three suspects that haie been a.r- . 

. . rested-t1pies are often vogue in their secret-ink letters. . . . . .. - • • 

, Let me know DI SOOD as you CAD n.bout the 

boys going to France. If of no use in France 

they are pre,Pariug t.o Jlee. · • 

Our deparbnent had already uncoveretl informa.tion 

tha.t German agents plaMed to have at least one spy in 

each regiment. Patricia, who signs the letter, obviously 

is 1111king her superior how these boys are to operate when 

they rU.ch Fra.nee. There is more on this 1uhjeet. , .. I'm wondering if this ink is good. Let me 

know if those boys would be ol auy use to you 

in France. · 

Preparations are being made for training 

and drilling in use of big guns in U. S. Olllcen 

returning from France for tha.t purpose • 

.. 

.. 

I regret to say that "Patricia" was never captured. . 

1-k .,b.Jj;, '&J')!.:.-" ,.d-(; ~iV,~ttHu.. ~:#· 'p f:'t'-. ' 

ol ... 1-'I -. !. 7!,ll'i:c•v μ,ff} :.,Y.',..OMJ.. KIP. I y. ,:.,...vr_ ~MAuio. 1 •L4",l:L. "'1 0 • ' t • • Jj~. i'&- ~ti '$t~ ......... ' .....,.k. • .-..Lf~ 

~I-ti.? J d"_,.,~ fl. . .} . t'.-c ~.u:..l 

• 
; 

;1 

... ·•·

I 

_ ~"" l"f _.,...- ... \"""·~ ..,,,_. ..., ... ..,:;..,...:::. • • J.~ , _.., ' .,11.{ C. "'·rrr• .. .-i . ..,,- '".~ .. l 

THE A:\IERICAN BLACK CH • .\MBER 

This \V:JS due to Ol"er-zc:i.lousness on the part or our 

agcnh on the west coast. I also regret that we were 

nc,·er :thle to decipher the hieroglyphics. '£hey certainly contain a hidden meaning, for, as any one knows, 

h:iirecl ~Iiss Smi 

\"er;· 111~;.;t,~rlour.. 

A suct•cssful 

entirely dc,·oted 

lems to solve. 

particular type o 

value. \Vhen ou 

our Secret-Ink 

examining thous. 

over two thousnn 

writing. l\Iany o 

but to insure som 

mo.ii leaving or ar 

Cully examined b 

There were tw 

dressed to person 

ferred to business 

veiled fashion. I. 

"major" tests--th 

which at that parti 

use hy Gt.Tman Sf 

Our laboratory 1 

in the restoration of 

and photographed. 

these secret-ink let1 

Bureau, be sent or 

suspicion. Sometir 

intercept more Iett1 

In cases where 
:iry 

tic 

on-

"nal 

ion. 

alten 

ome 

1ens of 

ture 

tic 

liea.-

tter. 

the 

~ or 

I the 

·etlle 

ed a. 

a.ndle 

s still 

knifu 

P.\TRICIA 87 

bla.cle carefully between the :flap and c:over, we raised 

the flap without much difficulty. 

Arter photographing the contents, we resoftencd the 

remaining gum on the envelope flap by the steam method 

a.nd if aufBcient gum did not remain. rubbed the edge • aga.in11~ the moistened gummed edge or a.n unused envelope. This was better than application of glue for 

it 11111ured the adherence or just the right quantity. 

Otherwise, an oversupply might ruin the jol1 by making 

it sticky a.nd splotched. In case any gum mW"kH showed 

after the letter was resealed, we brushed the cover lightly 

with moistened blotting paper, followed by blotting 

with similar dry material. In eases where the sea.ms 

were obviously afrected by this steam process, 11-c pressed ' them out with a hot iron and removed all tra.ees of our 

work. 

Replacing or duplicating seals was a much more dilHeult task than tl111t of opening and resealing envelopes. 

'.1.'hc operation required more skill, and the process sometimes depended upon the nature of the seal. For a 

rough small seal, we used a thin sheet of lend with a 

backing or india-rubber placed on it and screwed down 

under a writing press. This took ODly a few seconds and 

any impressions which were ma.de on the envelope during 

the process could he ironed out satisfactorily. For a 

perfect large seal, the operation wwi much Jm>Te complicated. 

\Ve lint dw.tcd it with French chalk. Then we plac:ecl 

a piece of gutta-percha, ~sl~rbtly mixed with oil and 

_,, / AA 'I: + +- ~.J,.~ ~r,fJ!l; l~;..-a.wsr? 1:.r...t.Wt~ ,J / · 

' 

' 

., 

.. 
I 

.. I ~. I 

I . hc:ated ..,, ith hot water, over the se1LI. This we put under 

• 

,

1 pre-.suu: until the gutta-p1:reh11 be,•11111e firm uml 1"Uld. 

I ! • Then. v.ith :mother piec:e of gutta-percha, similarly 

~ 'ti heated, we made a second impression from the cold ma- 1,· ~: . 

~ 1 • i terial after it had been covered with graphite and put • • 1 

1

• 1 , . under pressure as in the first operation. After taking 

I

\ : . · : the aec:Oad impression, D.Dd after again thoroughly graph-

., 

I i~ing. we put it in a copper-plating bath and started an 

~. 11 .; • eleetrie current.· Depending on the amount of current 15, 

f 

:j 1':'' we could force, the pmcess of obtaining our oopper de- :?~~ 

· /{· ; posit took from twenty minutes to an hour or more. ·.:if! 'll • I! 1,, • \Vben we broke away the copper deposit from the gutta- :· ,ti,,?. 

, ;~ •. percha we had a perfect seal The baek we then filled in . 

I

.'. ~~ . with ordinary solder and supplied a handle. •. ;~ 

~-lf . · .Eveu more difBeult than c:onstrueting a mold, was ..,...,,, ... 

j~·1? · .: the process of getting the original sral off t.he diplomatic ·:~ "~ 

.. ·l letter. We heated the wax to a eertain temperature :••1• • 

;; U ! ' by a smWJ. eleetrie hot-plate. Our success depended ~~'j: t). ·~ • J~ ;,i ,. on applying just the rorreet amount of heat to the seal. ·:· ~,!. 

: !., t At the proper stage we i.eraped the wax from the en:. ~ !f ~ Wt{ · . • vclope with a 11rnall iCraper. \'V'ith this old WA.'\', in e:ise /.ti 

r.

f'. •• !~. the seal wus broken, we mude a duplicate with the mold ~-~~·:'II .'I J already described. '" • 

, •• ~~1 .. 

1

• • 1 l,. J,. Such tasks as these i.earcely came within the duties o! r °': ~. 1

,;, f.. the c:hemibts. It was obvious that speeialista in this 

:~; •• particular seienc:e must be added to the American Secret- } ;if' Ink Laboratory. Thus two of the most adept criminals 

'•i l,.· who had~' eonvieted for forgery-and eounterFeiting I;, 

f " ~ h •.. .1 LL ' ' 1 ••• 1.•11 ' .L • .J ... -s J -~; 1 were soug t oul auu m.eJr partu:u...., ........ meDJ"por......,.. .;~.., 

:r', :'J . . /l l:-= • ' 9 ~. I " tJ..:f .It.c. ~r.. ~ /;;:,_. • 

! ·11 . 7 kt,-, ....... ... a. k . ..,,.......a,'Jj --7~ --- . { . ·:··ri · 1 C ,, . I ./) !o-c, "-~' ,., '!. : p~rJ~ :tr"-j•U-.~ • !A,'(. ' II *"· . ::..,.., . ;, . l_"t!: i II • !J "JM.,V • ~: ·• 

' t\ ·1· a ··~ l. 

with that of Lt 

'!'here Wll'I one 

me.? We were a~ 

tents of ii letter [ 

dent of l\le.'\'ieo . 

lerfeiter _... made a < 

letter, photograpl 

'-elope, we diseov' 

been made "as I.ii 

loss to know who.I - us that he eould 

cngrm·irig a seul. 

he made a closer l': 

seal and discover· 

made with 1111 old 

fied n dibtressing . 

necessary to oht11i 

l.'Olleetor to wake 

N'Dt.1 Tbo olllclal 111 

R•P"•& of IA• OA1•f o/ S 

Oado a..t C.,.,.•r B 

th11 .lfttH'dl er111ern1rd 

••r with Germa111 wu .,.. lo tho GMemmont 

doHloped tbJo 10.tlon 

s .. nwu n • ._ I11te11111"1oe lle1T1..._ th1 

lnir thlo blthorlo btH 

Unll"l'Ollll• Over &O 1m 

led lo lll&llJ' arrests a 

bhlns or tlio p•lal .... •en luted foi' 1ecret 11 

S.1JJnJAJ. 

:;;- .,,..~ ~ k ~ 

~i. ~ 9 °!'lf-:k I 

~ ...... ti.,_ . ~~ ~ . 9.i..,.J-;: ...,__,,...':., ,/ J:. 
. -

t under 

·l cold. 

ii.ni.b.rly 

'Old ma-

:!.Dd put 

taking 

·graphrted ILD 

per der more. 

!:guttBfilled in 

old, was 

lomatic 

per:iture 

epended 

the seal. 

the en"-

'in e:ise 

the mold 

duties ot 

~ in this 

I St:cretriminals 

erfeiting 

rpora.ted 

• J.-

"·""4-- }:...,, 

• 

P.lTRICI • .\ 89 

with that of the Secret-Ink Subsection of lll-8. 

'!'here was one c:a~e in partfoular that always amused 

me.1 We were asked to open and photograph the CQntents of a letter addressed to General Carranza, Presideiit of llexi.co. Before opening this le~tcr, our eotmter[eiter made a copy of I.he seal, but afler op~ning the - , letter, photographing the contents; and rescaling the envelope,' we discovered. that the duplicati: seal which had 

been made w1111 too defective to be used.· 'Ve were at a. 

loss to know wliat to' do •. l•'inally the counterteitc.-r/told . . . WI that he could perhaps approximate the original by 

engra,·ing a sea.I. While this move w1111 under discussion, 

he made a closer examination of a portion' of the original 

seal and diseu,-ered, h11ppi~~ that it bad been 

made wit . h Id d ii,r.i " • Th' . 1' an o an ra.re eoin. 111 mmp 1-

:6ed a distresi.ing problem in engraving, tor it was only 

neees&llQ' to ohtai11 one of these coin11 trom .a.u obliging 

collector to make a perfect seu.L 

Nate1 Tllo olllclol lllllolJ' of lhll h1P811 wUI h foanll m pap Ill la 

Rorurt o/ llu QA,.l o/ 81., U. 8 A,.,J lo, .. 80,.,•lnro •/ Wnr, WJll• 

<!od• ...., fhpAor 8nln (Jll-4Ho<H• alld Ciplur1-The work of 

thll -lion mao.med an ba1 .. rtaat n.1d or endoamr wlurb befoie tbe war wlL'I GenlWIJ' wu a1 ...... 1 enlirrlJ' an\.nown ta tlle War Department or ta the GMem-al or lhe United Stales u a whole. ••• All l.aaD, 

den.loped lbll -""" cumprlled ftn barraUI, .. ron ...... 

. . . 
\~ ... 

,~ .. ,, 

-

CHAPTERV 

D .. ~# I .......... ·'·' "';":.~- .. __ ,. 

• . . . 

. 

I .,l·· • • I • I \:;~, 

..... .:'il:'-1 ' 1,;~-'l.· • I • ~ I T • • ... , M'Annm M.AllL\ DB VICTORICA r'"" ' • • •••• :r":. 

A GDAT deal of :roDllUlCe has been written about 1.he ,-• ' 

~ famous Germo.D. spy, Madame l\Iaria de V:ictoriea. aw'l!;:·~·li Marie de V ussil-re, the "beautiful blonde woman of Au.t- ~ 

werp," but tbe authentic &loey of her actiriUes, detec-',,,_ •&Yo!!- . Tra':J:Ji. 

tion and arrest bu never been told. '!'hough she luid :~d§. 

been sought by the British Sec?ret Service since 191.lo, it .~.;..,. ~ l 

was the Seeret-Ink Bun:au of lII-8 that finally proved ~;tt 

her nemeai& ' i 11:.i· ~ · ., . Ma.dame de Vi.etoriea waa the most daring and dan- ~-~ 

o--- ......,us spy encountered in Ameritan hislory. Her ac- ·::.- ·• .. ,,. .. tivities in Ulla country between her orrivn.l und arrest ~ ~­

compriae a story of ruthless espionagci and wholesale , :~ 

deatruction that llll'pllSses the wildest fantuaies ol our :~i .,Ko ........ 

most imaginative fictionista. But like many other Ger- • -~- • 

1..' ... 

man spies, Ma.dame Vietoriea did not reckon with our .· _.., .. .I~· 

skilled chemisl.I, whose glus test-t~bea and varicolored ~-~&. 

liquids at Jut wulid her. \i~ 

On November 5, 1917', the British authorities pve U1 :.~ 

infOl'DlBtion, which, though it had no direct bearing on ·.1~; 

Ma.dame Victorica, finally led indirectly to her identity. · ·-::t .. 

We were informed that a Germon agent ol unknown .•• :;~1· name and nationality bad m."eDtly left Spain for the --~:~ 

United States with instructions to pay ten thousand .~ 1;..; 

!ID -~~ 

.. ~r.~- ·.:"I!• 

h-

. ..:. '.(~; , -· ~~~~ ~~~~~~ 
g, 

1i 

:l 

m 

I)? 

1e 

llAD.illP. l\IABIA DE VICTORIC.\ 03 

clress on the r:m'l"clope is D. Crnin, !>=12 E. 1081 h Street. 

N cw York;• aocl the letter itselt begi111>1 "Dear i\Irs. 

Gerbanit." IIere are enough discrepancies to awaken 

the suspicions or any novice. 

"Have you iDve•tigated Ci:ain at 932 E. 108th Street!" 

our chemist inquired. "That is the return address on 

the envelope." 

''The report tha~ cmne with the letter said that lie 

wus being investigated and promised to tclephnne in 

any inforrnation that was picked up." 

"Be sure to tell me the moment it comes in. It. 1Dight 

help us w:ith our secret-ink tests." · ~ 

Aa the iodine-Tapor test had not yet bren dillCO\-en:d, ~~ ' 

tlun-e was nothing to do but to test the letter with the · 

reagent• already known to be in use by German 11gimts. 

Our chief chemi11t unfolded the letter and with de[t fingers rapidly drew a line \\ith a. brush dipped in che1.1icnls 

crOS11wise 011 the paper. When no \isihle writing appeared, he took up aunt her brw.h dipped in a.nother bot Ue 

and drew unother'line. At the third attempt faint 

traces or invisible writing appeared. . 

"It's written in 'J!" ink-here's 'secret writing," lie 

exclllimed; "in German script!" 

"How Jong lVill it take to develop all the letterf" 

"It may take all night. This _is au important spy 

letter and we will have to work carefully in order not 

to injure the paper. We may m.h to restore the secret 

writing." 'rhe secret agent turned to go, but was called 

"}"} 

• • 
to the United States 

against your 1111tivc 

waa because I wanted 

Then there were no 

in 19171 nuw much 

es, and my mnid whom 

ad sceil her secret-ink 

ollarsl And her mthirty-fi.ve thousand 

ow many other payink phrase, "~mily playing with m, 

now need more than 

adition, f'or they sudted her with docua sw. At this s1ie 

to the prison ward 
'' '' ' 

i i 

Two G:sn111AK WlllELl!Ss lxTERCBl"l'll 

Br JA:XU.4llll", 1018, the Code and Cipher Solution 

Subsection or lll-8 had giown to ambitious proportions. 

'\Ve not only had to train students !or our own tL'le, but 

were also ~uired to teach recnii.ts !or General Pershing'11 Cr)·pto1.'1'spbic DureaQ. in France. '.rhis donblc 

i'1mctim1 se\"C.'l"Cly l1andicspped us, for we felt that in 

justice tu the American Expeditionary Forces we should 

send abroad the stndenls who iJ1owed the greatest 

promise !or sul!Cells!ul eode and cipher attack. l regret 

to say that not more than~",, or all those we sent to 

France dibtinguished Lhemsclves, but this ""as not the 

rnult ot lfl-8. 

The successful cryptographer requires a type or mind 

difficult to dCllC!l"ibe. The work is absolutely forei1,'D to 

wiything he hwi C\"er done. _To t-xcel, he not only needs 

years of C!'Xperielll'C but great originality and imagination of a 1>arlfoulsr type. '\\Te call it "cipher brains." 

I know or no better description. We were 11cver able to 

formulate an intell~ce test that would iru1icste the 

future or a student. The most successful students, when 

put on their own responsibility were, more often than 

not, utterly 11·orthless, except for clerical wurk. I was 

Inter to hnve tl1e unusual opportunity of studying under 

the Britii.h. Frc11cl1 :iud ll.:11ians. I leumc:d flint they tnn 

120 

• • 

... ~·· ,,., 

... 

c .... 

. " .. •f 

1 I •:l· 

"""'•"°ii L-d I 1• llU 

· <:; Bur 

~· were 

. • thi~ 

. ~~- -r~ ...... , more ". ,, ·1~. B~ ·:, ~ the ,.:i... .. • I'"' )I 

•· ·~.,.,. mini! .. ··:.., .. -/ -·~·"!, n..·o ' ' I 

':t:~~ ei)Jt:C 

. ,. ' ,,.Jcttf' .. . ..... 

. . 

( 

( 

l 

( 

I 

( 

( 

( 

l 

( 

( 

( 

1-

I . -: \ .. 

".i"llr, - ·:~JiV-~-

- . . ' 

., . 
.. . ..... " 

• 

i.1o..vi.£""l t; ......., tr...(" 

,; MIO 1 ... ,,............. t I 

• II .;....., I TWO GEHMAN 'VlHELRSFi I!li"TERCEP'l'S III .,.,,,., '1'1J ~ • ,. 

J.." d I\ 

J-~' 1· .. 

h"d the blWH! experience. In the combim:d Cipher 

:Oureaus of England, France, Italy a11d Amt"rica U1ere 

were thou•nnds of rnen and womer1 de\"Ol:ing their lives to 

this science, but among tber.e thousands there ""''-'Te 'Q.O 

more tl1an a dozen who bad "cipher brains." 

TF.KCEPrll 

nd Cipher Solution 

ilious propo.rtioas. 

or our own use, but 

for General Perfor we felt that in 

ry irorccs we i..bould 

owed the greatest 

1ei: attack. I regret 

ll those 11·e 11C11t to 

il't'S a type or mind 

ISO.lutely foreign to 

I. he not only needs 

aliLy and imnginait "cipher braius." 

c were never able to 

wnuld indicate the 

W. students, when 

, more often than 

ical work. I ,, .. 

or st.udying under 

arned that they too 

J ~'I I ... 

I I': 

I

. ~~:: .. . . l .. ';.;::,r"' .. 

I~!~ - .. I . I • ,..,. t' 

·::.~ .. · . . ·"·. "' I 

~· ••• •iii n.~x. .. ,·, .... 

;;,~ .. ..... t'-. .. I .i.':....o;t 

I ~~i~ .. ) ;._'f.J/ .... 

-.-'e .. .,,,,;· I I :i. I .. 1 " I 

l

. ~~·:· ~ ";to •• p'" Ill I 

:. "· · .. . '· . t ...... -:~· 

Br t r11cing lhc actual decipherment of a code Dlt'Sllllg'l. 

the reader may he better able to appn.'l!iate the type of 

mind :required fCIJ' sUCC!elsfuJ code attack. The following 

t11"0 code messages, destined to make history, are 

especially adapted IC1J' this purpose. The c:olumn of 

letters at the left are not a P!'rl of the telegrams. They 

are added for rderenl'I! purposes. 

Corls Iflt11ags No. 1 "G" 

.. • ,. I ''"' 

I ...,. °' I 

(A) 

(B) 

(C) 

(D) 

(E) 

(F) 

(G) 

(JI) 

(I) 

(.T) 

(K) 

(I.) 

. (ll) 

(N) 

(0) 

(P) 

(Q) 

(R) 

(S) 

40188 27I4I 51686 02062 49140 41845 

,2635 02306 12201 16726 279I8 3~ 

63825 ,6020 ,0429 87112 48001 88219 

50015 43827 50015 04628 OI3I5 5533I 

20.514 87803 19707 8816' 839jl 292,0 

02062 ,2740 38051 40252 88608 14918 

88,U6 16329 55986 24909 2'1143 01158 

'2035 Ol806 09J01 49718 55027 50112 

13'147 24255 27143 02808 24900 15742 

495I3 22810 16'188 41362 24909 I7!j6 

10707 4Di19 30..08 19801 8'0Il 06386 

157!6 47289 2P901 37018 42635 19'107 

42022 80334 00788 OiI5G 3950I 03237 

14521 87320 18508 42085 88951 29001 

49117 46638 02062 16636 1970'1 OI426 

11511 42635 11239 OtI56 09916 1220I 

28145 55381 49423 08658 12201 80205 

88931 88219 50015 04156 4882'1 06420 

28300 10707 88I04 .a.2085 00308 202,0 

: • I 

~1..;::..-.-~ ·. ' .. ..,..,., :.-

• :N·1" t. . ....... u .·' 

•:. ;.• 

I • :;, '"" . . . . . . . 

I .. n .r- ~ , · · ' " I 

•· . . !I.~-- ().L.-.:.r-..J-.t>:--1.-""'U.- ...... • ... ~ .. ~-· ~I r:..°(Jfl"•,. • ,.. !W:'' •• • ". 

c.;~ 
CHAMBER 

1ire Frartfais. Mes42 "D" 

. Bl~ichroeder 

otiations. At 

any .impossible. 

lillion Spanish ~rman Oversea 

[zed to offer:this 

l government in ~ years, interest 

on supposition 

:al d11,ring 'War. 

vour discretion. 

Busshe. GenBerlin number 

1 neutral. America 

:very eif ort to force 

. ries to declare war 

ich has more to say 

ations. 

t"G". ·, ... 

, ' 

graphic report 

)ain received. 

co J to send to 

r for negotia1duct. Do not 

affair because 

> difficult. If 

re enough repTWO GERl\:IAN .WIRELESS INTERCEPTS 

resentatives in Europe for that purpose. Foreign Office Busshe. J\{achinery plans for rifle 

manuf actory can be put at disposal. Details 

of machinery, technical staff, and engineer for 

aircraft could be arranged here with the 

authorized man of president [Mexico] to be 

sent by him for negotiations about loan. We 

agree purchase arranged by Craft (Kraft) in 

Japan of ten thousand rifles, etc., wished by 

president. · General Staff Political Section 

num,ber (?) 

189 

There was general excitement in Washington when 

these two mes~ges were deciphered, for this would 

-0bviously open a new avenue to the United States for 

information of not only the intrigues of Germany, but 

also of the true aims and intentions of :Mexico and, 

perhaps, Japan. '\Vhat would .the decipherment of further messages reveal 1 A hundred instruments tuned in 

on the powerful N auen wireless station in order to inter-

, cept the next messages that would surely .follow . 

... But Nauen was now suddenly silent. Why? Be- ~' . , 

· cause news of our suceess had been flashed back to Berlin 1 There can be no other reason, for when N auen 

finally again begins. to send out messages their system 

· of encoding has changed. 1t1I-8, with all its care iii the 

selection of its personnel, has a German spy within its 

doors. A finger .of suspicion now points at every cryp- ' . ' ' .' .. .,;·,~:ze;~.a~~ ~~~r;~~.' 

/i".~JJ~.- ~~ fl,fM+lf~ ;~,, !Jrtu. ~i,~ ', . .. ' °' I {/; - 7~ cv.vt..uL ~ ~/ . -~M "f-· rv.v~~ ...c.#-) ~ iJJ 0 f - .+!./ ,. r i ,; 

. : fie~ .. /; 'o}~~(? ~ ~ [!.,; ct- h ~ ~..- -n--'~~ . 

~ ·~ 

..•• 

•• 

::· 

· 

'. . . -.. iJ -· I 

~,,,..,;AJ .. t--:1 

J 

"'" 

,_ ~· / JJ 

v0~-f ~ 

11 . ...&. -fu,. 

"~~~-- ' ,' J I ~ . ~ : .' ,,,...,..,,., ' OJ ~ ,, • ,...,t - !'\ .... -../ , 

t, , •.. 

t, ·.' 

'·~ "• ~ 

r-, , 

t ' . 

! 

; ~ 

, , '. 

l

,, 

.' ) '•' , ~7 ,. ,. ' 

i I 

(. i 

'.,; ;· ~1. 

.. · ·· l 

. : ~-: ·,' t '• 

I . 

{

··.rt.:. • f' - iJ _,, • /J • ~/ ,, ;._._, -· ,0 ~ j..(,..·c.t N\..;:,- '.)/I ;.r..,-f-t,I._ . i .,'),.,...., l!.-UA ""..i/.7 9r'-l"N'- • -.--.. ~ /' • . A ' 

, , .. ~""'c··.l-V'·'~,,...,....,,,4~ ,-1 _ J . -tf.;. I./ ~· · '#~ (1"'.J..'f·r~ ·J.:< • • 6, r:t l- ~.-'.' 1 • I .:,,.L. ~ ,;..t. Jt::!.(1.,P_ ~- , . • J' .,..;.. .,,~ · , .. ' """"""~-:' .. ; ~·· ·~1 __,_,. ,:;-, _,;. 4 ~. ', ,_;!' i~.-<f A.·~'• . •-:J-'4··'! •. :~J" ;.,r · ,::J.JJ-J~'·t-;-v,/~ i:._ !.~.t~L-W<A-( '4<t.. '-4 .......... J- ""1 ~G;c'-~- · "-~.,/ ~~ 
(j:li \t,_ w )1"' ........ .A:,;.. ~"'t." u- in '"'\~ ....... ~............. j::" :. •' 

.., h ...:i ..;,.. ""1 r J 'J..i. .. ,.& .d- o .. J- .,~ ~k- 'ii-~-'!.U.. , j :·.!.. 'W:lw-""' 1 .,......,.....,\ fU.(A. • ~ ') ' ' ., • ' l' •!I• 

\>, !A !l,rJ.i""' ¢.·~tr~) .. ~,..!:.J. ......... ~(. • l I ( r_ :' :.::':~ .. . , , ~~ ~r:J"'"!,.. ~, ' . ,..., ~ :VI • ~· ,_ ~...,.. ~ ,'~""-·., ·.,'1·:· through ~ • • """"- ,,... N \ ~ " I• \'. 

~ w.-...,;... '?u.c- I ~ '!, CHAPTER VII . '· ' ' the un 

], - ll .. 1, ABLO 'v ADERIKI .. ~ ': aside c 

I ~1 ''d'dt .1 ·'· I no 

J,,.f... 1

c.I ~ABLY in FebrunryL1918, Colonel Van Deman buzzed •',•Cot •1' ~I. I -~i'C: .. ;)-thing 01 i 1JJl ' for me on the inter-ofllce diclograph and asked that I ~-: ;::· . . 1 took 

/ ~ .;t" come t.o his ofllce at once. # · '.:· ~ •. but I e 

1 Re motioned to me to sit dPWD. beside him and with· ·~~,.~:a docum j ouf. comment handed me a sheet of ordinary writing ~·~·.\ dinary 1 

I paper on which was typed the Collowing series of letters: •. :..:~~;would b 

' ;;'' r. 

' ' 15-1-18 • • Gc:-mun 

' I I scof'natuplc 11siheihbbn • ucrsdausnn "'Vb:.i 

'1 j lrseggiesn nkleznsimn eb!'esbmpJlb j , ~~:·~- "It lo 

I asueasriht htcurml·nsm eameoll8.Sl ••• ~'(· •' .. insm.n·egd esnbtnnrcn dtdrzhemuk .;:-~·,- ._Thereu 

kolselzdnn ILUebfkbpsa , tasecisdgt • .• ~~.in the SC• 

ihuktnaeie tiebacuera thnoieaeen : .,,, · • • 

C

, _ _,koncsdu •. · ,.1!l .·, lin, e. Us hsdaeaiakn ethnnneecd : .. u ~ 

essadehpea bbilsesooe etnouzkdml :·.~·f;-of voweb 

neuiiurmrn zwhneer eodhicsiac : ,}.· cipher. \' 

musnrdnso drgsurr1ec egresuassp .- 1 ~.:.it came fi 

eatgrsbeho etruseelea umtpaatlee · Y.· ,..,. • 11 c:ic:D'llprga awsutemair nasnutedea · ,!t"~~ '· Han 

errreoheim eahktmuhdt eokdtgceio '·,-:;.·:~:· Wabersk: 

eeChrhihrc. Jitfiueunl • . eelserumna ,,_ ~--;,,.;f._ •• } ...... T ...... 

I 1 p· I• 

1 ! l JI • ,. I ....-.,; •' I """'""'" ~ 

1 mm · · '.~ =." ,: ·,; · ·k.2'. peeted of 

There was no address or signature-nothing but a ,:J~.i;.1ous Geri 

jumble ol letters, l1earing the date January 15, ie1s. ~ ~.=-.C: ·"1- .. . .-~•\'\ ~- . I had been with the 'Var Department now Cor nearly • ~ .·,;r. -.i•\ ''W u I I I ..,,P., ~.. e • 

cigbt months,, and though thousands of code and cipher ~ ::.'?~·~ NOthing, 

' ·~. 

" 

documents u well as secret-ink letters had 1iassed • ~ :·· · . .And sinte 

HD • ' • -'', be unable 
eJVanDeman buzzed 

~ph ;aad asked that I 

,,. . · .. 

·beside him ·and withof ordinary writing 

1wing series of letters: 

• 

•· 

15-1-18 

·uersdausnn · 

~hmpJ»b 

-e&IDCOU&Sl 

dtdrzbemuk · 

:tasecisdgt 

1hnoieaeen 

•dkonesdu 

dP.ouzkdml 

«Xlbicsiac 

egrcsnassp .. :- umtpaa.tlee · :·. · · nasnutedea 

•· ·•. cokdtgceio 

. eelserunma . . . ; . -~ .. ~;. 

"' .. .:· 

atur~notbing but a 

==Jan~ 15, 1918. 

:rtment now for nea.rly 

uls of code and cipher 

k letters had passed 

PABLO WABERSKI 141 

thrOugh ~y hands, I still felt a thrill ·at the mystery of 

the unknown when a jumble of letters met my eye. And 

aside from this I well knew that Colonel Van Deman 

· did not ask me to see him personally unless he bad something out of the ordinary to discuss. 

I took it for granted that this was an important cipher, ~ . 

but I could not know that I was holding m my hand 

a docum~t that would lead to one of the most extraordinal'!i cases in American history-a document that 

. would be responsible for the death sentence of a daring 

German spy • ., · . 

·"What do you make of iU" ·v ~ Deman asked • 

"It looks like cipher and not code to me," I replied. 

.· "There are long sequences of consonants such as skmppb 

'._~ in the second. line, and ll'tibtnnrcniltdnb in the fourth -. 

~.line. Usually, code groups are f~rmed by combinations 

~ 1:t:_ of vowels and consonants. Yes, I'm quite sure this is 

)~cipher. Would you mind telling me its sollrCe--'."where 

;~:;it came fromf' : :. · >. : ; ,_,; · . ·· 

-~ff' "Have you ever h~ard ~f Lath~ Witcke, ali~ Pablo 

:Waberskit'' he asked. . r· ., .. : ,; .,,, ... , •. _ 

.~>:,"Not a gr~at deal-·· nothing·.dri~t that he is ·sus-

·;{;~ected of being one of the most dangerous and un$crupu-

.f;;,Jous German spies operating across. the Mexican bor-

;;:aer.'' · • >'~'.::· "Well, we arrested him on the. border a few days ago. 

.· ... 

\.'. 

,·.; 

.. - ' 

. : ; 

. . . ~ ~ . . 5- ; 

·~ ~ ~ ~~ - ""' - . ;1 .; r ,r 

. ~. 

i 

~- - ~ ! . 

; 

·~.. : . ; . i 

<~~\!' · ... ~t ! 

i 

. -.... . · ;! . . _,_~~·?::·Nothing was found on his person but this slip of paper. *" 

f ...... i;' And since be is traveling on..a. Russian passport, we shall 

r~:'?t; be unable to bold him even though we know that he is ' . .· t"·, .. ···.;~~ f {.t_-~ o_;f ~ fi-·V~ tp~~A 8 &7.'-:--~.;.Atl/.". 

r1t~ '2Jt1 ':.~;d-rg ~~ u ~w,] M ··-

··--~~~f~-~'.l_:.-· .... ·•....,i:-~.. • .• - . 

iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiilll ---·"1---...:: 
• 

I 

I 

! 

i 

\\"( 

·.... . 

·""·.F.· 

•• "·~~!-"' ... ~ ......... ... ;"':.·:· ... \ .. . . . 
CJ:LUIBER 

••••• •••••••••••• 

~t:r ) 

~~ •·'i ·1 l'ABLO WADERSEI 1&7 : • 1~ "'.'!...~·~ Notehowcloselythesetwotablesresembleeachother. !, . ~~ ~~-~· Such a close resemblance would indicate that there ia ·,;t_ : r : . ~_'i,; DO doubt about tbi& being a German transposition cipher. ·t I r .."t 

'fir,:. How does one go about deciphering a trnnsposition • 1 .. ' I 

;

l' cipherf It-in tbe spring ol 1918 you bad searched the :t.,,, • }';: ·/i ~ , )ibraries ol the world you would not have diSCO\·ered so ~ : ·(. ~: · ~S 

~_;_much as one word that would give you the I• idea~~.(,'£ ;, · 1 

~ Jiow to attack such a problem. Even the pamphlet used r . 4 ~•, 11 l . , ~~:: by the United States Army tor instruction in codes and li-.l- '4.-...L ·, ~· •. 

~-·_a ................... ,..,m ........ T>l•b .... I~tt'...,~"""~* .,. il .;lf:~_i. meant earlier "·hen I mnde the statement that the eryp- Cl.A ~ • r 

• • ':!\ I• ~~~ tographer in order to he successful must make his own ..., ~ ._ I ' ' . 

i discoveries; there is DO beaten path to follow. ~{::J:.. 1 ;1 '.~~ 

Now in German the letter c is always followed by the J • I ! . ~ .. 

:~ "" ~ ·.Jetter 7a OJ' l-, except in a lew rare words md proper ; i . it' , 'l'fi ~ 

"' ~ If firs • G __ ....... _ • ' I .. If . ~pames. you t wnte a message in erman u.m& .,..,,.. ,; • 1 .' ·, 1 

, ............ ,,,......,........................ . ·~ ' 

'letters of all the digraphs ch or ck are disturbed or dia- ;~ 

. ~-arranged. in the same m111111er. And if :pou eao discover ~· j ~t · j ~ • ,& 

• method for matching up c:orreetlv J all the e's with their • j ~I ~! ~ . "sfilnity 1i or k, you have made long strides in the solution ; I ~· : ~ fth . • I ff ' ~ ~ :~Th::~:: meth~~ ~ ~e\·el~ped hr MI-8 for such · · ·/ ~il. '; ,~ l~j :Prob~ is first the tabulating ol the number of letters i ! ! ·1'. : , ·11,t.- :..:tk iD the cipher message that separate each c and each l or i 

~~ The message therefore was turned over to clerks to . H ~) ~ · ~~cii>mpile these atatiatia. . • j · · 

•.:.': '• ~ Was it possible, I wondered, that German eryptog- ' ~j f 

~'J:'!.t raphers had not made this diaeovel 1 r Evident17 not, • ~: · 1: • 

'r-,.61.W"'• • I ;,. '!; , ........ I 

$~.: - .. ~1 1 

i : :.'7 ·-:-~ • I • 1 t ~·'!.- -· •·;~ : , ..... .,!. •• 

~ 
t question a transuble transposition I 

ould tell th~ story. 

being done, I went 

ge of the Southern 

ore about W aber~ 

often possible only 

es under which the 

them Department 

was extremely exre working on the 

a fair chance of 

h the message was 

t officials attached 

in mind the ancient • I\ ." 

Wilson arid Presiive expedition into 

• the: ptj.p'.pcat~on or 

which the: German 

mised\l\:iexico the 

A.ri~n.i if .she de- • r"' .. , • 'I ... 

s, and' the resultant 

l\fexicans for the 

de l\lexieo a haven . ' I ,f • ,. 

',11 ,'·lrt I,<('• 

Our own spies who 

that h~dreds of 

,,.,·.:j11 

~:t:r:­

~i.f .. ~·· ~~ ~ ... t"· 

"'to:,"-!!' R :~~t '• · · PABLO WABE SKI U9 

~;.-~J/ ~ 

%:<\•:' : German reserrists who fled across _the ~order at the 

"i?f :i:,· ·declaration o{ war were recruiting ~nd drilling Mexi-

·:~~.~-'. can troops; that high German officials, such as .Tahnke 

fa1l~~-'. · (Chief of German Secret Service), Von Eckhardt (the 

~;~~ :' .German l\linister), and the Germ.Consul-General to -..i;~· . . . . 

~~;t·~_Mexieo were ~xtremely friendly and operated' openly ~i:-.;~~ •! .th P 'd t C . .. ,~ ·,I '\ . . ·~1}.lt- ... Wl res1 en arranza. . .. · ... -~=· .. -f .. ··· ,.-:,· . · , 

i:~j~~ .. Our ?gents ~e:i;i.~~ed that. Gcr~n,s~y pl~s were of 

~:1-\1..·, ,. a most ambitious nature: destruction at the opportune ~5-·•" ·._·if;'_ . moment of the Tampico oil fields; establishment of a 

'• I 

~ 

'.:3-iff, wireless station for direct communication'. ·with Berlin 

:~: . with the knowledge and cooperation of General Car-

&:-:.~·~ ,,:i;anza (a most flagr~nt '·iolation of _i;i.euh'ality-see 

';"'!'f.1~·' Cl1apter VI); stirring up strikes in the United Stat.es , 1 )·! ~f ·i 'r"l"t~ ·~· • • I I 1,, • ... -~ 

;~.P< ,through the I. W •. W.; fomenting disco~~nt among . i. lf I ';,," ef. ~!:'.the negroes in the South; who, at' the proper moment, • ; ~h i1 ~'..! l.;::,; '1.-t~ I. "" !.{' I • • .. • .... • • .. • • • • • I "t ~1 . .p;-.,;.; •. -i- were to start a· series of massacres; destruction of war l l •- : P; ·~ '>' 

k.J:~fi~dustries in, th~~.United .. States{ ~d ~e~y other. eon-·· · · · ' 

1 

.. tf, 1

1 

•,~ ~i:JJr(~...... I • • I o ~I! Of 

~~;~!vabl~ :i;iho.~e of :'Y~r-time espi~~~ge .. · ; . ~ : : . ; · \ ~(; ~ j ~~':..~~.We were of·oourse dccipbering:all. of iJ?.e:.l\lexiean ~1'1";-·., !r -, ~-\(~Gov~rnnient's dlplomo.tie.ciph~ tele~~ .which' gave ~ I !I~·~ .' ~--~;;.".-ti ~ ' I .. I., ·' I :: ·- I I ,. -;--,; .... ~ 

~;~~-.!' .~ai~·~!c~re: ~~-~he. 11;t:ti~u~~~j~~~~~~:~f~~ .:" · ~ l'i: 

', j~r.';~~~~d. t~~! ·P."~!~~ ~~~es.:.· .. ~·:~;: ~~;;~ .. ~··i: :~·~ ·~~!'~~11 :; · :· ~-~~ ·. · ·. . . , ~ .' ; .. ~'lf.'.:'L:;.t: '· •• That our own spies ·were not exaggerating ·matters · ·• I ~i .i .... Ti~':;.·.... . I' • • • • •• •• - ~ ., • I 

;.':!-.~'t::,,:. lnay be gleaned from the N auen messages.i .See Chapter , . , · .;' :. 1 

;-.~~· • • ~ ... ,,. i.f,' •• ,· •· •• , •• • '• p • •• • - 1· ''·:J f r;.o ,i:. ,i • ;vr . . , .. -:- . .. .. , .. . .. . 1 :"' ... • • • , • • "·•\ :.,~ .• ,.?(,I., • '· · .• =--'f ........ ' I·. I •• , ... :--• .:,' •, ~ t•1.' .. : : • .. ~.' 

~~-;~-~~)~'hat yon. Eckli8:i:dt, the Consul~~riero.I, and .T ahnke ·.- J ., ·;~:: ·j ~-t<~'iff.were not only ambitious but rutbl~s in their activities ·.:• • j ~*.~;<may be surmised from the foll~wing which ii a trans- !JI · . r..i "=.::J'#· ·.-: . ; ~· " ... ~1~i'. • ' 

(' ... \ffl : .~ • • r .,, ... ... ,"( 

:,;f~~;;l,;;. '. I' I ··1 .:e ........ ,.)&;'".. • 

.. ~,~.: .; .. ~·z;. , ~ '''ffl"1 I I ~I 

~·-.:'~' ' ' . ii 1. ~'!..: .• 1 •• ~ ..... , • I " 

)! I • J_t~. • • ' . ;:_ .. • - -- ' ' _,. ......., ~ '''= •':'£!':... ........ 1( -• ,'II', • - ,. I ·••, ~ ~ .,~ • ~ ,..., ~..,t,; '".i--t\Jo:I.. ~~ ;"\··-..... ,.-:.:1b1:~ 1!t~~t<J1:. . .-:' '.:..,.·~' ... f.; •• .,.; ......... ~ " •• -~·~~ ... .w:~ ........ ~~~ .. "'!;-~11. 1 ...... ·~:.ttt{.1~1'"\·oiEf_~'\ft-""'"'"'"' ... ~.c.: .. ;~_, ~~ .... ~.-·~:§Ii..,,.""¥;\~- : ~" .~ ·.t~:r~ . .a~ 7f.·t~; .. ::~·n;~:~i· ,~~~~~~r;~~ .. ~-~:?~if..-\f~~f .. ~ ~tii!~t.~·"*~--, .. -~~~ .. ~~~!=~~r'\(~ _:..! ~~~~~:':rY'~~~l~-.l~ ,'j,e_,,...,.. _._J",_~•Jh]t:o.,,,"I 'rJ-. .., • , .. , ' If;,.~., l>• .,.. ;ii>~ " •'.. • • ' .. • -
CHAllBER 

age, deciphered by 

al in l[e:dco to 

the Armistice. A 

t to llI-8 by a 1py 

h omce in Hez.ico 

ar College, for the 

an diplomatic and 

from the Mexican 

n IO. Jan., 1818. 

edgeigumi ·~· iteaaruba 

hzzzdibgtt 

iqeirea.uef 

lcgtineenel 

tiailuiorl 

uiemineiee 

l10di9g'eef 

dnslneiienn 

am.tngef 1111e 

onbtguhewn 

enpneiette 

ngepniceuh 

w.upkcevemd 

ahelnehiln 

naeoszcbr:: 

eekerglma' 

cstbpu!dea 

u11fmsrlma 

lusneadaah 

P.\BLO \'\" ARERSXI 1151 

scecf'sonen ebsmnr~ erzruiemc . . . incneinree etkstnb1 a zeugdednkr -, ibhideeree aeuneinzet dendaoerea . "f.-. . ..... ighueuoanu uzasruoddi eeemcutiee 

'• !'.• teanchchdd 

!!i:cttfu:n~ y• esierecrdc 

'-:t..· emiehdeade elohneennd !\.~ rhktendend uockehaete cresCjbouk i .. Chbrnkttcmn ledsetuehl enimliaem . - ~ ..... ehzeueses11. smneuho.imd m.'llsslu"kh . .., rahdbenllJh osesedfhin meerne111eh 

~ udzsgifmri uoisoehsna dei.tfeebsa • 

... ~ ekamhceant eaoabeunou Clnmeizua . ' . -1 • nfphhmnfon gusdi~ lhrsmdndrl .. .,:ti .. tmaurrwini ulnezs ts hdrsdbbnip -%'"" . ,,tt.1 

.. • I osedlsuctb ctidatsaue ttunwirhbr 

..\ ngned1unii1 veuTnkkllll! enrcmtdtea • ·:·:I nsinleimgr iehnlenmlg gkbegdatee 

eaaeegtcro arusrelari ~uinbi eeikdnspni ~ ~ib~pkuze seshdne 

haramtsee 1preieseuu emozusmudh 

ipitnndark nalccss(Jle ursttrlecp 

irbdnsaend reeoeteian mdtnnheamt 

ntzeomtier nukwmttcke ueebdihtnf 

eswgowgeen notzreamu eaahnbgeil 

ceemsmta lggheue9 ~ 0 I 

... 1 • 

Tranalation of Dedpliermetd .. ·· [Addressed to all German Consuls in I \_ ,' 

.. i. . · · · '· · ~lexico] -· • · " · · ... :"'-!.. 1 II I 

'i*.i..~ ·.c· · Please carefully and immediately bum with- . ......... out remainder, and destroy the ashes of, all ~i?{.J.: papers connected with the war, the preserva-

~':i ·, tion of which is not absolutely necessary, espe-

.. 

... 

o; .. :'!ii· c---

-'•·" •After ...Ug ti.. 6oelpherment af the Walimsld -t, tho -*• m.,,. w11h la at~pf la declphrr lhlL TllO tnmlabaa ar tho 

.. .-

• 

:: "•' Germui dedpherlllelllt fallaWL 

::ru. eJ._.~'jJ.J..'Hr-.-f- t? fJQ R ,,._,....,,, ;.,.,,._ t/i ,.......:__I (;f;_ 

I-:~~ J M 2/.LL-v. y-d,.L --~~ lfi" i "_) ·~:JJ,,.tl I (I I,) 

f ~ .. ·: -.,,,;r . ~~:. e. 9-- ">r.t. 

~~~ 

... .,. 1 • 

: 

. 
CJLo\:\IBER 

ids or reaching 

with the Secret 

repre~enta.th·es 

mirally Staff 

e existence and 

cs is to be obime, even after 

might be comfor us if they 

1e111ies, who are 

session of such 

:ei pts, a.ccountlmlcd in these 

cnce with this 

ph on tb,e sublier J!;eys and 

re cxce ptcd for 

·ular attention 

m in ab&olute 

11ire the execu· 

!ates to papers 

so-culled order 

•r rrf ere nee, I 

id the contents 

~ignation you 

l-General] 

.:>r or Military Inwas receh•ed, was 

'ul decipherment or 

~II-8 a. highly comecipherment was an 

ard which lfI-8 had 

...... · .... ... ' . 

... '" 

J:r. 

.- .. -. 

PABLO WABEUSKI 1.53 

always maintained. lfe instructed me to ~ive a copy of 

the letter to each officer and clerk who had contributed 

I 

I 

r 

(. ,. 

i .. 

. , to the decipherment. ~· .• 

~~' 'This German cipher message, officially designated . r,:: ~ 

-s;:- PQR, is without question the frankest and most open ,. ·-'.~ 

·_;~., document treating on U1e subject of espionage, except- ,. r,7_~-

··i;: ing the Soviet spy document in Chapter XIII, that I ·. I 

1/~.. have e\·er seen. I am always amused at the frankness \• ~- :°'.;(·:· with which diplomats express themsch-es in secret code ,. :? 

-l!'.:. telegrams, and their childlike faith' that a cipher or a ,,. ~, 

;~1,{ · code can keep their utmost secrets from prying eyes. ii' •• 

··: .': '· Diplomats, a.s we read more of them later on, are almost ·; ; ~'.t' .,... •' ,~~.:! 

''.o:~'t ~, •• ch"ldr . «'..It· as naive as 1 en. · l;'i 

.,,_. In retrospect, it is no wonder ~hat my superiors were ,, i·~~" ·;\~i- concerned about the cipher document found on Pablo fi \ t~~ 

::.{,. Waberski, for :Mexico was full of spies operating across ; ; '' i~-.'· I ,. ~I Ii 51. 

~i~:'. the border .and, so the reports read, Pablo 'Vaberski i' ! Ii';~ 

·--~ ;. ·was the most dangerous of them all. There were e,·en , ··· .j -

:;~~~/;: reports from the Dritish who suspected him of being ) i _;~ ':jli -~~~~ responsible for the Black Tom explosion in New York }] ': f~: ·~;;. Harbor in J'uly, 1916. ~ • 1 }:i ~t~:f. Pablo Waberski, so the reports stated, entered the ! :'; I<;: !'?o/£; United States at Nogales, Arizona, on February 1, 11 ·' • !;= ~ ... ,~- JI' ,~ 

,~-v.{ 1918, traveling on a. Russian passport. Ile was not 1·[' ,· f ' f!J:~tfi : aware that our sccr,et agents in 1'fexico had reported his r . !!: • : ~?.. 

f:,<411 a.ctfrities and wus surprised when arr~sted as he crossed" ·:: :~ :i:; ~~ ·.f4$;~{ .the border. i' 1

'• li<'l~ .-., .... ·~ .. ,, ( ('-i"li.: {i;~~- ~ Ile was rushed to the 1'filitary Intelligence Officer " ·,: .£. 

;•:v~q;;. at the camp of the 35th lnra.ntry and searched. Nothing . '.: .! :'· ·~: 'r• ":.w 

~.!1!:~~'. .- ;. :,--,·· l. {~.~ . ~·3~.~ ~ 

J~~~i~~: :: : -~, ' {'loo •' I ~I "lo;1 

-~: ·~; ;·· . ,.,, 1 ~ .. ~~~··: i . ·-;; 

'••\\• 11 '~ .:}• ~'• I l, ,3 

A .J • • '' • •\' ~· • I J ' ~ 

.. I .. •':l>•f"' '"'1-.~• ..... -........ , ""•r ,_,..~,i.'..~,,:i-. ~ • ••;i.• ... \ol ' •, rf. , ,. I -, ., , 'II' .._ •·, • • - _. :ii',\., .. (.'"'",; i"'ll~·.i .,_.""-!~<.·~·,, ·~l.._·;. "'·.;,...!. •: .. ?·":!°"'.~.,,f,.'"°:\;2;.•:i:"",(°'!\~· , f-~ ... ~L-•~~· ~--~--"'·~".t·..,1 ·~~I-.;~ f!. ... ~-~· ~,,;.,_ :11,:-...,. •s,._(. .. ~,,,;.i~-t·~;:,,o ~1 • .Jt 1 ' 1 ' -'"'' ·~ "' -.. ''o/1 • "''.-"' "' ~?-- 'Ii .............. :J~ ........ , ~·~ 1,:: ... ...-..~d~,:llM'Jt._}'r..,} ~ ..,... -~ • or 

, ...... • '._ t:c.~.::::., 1 ... o • '~!:iJ.;·~~: .. ;; ..... , .. ~j~,:! !'Jt..:.,:r:;,.: ...... ~-~ ;,~.· .. '.,.L/}~'.""1 •:~1,•A":'~~ ~f,i,.:~.h~~.: ).j:.,., ... iki!ff.-$,•~ '\.·~~ ~¥°>'"\,:~loo~~t • J-,' ~Jr. ..;,":· .. i'"1'':-,,~ J.-olo•-,:r 'r .,,..., 1-J.--... 'Y"~ -·-·1·••C'.'I >~··•<"•"W''•,·ir:#'•· .... _, ::il~--··-1. r,,Po" I•'.;" 

.f. l!r,._·~· .... ~- "':. .. ~.) .. __ • ·--"; ... ·,, ...... .r.. .. .;1'11 ..... ~·-~·-;::-lo·•"'-·· .. _:,it."\,·'·-;.~,. ... ~-oll;r.ow~ ..... -:,:j~,;, ... i.-'l'C: ..... i ...... i;'ll-~ ...... ·:~~~~ ··,."f'~ ... ... , .... ;..:;:, ''""-:. .. ·~ •.,•.• -~••.,•,'•":.ii")'!.';.-..•·•• •• '""· ,"}.-i •,'!'r,.-• ... ·:;."-... '"'""•.._,f._~.,..· .. •.--,o1: n-''i-.....J,".._ r , n~"'l.~ .. ~·· ""' .. • .. • - ! • ... 3f'5..~: -••. "'i- 'I"" .......... "'i ;. -.... • t .. f' ·~- - • ..,,,.,.•:i:. ·~.- ~-:.~ .. :!.,,."'\iCft-1':..~""'"""··' I ~~!iS:"'i.r'"'";·~ •. ··.If., ... I • •j'(~b :r,·"'. I 

.. \. __ , ........ ·- •.••• loo I ...... I I • r. . .... . .. - .. I .. ,..,·": - .... • ...... ~""';:. ......... l, ,o::; ... ~-I .. ~--..,..,#1. ~ ·~·· .• ~ . -· ·"~ lr"..; .. u .. -._ .. :r:- .• ".!"i\l. I "1.::1\,"' 
.. : 

THE A:\IBRIC.AN BLACK CHA.\IDER 

.. ·~"·· . . ·-~ ,. 'f> 

.• f: fl'< 

--·:~ ~~ ... .. ~,· 

,. , Nf;·., 

1 "•\ 

c c 

8.5 109 

c c 

294 819 

Now, as at 

mathematical 

arranging the 

the letter c ~ 

the digraph c. 

ILillLlysis of ch 

letter-number 

all the h's, w1 

cipher is a gri 

Let us, the 

the resultant 

dealing with. 

be grnphic:i.ll3 

numbers in a 

letter-number 

paper. Dy 

column from 

arrive at the 

each c and e 

smnller than 

42~, the num 

her before su 

42~equals HThe follo 
PABLO WABERSKI 1115 

c c c c c c c c ·. c 

85 10!> 1-'5 199 201 250 260 270 290 

c c c c c c 

996 819 831 833 881 387 

Now, u already explained, our problem is to find the 

mathematical formula that the GenDll.llS used in disarranging the original ten. Aiid since in pure German 

the letter c is nearly always followed by 1& or k ( ouly 

the digraph c71 will be considered in this problem, Dll the 

analysis of ck will not be necessary), if we subtract the 

Jetter-numbers of all the tis from the letter-numbers of 

all the l&'s, we should find a common factor, unless the 

cipher is a grille or double transposition. · · 

Let us, therefore, take this first step and see whether 

the resultant figures indicate 'the type of cipher we are 

dealing with. The distnn"t\11 between the e's and l&'s ean 

be graphically shol\'11 by writing the A's and their lottcrnumbers in a horizontal column, and the e's with their 

letter-numbers in a vertical column, on cross-section 

paper. By subtracting each figure in the vertical 

, column from each figure in the horizontal column we 

arrive at the distance, or number of letters, between 

each t: and each la. In cases where the 11 number is 

1D1aller thm the c number it will first be necessary to add 

!1941, the number or letters in the message, to the 1& number before subtracting; thus, in the first case II-1" plus 

!124' equals B-438 minus C-85 equalll 353. 

The following Sgure shows the result of this prc>eefll: 

c~-..;.~~ .. ~.w~ ""z: c l..;_ r:J,,_ ~~"'-/:_"""- .. ;::~ 

--f ,,.r 7 ~.;- y·~ / r · t; ,-; - a.._f"..;.,.t. "J ~..r- .. -:n-.. ~a·:_.... ~..I • ." /,~ .;} , /., I /.' ."1 ., ... ,. · - .. .._ !,,.,:--..~,l{U..--:1 ........... ~ . ...--- "'"'~~ '""' r.1-~~.t 

I I ., ~ .. ~ ·- "'' .... I r1 iu ~ .... .. --:.· .......... ~ 
Germans to en 

from their affi 

The-remain· 

h-71. -If the 

brought togeth 

\Ve have no 

a.re well along 

and there we s 

tempted to try t 

cautiously. Fo 

formation about 

may need mather 

correct solution. 

often quicker t 

system. Once 

cipher will falJ i 

Let us examim 

that we have just 

gest a German w 

have the Germm 

Let us the ref ore ti 

ending in de. '.fh, 

Dy placing thes 

we have at. Deuta, 

other word; eithei 

ginning with !J? I 

can. _Suppose we 

Turn back to Fi, 

Do you find a lini 
' -

.. • 'r' ' I rl 

'' 

Yardley?" he asked as he l..ather ''"1tcke, 

,.: d11r1 

'! 

- . 
. .. . :: . ·: ~ .... .· ... ·";:,·.-.~ 

·. .. .. . ~ . 

. · ...... 

.. ·.. . .... · 

. ,·: 

· .. ·· 

Seilor .T esus J. 

· is absolutely s 

in secret. I 1: 

addreises whi 

· Jiec>J»le here tl 

w~ obvi1 

desperate · ~tion 

: ·k ·~'e:_ii=··ol j 

ID&ikd ~e cipher 

·FinaDy in AUil 

D8IDe wu Lathei 

~-·.He.wasch 

trial I&sted two d 

_court sentenced 1ili 

The failure of 

other spies, was d . . . . 

·· . · · ilicreased, Our po'· 

to affect the life o! 

the decisious of gc 

+-~~ . ·~M:,~.·--~~ a-a 

I/~"'-··-~ fJ., 

·~ 
-e 

::I 

PO 

-~ 

, 

PADI.O WABERSKI 

Senor Jesus Andr11d11, :Box 681, Sun Antonio, . is absolutely safe und it will be delivered to me 

in secret. I have forgotten certain names and 

addresses which I need in order to show the 

people here that I am i11nocent. Need ~?ney. 

court. He was charged with being a German spy. The 

trial lasted two days. lie was fpund guilty, nnd the { 

court sentenced him to be hanged by the neck until deal: 1 

1 The failure o[ Pablo Waberski, like that of many t:5 rj-;, 

other spies, was due to the skill of 1\II-8. As our skill hW ! incre~ed, our power as un orgunizo.tion 'vas not· oru:fl 

to affei:t _the life of a. single person but was also to shape l ... _....-;i 

, the dec1sI!JllS of governments. , ~ ., e...,, :·J~ i;:;._ 

'.'r tA·5Jt./ -Jt:..-1--!"A~- ~,.~,,_..,,J v-~~ .~ '"""¥ 

~: ,._, ~ I~ J.i t°"'f"- "'"""/'"'_...._ ~I ~ ~ --~ "'."""" • ' "I t- • ::/- ' /Ji;>- W-0.., /ilt.v-f. 

I / 1..i £.. -;.,.-...,, ~ t}ci~-&r,.i/~ ~""""'LL 1-J.J.4.. .G- ~ 

~,.:.., i.....,.J_ ~ !lv~r/\u,..._..._1;;, ~ ~ fV'IJ..-a-.. 

W•Yl ~- ~ .-Ji_·, 1 I 

c... ~ ~l.1_. .J J • I .i.:.. '- l- I -J ) " F:J.,.'l~J, /7 l.-μ,.• 

•1 r 

W'l~t/;v'.f.A ln11 .. 1:1.M.,Vt.V'l"»"'."i1~",. j\ " II _,,_U )! .. - ~ 

1 .. t; (' I ~ ll fr. • ' ~w..t.111..t'-~k<L. 1)-....-.... .._ N· ',__,-.,~_..u...,. :irr • '1 "-J J I 

~~ -'- ~',j;_;...,.., ~<.. _a,, i... i· Z.t,. s .i_f l")•!--'--l,_ , t-J..._ ~,.,. "--I 

''• _l. L • .. !. • ,,• 

r~\f,lj-f 1~ ~-c..._ ,..,,..._, i~ ~l,.-:,..J~/--;!..:Z_ I 

1, J 
• 

tlred 

betw 

Sp1u 

were 

Gen 

mess 

by tl 

"'l 

repli' 

fied 1 

enou, 

read 

How 

code! 

solve• 

Ne 

he lo. 

puto 

Imu 

"C 

"I 
·~ 1\ J r 

? ·r. 

1 , t :. · .' : , ·180 THE ~RIC_\.r."'("BL.ACK CH.A!'\.IB~R , 

~ i { . . r, 1 ~ ,J . _ "What has the Captam told you, ~Iiss Abbott?"* ~ . ,;;:)!! "I ..r g I , b • • • \ ~· I\ • , , - ,.,,/1 1 :11 ~ : :- egan .. · .· ( .. "': .. r··; · .. ·: ~ · , .. ,., ··~ t- • ·.'"'' .:e. 'r'" ,. .. ,.·· 

'.} ~J·,;,.' : ·. · · "Nothing,'l::s:cept a .very .8.m~sing 'stocy," sl;ie ~aid.'/~~~- ·~l~li ~-,._r ;l,;--:' • . .-;'.I felt a.cert&in"reluctim.ce about taking her inti> my··:;:""· 

o{i;' =~~ :_ ·,· -:};~'.~.:. confidenc~, :~~t 'becaus~"J:ier ~port was. by,'any me~ ·,r.~ " I~ I l.f'~ • • ' '' I-.,:, ' ,• \ 'I' ' ' • '\: 

, . ':!,.' ': • •. ',·. ·., discouraging,· bu~ b,ecause I'had hea.rd SO, many stories;",',' 

t;: : ~::' ~ ~· '.~;- .of,the.failures:C,t women_·~gents: ~ut there was always'. .. :., t.i im.· .. l·· ...... ,':11. 'J:·,.,;,:tb· 'ch .. '-·r-~f ~.:.' . __ ..... ,. d's, ~ ... ·.- ........ t.• '.;\-.t-.;·;:\'.'•!i'-:,._, e. ance .o fsuccess;·an ·even 1f she did .tip of! our .·P' 1; 

~" i~~:'.·.-; ., ··~;~i;;;.hand, all tliii.t"Sh'~·:~uld'disclo~·~o\lld ii;;'.ihe fact thaC'k." , ;-t"'!•. 1 ' , t

11 { .. ' ... '°., • •,''" '.' , ' , ' , I ' "/' ' ' • .l,~, .. J it'. · -' 1

1 • .,. the United~S~ates.~overnmei:it w!ls ~king an etfort to;;,-, :IP .. :- l 1& o 1 J • I • .... f" ·1··~::- .. ·. ·~.--~" sol~e tl).i;.,~~~~s~. G9vernm~t's codes.;. f?hould SJ?aii;i:~·:~i ,,1. -~ '·f. ~~ i:·: learn of this,1t_would mean-a change of codes. We had '.·)l'!' .., 1Sit J . ·-_, already mad~ a great,deal of progi:ess ancJ I ~ew r;~f~1 ~kt. -.r~ ; '·"~ would have'to impress this on 1\-Iiss Abboft. ··.,.. ; ·~ , :1;1. , ' ~- ~a,·; · , · .. ··· · · · · :/" '· ,..:--i'"," .. ( .. , ... ~fl !:o ~~:!':.;lit,.. · :_: '°-~--. '- . ·,.: "You have no idea why~ were asked to come here!"' '}fl,!;. rl'& i'J:~•,' , • 1 • 'I :1.I~ ~s• 

·inJ.i!~~;~ · -~ ;i~~ ... : 

1 

~;:: ~~: :Biake~1~e- · teie~hon~ ,~~} ~~~ _. ~, :~ ::.r .. ~~J! i · •, wanted here. She gave no reason. She was very mys- .• >:J . ,.,,_ 

~:,~1 "· . terious about the matter, but she always is." · ' ·,_'\.'. ~ ;J"' ;t • I ' ~· 

-~~-!~' .- · ·,_•:.~,, 1 "You know the Spanish Ambassador!'~ I asked her.· ::.r.""~ I ..._.\::'• • .. I • ' "/ ,_. •' . • '• • • ' "f':\ ... ~~'1 . ... ;;,"' · · ''Y 11 • • • • •, ,,r~. • r:r·)i' . . · . es. - ... ,. . . , ...... ~ .. -~ . 

I

J :'fl• .· ,~_ .. , ;·: ' "An .f .. th .. ,,E ·b' . . . _·,,,;,.. . '· ··-: :·::" .··:...:ef~: 

~ if"_. • : .. '~ 'I. I y 0 -. e m assy s~~ • '" f};"'.. I'') t•:.,.1'-i: r'~"ift-1 • ~J,14. 1 ••• • • • • , • "Slightly." . . . .. , . , , . . -, .. '~"~~;. 

~1Hl.: .. :.: {<:-' · .. _..~erh~ps,'~ ih~ught~ ~h~:~~st pla~ ~~~~ ~~ _t~. ~i~---,~~~·: t;!, ~I!{' -. ;~_·: .. · ,her as littl~ as,po~~ible until I had an·opportumty to-~~ 

f1 ~ ;j;{ ... -'~(.;~--- judge her ch~actcr and dlscretio~. . . :·: > .. ·:·: ·.: ·.:~: .,•~:,;~ 

;;j°'~: ~fr, -':~'.,c" ' .· "You could cultivate a b~tter acquainta~~e with so~~ ·'."··~-~ w ..... 11'".-!1'•' '.-1...11 2

,, ' o • • 1 I ... , •o;,.~ 

~-::it .. ·'4 - • • -~· of these men. · · ·· '.11 ,.; ;!'.:t.,"I" . .- .... - .. :.-1. ;., .. if ~ ~ ; • V:" •.. , • • • ~ ~ .. ":.''j-;1't.:·g"'' 1~: ·- ~ ... · •Jlor olmoua reuom the correct name an not be g1nD. "".:: i!,:&"i 

tf~~~> C 1.NI ~ ~ rJ;._:. · ~ ~ Pl~· ~~- :fjf .. 1.,,.,.. ~ er \q1·-3· ' .. ·! '"; • 'f ,J """""'-- ~ ' " r '•""-:.' 

-~ ~ ~ 

v ' t' .:~.- ·i· l _)... • ' ··.t: It,, ,. ..- . .:J,. 

~~'"":l· .... " ·J! , - • • :~~I~~ 

..:;~)~··r 

. . ~ 

"One might.'. 

th.ere.'' -ir ~· ,,.•: '-

She must be o r :• I • 01,• .. • 

she -was(being· 

• •£-• .. -' telligence~~Sh t I-, .. I• I 

was a g<iod· si • • r • , 

she was intelli 

"· -- ·•w:e'!jjj]{ 't-0 -. • • • ._ ... _~! ... , • •• 

tary · h&s·;'direct 

.rust his name; 

·this 'out fo; Di 

attention!';',·;· 

" ··"I think.so," 

sot.ind vecy di 

,.:,'Verf well.· 

. successful. · If 

there m~y be o 

"I am more 

be sure of my · 

man who has c: 

want hi;· n~e ':' .. . , . ,• ..... . any one 1s mter . . "Exactly." ,. I • ( 

•: I think she r• 

' door she Siniled • • • • I 

• .... I c I I 

. ·' · When I wen 

He was ~ wellalerlness about 

• • r,1, 

... 
ill you 

· e::tnan 

i~•:-man 

,, '\Ye 

• d have 

. The 

n:s de1il psss 

sli::iple, 

.a?her. 

re ~.illcf.te of 

:.!:e iol-

• 

· A STOLEN CODF. 185 

lowing, apparently an innocent eablegrrun from Germany," I said, and showed it to him: 

From Germany 

· • 'To Schmidt & Holtz, New York .. ' . ' 

Give Victorica following message from her 

lawyers lower terms impossible will give fur-

.ther instruction earliest and leave nothing untried very poor market will quote however 

soonest our terms want meanwhile bond have 

already obtained license. 

·' Disconto 

.. 

~ ...... ..... ~. . . .·. 

J •• .. 

. . . 

. . 

"This cablegran'.i: appears on its face to"be harmless," :-. ····:·;, ~·· · 

I said, "and seems to concern a lawsuit or a sale. In 

any case, it readily escaped the British Censor for Victorica was unknown at that time." : 

I now pulled out another document. "Here," I said, 

"is a photograph of the letter containing instructions 

for decoding cables of this type. You can see the secret 

writing as de\·eloped in our l:iboratory . 

. "'l'he first consonant of each word in a clear text 

message stnnds for a figure. In the case of this partic- !Ir/. 

. ,. ul'.11' cable the-'equival;nts :e: ·. ~ ~;} 

u .r..~ .,.~ r 2 - Y n z y v·' SJ ~... P', '"r~ ... ....c. L ~- ~ r...J.4 3 -· m w · \_ Lr~ ,,. ~.... . ~ 

.:, .. ~ .:..... Zw.v .~ : = ; ~ °.) l\{.l"r ..,.,, yi t~ ~ J ~ .. 7 6 - b p JV' "'"a «'<"' ,,. 

7 - v f ph _,_.,,,,"' J, . rU' . 8 - h ch j ·ij i • .S :/.,/ ,r 9-gkx \J" V-- ,'[i 

.. '•\ ~~\'' 0 = 1 c .. ,~~ .. "''" 

.. 

• 
in calA STOLEN CODE _, 191 .. 

. - .. -, .I 

j I : I 

If :Boyd couJd only get a. copy of <!De of these codes,· 

and if this girl cohld find out whether _or· not the others 

were secondary copies, we need only discover the system, , 

or if there WaS DO ~ystem, the mere ·fact that there were " · ,·'; ; . • • • • • • ' • J. ... 

. primary and.Secondary codes would aid us. Negative·: · - -.. :' ·, 

,information is ~rteii is valuable u positive.:::.:.:,~ .. 1..,.;;, ·. ,..;:•i.'~~.;; :. -... ~.-·-·1 ··:·.·,.·· .· .... , ... ~---· 

'-, .. "I thiilk:1I."shoidd like to study,cryptography.~'.she "', , .... :~ ·.:~;-- . ~ ... , •-:. : ~ ...... ·,.· .... .:. ·"·'···"'\,•'• 

• 'd. ... , .. i1,1 t·~'1"•..._' I •I o I',,. p'•-;.o• ..;,o',.,'.,I•' • 4,t:.,,•, • a1 •' ,( 0

/, I)'; 1' ' .: ,. 1 1 ' 1 ~·u ~ 1 ,;•;, ~ :J 'Hi-. ,' "\" '• \1~' : 

-.·,..,. .····ir.C•'i-, .. 1.~i-· ••· . -_-_ .... ,,• .•. ,, .. -;, ~ '.;•,·' 

'.~:";All ~1ght.~. ·I'll!give you a copy of our short.course-' · .. : • · ,".»:- ' . • •' I • • • • ...... ....... .., • • I • ...:: • • ,,. I I I • 'l:' • r. 

· of-instruction.\.t'But···don't cluttei up ycur'mind' with'::.',;·. ·~;J,/. ~= . tbiS. 'After an::tm.ie'~to~~ph~ can't'do .. v~ much:'.· '. .. :>1.:t~i?I ;ii . . • ,..... . ... :·,~· . • • . .. ~ .. :· --.~-·.·~.:'.:t,·',~ ~· 

. If-you can P~'*;_ up odd scraps of inf'o~atioμ. f~r ':19 . , : ;i; (~{", !i . 

:· youwillbemuch,JDC?re"valuable: Supposeyoucultivate ". \ :'.-'.t'.11- ,: 

Mr. Gomez. If you succeed in this task you Wil1= be our .. i \'. ~-; ): "' b h ,, ' ' ' I \ • I : r t ,' I I ..,, j I 1, .. 

: est cryptograp er. ~ · -, ... · · " .·' .. : • -J ., i; .: · ..• • · • , ~-. 1. 1 • '' I 1 f

1

I o '"::A. .i.'·,j~ I ;:I~ ":. , l•i" ",· .. ~ .::.o:. .... ''l'll.......,.,'shesaid ·''lo:'· · ···"'·.·.:-.i:: ·····'· )'"··'· .. ._':...:-• :·,:· · 7 3 ! ·· ..... :·. ~.... ~ . · ,.. ... .-:. --=- ... -v .\.;;. ~ \~\~ ... · ~·c 

ADd one had:ifuly to look at her to mow that ilhli_;: ·;?·}~;!~;::~. ,_. I I, •I I .. 

would succeed. -: I" must ~nfess that I felt rather SOJ'?Y, ' ~ • ' '.'' "~, ~ 1,., ......... ·;._,,. ••• ·' ., .. (''..: for Mr. Gomez.·, · · · ·· ·.. · .... "··. · .,. .. ,,. ,• ~- ···· ,.• .. ,,., .. ' • • • I I • ' • .. •••••• •• • 

The girl prepared to leave, and I turned to her. • -· · ''' ~ 

"Communica~ with me at once if you learn anything. ., ,, . ,\ 

\.' ... : .... ,. -:.• .. ' . ' 

Of course I should:wam you to be discreet and all that _ , . 

sort of thing, but I don't think it is necessary." '. .. ~ _,. · . 1 I 'o 1 1 1 J; 1 I, I 0 "It isn't," she said simply. Then she Bashed a_rt;as-· • · · ', " 

suring smile at m. e and was gone. · . · · . · -•: _. . . · ,.- -,·:· ; • ,-,1 ... 

-..• 1 • ' ' • '•'..r:.;:.•;, ~ , .' . ., , · t • • • ~ ·' • • .,~, • .: r 

- .,',• 1.' ....... ·"";r• ~ o '

1 I 0

• 1 .. : I ', O :•-I .. , ~ "• l':. I 0 w$•J_,.l Io o ',,_.•,:I 0 

Boyd Ieft·'waSbiiigton for.the Pan~a-can&I Zone ·. · -''· ;"·- ! · ~· 

a few days la~{ ~d it was iiot long b~fore I received· · - :. = .._-:. '. 7 

an inquiry from hiin. requesting ~e to cable him ~t o~ · • " ' r 

"fk~.~.-~-·-~~~1.;__ d-!.,,,.L . ·-~i'f..tr.'f~·~·~·l:l.v.. , .... : l.tk_'t;~- -·. -,:;.·:. 

!,I'": J ' I - . • ' ' 

'l.ik- ~ -~:k.~-:'nl..lc ~ -'·:~ ofr>.~-1-!~ ~ ~ -4- ~ 1 'fE.l"J ~ .. :I: .. '>1-.. . L ~. 7-~ .iZ. , ~ rL... ~I . . ---- .... - -·. - ..... ---.--... --,1 
f~ · " - ¥ ... • · . .._ ~ "'·~·,. ..t~1,r"~•-'" - :I"' • "1"".r'l""' ·~"2 ,. •• :.;.•4&".1,_.~:j,f'·.' - ·•:• •• .' -:r"r{:~ .. ""C-,.~~;;. r• f.~.:~r::f1 t-!'lrre.~ .. ~~~ .... ~._"J:.~) f'1'l;::O,f!t";{."'-:;:.i.· '_ .. .,:t=..1;i,;~~ ~ "':~ ...... ?._.,,. ':"'-... ;.~ ·f'· •":;..'. · -..: ,,·1._"-4 .. ..: ~· • .,." • ,._, "\.i--.,'~ ~~·-~;1:•,: :. - ..:"~.,."·.,.""- ~~- -.:.. ~""";~!: ,IJ' ---, r•7• • ?-"., •:;, 1 -.·t ; ~:--": """;:U;,-:·~~ .... :.. · 

11 ::,°1.~ -=~.""~~'!, • • :S.'1.c:'!'i¥;,~·~ .... -...-j:,~, ... ~,~ ..,. .. ~ .. 'Jr;.:_tul, ~ ?L";•:rA.~iJ,~":."f'Ji/f'f.>. I~ t,"'-:f1' "J~';o-,.~•." ,,~-.,;~:-- ~ "'~-~r .:)~:-~ l'!"'i::;.:, .. 1_.;,~ 'I'~"'' -, ...... ·~ "\{ .. •. ::.... .:Jf.;i, ~r"~·-:r ... ~1.1 ...,.,...._.-:: ... :!"' ... '!' ~l- .. 1/1..,._ .;; .. --·-~· -,,, .. ~ ~4=."'2.-, .... •. s-- ..... 'L,,..,. •• 

• . ~ ..,,._,..,._.t~'1t;··,....-:,~ -~~-of:.~'""Sl.~ ..... ':'.:""::'!i:'l!'·-i-;': .. -:. "f,..'-w~..'-"?U"'~~;l~1 ... .3f.t.ft'!::1.".,, ~ Y/.:,;.). ~ .. "': .. 1o-~-.t"-~ ... ,.. 

.-,,~ ~·$•''· .. ·:.. .r ·'•"""';,•W·.,:.-."\ ... , .... ~:·· !!ll.r.i:<t:-:-.r;-_ .".1.~ i-;,_.,;t;t{<'1:.::'i<L~ffj_ .. ~~.~-... ..,,."'!~t·: • ...._ o'~.;-··";.-·!::"?•: ... ~ :<-.:!'::-~:;:/~~-..,.- ==-·, .. <~ • • "°?i ' ""'--·~~i( '; ~~ '1t..._;~ \~. -~ I ~ 1~ •• 1, •'- :1.,•~J.:..f'":t 'i.~ -1 -!':,..,~~'If•::(~·.~~.'{!. "lor... ;•::·.:..~:;.:f-1::0:r-,_'itft +J.,_,~"ft4~:':.•""~1.•~''f "'" ..... :~\ ;~.~.;;·'¥.., .. _ ... ~ ·. . .. , . ' 

.. :i:~-' ,.. , I ' . ... ·(a:... ~ • I o ... 

"""'' - '. ; ; ;,J! 1 ·-ti.:, ... .. : ~~-~-e 

• ·. l\ l; ! : 1!12 THE i\'.\IERICAS BLACK CIL.\l\IBEU. · . --'::- "I~ =-.!! • ' I 

r I • r~• , ... ~ 

'!.: ~~ : ii'·; j i · · several copies of differcn~ Spunish diplomn.tic messages. "~!?; --· , ' I< 1 I ... ~)<. ~ ~:.i <!'~.i. · il ; . . In response to my inquiri1·~ ubout his success, I bud only · '· ·' ==~--;q~.~ ;i rt:' "'rr:•l .. 

·"'.JI : 11 i ;' l. the !:iconic reply thut he wus progressing batisftictorily. ': -, · 

~It :4· ! : Then cumc a message requesting funds on the Royal , '!;.\~,~ ! ii i' -I 1 l 

I. 

lfr .. -1.~~ t r.j r. 1 I !:~~ti::. ~~~~d~e~~~ :~e:i~~g;::b~r~i:~~u!;e ~~~! . 

·;.·":'= 

·~7~ • 

j 1 A ~ he was preparing to photograph.·· He did not seem sure · .+ .. ~ 

, 1 :', l ; that it was the code we desired. .:~ · .?:;~, 1 • 

. f)i" .! ! " Boyd had stolen into the Consulate at night, opened ~-~T~ ... 

: : ··if(!: the steel safe which protected the diplomatic code, hut ~j~~ ~. · f i·.-1.i" { ~ had been unable to decipher the messages which we h~d ,'··~1· ~; ~: f: •IHf.! i cabled. For this reason he doubted that he had dis- . .:-:Z 

:fi .i; covered the correct code. lloyd also .explained that only';}': ~~ 

f :; ¢~ Ii : a few pages of this book could be photographed each':~:. j.1' t~ g;f=)·J '. . night and to make a photograph of each page, with the ;:.ir·~ 

.. ~~~ ni~.P.~·l j ·, facilities he had avail:i.ble in his secret proceedings, would':.:!"~ .. ~'> I ' • t" ' .,• .! ' .... 11. ~ reqmre une. .· , .:.~'. .. " ii"'' '.I c:- . .._, ··" !1' 1: ~\·: ·1 ; ..,,.,.. ~ ...,_We were not surprised that the book Boyd found :i' ,?t!. ""' -r ~ .. ,_., F"V"' ... . .... ~'7.~~ ... 

H '.i< f,', • • · t fJ"":~ would not decode telegrams passing between Spain, · !-;:>-411'~ ·ti.,r>;.~.r~ci • ~ I.~.,, · I" Ab h 1 d .;•v.~}':,, • :,Jf; ;, : . l ·J ~lf.>.J>N' mer1ca and Germany. l\ 1ss b ott ad a rca y sup- . i: •.'!1.i.; 

. ti I' 1:;_ ,f ;: · ~.. plied us with detailed reports regarding all phllijCS of the ~~t:. 

tf ~!~ )\ ~(.~' iJ • - Spanish diplomatic codes. There was an amazing net-: ;.~~· .,, .• '1 l'~· ...... ~~·J 

J.•·~·~' -~ '; work of codes within codes. . .,·.:·i~~ 

i?.-t.~-f ,:_ 1l i According to ~Ii~s Abbott's reports, and of coun~·~~ r,1-, .. J - ~*~ 

~ i't°1d1 '1·'. confirmed hy cryptographic unalysis, the Spanish Gov-·:· .. ~J\ • •{ ,,, ,11 • I I ~hl.t!:• Fh -~ !j 1 • ernmcnt was using in nil twenty-five codes. E11ch mes- ,~y~~ 

f.ii~} ·i· /; sage was prefaced with an "indicator," a special number '}'~ {: 'I',:·'~ ~; indicating the particular code which was used to encode :.;~1! r. - "·I . . -~.,, ..... f" .1 ~;;:;. the message. The complete list, so far as we ~ere able . ~~!-

f. 'I• ·f: .. 1 •A"~ I ii .......-.... ,.+./~ , o .. L ~ (\J--"~:i;:._ -~-~ ••• ,-..n_ri-.... 

~~·.,,-1· ·1 i , ~ fM.I,~ f..lr-l..... .............)U.. ~ • .'.\1€~~ r ·t ~ __, J • I~ - - .. ~ t\'11 ·1d,·11 1,: ·" ,_,, ·~--~ a;-~ '"1~ ~~ ,_:-·'.11.m-:"t: ; t t I I ~ ~ ...... - ....... - I • • ) .~ •• ,. •I ,,, i I /.:ti .... '"A'.: 

~~ ' '!: I ~ } n., ···"h .. • .: , __ - . :lf~ 

I • -·····-=-""j-·,, 

to deter 

which tl 

11..'fDICAT< 

9 

32 

741 

101 

123 

129 

131 

182 

138 

1411 

1413 

149 

"153 

155 

159 

167 

181 

187 

20!1 

215 

220 

24.9 

253 

801 

803 

The s 

is ave 

us with 
• I 

ORDERED ABROAD 201 ' I I • •: • '' ' ·~' :,:; ,,' i , ' 0 ~ 1 

and instructed me ~o ·show him a.bout.' I wa.s not particularly pleased when I. was instructed to tell this of: 

ficer· our secrets. · Bl!t in order that the reader may . 

. ,: ·{.-· .. i; 

,1 ' :•) I 

' . . . ' 

,, ' I ' o ' I 

appreciate my point 'of view it will be necessary to : •. • ~ "• \' •t _.', ~ ' " , 1 ' -" .. ,~· ~ I _. ~ 1 • "• • •, I ,I digress. . .... ~:1 •• \' ( .. ,.,. .. .,, ....... ~ • • • r J • ••• , ,,,. • , ... -. ••• I ·, - ... ~ o 1 • ~ 1 • 1 t' ~-, 0 

·' 1 1 1 1 .. ~ '-.i:, 1' ol.''-11•,'f"' "'i ';l, ' I J'"". ..... 1 • 1 ~ ' J,. •

1 , 1 , I , T ' I , •, •';I A,, o I 1 • 0 I I / 11, 

::~.MI;-8 had been on goOd ~with the Navy Signal·~::,_~"' ·"··;i~'i ' o•/ ' - I , •', • •,. .;.r"~ l•~,"i,•~ 

Office whic!J. compiled naval codes :i.nd ciphers. In fact ,.., - ·:· . ~'.;;.'.· 

this ~ftice had submitted several meisages encoded in ;,1. :· .'-:. :· ".; 'the~ baitie code~. ~d:'uked' if, -in "our O~~ion; their '·~, .... ::'~•J,,,:E ,) •-. \: • 1 _. • ... C.';'J,/V'll • • " •I 1' 0 1 ,(' ". 1' ~: ,:'I ':~~t;1: 

methods were safe.". :•When the Navy Signal Office·.,~ - ·-··;"'"t-.· ""'• • -. ........ "-,"· .. • •• (l1 ... ~:·1 

transmitted their first:problem to me, they,remarked, · · ',. ·,"1-':: .- .i ' • ' )• I • 

facetiously, that they :wished me luck, for they thought " : . . ' ,;, :'. 

I

. -uld . d. --t.~·.1"...f!•:.,\:. -~ ..... =- .... ~ . '• ... .(' • ," -~ .!."'' :. .. • ;~, ~:.: wo nee 1t.·1 · ., . ,, · . ,..,, ... '· · ·· :.i: • , '· , , I •'. , , I 1 • • 1 ' ' , ':, 1 '• 

- The American. a.D.d Eritish fleets i;naintained close ' '•. · . · .· ~· . . -: .. ' . . . . . .... . / ... , .. liaison, for it '!as necessary.-for them to co~~cate : ~ :'. :·;.;:·:::;,; 

· ~tJi·e&ch other di:iring operations. ' The N a.vy Depart.:. ','1.'\. :·'. :.".:/ ~ 

ment methods for secret communication had been sub-" ..... ·:,,·,,.: 

mitted to British crYI>to~aphers who b~d proncnn{ced · . 

them indecipherable. Because of this, I was especially 

anxious to demonstrate our skill. 

The Navy system was a most elaborate one, and at . .. . ,,. . :first it looked as if I would need a great deal of luck. •I '( • I, 

Eut after several clerks had compiled elaborate statis- _' . 

ti~' which required t~~n liundred pages ~n'd six'hun~ •• · 

dred_ and fi~ty tho'!;5and entries, .the messages were ·JI. 

readily solved. Thirteen hundred pages and six hundred 

·< 

·.· 

and fifty thousand entries, merely to prove that the ... ~ I 

United States Navy was still controlled by_ amateur ''. i. 1 

cryptographers! · ·- ·· " •· ' · · '.~' · '. I "'~· ~-~f: '" ~~.'0: .li... ~ 14 ~. ~ ~ : ,,:.j ! 

( I ~r: ;.:::i:2, 'l ~ 12.,._ ~ a: .• !-~ ·:_ ~ i ~ !!. ~ ~ -t;:QJ ~ . . :.1~~ :--~," :"·: l 

!f- •, 

" 
ORDERED ABROAD 205 

could now read documents in nearly any limguage in 

thirty differ~nt shorth:i.ml sptcms; :mcl our Secret-Ink 

Subsection was examining two thous:i.ncl letters a week, 

and had developed over fifty importo.nt spy secret-ink . - letters. .. , .. .. 

• f ~~1,, ;.1.,--,I,~~ .. ME Iii <J.o~1c. ZIT . 

9.; &It 

vl E. R~E. 

f'./ ·I·\ . WE.LL. 

Qe-r.;-

B11dio 

"F ::J. . hJ -• 

.::>. !) 

ON 

·I !J 

--

. 

-:' 

Es.ample or personal cipher tu.med over to MI-8 by eeuor. 

,.,a.ier mar wlsb to trr bis band at declpbennent. 

.· 

-,.a..,·~ao:.·-.:;.~~ - ,-:r. ... ·;:-.... .o:.:"(' .. r~ ~··.,;\·:-~"'~··.;;·;i,·.1:i_:..r,t:}{trU-;:'\~.q..,. . .-i-;.TdP"' • ..r:-.-'" ..... , ... ,,, .• , J · ... "~'!'~ ~,.· : ... -~ .L' ~-·· :ii __ t ";:~-'-. ·.: ........ ~ .. ;r~-.,-· , J ~:- ~:= r..;.i;::,_-..:...;:::.· ""-.:.:: ~--....,.:~1\r:'~. ~ ~ .... --· ·~tt~~ .. ~1.!.~-- '!: '\.",_~·tkJ";.J!.~:-s"~ ...... -:-~,: ~ * :w ..1,.3' ;1.· ~. ... .. :I... ..~~· •• "'.w:.. . 1o So .i."',..-..:,:~·- :-~ ..... .;,,. .. _ ...... ~ ""·. ; .. --.,- .••• -- • J ... .. • • • .. r- - .•• ~ .... ,!·,I. .;:o'"'•"~.• ... , ......... "Mo.• .;~,;r r ~:i-.. f"~~ ,'i..o;, · "" .. J,;.·, .. •.,....;._ 1 ·~\ .. ", '",..a1, •,,;~'·";rft~ • ,• • .,._'fi.;ji.:-~-?°2-~.tt",.,' ·~-~.··,· • t-

-... ,-.!' 11~~~~ .. ~,,~.~;I ::1~~.,~~r:~, .... ~~~.·-~,:r~~~·~·~_! ~/,~~t~~..:~~~,.:.~h~ -~~~,\~ 1

• ~~ ~~~.-f:~~.t.fr.,·•.~', '"!;~~"Jl~I~!.~;~:• ~ ""•- !o(•V.1o•~10 • .,,.....,. •- ••"" ~ "'~·,~"i•'/""• .. • ••r-·"''o"r..•• .. :iif.,qf,~ "•.•::,,.~-."'"I ""f'" -~!!"ti'-.~~·""""• ":I "11" ""JI••• 

.. ,..-}~~., "":ift fi',,·, j:~:(~-.~-:.: ~=~~';_.:~=-.. ,14~~~~ 'L ;• ·,)~~; t 1 ~-;;~;<:;,~{ ,'· .. ;-. ~~;-;~~~ .. ":~ (~ -"f t~1ii:1j.'~ 1;: ..-t:, :>~ f ... ~~v ~ :.,, : • .' ."~ ~: : -c: ·:;{~J~:: r,;f-;: !·~ ~~ • • ":_rw '.,1.f!"•• ;a,.:" • ~· "'"' • 1:-. :re .. • ... .,· .. -· ..... ,\.~,~-~ ... .,.;;.J.-~.-:..~ -:r;::'! l-·r .. 11: ..... ~gifj:;'" ·,.. ......... ._.,- · -~ . .,~/ .. • ~ .. is C' ·""t , ,,,...~~ . . • .. -- ,, t .• -'j;·h.C.,: -..:; ... -:,r. ·<if1; .. ~ 

'... • I : ·- .f--r· '•\ _.: ' £ 

• ~ 'I ._.,,,,._._., 

)".. •' -.... f ·1 .. .: •\._4'•' . 1 • . .. l .. ~· 

· • · -I n:.:· , 

; J ! :

1

1 j 21!! · TUE .A:\IERIC-·\S BL.ACK CHMIBER. . :;~r.,:-

:, ~~ ! ile:il of tea :md dr:mk qwmtities of whi~ky and ~cxfo. with ·,;-.~:!· 

i i;, , "I vurious officers in the 'Var Office_ They 'vere uffable· ;.J.r:~ I,. i .f~~i enough und invited me to their clubs. But I received .'.' .. :~_!. t i ··i·'] - . : .. ;);~.;,. ~-ii : , , no.mformat1on. . . _ .·;~;:,f;_ 

J;~~~ ll · · I was at a distinct disadvnntage for I dicl not dare -:$1.I:.:~ 1 '·· lJ_ lL :· --:.~ . .-~.: comm~icate with Washington, since the British would -;,! ~~ ~r"' 

~fli~ tt :· decode every.word I sent. Not h~ving anticip1tted tha~\~:~ .. 1- ~ :, ·: ~ Ishouldfindo.Britisbsubjectinposscssionofour~ecret}~:~S:·~' ~ Ii; ·f·,· · · 1 ~ • • r~ • ..,. 

l codes, I had brought with me no special means of ,i:~~i~ .. .; ~ ' .,::t . h . bl . ..,.. ',.,.;/! 

~ :t'i' c1p ermg my ca egro.ms_ .. ·-~~ _ .., ~ 

·f: • 3' 1 f,I. , ~. , • Whil e p l ' . . aymg a w111 tmg game WI 'th t e h .. n 

..,. ar O"' wee .~i- .. }' "~ ,•'! . 

• f I I quietly investigated the situation in the :Military At=;:. "(, l--:i-l" r:.~ •·A~ .... 

!~1 f _1'. 

1 

tache's office, nnd finally took a cha.nee on transmitting·~· ~' 

~ill,.J' 1, . a secret cable to 1Vashington by a method that I fclt\: .. .ft;.-;'- "tit. •-:·~:I~:~-. certain the British would be unable to decipher. This.~~~'Si~ 1~ : ~, 1 •:: •• method, I run sure, is worth describing. _ .:~:~~,# 

:~·; , :l · I • Severul months previously the 1.\-Iexican Government "1';~,'lo<..;• • ,. - , t . -.e_yP. J l 1 ! - had cbunged their diplomatic ciphers, and the smal~~~~:~;;'.:'"~. 

'}!. t· ·~ : .. ; ' group of crvptographers wbo specialized in l\11-8 on·~·'.\~'i~ 

t;;H .; :l\Iexicun tel~grams was unable to break into the new '.\~.$)i 14; :f- \. -, 

1 

,,) 

1~ I 

. 

1 

· : . system. Although they had been able to discover the • ~r{. ..._ .. ~~· ,.~, 

~ \ ~-: i ji : .. type o~ method under study, an~ had followe~ the usu~ !1:~4~~-

l~li: t..!, 1,;. , , ~ unalys1s nece~sary for the solut1on of such ciphers, t~e:::~~:fi_l!'j ~, f 1: ~ • '_ J• messages resisted suceessful attaek. - _ .,,;;::R, '~J L~- ,·I, 'JI""' ~ Finnlly, when I snw that these cryptographers wcre::~\.\.:ii~-. ~ '"' , I : L...,\~~ ?~ .. · _ i ;• ! : V- ,c. , , merely going around in circles, I took n summary of the~'.{,··~ 

~i·.:· J;ll'f f~ \\,..\"~-J. stntistics o.nd anulyses home where I could work un:~'.~~~ ;,r; '. f • :n 0>7 IY.i disturbed_ The annlys~s befqre ~e show~d clearly that_·,~:~.. . 

t

::.1 .. '.· , I '! ~' • beJ{ssnges were enciphered with o. I111Xed alphabet~ ·_i'-~~~ •. •,. i If I _ _h}a • ~ ,,.!i,'11 ilV; ·1\ - ;1: ;; \; .~ }~~{(.. . -;· ! ... ·• 

~:tr r ,.,. .,• "''· u"" ,..{' l J •• ' I I I • ~... ' 

f!i i ! J 1' .-.\J\ \\.>-~ - ~ x ~~!'.:i 1: vr ~~~~A;, .. .P Cf\I 

having 

mt-Dtin 

h:id nc 

'rhe 

prim:ir 

Throui 

and ha 

primar 

Witho1 

This 

a uniql 

was ba 

Whi 

commu 

mised c 

first e 

book, 

tary 

the co 

thnt 

l\Ianl 
~~.~,:i-;!}{~~~7_;,,,:·:: l . ... J:~:~·.f fl:;:;~·-·. ~~~~~r.. T::---!·,i,. ~.;:;.i~}~~~~ :i~;.:~~~~:;:~;·~·r··· .. ··:t":..~ii.·:·: i-:"1~t-:::..~-~'~'!.=:t'• ~-.:,.;. .. W ~~.~."'?-; •'\;>• ... .,, •• • ....-~ .... ':.',.,,,.,'"MY'! \~ >" orl'"·- 11•\: ·~.-.,.,.I".;\ "W• .. ¥ ..... .!:' • .. • ... ,) '"• " .. • .. •O:... •' " ' ' "', 

-, ~:;:-~ ~!ia1.:l" ... ~.·r1.·t-:.1,... · 1 :-:"'•;"{~' .r~·~1-~, .... e:."\,i-1 41""~ .. 1;,'"'!; ... ~~ ~:~";1-·;;.·.~,. .... =t:-.~-..... ~~r;;~ ... 1. ... "-~_ .... ::..~r:i·e::-~?!~g;·r::~~-~t .r:.1~·'i"""iil .. ~i;f ~~ .~.~.(\i-'!6:fit.-~~:_~!J:- ~~~~· ti~~~~J$;4.~ 1 .. fP,~~ ~.-;,f;.:d.:•\;'!t~rr:tl~F~;.:::J~~~£~-~~~':J ,~ .. r:~~: • l~-~~· ... :~;;f 1\f'~i..;.::~::--....u_~ ~_....-,... .. ,.'l•}i(-r.,.,, E".l'.•"'''"ol'l,r •'.j!f-~C..~ ~j=j_~-~~;-::C-...-.,1......;;\'•~"''f, _-,~,J-.'=" • ........ • "';J.~ .. _ .. ~-•"""'"' ~· ..... -·.;.":"Jr,-::-~"";.-..r.:;, 

~~~«-i· t'f<.r.J;,,..;q ~. ,1::;--1-.w w· ·,-.:";.a:·;.;.., ·;-if,,·· ~=- "·M·-~.;,;~1·.;;;"u/.:<k.·«;w,.;.~cii:.-:Sr~;.~ 1:;;7;« ~'\t;;_; :.~;.-,;}.};\~"· - W t' I ~:>'.'i _ ~ ; J I - '1!.iiJ.J 

( .:~; !l(. 2\-!i THE A.'lERICAN BLACK ClLUIDEll 

~ ~~- •jl: one but 1\-II-8 would be able to re::id my dispo.tch, despite 

•-!~ , . the fact tho.t the British must ho.•e by now photosto.ted 

-' • • 1 : our co·'c•. '= l{I u ~ 

1~ \J .. · I went on to describe the exo.d situation in the :Mill- .:·~ 

_1·1 lf: to.ry Attache's office. I did this with some trepicfation, for . • :':i''v. 

~~tl~i: -· although General Churchill had told me to report any-· .'·~ f t{I· i ·; · thing I considered of interest, I still felt some misgivings ~;~~ . • L'!. ·<'"'· • 

1 i'-ll· :- as to his attitude toward my meddling in a1fairs foreign·::,.;-#~~··- • l I," l : t • • r d b • '" "~ •;,; ·;I : . ~ o my rmss1on. ou t 1f I would have had the courage . _:·L;. o 

; • ,. •' to draft the cable, had it not been for the fact that Colonel )~A zi1- { i.:: . Tolbert told me that the British ho.d made repeated .~ ~t ff1. ,,_ ! efforts to plant British agents in his office in Copenho.-' -~·' -·~ • · 

, It• : ! : - . \".! 0 gen. - ' : !{ :-

:e, i:' Still I reasoned tho.£ as long as we granted British';~~~·- fl_; 1

i_:1·1 r 

• 1,\ subjects . access to our secret means of communication, ··/.'f.~ . ~ ... ,. 

• • 111 even In one office, nothing but stupidity could prevent .-:.~1~-, 1 ;j i I •It: 

~ } !': them from reading every message sent o.nd received by .r~-('.~l? 

t;l~;~l.;' our military attaches throughout the world. Sooner or·: ':.d~ : -~J;; 1; -- later peace would be declared. There would be a··~··:·i.;~;.~ ), f! :r- squabble o.mong the powers for the spoils or wo.r. We··~~·;..~. 

~~t!·f · - would be helpless in our negotio.tior.s with our corn- . ·-j";f ·ii~ ·";I:, : ·· _: munico.tions compromised. .• _ .. ,:~~·, ti1~1 i~ : . -......... .;.1 t"P!.' 1••• In order to save my face, I suggested that Van Demo.n .• ; , :.}. ; 

~r·:~r, ... ~-' ·.1... I be ordered to mo.kc o.n investigation. After all, I WD.S .'.·::;:'$!.}:; ti 1~ I t ,,, th· h c . . ,.,., ... ,i1)! · • ; 1 !J) no mg more t an a apto.m. ' · "._·l. ::._...,, ·~ Jt z /• ._,IJ ~ ~'?: ~ •:· · ; ' '}1 1 • I mo.naged to esco.pe the sco.nd:i.l my report produced, · · • :,"2.: ;.\. ~ l I· . ")i,.i 

~.;.;·ti[.~ for "\Vo.shington wns horrified when it learned that our .•,'·-.~~~ 

t.,.11 ff· Military Attn.che's office in London was full of British·· I?·~~ : .,. ... . b. . . . . . . ··.!.tl"-i 

•·· ·• • · su Jects. An 1nvcstigntmn was mnde m every l\I1litary ;.;.. ·\~ -1:'! ,· : • - -·~ • c- ~ I ' '• -

0

"l'.f-°'!f1, .... , l!.!1' 1 • - '' :-! • ..if" ' ,._ ~- . . ~ 

-~-i/J f '~· - ··:;ii..,:; .. ... ill ,,\· ... ,,,. .. ~.t - .. ,, • .., •)'o ~'I 11 o ~ I ~i' '":''·& .. • ..~ 1-'!.•.~ 

~·;. ·F: -~:k·;\·4· ~.,:.;.; . ;:.:·~., .,. ~ ... J• 

TH 

Atto.chC's om 

were dischnri 

in W ashingt< 

But this d 

did receive tl 

agea with tbt 

for permissio 

up with the f' 

they advised 

I should go.i_1 

tion, and sh• 

They toldm1 

ing confidenc 

iness iind di! 

Thiswo.s s, 

lions seemed 

' enough whis: 

night. Perh 

Finally C 

Office subm.i 

substitution · 

planned to a 

gr111J1s alon 

carried defi 

troops and t 

was vital to 

sages be in 

intercepted 

passed them 
' : 

' 'l'HE BRITISII CIPHER DUREAU 215 . ' 

Attache's office in the world to the end that all flll'eigners 

were discharged and repl:iced with Americans trained 

' . ' in Washington ... · ·· ·. · . . , 

:But this did not assist me in my mission, though I · · . l 

did receive tlie thii.nks ~r General Churchill: · Discour- · · .:;. •. :. ' : \ 

agea ~ith the Brliisli r~fuialto ~·iJiy·requests~J··~~bled . ~J·· .. ,. ': } 

for p~issio~ to P!P~~ t<! ~~s. T~~: matte~~~~ taken_' ~:)? '.,-> :,'.' } 

up witli the State Department and I was instructed that · · · · • • 

the~ -~vised th~t fii,?~~trY t~'p~e~.~ '.tJie Brltis~.'.hui that •· :.~~~~~:: ·· ;;:1 ·

I should gain their.confidence by my silence and discre-' . ' · ···.' \. ~ .. ,.p ·"'''• •.•.• ,,. .. ,,",/, 

tiori, and should, establish pleasant personal 'relations. · · ' ' . .. • 11 ' I "' ( 

They,t':'ld me th~~ .~e En~~~~ ll'.'~.~ ea~tious a?,out giv~; · ·,,:.: .' ·. l' 

ing confidence until f!Jlly convinced of one's trustworth- . : . . · . . . . . .. ··.· .. •. . '," .··,,·:1:.\":, mess and discretion.· :. · ·•'. . · . , . . . , . · \ ·· ·.. . i . . ·•· ,.,., ':" • 1 .. .. ·-:· ·, .. ·.;.; ... ·~- ... ;·. 

,TJY.~ :w~s so~d a.!1yi~e ~ut sc~~ly.~elpfuI,. __ Olf' reJa:-" J ·' . ., ·' ·: .·;, 

1

,, tions seemed pleasant enough. At least they gave me ... ; '·· • · ' 

, enough whisky a¢ ~ood to keep me dizzy ~~ai-ly ~~er:y. . .: .' : '. · .... " 

night .. Perhaps I'< .Ouldn't drink enough. ·· · ". ' · I 

Finally Captiilii"Brook-llunt .of the B~iti~h War 3~ · t 

Office submitted to me for examination a combination fu..xJ_ ? ·~ 

substitution and transposition cipher. The British Army r:J!w;· 0 ·. ~ 

planned to adopt this cipher for the transmission of tele- '/.tf.; "" l 

grams along the estem ront. mce sue messages ~ w: 12 F S. h ·- u..c.1,, 

carried definite information, ~uch as' the disposition ol f. l 

troops and the hour of attack along different sectors, i~ ~~~·~·.. 

1 was vital to the lives or the troops engaged that the mes- r-r ~ ,~tNo 

sage's be indeciph'erable, for Ge~an wireles~ . stations r ~ : 'cf:.· i

1 

intercepted all telegrams that passed through the air an~~ 

passed them on to the German C~tographic Bureau atrt ~"-! 

' l ·" I I . . . .. . '~ ~~ . ·" I' - •/J. ..,,_ '- .c• \I 

- ... - " ·:.-.1 , •,-,·-:.--~-~ ,:=i.="'ift• ~~-ta·,i.A1 . ,, u . 'w I ..... ~·r ..... ~'Q;..r • • .. ~ }it~,. .• 

-· .. ~ . ·'-~ ~ . ~:;;.~~J.ro" ~"'f. ·~~~\·£;. 

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\. -..... ,_1 . . 1 .... -. ·r ......... .;;:.... ... ~., .. ""'"-t;t-,.<" •• "'"':cJ,·; .t·;..~'~~{.l. ... ~·i!"\~~~;t.-_,,.,-.. '-,"f"'·\ . ..., ...:-;_;,.·l··--..i~·-~~-: ... ~ J"·) - .... ~ ... ,. ~ .... n· -

"',, ;•:.j;71,:S ., ¥, .. "J- ,""Jt ;-.-r··;,.;=~~!-';.~ .. j ·-"t· · ..... "'· 1

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0

0 °!:";'~!:'.,...,:"}:•:':& I'•~ :;-'::r: "i,,..~-:";t"'£*, ... .,.,.,f,~.i--·-i:.I-1.tf'\°'•~'":."" •'l'r:"";~~-;..":.::-.-Jt: •• :--,•~• .. •'t/"f.''·=~ {t;,·,'._:.,.', .. ,~~"'!_..r,\ ;. ·~.f "'"t" .. .I"; -('•";,...:'I"μ,..,":'.!.•,•• .. ~,":., ..... ~ .. • .. ~ 

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~ . ·-~· . .. .. o : -:.1 ) I I ':~; i i tj i 

..... -'i '· • 1 i. ' •}J.1 ... , ~,. ~tE ..... 111• -. 1' 11'1 "f I g,. ·.:.~ $_,,. '° I '• I , 

~i' ·:iii :t. ~ ill;-;,· ·~fl~i,. : }. ! ll . S'- 'l -. tk· l-·(\(: ~-~ T t ~ 1 1',1.~ l ... . . 

~16 

Our troops made surprise attack on --sector, but were repulsed by superior forces. . 

'Surprise indeed I 1\-Iore likely than not the enem;' 

;.~ I f' {: ~- knew the hour of attack and strength of the forces en- ' i (1 ·r.· c. l'. i ~I' ' • ~- gaged by the decipherment or wireless intercepts. How f ~, f \ · LJ- 1 muny men died for this reason no one knows. · ·· 

,•;ff / ! . ().-~ If I could break this cipher the British were about to 

~~1FHj; , Jμ}- ~dopt, and demonstrate that it was suicide to use it for 

{~•. ~: , .J.. ,,,,.w"'"'1'ront-li11e military messages, all my trouble with the 

:': '41.; ~. r,i.-;,J.. r. . ' ~ 0 ffi ld -.,5

\_:'·:i: 1 O .~.,._. ••• ar ce wou be over. Such an accomplishment 

J:Jt· L 1 • ~ .:r would establish me on a professiono.I. basis that could .f.ftt'!. : not be denied. 'Vith these thoughts in mind I asked 

r~tf!f,'t\l. 1 the Military Attache for a room where I 'could study _f·!l''r '' undisturbed. Herc for several days I pored ol'er the 

~~( J ;': / sample messages that Captain Brook-Ilunt had given to .. , I I I • • f l . s ;'fl 1 . 1 • , , me, stiwmg or a so ut1on. uddenly the whole struc4iil ;i:; ! ture of the messages fell apart and I rushed with my 

!'.·•t'.k,;!~ solution to the 'Var Office. 

1. ,·;~.:· · Its doors were now open to me; I could have anything 

!- t.~ ·j I wanted. That evening I cabled Washington that I •JcJ~~' ~r • -~· I was on extTcmeh· crood terms with the British Will" '•-!i.''' J ... " 

r·•~ ~ t 1 ... '~ Otfi d I d I ce, ue to my ucky ecipberment of a double substi- ., lt ... 1• '. f.{I , ~ '; tution and transposition cipher which they had recom-

"~I :-' I, i. 1 · mended for use at the Front. 

f~~·~.-1: }'!i .,.1, i--, ~ "t~-" ~ 1 \ 

t

"ii; i \ :Jl, ;• I 

...... ~ 

,..::;- r. _. ~:. 

of differe 

pieces of 

rapher c 

wideexpe 

ing my ed 

Throug 

ican Emb 

approache 

Bureau. 

was no cle 

land consi 

importance 

This man, 

obtained f 

deciphered, 

Foreign 0 

it was nlmm 

revealing t} 

neutral gov< 

For exam 

mermann-C: 

l\<Iexico the 

if she woulr 

Presitlen t " 

he called a 

deliver his v 

Adruiru.I 11, 
• \ ; 3 .. 1-- .. . ~-. . ... 1· ! "' I. ·n 

I .. -.. . -... • - l.i 

I I< I • ,' J:' I . ,, 

I -, .. '" :.:· . . . -~ ,·J-r~' 

A p11ge- o 

.• 
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0

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·~ .I 

:: .. "'' ;: i .L.. .:,.t.~ l, "'/1 • 1 I ~ •:r:.,_ •l ... : .;~ 1 ~ •• 

·'*"• . l · i' ' 230 THE .AMERICA.~ BLACK Cl-IAlIJlER · -~· 

} ·~•.i.1 1)~1· ~ being deciphered nnd the imdeniable fact that tile l!'rench . 

~ :_;~.·~ { 11 , ..1 mbaasador in JP' aahington, rince 'TTl!J first visit to JI or- · ,~ 

-,{ f!. 1

) , dacq, had tramnnitted to our State-Department in/or- <[~ 

r: i \ir'. '. . mation these meaaagea contained. ~i~ }.., •. if · ~ Two days be Core this Washington had asked me . .".t' '\. 

! t; t'.. : · whether I thought it advisable to nsk Colonel I-louse to . ··. 

'- i .- help, but when I cabled \Varburton's interview with ··:f , f i ' , ..• 

r f e 1 ,i ~lemenccau nnd CartieJ", they J"eadily sa~ ~ow hopeless ·~:if' i;' I[ it would be to ask Colonel I-louse to use his mfluence, Col" . ~"i 

f ~l · ~·1: h it was by now ob1·ious to every one thu.t France had no .~~' 

1

1' ,_.,.. 

~ ~ lil; ~· · intention of permitting me to have even a peek into .~::'!t-!.: 

~ {l t ! : La Cliambre Noire. Later, when the J"eader sees some of ·-~~J! •~ · •· 1- l . •' the diplomatic messages deciphered by our own Black .,,;r.. 

~ ~ 1f 1'1" . Chamber, he will better appreciate the iC'lpossib"lity of • -~~ i ~ -. ~.t~ ·1» ~ m•· entering the doors or the diplomatic Code :ind Cipher .;::-~.;. ..... t- ·)~ ~ >..1 

Jo:"' .; :f i.'1 /.' Ilureau of a foreign government. However, my ne- ,:;" 

(;~ ..... . :.ll , i f r 1 ii .',; 

,· gotmtions • • were not w h o y JI · m v:un, • f or my f 111 ·1 urc . 1m- ··-~ ·+ 

~ . ;'Ji.l'f• ~ 1 · pressed upon .American officials the absolute uecessity ~ ~ ~·. l 

• . · i· •' for an American Illack Chamber even in peace times, if 

~If tt;. ·~ ~ ' the United States hoped to tlnv:i.rt the machinations of 

'~:H' ;I l . other governments. 

; ~J! ·' l · " f I ,·:· ... · That 'Vasbington was l? anmng 1or the uture was 

~. ~t1/ ·' as~ure<l hy General Churchilrs frequent letters, telling 

kit r . . me that he wus sure that, with rnr added knowledge of 

~·~;l~: 1

1. f~'"'° codes :ind ciphers obtained :i.broml, l\II-8 would 11ave no ~ 1t 1t. I ~ · 7 h ,j_ It·~ i LZ.,,... . equal in the science of crypto::,rr:i.p y. 

l.~-i· ·l"- i-k.. r-1-t;.._J., M~ UM 1,....,,.-i- ~ f~l}.:t....4, ~ ... t· ·' ' r •' - r J, I) ·i . • i·l·' :7 11 ~!>ii J&>.t_,....c.t.. er ..... r~· ...... ~. t~ L"A-,, \.ei.)t(. !lJ.t..r....~1'-1: : ~· I u • l .. ·i~· 1· I. • f [} _ _; d. " ' ,. /: i-. '· [_ ' 7 " I' d.t..~ 1 ....... \~ "'""' (.! .. .!.__~.,_ l"".Ltμ .... ~ . ~ 

iJ .. \t .J \! .. .A• Ii. 

... .... ., lrj ·'" 1" 

~ "I~ . . i: :1 :i' 

r ·~L1' 

j -. 

' 

A,,~ Aloi 

Allied Arr 

After cab! 

French aut 

to General 

General N( 

Churchill w 

This 

of our 

Fr:mllE 

I kii 

about -

which l 

to this 

Yardle 

delight 

reprcse 

l3rancli 

goingc 

refrain 

General l 

The render 

\V:i.shingtor. 

of the accorr 

l111t I hope t 

\Var is WTit1 
•"•'Ii 

, ... ' t' ! , ••• 

~~i.i -tj . i"· . ' ;: f !Ii.I r \l.; ·. ·• .• • 232 ' THE A.'\IERIC.A:N BLACK CIIAl\lBER -i . r ... ,. , ~ .. 

'~'-ift· ·;::; share of glory in the part that the American Expedi- ·: 11·1. . .• ,~ .· - ' ... , . tionary Forces played in the winning of the war. . .,. .., 

"~ ~J;,;,~·{r:~ ~-::,:'.~:._: . While at Chaum~~t I recei~e~ ord~~s from Washin~<}~;:• f. 

. \: · . ., .... : . ton to report· to General Bliss, for "special duty at the\'·JF ~ .. I,. ~ : •-!- .... , •• • • • ••• • • ,. • .._.1,,., C: .... 

· t ·~~ L~ _ ,, < ;.-~~~ _'' • Peace Conference."·. I cabled for furtlicr detwls and was.·,':" ~ , 

...... ; '. •', ·. • im~~ted t~.at my speci~l duty was to organize code a..:i.(*'f . ::i!!fr'.71

: ... ::./~· .• -... cipher_~'!~~cati~ns b~tween t.b~ ;i:;~ace Conference.~~}~ . 

a!r.}. : .'. ·. '· ·••• and the 1\-Iilitary Intelligence Division at.Washington. I ?,~i?-

' · . "ff;· · '..<· · . was told that my status"&nd allowances as l\Iilitary Qb:. :::..~ , 

: '·'ill.' .. .' _"-.:~·- -'. server ce~~d.whe~ I rep~rted to G~e~al Bliss, but that ·~~ ~ 

•n /:ti'r~~ :~,:,:: .. _ General. ~h~rchill, w~o would soon arrive in Paris,;?~;'.•· }'"!'" ! 'ii: • ·. ··.. would provide an allowance from special funds. · -.'";·!. · 

. ~~ i[i::, · ... ·: · . ...: . . I immediately left. f~r Versaill~s .. and reported to_:frJ.~~.:i~ " ;,'; ::il.f · ,i,. ·~:· ,: Gener~ Il~~s,in_pers~n.: IIe ga.vemi;: a letter to ~olonel,'~\~;'° If f 1 'i· i' '· ... • . Van Deman, wh<i had been appointed Director of In~ ··~~;~'J-' 

=! 0! i: ~ ~ '. · ' telligence a.~ t~e Peace Conference, aut!,iori..!ing an rthing . :;~~~ ~!f.~.i f i!{ he considered necessary for establishing a Code :Bureau '!~- ;1 i· • , in Paris. Van Deman in turn ga.~e ~e the same author-····~~ :,:1,t.. . . . ''''J.~'d ..., f [' · ' ization. . 11-~..,.: 

~&(!t·1<\'.~ ·· '· I immediately telegraphed General Headquarters for··· !f.:.-~~ t11

Y: .:·! "i several particular officers and field clerks, demanded two ·::~;,"?:f ~I (I.-;-• , ~ ~~ 

~ fl. \jJ.;~ '. rooms at 4i "Place de la Concorde-the genera.I offices, ·~t~/~. :;\';:·'I '. of the Peace Conference-and within' a short time was >•!~; 

'~ ' ~ ·: · well organized. As it was difficult to anticipate my . ~~~-;' 

. • F;I;!:;. ·' duties, I prepared for both a. Communication' and a :~. ~ : 1L Deciphering Bureau. E\·entually we handled the mes-· ' .. 'ri.',, .... 4l!·:i. ·'l) 7. ,.:-~~-,,. 

~ }~- ~~!~'f ~ ·· sages of Ge~eru.l Bliss, t?e Secretary of W a.r and_ l!k- ..'.(~~· fl Q .'I; -J . ., . tary Intell1ge~ ·deciphered mtcrcepted Wll'eless ;_ .,·., -

: :f ·'-'f· ~· .' . messagesofiLeEntnte;ansJ.devisedcodesandciphers .'-~~m 

1~-1·~r'.: 1e M.11: £ ~)J.~ ~ "'·".-i"ry~-!_Ntfl ~ -:t\~-. ~ ~-; !' ' I' Q_ I C) •- .. • 1.,-1/i.. ?.w-.... .a,,'?r'4~;~~ 1'5 . l . i.u. LAoc/'<~ """1 NI I ...,. """ff /J A , fl: . 4i:t.il· r;i N: 1 .'. ""°an.. ~ {~~-~ ...........,,.."'"',..v. -,..,r ........... r ... 1..-,,..., -.."""1'..J., ......... 111,~.-'lf,; l-J·r · · ~-. . , ,, i

1

,._ n1.,, .. . # . r.., t"'.01+- ·~· vr.~ .!.(~ r ... -.•t•9 ,,......~ I ..,-l.#fft( U,.j lJ~ ~"C,. '=~~ 'II;.,, • . .. J. .J • . A 0 I .H • J 'O • ·-~~ f ... {' /'kc ~-""'-<- ~ --- ~c...r-t- ,.,. £.<..t,.... ~ -;- ·~~ 

for the Ile 

tente and• 

to the Prei 

When th 

codesandc 

full imtrm 

sary. For 

in Washini 

proof-read 

plishment. 

newc<ide\'I 

This 'rec 

office upsi1 

to draw UI 

of' commur: 

in a differ{ 

· A strea.r 

struction, 

fired with 1 

upon their 

downtrodd 

for his mm 

ever, they 

none of th• 

One of 

out of bed, 

forced me 

harangue. 

negrotodi 
• •, ·• .... ,,; 1, Y'I ,•.. •., ~ ,..,••,;.-'!OJ:it-" ( .. ~:, ·:.,..:~,ttt. .. •,-;,• .... • t' '..,..,.;;::;,_.,·~·. !O: ~· .rt~l'f~,.·~1;. •' .. '1,,.;1 r • 

~·.;.::,,,,'\.,;(_ .... '.fV .... .c-:.-:.;" .... • .... t-;1 ;F"l. •• ~.,I'.:~ ........ a-.q.-e.,~ .. .....,,,,;,.~ '~-~' .... ', ........ , •• I··- . , . ···-"'· o " )_ ' "o o 1 .I! I.,'• !i - " r .:... 2• ..... ' ,.i "• ... o ,I I •...= ' I ' " ' ' 

-.. ~~";Ji"j.~~-:..-.··: · ... -... ~ .. ~ .. ·t:-:....i-;;-··:-· ,....--:-r· ....... Lv~"V"·· , .. .$.-· .. ·,..\:;.,.:i.:11, . ,- -;.• = ,-... -,.-.·· .·-:-... ,·\ :-:!--

~·'"":~/ .. ·!~! .. :>~;7~ ..... ,~~(.._: : ....... ~Jt:._~;~-:.Lt"~~·-; ... ; ·:::.~_;:~.;_,- (·,., .. '?=*- .~ .. ,:.i:.:~ ~~:~):J!l·:/All156°!7 ··> .:~ ... ........ - -.. ·" ••-;,-tv;r..I~~ ·~r' , •• .. ·~ .. ~ ... ~ ••• :r'l.,.:,,.._. . ._7";•..,,._•," ,,,'•If.'• ~·~' .. t,,..jo •,'!!.'r•L 1 "•·'"C. ·''":!", • ,.,.:·-• ,._ · - • :;,. :,. '"'"":.;_ • "',•,., 1 • .:,-; ... 

o ••II ~, ... tf;,."•,,f-,. t.,o, ' I ~ ... 't-.•' I ,/h-• .o' .°'> ... ,. J1 ,. I i!t ~ •'.;"~\<. ,.•,:it' ...... ., t:e.\" ... ,._, ' ,.; ...... ..,.., ' ' • o \ol o'I I '••,_ if,. " · ..· ... ,..;r:. .. ::,.;. --: ... ~. '11 ..... \.. t: 1

• ~ 1 1'._; ...... ':_ • • rr-.,. .... · .. -""r,""· ·, · ,-, --.. 11. • .,·.: ... '· - ... : --~ • ..... , _:., f· .. .,~·l ... "'t .. --~'f:r._,.,.,~4 .. "'.:·,~ ... ·,11:. ,r,. \··"\.~··u ~,·.-·; ....... .-r.,:t~o:. .... , .... , .. -·-.J.··.~,,.. . -..... A- ....... • • ;-.._ •• ' 1 '"""K'"" '-"-~--"' ....... _.,.. if'"l'I.•~- ..... >.·1• ~~ ...... i ................. ,,,.. ... .,. . ...... l•l' ... '"' 

· ~B~if'-!i:"':~: :--: :; .. ;~ '··k~:(; .. !•;{...,.-:& if~.,:~ .. ""J ~; .. ~:::; ·~~~1·~;~. :C~..Wf.~h~~~.i;·'"_"°;·~· ::.: 1 ·r~.Tio .. ~ .. -~~ .. ~;··:-~,_ t~ft~f·'~'-~_.·~ ~ :·" _·-.;~ l""~ :.:- · ::- . . -" . .. . . - .. . -· -· ...:. -_: __ .:_ ---- . -- -..: -..:. _ --·--.. 'i- ·1-~h-1~.:.r..,::~: : \ ;;;..;J "1.'FO:-....·. • ...... ~';,.~- '1; 

\ • "'11.j I ' ! .. 1 ~J~,°9:;:..."!.. ~.;,._, .. ·!._'. ~::. I• \ I Io ~'" ri;., 

AT THE PF;.\CE CO~PE:R!::1'i"CE 2;t7 .:._I ' > { !'I l ' .~•,'(~_.r: 

··..:- ·1 i'.> l : ..... ~ ! I· '• ··~~:;;~· ' 

' ~ he~an to \\'Tite ori the pa.cko.ge, Goelet e<i~-"'ed closer and ~. ; ..; ..:=- '. ;.j 'c ·

1 ;t.~-~:Jt~~: -~ 

1 I:; I w;tched him slowly spell out the address ~r which V :m :; ~"f?. ~ I ;~ "' .. '~,f ~~ 7 I ..,. J"' ~ I : I """"'":. ·- - ::.:.i Deman had searched in vain! ~ <:::<.._ • I ,,_ ;i.;;.., ,~ 

·O j .I 

. ,. .... 

... 

"'. '. .' ..(,. ·i 

·1 

• 

I l . I f 

J 

. ··-~ .-. . '-~ 'b I 

L1 ~1 J~ , 

l ..... 

0 

' I 

! 

~I 

...... -~.I :.- . ,.. ' ··.~ .·:. .. 

:0) <:! - ~ I Ii ' , =·•·']:",!" Ir I was unprepared for the sort of espionage that ~ J ., ~ I j: "' : :;.,. ~.J?:. ' 

engages women to attempt to influence the decisions or~ '1 ! ·1:· :P,.:~- ·· ? . . ~ o I 11 ·' ~~ • 4 . our Peace Comrruss1oners (though one should never he ~o "- I 

1

1 ''-·'; :· ;!. 

I I , ~-~ "''•If'' amazed at what occurs either during a war, or at the.~ ~ l: I ;j ~-; .. ':~°::,·;:_ 

division of the spoils), the reader may well appreciate the ~-..,- ~ l !i~ ·!~~'.:-;:, shock I received as I deciphered a telegram which re- l" <I:. ~ / I( • ri;:J;~"i/. 

ported an Entente plot to assassinate President Wilson~~ .t I !I ":. 1 .~\·'"\:: ':I-,.. ~ I , , .. F ~'!.~' 

either by administering a slow poison or by giving him . ..,,i ~ r ,. \i ·'· :.,~~~ 

the influenza. in ice. Our informant, in whom we had th~ . {.. 't ~ , II ~f{?ii",'f greatest confidence, begged the authorities for God's~ 'S ~ ~ I i1 \:,~·~ f.:t<! '-4..: ' !• _, ...... sake to warn the President. . .,.,:I 't- " I i ·.~f-. :,_, . "> ~-- '- I lo ' • p 

I have no way of knO\vic.:;·whether this plot had any M ~'>J ! ~ :tt~'.t-~~ 

truth in fact, and if it had, l\"hethcr it su-ceedcd. But -1 ~"'I:;- ~ \I l .fA1;j~~· ~ • "'<. • ~~ I . .,. J&1.~fl~ there are tl1ese undeniable facts: Preaident Wilsofi'a 1 _:;q" ·> • .f 'f~~~-~i· 

fi t r11 ingn · o f 1 ·u neas occurrec 1 u:m • ·1 e e h n·aa sn · P aria, · a1 ... 

.;r tj • ,,.,. 

.,, ~ ' ,t. I ~ .• -. 

... ,, .. ~>.: ""~ 

h d. . • d h .J .I " I 1' •· ·{·,•, 

e waa soon to 1e a lin.gcnng cat . ~ ~ ""! ....: \ ~~,~~:l~.r 

After the President arriv-ed :ind the excitement sub--,... 1""\ ~ 1 Ii ' ~;·4,.·_~,,£ II( ~ ~ ~. Ofrrr~..,-i!l sided, there was not :i great deal to do. In fact, except ..i d r"' 1 : • :~ -~.f: (~ 

for u few overworked clerks, and the Commissioners 4.,~ .. "" ~ Ii I I ~ !:IM''':.~~~·: """"~·-· 

themselves, the whole Peace Conference now developed . 

~j .., Q. l I ._ ' i' t ·~~·· ,;;f',,.~: 

into one grand cocktail party. E,•ery one with the !Iis- ~ .... j ~ I ' •' ,I!>._.~ ~!:;:~-:4 ..... J ~ ~ • "' ....... 'ff.. ... '!T. > sion received st:J.l"ks or tea and dinner im·it:itions. And in,=-: . t ~.. ,,.l\l'"t,~~ 

typical .American fa~hion it was the general custom to~ ~ · ~ ~ .. ~:j;J_~~·, "i . ' ""',. :i '~lllc:'{<i;.'1« blackball any French host or hostess who failed to serve ~~ ~ ~- ,. .;it_lj)!;,~:· 

champagne. No wonder the French dislike our man- J ~ r ~ '.~~~:~'.:'! :: tiJ ~ /~_.$ ners I ;:I «.1 ...,. ~ ~,~ « . ~ Yt:'i-",.o_; • ~ I ,..__ ~ . I "\t:','( .... -'"-. ~ ~ ~--~ l ~ . ~ 

-~~~ "=..J '-~ =j-~ ;. ··~--i .... I r I ·~Yi,i~f.~ ~f_,~;..j::f'· "" ~ "" I t • ~ ..... fl. - ].:! ~""'3' ~ . . '7:-1--;.~J ::.J ~I i-_'1" •°Cr•'.:'E I J._~..,=., .. -,. .. ' I ~""#:,~~,~:-: ... r 

. . . • " ''" t;~~I~ JTI_' ,:" ,~~~~;o::-::i:;::;g:~:r:·~i:s'~~:trf ....... ..... 1 ~ir, ... 1'_~.,, ... ~ ..... . • • '1 . ' , ••• - - •' " *-'• ·r:.~fJ.· .. -·. ,, '"'"""' .•. ..... • ' ~,.. , ••• ... ~llLar •ot<;"{': ..._1',. ;.., , .,,'",.k,~·"ii1\1' , ,'"'"1'-/~~-:;,• .. °'"f'~~.i;.-,,.....J",;_• .. , "'.....,-. .,., - :~~·..:;- '.;-;::"tii:";'.<'l""F"'~o::-~,~,...,...,,.;~ ... ~--~:..·'i·~' .T-"'!•."'-t, ... .-·,~ •l_f.;I_,.,... ,. ··!J(-...,... iti•r• .-- I •h" ~ /,' ~ ... , ·"""" • ..r......-•{..,_.,.. • _..,,,"'...., •-'""~--.". •}..~:.,. • ,., .,.,_... /It: .. ._. ~-..-;,,,._~ "' .,1. , \ •• ,.,• • ,.~ .. )"' ~'•'<" ... -'. •::=-f"~,. ... i~-""1,;,._.., •• .!"' -.. !i.=o'-"A'!l.".L~,.,.iJ'9t:f.-/'f• ... ,~4 ... ._•,-...~,,r1:1-"'\~ •. :t.rc::.~"'i .. :."' _,,~.Jli,,£,·1' ·~ I -~ 1:11 ° /111°• •w J'·- • ~!Ji' .J~• f'< '~•..t,~ !I' :Jo ...... ,,..., ~•) """"~ ... " '1 '"'"I " • I I :;;.,:,,;• :'o,:"' ''it° -¥' 

• .;·,-!":. .~ .. --;~·;;,. ~~4i~~~~ ... ~·-· .. 't~ -,,--~~\ ... "".;.'"~i":~\'·{f."' .·"t· ~~. ·~r.;,:~,-~ .. 4 .... ~j~··.:..r~· ...... "':,~~-: .... -o;.__~Y,; -:.,,1;--::; ... .._·r:~ .... ~~· .. ' · :·~:.- '\··~ , l•:,.. .... _'v..~-:.-;,~"§:°?;~~~~1;.J'- .. ::0!':~ 1 

.i,:'":~• .. :," .... ~:r-,t."': ~~,.,~~-.· ,,~,- ,i"'.. •-t~• :i i,,•;""\ ll-!"..-)-.,!'l ;,;;':.".':; 1 r.•,-•; I .. ·:'"1~1f?..~,•: :£...,·~ ~.n. \• :.::~rt .. ~' ~t,,.-Jo l : ,/ •: ·, 

10: 

-~~'!v. .... ~- ~':::-o-'l"i ....... ~~. ~ .... -"·? .. 'Hi.""df:~"'"'-( ,..,..,, ..... "' ··r,· JI··-·· ,,...,,"I\ ,..,.,.~a~ .. 1"<'~"1. -l· ... ·1: ' ... ~ ~~'iw~ , .. , . .._.v/l~:W.~it"t• ,~t~l 1

-.-..1ti_:; ... r\~:"~~_-;l<-·~~ .. •' ~ :.:('~ ~· .. ~~. ,:tl'~1 ..... 1' .. ,.,,_(, ·i~~-il~ S.· ·.:.' f· t'!i::t1i~·.-.-,;i.\ ... ~., -::~~-s !l°J ,_.j>,., ... ~ ..... ~. ~~·~ ·a,.,.,.._.,_-r .. ··:., -. ;~ -~...;;:.~-¢:~i::, ... ~ ............. ·~J&':Y!.'!•~"""'.- . .;, ·~,1'~· ---~- ... _,,. 2Y:i. ;;«· .•. -- .... <!"'!'· l~=.. • ~;,o..=,.: · . .,. .. P. f.,,·!:·~~•"'1~1-"'";.:.t.-;_.:_:-.. _i('~ ~·•-:'!.-.-._ .... 1.o"\ \._,J;; ... -...:··:4 ~·~ :..: .. f;.·_,.~.-'t"·,·~:.t~.tf~·(-}':tr.,... .. ': .. ·o~J.r;:,rj.•I ~.'.'( ... ,\~ -~. •;;.".·"'ii! ~ .. u .,...._:r,·,·•.'"":l •/I ~-=-11 ~ • • .. 11.., ~ .. ~ • ..,~~ .. , 'r, ·.'?f~ • ~.:"\ "'._ 0 :-.it ..... 1: •I ·•,- ~ .-. .... ,i- ',.":i~''f' • .o ' •1• '•").' .,. f f•' •" 't! r'~ 1' J ':' • ';-'(?"' .. " · \~~ ',"':/ ·~-. ~{ ... Jinr.'i. u~:'\~~t.Y-.i"td.:':'"S!- ~~ ~-., ·=.,{~~-r.· ... -....f.:..~ .. ~t rt:t.--~ .. r,t.~~ ... ~;r-;• .. · ' ~o.1-<r- _ ........ \,.~ .... ··--: :.1,··7 .... ;:~ .. ·i" r 1.:::. ·: ·,-; ..:'1": 
• • ',,,._.., ,-.r·•.,. ......... ~-L~""• ~"'-"•.":'1"'~;~.~-f:"-":•4'-., a-•,,\.~,;llo • • ~ ........ ·, o .:r'l'":i..',t, :;:'.: •o"- •.,;,,_. 

-...·-.. '.-.1"'•-:..r ..., ........ YJ':;A.. 'P.f?~-.,"',,,;.-p.;;ft.'fll.1~'f."";-.-".:-"t .......... ~. f'-•"r¥::,_.•;:••'t'.i.\'" -: .. ~. Jf':..t_-t-.1•,-. ,,•••·1 .c." .... ..1. "' ," >' .._ •• _._ ~.,,"" •• ..... -• .. _. !.'"',.,.,-'Ii-..;,_~_;-;:~- '- or.~.., l" ... .i;,• r·-,,,,-, '• '~ •'" r.. ... '"••-.. .. 0 .... ,.,,.-,,,, -~ • ,• ,.,..,.-,...I 

:-~~·~- .. l-:-:· ;· f· .... ,i:.3f.J ..... J'~-: ~~ ... ~;,.•l.., -•. -:;..... ,:,.,,~..f.~ . .,l ... J ~:..·r·t'. · ' '<! ~:;'...rt ..... : .. .i;~ ;·.~. .... ...!~ .;t..•r .. ~;. ..... .vt· : .. "'i: ...... lo,· ... -.~:~ • . ' . ~ :.. ..... , • 'r • .... :.v-•.: ..... -;:._ 1-.t-,. ·-~~ ~:·~ ·'• -:-: · ,., .... <: ·• ~ ·-t..e .. <,' ·~~-i •f'ft . (. .. 'j.·f.':':.. -.; · • ~ J,tE.P '3'n c..; ~·if -t. J!R 6 : \o::~' . t · ... - .: .:.;-. • 1 -t,.:1"'1r .. T' • =?.....- :;:- ~--=';f~~~~:i.---Th'.1! .... "'~',;;,1•.;:o!~.\"'(.i"':..~":.; \.J.."'t.f.,, qf ... ¥· :.- .,.;)"~ "t•,.-: ' 1"*:'•.,' J • .If .. ~· .... ~.~: .... -'." ~ .,;f"'/' ' · ··• -."-. I.'!'" - ~._.-~-'I ~-, • .J .:!~-...._;.. \~ "'.'"...t•'"o. •rl':r.!_°l 1r;.<.,,'lfi:,_r,. ..L l:"' .,....,. ;._ ..,a.-l' ~ '~ • i!,, .. ~~::. ... rQ'! .... -., .. , .. ,·~I..::. \.1, ,• 'r' .-;_.-,"" ,• '~-? ... .:~ • - . r' .,-. •I - • '' ' ",' ._ ' ;.- '•"" .' 

~~1~_., .. >,'?.> .. ~-\. :· .... :.' ·_ki,.~ .. ..i ... ~ "!' .. ~ ... "' .. ~~-~ ~~ t'f:'·~~.!" .. ~~;:.~;"; ~-c ~ ::.j-,,i\~-;, .... :,: -~,;.·j~1~•'· .-.~'~ .:, ~ .. :.,~,.:_ ·:..~c· -~:. ... ·. ~1-.ir1;.1. > 3. "· · t ;.." -.. 'f:· .. :: :.,• •':'i!"•--. .. • .. )'"_..... • ... .., .... ,. .. \• .• 

)-~~r--t! . . . .. . .. ., -'i\o ,.r 11 f 0 1! ,•' r.il~t.~ . ' : p.. , .. -.;; f. 1, ,o1·· "",.d 

'1< • ' j!i '!~·: :. 238 TIIE Ai\IERIC,L"i BLACK CHAlrnER );~ ·,1 · . :.'ii\ .. ; : ·: ~ !' iUessages trickled in now and then cram '\Vashington ·,·,;;; 

' [ .' ~ · about the status of iUI-8. W c were all dreaming now of ::~ ~ 

~' ;~ .. ·) .". ::1 powerful peace-time Cipher Bureau, and at bst, l:i.te ·:~ 

. r \~ 1

: 1 '.1 in ~larch, when it was obvious that :}11-8 was rapidly . ; ·;; 

I •.•• ,'I d'. t t' G lCh 1·1"1 d d ,, )'.>t. "'11 Ii. '•" ism egra 1ng, enera urc u or ere me to proceed· .. ·.·i •• 'I;' ~ . ~ l.t~ !.~=,-:~ ~ ;,j .; t;·:·-ti:-1, to Rome to See what information I could pick up there;-··\~ 

I 

, 

!lt·I' ,· .. ff~.:-.'~ ,~~.!.'..'.li,___ about 

ton to codes draw and up plans ciphers, for and a peace-time then to hurry organization. to Washing~/~§~ {'~':' .-"~~I 

~ i ' In Rome I learned very little. The Italians were :-.;r-1J!l.1 

·~: ~ ,j~'! i·:; ' reported to be clever at cryptography, hut I soon was ':~r:~~~ ~ I ll ·; L I ., . d h h ~"~1 ... . 1 1 1 conVJm:e t at t ei were not to he classed with the · i·1·•· ! I~ , : :;.If F ·~ ... ""..,.,~ . j' • , .• · rench and British. . . .' .. ~:" - ' • •t I·."~ 4 o' '•" -::f: :·;:·ii ':;{l- The day I sailed for the United States from Genoa, ~.'.;fl~\ ; ~ !' 1

,: /( 11; o. co.ble was forw11.rded to me from The Hague, stating . '?-;.;:;.·. 

l I I 'J . 'W! ' 1·· .•;, 1· that the German diplomatic codes I had failed to obtain -'.'/~j~ ·-i<: '1!.".\ ~ ~ ........ ~ ~!I~ ,1 ~.~. from the British and French could be purchased there · :~: ~ • 

~ lt ~1[iir:i from a German for &ix thousand dollars. The ~Iilitn .... ·· __ ;~;:_~ .. I ~ I I. ; -~ ~ ~.- ;.f ·r\ }.' .: ; ; l Attacbl: had cu.bled me after I left Paris requesting that -~ "! • 1~. 

. J t f'.-! ii, ·,~. I proceed to The llngue in order to hal·e the benefit of :~'.'f:~ : Y \'I. • r •-.., ,,...,,,,<'"". , i, : .; my judgment. As this would delay my arrival in \V ash- · . .'•/: 

~·.i~.i,~·:i\ l '/ inb-.ton, it was finally decided that I proceed o.t once and ":if<i: 

i ~, ~. : . • I send some one else to examine the codes. :. · ;.' ; : .. r:.r. .; . . ·•· ~ -~ 1~ L(",•t. '~,!. • --~ .. ~4..£,;: ,. I •I '·"' ' . ' I '• \ Y.•1;l'.i:!., ·J. '1 I· ·-< ' JJ- '''-'·.{• 

: l\f;(~i K)·-c.-1~ fr1-f1 ;-i..,._J.J- ~,~t<f' .... ; a,,,.v..7-~ :·~:~ I -;• 

.. •. . . I . 

' . !/.;.l/".i...,_. n~ <!.+-L'-:7 't..t.J._· f,J.IL ()"-..r/'..t.U '{l',,_-u. '.~1~.~ - ,., ..... ;~ ... ,,.l; ,., ...J ..._ .• ... ~z::~ 

:- '' '• ·~r : ' ' .--' ;· L . rJ.I - br_. ~ re,. /,Q/U,1&. lt•,lf.n ~ \.t.,1°'. ~:!~: aLV'.A.,u ~"~ .. .,,~ ......... !.!-. f,!.{ ,,,..f'-!' -· " --~ , ;:~~.·.· .. l,.:;i 

; £. r ·• · .

1 ; i -r., 11 ---- ...L.. ""' :..,, ;,,, ! . ll· ~ : -·~.Ar u{T t,' .,.. ........... t .... -~.._ ~-...,., . . ,:~~ .:.r.: a ' I ,,- ' .\•,,,;:,1 't.,.:1,!".: 1 : I ' - :• lo:;H\.fef?.ti 

i! 

~ i. I \' : .. ;, a ~ ~ n.-.._ · :.: ···,f'f..,f~ ••fi!'rli! 

i ~· ~~, r f ( ~.r:_~'i' 

t·_.;; · 1 :°'~ .''.~~~it~: .. 1 :..·"'PA .

. I -: ~~, ~,~~: . . - ·~':' -,,_,t \t ": ... J,. .l..Tt;.'if. ... .... 1.::,.. i:.."C .__ 

l\Il-8 in 

hold the 

many of 

life. 

Howe 

continue 

the depa. 

could the 

thetruesc 

recog11ize 

Bureaus, 

on an equ 

group of 1 

After s1 

the State, 

clemobilizi 

Secret-In 

Subsectio 

that Arn 

compile c 

municatic 

'l'his th 

ti on. 
·:~,:F 

. { t~· ·I ·~·t· 1, •. 

Ii',. f, 

I I • ,·t \ •: . ' 

:, .. ; J • I II l I ~. 

\ . I . I I 

24-i 

gsemi 

nitte 

thort 

rlgmf 

gltmh 

nwttb 

THE .AlIERICA.1\1' BLACK CILUtBER 

fnrui mth• rigtno &LC\-i11 lheru 

agnhu icggh ruuar hddgr tnuev 

aenel oylms maern. nnnke el'me 

bleln hkonw nslhI snedu ntatt 

ihmln gukra hciea tgeut tseal 

neent iatri eane :. }' i11.t'o( ! ~ i • ( r · ''1: l "I was instructed to tell ;rou that the State Depart- , I ' •'•I f ;li 

• • I .. 1 ment wanted a decipherment at the earlie.'Jt possible . .1. • t • , I ' • ff I· • ( JI· i moment," he said. ·~\A. Ii! ,

1

;,:dt.' :i.,·· .. ..,.. I B .rP. ) x ea ow do you suppoae we go about deciphering · i , ' ! . I~ ; t · a jumble of letters like this 1" . 

,• ;. j: r·t .. : "I haven't the faintestidea," he admitted. "I'm only 

• • I •

1 r .· '•. repeatina mv instructions." 

~ L l;l.'·l· t~ "Y~~ in '\Vashington are always in a terrible 

· !• '· !.i ·.f: rush to know the contents of a secret document. We'll • • I'' j I 

~ !, ~ I.'~ ,,i. do our best, but don't gil·e them the idea that all we ha,·e 

( • L 1 ~ "•' • to do is to go into a trance to reveal hidden secrets." -:, ~ ? , · , ,. ·•''t- ,., · ·. I showed him about the place, u.nd got rid of him, for 

'•i.'·~~ii · .. ,I I --U • h "" 'd ~ , J : ·; f was JllyM:U anxious to see w at ... e 1ne1111ages so.1 . 

• : , ~· ' 

11 i 1 The Latvian Government, I lo.ter le11r11cd, ho.ii tried 

· · : to decipher these messugcs and, after failing, h.u:I. asked . .. .1 1

• 1 • • I· . the .American Consul at Riga to send them to the United 

I I I " 

,. '; l ~ 1• f~ States in order to see what the Amerieu.n cryptographers 

~. • • · • 1 · could do with them. :\"'!\ .. l .. 

'? .• ; 1 • ;'. By the same analrsis 111 that followed in the decipher- .~~ 

~. ~· : ! .' :· 1 ment of the '\Vaberski document we diseovered that these -;~~~ 

; •• 1 • • !• t .l_ ciphers were ~anspositio_!!, and l!Titten in Germo.n. I •::..~•-. C' ~. • I : ;1 ! I'" - - " • ! 

. , • \ : " · shall not go into the details of decipherment, for I um ". ~ ' . .. . . ~ 

~ c ; I : ; •. not sure that all readers will care to follow the method. , ).','~J. 

I • ·:. . • • • • Bo~T· for t~e ww.~ish to try their ho.nd at cryp.,:: '· ~ ... I I : ! ;'J- Ul!'.-·-· ;/ ' ~ .~ .:.n-.:.:r .,.,,... ........ ,~ ~-~/"- ':""( ~ •• : • 1 •JU...,.,...1. ..c.,~ a..,; .. ~ 1.J........ ::;.....,_ ~v:, .... J~."~~'t J I • J ~ I I - .,J ; .J- ....J .J. I I '":•,...c: 

• ~.P.L JZ-.1 ........ ...i~ ~ ........ ~ J..+(.lt:. •°=.r...(..&. .~, rr'J ~ ,,..:....!11•...-..-1 ~r ~ I .. :; .... 

I ~ I • ~ , .. "· ·~ 

°!'n'V-f'-.. iJ..f.! .... ~. · __ . .,... """'1"' ... - ~~ .trr'1 ·~ ~-rr:=r!-t:' Cl'(,11,~ ... ~"'~~·~~· .1-'9 ~ ....... _ ?.. ~ ,. 

this s 

Th 

proba 

plane 

that al 

"ith I 

Ile is 

the~ 

the pm 

J1is wa3 

sases a 

in 

ira. 

mE 

thi 

be . 

RJ 

to1 
SOVIET SPIES 

A..LSKI arrived here 'With money cm hia may 

to America. German Government permits 

exchange .of journalists from here. The 

"Frankfurter Zeitung" is taking advantage of 

the opportunity. UrgenUy needed capable 

talent.. . •, ~ 

2U 

.. . ·• .. . These m~ss~ges created a sensation among officlals 

in Washington, fo~- they.'were the first.authentic docu- • 1 • 1', 1 I • ' I I • 

ments that caine into the government's possession deo.Iing 

with international Soviet activities. . 

MI-S ;..iso1 r~veif origmal telegranis]th"":-a-t-=L=-em--= . .-n-s-en-t71'w•. 

1 

to Bela Kun during the ~ite revolution in Hungary. ~- , lM_ ~-1 

aut these a.re too long to publish here. - . ';;1 ~ 

There is one Soviet document, ho~~ver, that is too ~ -

revealing t~ pas~ ov~.' -,I have alw~is regretted that I s..;,_.~ _. 

was 

Government, 

not employed 

that, 

by 

understood 

a government, 

and practised 

such as the 

espionage;~ Soviet ~ '. · . 

in the so.me .niih1ess ~d ·intelligent mminer. -. ··'. .. L · _, 1-~·- ·i 

The following document to me is unique._ Although\ 

espionage'as practised liy the Great Powers is no differ- .&/': 

ent fr0m'this, it is seldom tho.t one conies into possession 

of a document tho.t is so clear and frank in its instructions to secret agents. 

Imtructiori.t to ':J.gen,ta for Hiring Sfliea in 

Legationa. · ' · 

!NSTBUCTIONS 

when enlisting the Chinese servants and employees in the legations of ;r apan, Englnnd and 

America you must pay the utmost attention to 

the following subjects: 
r,~iet 

s do 

r .. ·~·~et. 

tl:ey 
252 THE AlIERICA."1' BLACK CHA.lfBER 

During my absence abroad se'\"eral unsuccessful attempts had been made to decipher these messages, and .Tapanes 

its spok~ 

with the 

pressing no 

irun in our I 

quite differe 

Inourlangu 

Though pron 

mean the sam 

The metho 

their langua.g 

bersome, and 

to resort to al 

kana. The T. 

~lpho.bet --or E 

~re ideoS!~ 

sounds. Lat, 

letters, these 

The kana 

both given or 
.·1 

·~ 

':ii 

,:· 

~'fl 

.. . ,,. 

~~.:;. 

. ' ,•. 
.~ .. r~·~1~?11'::.t.:."k,f:::·'!~~~:ii"i:tJUti:.-·~ •. ~~~~·""·i1'<'\f.~tWt'l"ff'·-::.~--;.'"~-;~"''1:.~t'%<'\'!'"·' ·-~ .... ,.~~'···"·~~····-t~-~-,.,,.,. ~1i:·;··~'>r,,,:t'·;;'!fii,.,1i1i!"r'.btt>'•&~ '.'M t,,.·.,.."[-; :i;;,:':\'1&ifer..~=..- ,: ... ,~-· · .,...-.:.,'r:- ... ,, .• .:":.t."'•'.1:!'" .. ""~-:~,.~·'-?=""' :~i-.:'='t~ ~~~~'-~~.if~·~~~~~f.;s.~~A~::,~"'='7·~~~·'>:.JJ,'"~ =·f1~ ~;~~;;_.~·,£;!~ .. -· · .'' ;~;t,._.~if._ .. 6--~r"r:"':.,:~ ... : ·'!i.¥_-f ... ·:/;., ':~i ~-... ,1-\·.!as:~ "w-1..-,-=~·--~~""t~-~ .... >~ ........ ~:.. .. l'~· •. 4• ~;,.~ ... ~ •.;.~~\~v .. \' w~,Ji::.~14~.x.; ~.·; ... _ -;.. "' ~ '~"'.;i. 

~fi&:. 'il.l. ... ~t-~~'°::l i~i,.~'ti·~:°?t1'!tlif--'~•;~ .. ~~i~~j~.s :~·: •':f!. ~~ti~>:~-.. ~~:.i:Y: · ;:~:;} .:;-:.'·:· · -~: :;~;;~:;~ ~~ · ·t.1t: ~~""Lt..-:;.. ~.,~ .. ~~~~~i·~-;c r.-~l~,.,~:"'-~~ · z,\~'".i°':~~·l;- " ..... _.~.:-· -.:·;51: ;,:, ... ~:,. ... ·.... ;;, ., .. }-~-- .- .. __ . :-"·=~~ff;- 1_., 

.\s;?1· ' •of'"-'!"" ·w~,; ~'*-·)~,:~ 'f.:: 'Iii •-i::~.r.~~~-!:"'~)_a:~:.~~-~r~!:,~~li!; •'(oili- -~~ii;'"~, :",'" .. ~1\';' vil1

A ~~..... ... ~!#"~r ••. "t,.•'G. t~\·~ :if_.·~/., .. :_.;:1.·-.i~;-;~. :!,lo, •• ~~\~· _ .. ~no-..,.' ... ~i~:·."";·':'J~~...::: 'c" ~: .. "·~.t,.•..,,' 

~:.(;~-i:: - "\ ~ _.., ~-t.:-- i;.o ,1 :::L~ ~ ..... ~-, 1v 

'l!<..-:11£'.::i"'+a:~' •• pq;.. r"- "l• • i;., '='A r "'l!oe_ .. ,st • - • " r' S.• c !f..,,.,,;_ -=r: ,.-, .... V°'.;_;:~ "¥,,,~ i\.. r'i'-'t •' .., .... , " .. ~, ~ l "'• foil. f I .. .. • •"' "•·'JI~~ •• 11 -:::; • .. -.• ~·"" '-~'.: ,;i. ,. ':°' ' ::.;~ 

.,, ~·~\r,t1•' .. -:!i;t f! 'f, 1 . ' .... t .... ,, I - I ~~·V 

· ~n· ·~·.,· · .,h!l " I I I - • •• - --~~, .i , " "60 THE AL"1ERICAN BLACK CHA~IBER '~ 

. ~;'1~.i ii .: 1 :~en how I proved that J' apanese has its peculiar Jette~, ')'fi I ,._ U, I,, f 0

1 ill, 

· · •'f. :~ · · syllable an~ word behaviors just as any other language .~'."~ f,-t'(• l · ~ .. ... .. -,.. : ~- r.j L. has .. ~~ c;ou~~e, without; the ~si~t~ce of a corps of . .:~f?, 

. J ~ .1 I , ; : ~" typists this work woufd have been too-enormous even to ·~• ~,1 ,j.,..''1r"'.·· .. •.1·.t·· ... i • • - - •' ~ · "l•k' · ... =-~. contemplate~s-.·· ... ·.·~':"' ·::... 1 

·-· -:·:~ 1···.·. .11' 

·f~~! t. . .. . <But wh~t ~bout ~h~ eo~e telegrams I .. ~.. ·~ :.~~}'.f~, · i1·· ' ' .. · " Let the reader again examine the code message on· :,:•'ill_..~ .,,,,~,. ·'. ;:;t~~~ tiP-."'[.'' " page. 2in/·'JS'~w th"at ~e ha~e our."J'a.pn.nese language ; .• jifj ;';1~;! .:" charts, how.shall.we go'about deciphering these tele-·~~ lrij'! .'. ~ams?.· :e;?'! ind~edl . _S~nce Ap~il, and ~is wns now·{~ . ~ .;II , ., . J' uly, I had pored ·oyer _these code· messages at odd mo" ;- ~~:x 

:.: ~ ~~ 1 t ments trying to discover what type of .code or cipher·:~~ ti ·:; . ~ . 'f!J;;oi i;, •.:.<1 .. the ~ap~esc were u_s~~g. I finall~ made up-my mind:'.~;~~ 

r!(f.~il:.· ,, ~ : . t that these messages were encoded wit.h II. two-letter code. -'i'(!·~~ f f.I If I should go into the lab~'l"inth of analyti" cal details !.>"~!~ 

l ·"· \• ~ ~·. ~• ],~~h:;. · sho~ng why I finally arrived at this opinio.1, I am afraid :;t, ~-

1~~/. '. ;; · that we should ne\"er get to the 'Vashington Afmament ·.-~~ i ~ ,~ /: f Conference, or at least not in this book. · .: ,~~' 1 

j ·/ . 1 : : "'hether right or 'vrong I had to start at some point. ·~·t?/j 

~i-~!i~:; j i· I turned the telegrams over to mv typists with instruc- ;~ ~t:>~ .• 

•' i" ; :. ; . t' t d" "d h t I d • d · . ..:;;:;.f • jr!' rf ', . ,. IOns 0 IV! e t e en- etter CO e WOr S mto two-Jetter ,•;.~\ I I•• I ' I o .,~Ii"'' 

·,'

1

1t.ri . i C groups and copy them in the same manner ns they had the t~,i·: I I 'l;(i'( ij'.4 o" r : : : :,. J'apanese language telegrams. They selected approxi- ;~ 

~t:t:: r .. mately 10,000 ~o-letter groups and carded each group_,f:~·, 

:t 1~:;: ~ . ' on a separate card, showing the four-code-group-prefix.\'.;'t.·· '1; :.;~ ~ ·

1 ·J's~ ,f;:i~;l i ., and the four-code-group-suffix; just as they had don~\.fl .• 

•~+·:li : with the J'apanese kana. These cards were sorted ac-.. 1~ ~f' ~/: cording to prefix and copied on sheets, then sorted ac- '.i_~~g \ );•' ' cording to suffix and again copied. I now had before1ill}l~ 

~ ·a"; -

~ i :i 

.. 

1. 

: .. 

. ~ IJ.. ~"'~ 1~ ~all·· L Q,, ~ e.+J.l- . 

• 

.~ • Q;J......:.,.A.liJt !') 1 "W.t.. ..... .. :u

_-~r~~-\ 1 

I '; . J ~" ".....,.... ~ ~r -t.•i'l'U... ...,.._ l!.<,Cl.."-t,.'<.. • • ·,"#~, . ' I I I""'" If o,;~I~ 

i~ 1' • 1 I \~ • ·~·~Mi .. ,, ; ' ' ::-~· ..... ;<',; • • ::i..., . ·:;ik~~~ ~ : ' I I .:o1:1(; •,',/ 

... ,~. 

.,· J 

me not only 2C 

also 20,000 liIJ 

The typing~ 

in ~ 60,000 Ii 

statistical ·cha 

data-air this 

background. of 

will now bette1 

as a clerk back 

ciphering oiir 

·working alone, 

··As Jhadant 

both by their p: 

repetitions of , 

io go through a. 

colored pencil 

ters. This wo1 

myself with th( 

or these repetiti 

ences (page an 

to the exact pos 

sages. 

One of them 

vealed was thn1 

times, and that i 

ten-letter code ~ 

reasons that I l 

a two-letter cod 

al:111a11a containe, 
.. 

. i I 

·1 •• :: I 

~ ... _ .... .::,,. . · 1i 

'-: ;-; ' . 

' 

l 

l 

I 

:I 

l 

( 

. - . ! ·- , 

• • .. ~- i 

'") ( .. "":.~/ 

.. 

' 

JAL'ACllF.SF. SECUE"l' COUES 261 

, -~ :iot oul) :.!0.000 line~ of .T:\p:me~"' l:m.g11ag1< tfata. hu~ 

.?.1-.ri :!O,tltiO l. 1u:"i of co. le data 

T1ie t) piug :md intlcxing. the retyping nnd rcinrlexing, 

111 nll Li0,000 lines, as well as the cumpilalion of retluced 

st:1.tist1cal chart~. togcthcr with other miscclla11e1J11s 

d:ita-a U this work, dune by a corps of typists, is the 

b:ickground uf the scientific cryptographer. The rcu.der 

,di now Letter appreciate the tliflkulties ..!.. experienced 

ILi :1 cle1 k bnek in the State Department \\hen I wn~ de-

~iphering our own diplomatic codes, for, since I wus 

working nlone, ~s obliged to do :i_!! this clrudge!)'. 

As I had nnlicipated, the indexing Of these code words 

fl(lth hy their prefix :md suffix, rc\·enleil in graphic form 

repetitions of varied lengths. l\Iy first step then wns 

lo go through nil the me&sngcs nncl undel'line in different 

"'lurecl )JC'ncil nll the repC'titions of four or more lctlcr,. This work I did myself, in order to fnmili:irize 

Ill) ,eJf' with the text. )Iy t)·pists also eompilecl tables 

n( thC'\E' repetitions, taking great p11i11s to n<lcl the referl!!C<'i ( pnge and line) so thnt I eoul<l instantly refer 

!o th• c xact position in which they occurrL><l in the mesugc.i;. 

One of th•· most ~triking points that tl1e•c charts re-

,·ralc.l w:1s that the code group en occnrrell only 11 

l;:nc,, anrl Lh:tt its po~itiun w:ts, in mnsl cnsc·s. in the last 

lt11-lt:ttcr cocle ~roup or the me•i:t,A'«S. Now one or the 

~<="'"'~ th.1r l h.tcl heE"n 1111C'atain ut' the pos,1bility of 

:i lno-lttt1•r co1lr w:t~ the fact. tltal the Inst c-otle wore.I 

1:fa1111• cr•11t11inccl 10 letters. As the reu<ler can see, in 
~ -- .. 

i.~-~ :~. \, _' · SM THE AMERICAN BLAC~ ~~R 

'

. ~} ... : . ·. - have made.so ~~mising a beginning ..• · • • The · 

· · · · agreements you found are very· striking • • • ··· ·. 1'· . your method is fine and your results are proba- 4k:,·1 ~~·!.ha:::!:e~~- il-;.< :·. ·. ·:.· 1 . the diiferential group._ • • • How I wish I. 

I.'._-~- -~ t · :. ·-··~~th ~:u- · · · ·· · .. - - . . . . . . .. ·.·1 

_-~:. ~/;.~;}····: __ .::·:.·-~. ·:~: -:·~:-:::~d. b~ ~- ~slied .he:,~-~~.mel .. Th~e~l~ --~.:, --=:1. ~ -; :.· i. ; ·. . ... kept up my_~~age ~ough. I still :w.orked mostly .. m- · :.( 

. =: ... ;~: J, · _circles.· F~y.l made ~eral.trips_down to ~e·;rapa-. ·'.'. 

--~ .-·:~~:~I.·. nese ConsUlate m New York to look the ground over ·.=, __ ;· 

-==iJ": .. {'_- -- -- --- :!=~~:ti;=~~-~- ______,.. ~ , : . \ If.I could only bup.., U!atl Wllll_on. thenght tnek: But ; II. · 1~- •.. : . this would be too dangerous to try m New V ork. Why .. :; 

__ ---,,J.jk:~-: t not .try it .in som~ other oounhy, where, if cauBh~ ~~ .:·· •1.f.Ji;h : . _. __ would-~~ ~~J>~ecH l~ust.~~ :Qla~·_abput.~~ .. :& ·'.:·;.: 1

, and get his oplDI~· One thing was certain. Washing- ; . i J.~- '. l _ - tmi had~ me a job to ~ _decl~ ~ t1!e '; f · '~: · j". Japanese Codes. If I couldn t do 1t one way, Id_ have_ ,._ 

t;.( r to do it in·another. . .. . . 

-~-. ~ 2-· · ~- i: · · I took up· again the "Jiistory of the decipherment of the 

::;g· 'j .. ~ f ·t" Rosetta Stone, which led to the reading ~f the Egn>tian 

~' · '.~.~ : f hieroglyphics oli the ancien~ mo~uments·of Egypt. ~e "t ;_ ;:: .. · •;. p~blem here was not unlike my o-.n, but th~ method 

--. =-· ~ · ; ,· ot attack 'l,ISed by scho1'μ-s was so primitive and eJe.: 

-· · f: .· .· :·.. mentary that I did not get ~uch encouragement. Their 

~= · · t·::·: · l;: idea as to what constitutes evidence in th~ correct identi- 3 · · -~: . · t' · · fication of any given ideograph ~ so vague that for 

i{.J ~: · . J . · ·· · :cen~~ th~y had publish«:d ~lutiqns ~ Jaattp: pl."(>Ved 

-=;--.·1 .., · l" j;. : . ~ -<\~~"".... • Lt -~ \l . a.·~·\\. ~"' ~)i- ~.ur ~· ! 

~ 

_f ~ !i Ji_ :j .=: .L .:. r;_, I l' .. I~ ~-- ' - ., ••• : -Yf', '~-"r--1 )'.~ :J'~:~~...,,... ........ -1 lt;·,l., rsri " ~-1 = 1~1:.., ..... '-"""""..._ .. ..,. __ .,., ..... ,.. r1 ,,:.• •t 

§· f· !. · .. ··,. · r ~ ,_ · -4-' .I~- \) ~•'-t..<~ .'.t\iUl',1}-'-.• 11 l · 11 \M>l<J..!,.!I_ ~ -1.~-.:t co ---,.JNr-\ - - '\ Q.. \ °)\1 

: . I 

-- . ·- - ·- ··--·-- - --·-- - --·· --· ----- -· 

. . 

to be mere· 

&nallyarrh 

twenty-two 

Stone, _pub 

WU forced 

. ~onetbin@ 

fantasies, o 

· another thh 

ment an ii 

.·diplomatic : 

~ ··. · ihe . .eoonCI· ~ 

However 

attack~ no 1 

tasies, there 

. they kept I 

. ·.. .. . c.-.' ·-··· . at a ·correci 

· was it not sil 

I kept close 

an~. 

. In this'll 

courage.men 

yet when I 

top· :floor, I 

reading. stu 

tio1111 mid lis 

while she pi 

ate, anddra 

aleep witbo1 

would nevei: 

., __ 
• 

l 

i 

' I

'. 

I 

I ' 

. I 

I ' ,. r 

• .. 

' t: 'l .. ' I ' I 

I I ·' •• I 

,, . . . I 

; 1: I• 

i ,. :•1 

1' • 

' 1: 

" [ 

I 

I 

I 

I 

.. 

! ' 

t 

a bon:t fide cnse can be found?" 

'l'his icleu. intrigued Churchill for he wu.s horn for 

cspionnge. r.atcr, howe,·er, he told me thu.t they had 

been unable lo find a real cu.se thnt would fit. It might 

take some time; we must make no error that would lead 

the .J np:mcsc to believe tlmt they were being duped. 

Gcneml Churchill, in my opinion, wns the greatest 

executive procluced by the Gencr:il Stnff during the war. 

He knew whut he mmtcd; but when he tolil his subordinates to do u. job he wus rcudy at :111 times to lend 

them any aid ut his <'ornmand. 

The re:ule::r must not gel the impre.sion that I had 

gi\·en up all hope nf deciphering the ,f:tpanese codes 

without aid. I had not. Nor were :my of my plans ful-

.:6.Hecl, for us wc ~hall soon see I hurl no need of them. 

llut I wus preparing myself fur f:tilure. I might need 

assist:mce. 

By now I hnd workecl &o long with the.e code Lelegrams that C\"ery Lelcgr:im, every line, c'."en e\·ery code 

word was indelibly 1n·inted in my bruin. I could lie 

11wakc in bed and in the darknc&s make my inn~.tigutions-trinl and error, trial und el·ror, over' :ind over 

ag:1in. 

• ... _ ..... ':. 

.~Jr 

"· 

I 

I 

] 

t 
- ~~~~~~~~~~~ ... 

~~---~---~--~--~-----~--==========iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii"-
. ..• 

h ,,•: 

, 

.. 

l· 

• .>-

~" :t~ 

-~· l 

, . 

• 

' • 

~ . .c; 

1. 

~{ .•. •• 

. .. 

• 

... 

,;. 

.. • ?' 

- . . .... 

.. 

~-

i'? 

.... ~· 

·' .... ,,, .. :. 

... -

;Ir, 

J 

I 

.. 

• 

: 

.. 

JAPANF.:;£ Sl~CRE'r C:ODl!~S 271 

l•:n:n lhi.:1 i.mull r!mrc com·mcl'• rm· th:1t 111111 on the• 

r1~bt tr:ick. I:'or 1111 h1111T I fi!lr 1! in 1.hu.e 11ml uth1.'T 

idcntifi..:11tions until tbe3· h11cl all b1.-en proved to ruy satisfnctiun. 

Ol course, I h1n·c idenbfied u11ly 1111Tt of the kana--

tbat is, the 111J>habet. )[ust or tbe rode is cleroted to 

l'Olllplete words, but thc~e too will be ensy e1wugh once 

ull the kana. are propnly fillecl in. 

The impossible had. been ac1."Dmplisbed ! I felt a terrible mentnl let-down. I wns \-ery tired. 

I finally pla1.-ecl my papers in lbe i.nfc, focked it ancl 

leaned bnck in n.y el111ir, rhecking up my blunders, 11ncl 

at the 11:1me time l\'<mdering what this woulcl mean to the 

Unitecl Stntes Government. '\\'hat secrela did these 

messages J1oldl Churchill would w:mt to know of my 

ac:oom11lishmcnt. Shonld I telc-11hune hiln at this bourf 

Nu, I would wnit and dirlate n letter . 

I wus nnbrlicv:ihly tired, and v.-earily climbed the 

stairs. l\ly wiFc was al\·uke • 1

''\\'bnt's the matted" she au.keel, 

"I'l'c done it," I replied • 

"I knew you would." 

"Yes, I suppOlie su." 

"You look clea.d." 

"I am. Get un your rags. Let's go get drunk. lVe 

Im' en't been out of this pri:.on in 111011llb." L 

• "" ·'- •• ." .. ,,, .!.I. eu.,•L ,·1 "! .. , .. ; ;c. • ..... ,•, ••4"\,.'"'' • .. ~J lf.. ! '\' • ..Or.-11 ,.•:;J.c .. "'• ...... •.V:.l(.(o({ ' • 1 • ... 

"",·-: I. I • -1"· ~ . I \-. - .. /. , !) I l~ ...... 

, 1 •11 1. - 1 

,.,, 

• 

... 

'" 

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I"" .'"-=" 

.:•1:- ... ,-

''I.• I 1 I ·.:. . . .. - , . 
• 

' ' ; I 

j 

CHAPTER XV 

.A l\IISSIOS"ARY C1t>."PTOGHAPREI!. 

'l'HF. next morning, or r:1ther the same, I dictated a 

long letter to Churchill, outlining in detail what the 

render :ilready knows. I did this for two reasons. Gencr:il Churchill was always interested in the det11ils of 

my bureau, nml besides I bad no small measure of pride 

in ha.\·ing sofred the J npnnese codes and wished a record 

in the "\\' nr Department files. Churchill had been especinlly anxious tu have a few Japanese tclegrnms in his 

posse~~ion when we went to Congress for the l\Iilitary 

Intelligence appropriation. 'l'hcse I promised him in 

ample time. 

I shouldn't wonder but that this letter sounded a bit 

youthful. J<~,·en yet, the memory of those exciting duys 

thrills me. 

\Vhen General Churchill received my letter he did 

not wuit to write, but telephoned his congratulations, and 

told me that those in nuthoritv would beur of the new 

success of my bureau. Judging by the tenor of his 

\'oice nml words, he was more excited than we were. 

After dictating the letter I instructed my secretary 

to tell my cleverest cryptographer, Charles :Unruly {I 

shllll cnll him this fur want of u better name, for he now 

holds I' po~ition that might be jeoparclizccl were his past 

history known) tl1at I w11nted to sei: him. 

.:.. I '• ·- •' 

J.J .I I J_-., ,.,,,..._ ·_}' Ii' r 1 I I' , \ _,,,, .. ,_1 ..... • • 

\ ·~ \ 

. •:.,/ 

, 

Whcz 

small e} 

he alrea 

lomatic ( 

throughc 

awaiting 

guessed c 

'Vhen 

his pleas1 

"How 

"'Ve'rE 

"The cod1 

"!may 

ing that ti 

& Japanes 

vassed the 

find one sc 

lators are. 

ever devel< 

easier for, 

a Japanese 

give some• 

I'll gil·e hiI 

the l:mgung 

purpose. 1' 

longer have 

port to me b 

ress.'' 

I could Sf 

.... . ..... -- t,.;....":.-';..- !.. ...... I """"• ', 
.... 

i 

-: 

, . 

• 

.·. 

r 

,i"-" 

• 

. -. 

~ 

? .. 

-· 

' 

~ . 

• 

.. --· 

A lrISbllJ'iARY Clt\'P1'0HllArtrr:R 2':'3 

When he en.me in I knew by the cxpl'e!l..,ion or his 

small eres that looked at me through thick lcn~es that 

he alre:idy knew of the breaking of the Jap1111esc: diplomatic codes. In fact I had St.'DSed an air of excitement 

throughout the office. Every one had anxiously been 

a\\·aiting the breaking of this code and no doubt had 

guessed of my success by my manner. 

'Vhen I showed him a put of my analysis, he smiled 

his pleasure. 

"How are t.he Russian codes progressing!" I asked. 

"'Ve're still working on the manuscript," he said. 

"The code doesn't look very ditlicull." 

"I may be wrong," I told him. "But I hnl-e the feeling that these :r apanese codes will Illllke history. I need 

a :r apanese selwlar to read tbew. I ba.,·c already cu.nv111111ed the United States for one without success. I'll 

find one somehow or other. But you kno'v lmw translators are. It's one chance in a. thousaud that he will 

e\"er develop cipher brains. In my opinion it may he 

cnsier for a cryptographer to leam :r upllllesc than for 

a :r apanese student to learn Cl')'ptograph)·· I'm going to 

give some one here an opportunit)· to study :Japunesc. 

I'll gil-e him a yeur, or two years iF nece=t1111rr, to le11ra. 

tl11: 111118uage. I'll get a fund from 'V11slailll(l:l>.n l'or this 

purpose. Now the person I select For this job need no 

longer 1111ve any strings attached to him. He ncetl report to me but once a month to comincc 1ne uf bis progreu.11 

I c.'ould see bi11 little e.fC11 bum with clesirc. I have 

I .. • : .... I I 

.... ··- ... - ,, ... =.<."""""" -· .... '~.: ,. "'.,,., •• ._, .... _ • "" . ~-

' 

, . U.-"~ :,. : ,. ... --

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·~·-t~ , .... c-.·':'-7 .... ,~,t-..o::Or~~.,..,~:,1 .~~~lj'.- .. ~. U-•Jlll:.. ,.,.....r.~ • .. .1._,it'-:..~ .. ;-~~.·· ... ·• -...\~ ...... -.:,1~,;c;.. • .-':o.•.,,;i._..1-..a-- _ _v.:,,..t°',ur, .. -.. J' ' • ,. I.. t_ •"' '",.,.- • • " • '' I ,t 'W ""'°' I • •_; ,_. • _._ - - • "" ' ,. •• '' • • ;.. ' ..... 

..,..._. ~ •- .. , .. • ... ~. ,":-l'.,,,."",,:.' 1:;•, :: .,,'!.~:"'""' -. .;r: '"'So""·-1C'~ ~·~J:.-rr. 1 ,'!.•""'"\ .. ~J."':!"'o:'t.~ ... ~"': .. '";.:~"fr,"..,,. ""'"-(,'"--r--;'\.-r ... f:;, ,"Ii./'":':" '':or~""""•.,,.}-""' I ";oS..j\. ., • .,.,,.,,,, 0:- 0 ~Q"•-14 <__,.-=.• ,••,.._., ,, .. ol,,,o;;,~ ,.J,·!.'·"•"" "'""' • , '\"l'' .... o.:"• '/.!~,.~ , • I •"\•, ,," , ;G.,"Fo ·•:-._~ • '• • •• ,.,,. • 'p•':. ~ '" .:Y..t .. .,._ • ...... ,.,,. ' ,.. ... -:,,.:- •"-• ••• ,·~· • ~~l·,.- r• .- •'' ..... ~-:i· "lo. r- I .,.. - - ;.. ~"'· !. ,,._ ~-.""': '"' •• ,-"":~ .... _.~ .-• ·~·.:..... ... .:-...· - .... • '·~T_n~ .. I .... - ~... • ' ;,, • • 

~· •• t.,.'!j .._-;z;,-?'·· . :.-'-=,_--:Z.~~~~ .... !_-..:-\-T.""·l"t.'T-t,·~:1-~··""i .,E~·""''-r;;•.:· ~"'~-,.·,:. "t"'-.t ..... W:. -~ .. ~~~ · .. ~: .... .· .. _·.; ;fi ~-~;-r.:t:T-"1~ lt.:.tJJ,o~'fi_,:11.1,. • '"-'1h,": _ _,:Si...,..J I.,.,, ~':c'.ll'~.:l.Q-"" !1·-'i..c.;,.,,:c=tJ!~ .. ~ •'_.:;,JI; .f'<._;f'I;" ;i'"o-'f.- t"':.J"'_. f•·t~•...-;,,.,-...,i,.j,.· lo'l".:;'I. ~~"'•' >"""' ... ~,. ••'•".f • - t'~ • r•"' • =· . -'\. i:::: .. ,, • .,.-,.,-1 ,r-N... ... .... • r ,..... ..... • .ti\ •• ·• .. -.. - .. ;_ .. • .-,:" .. ;.;1~":.:-\: ~:- -,,. ., :~~., .. ~;.o1~'.-ld:.,.'!.s,.·~· .~;. .. ~:-:,1.';!~t~'..-;:.\li'.lr?;·~Y,1~ ..... i; .. ::'-..~·~~ ~°"' ~!' ... c..~-,~~,r 5~ ~-·,~~:~~.~!:!'!If,~~. ;SL.):.,--"':,tc."'.--.~';:!-.1 ,.,'},,~_,, .' • .- ~.~ .. ~~., • .... ,._").;_"l""' __ , ., •' ... ~ _,..,, .. ., ... ·-~'4''""'f""il" •1 ,. .. 1i' • _ _,,.._._.,~.rt~ ., w-.w,,...r ~~.:-;::!.r•., 1•Jou'•·:o."·••" , ~··· • - 1 "'-.. ~ .. ·~ 

• .. r.11&:1ti~"\.!},·• • • •'f • ;w_1 i:t..\~~J: ,-.l'(r•, ~· '3'' 11;..• .. •,. ~ '!.,.~""-.;ri..) • •• ' ""···~/. '.-. .1., , •• ~~~ '::i!,J--rtG."" "" ~. ~?. ·,F!,•r:.O. • ;,:· .... i;. .. "';, • •., '"~i! ~ .f" • -t.. • ·r-~ .. ~-.:.-:::::"1 • 1~[£! ,,,,,. - • ....... ··, " • ' 1 _.!:.!::.,: • '__; ... ret_'.:A\ ·--.i •.• , '"'•!!.:~~;.::,.;:~ 

·-~-1~ •"'~i:.,'f:.;·,;.~~· ~,. ~ :"'" . 

. :: . . . -+>~,;: ' ·w .. . z . ~ 

. ,,.. ·~,,, l 1 I .-:i.·:..~·: • . ... :!ill Tin: Al\n-;nICA'.'l' llU\C'K C'HAMDJ::R ~~. '. .. ,.:j•"''l li .... ,~ 

.tb~~~· ~n, ,\II tl:i, lookc·1l rather hom:lc.s,, _. but I kcut • nt it and ·~/' ~· 

I finally .lisco\·ered n retired mis~ionnry of ~nme sixty ,....,_., .• I\~. f hi Id A ;,:~ ; · ;~, • I yenrs o nge w o was to was one of merica's best • ·~ 

;; :·;I ~~l·J .T:tpane~escholars . .lpnidhiscxpensestoNcwYorkand ":tf ' i} · ~ : 1 

'J after ~izing the m:u;~> put all my cards on the table and ·:~~ ~ t-. ' ::: .. \ -,;~;· · ril_::!;l tried to intrigue his mind with the mystery of codes ~;£~ 

: • t 1'.;'. ! I nml cipliers. .'i.~$;:: ,: ',l",i ••'i.'t:{~-

1, ~ •

1

.,: .. ;

11 ·, ,.( Ile demurred nt fir~t and I thought he was afraid to ._i.l!~ 

, IJ attach himself to :m under-cover organization that was';.::,..~!. I! It 'ii . I \ : • . "/2 . : · ! '· ! prying into the uff:iirs of forei~n gm·ernments. But I ::~1, 

~ · ! i;i .. ! t:< sucldcnly learned that he was JUst a good horse-trader .~~i~~ I l( '.,.1. t. und was holding out for more money than I had at first "W ~! lj ;11:: f.:.· ofl'erccl. 'Ve finally came to an agreement, and he ··::..r..;: 

1

. ,'ri''..,! 1!: immediately moved his family to New York. . .:~}.~ . f 1. 1:1~ 1 ..~ J' ··-.,?_1r.' , _;[. f lJN: · , I now regrouped my cryptographers, and selected the -.i;.~~;~ 

·• 1 I , most rapid and accurate clerks (accurncy on the pnrt of 

"'1 ll'f~l:i/( ;it, n I ( ~,I, ' clerks will • often . snve months of futile investigations in ;it~ i;' .o:.•i:: 

jl'l~~!~·; ! :: ; the decipherment of a code) for the Japanese Depa.rt- • .':: .• ~; • I I I I t . ~ 

•

1

. r· ; ·". I men . ·.: .. .,;~.,, 1 . ·~· J ,,~.i. ... 

~i : ' , i ' I ~elected the largest room available, placed our long . ;;:'{.'· ~.~.1h".ll • ·\,• 

' • • · l whiskered missionary and thick-spectacled c.ry.ptog- . ~ ... ,' ~. --..:. 

: •. ~ '., · ! i' ! r:ipher nt ndj a.cent desks, and changed the locks and :! )" 

l ;-'t,·\~! ~ ~' .... ~ ...... " i' • . ·"·I ke\"S. ···".!.~' l: i· .; '. .~ '; ~ The Black Chnmber, housing as it did so many per- ~ -~'.1 

. • I. I°' ·~ I 'I I\. 

;~ .. I·,'. :

1

',. ~on.; of queer sort•, seemed nlmost like a men:igerie, but ~;; 

' 1· •·· · ' I nc\ t•r failed tn htu0"h to m'--self cver.,. time I went into .: ":Ih \ j.V\ [ 1,7 .,, .,, .. "' .. 

: '~·~·I 1 l '· • th<' ,f npanese Depnrtment and s:1w this benevolent-faced, ~~ (I. ,,l. • ''·"' 

• · J •

1

\ : 1 ' wli iskercd, old mis~ionnry as he puzzled over .T np:inese :,< • I I l'I 

· P ~ i I \rnr1b, kaiza and code groups. IIc was instantly the ~ • i I , . 

, 

' ' 

l 

. 

.~I' • • 

" 
rlong 

-:·1ceil, 

=· '!.IlC.Se 

-.. 

~ 

.. 

... 

... 

:11,': 

' ' .... 

ti: :.,_ 

- !II t 

. ·' . .... 

.• 

.. 

.... 

-

• 

•. 

.-• 

I 

I 

I 

I 

I 

277 

favorite of Lhe whule oflkoe. IIe was so gl'Iltle nml •n 

very frightened at tlie mystery nncJ serrery. I lmd nc:n.T 

expected to Jive to see a rnission11ry engaged in espionage. 

I don't think he e\-er quite realizl'd what he wns doing. 

lluwm-er he was a. g<.>od trausla.tor and in l'cbruo.ry, 

1920. I sent to Washington the first translations of 

J apnnesc deeiphennents. lVl1en General Churchill received these messages he took them at once to the Chief 

oC Stull' and to ofJieial:i or the Stale Dcp1Lrtment, and 

t.old me persona.Uy that he considered their decipherment 

th& most remarkable nccomplidhment in the hi\tory of 

code and cipher work in the lJnited Stated. l-Ic: told me 

to extend to my assistants his personal reg-.i.rdd and· 

ollicio.1 cnngratulntions. 

I do not make tl1ese statements to magnify the accom- 1 I:· / 

plishments ot the Aml:'rican Blllt'k Chamber. IUstory ';!!. f~,l :·,l. 

Riane will deride thOde things. I cite tl1em as a tribute to ·itbe Linc general officer under whom we ser,·ed. If e knew 

and underst<iod that 1Ucn and women to succeed nt eryptogrnphy must be inspired both by u. p11ssion Cor tl1e 

science :md l>y sympnthetie lend1..T~hip. C'crtninl;,.-, rio 

hum:m l11•ing would burn up bis heart 1111J brnin wilhuut 

tl1e latter. 

On ,June 12, 10:?0, our n1issiw1a.ry 1n:1de the folluwing 

transl11tio11 ol a J a111mese l'Dlle ml:i!.~'t' from the J11pa11-

esi: Foreign OOiee in 'l'okio to the .Tnp1mese Amba•'IA· 

dors tu \Vashington :ind I.ondun. 'flic itu.lics 11r1: mi11e. 

A t•:ibinet c:nuneil J1as tlecideil on •~ pm·tinl 

1wm:u11tion uf the J :i.pane.ie 11rmy from 1h~l1·1ct:1 

• 

,. 
~\-;~-?.:::.. .. 7-.. ~. :· • :-.~~"~:-~-~~~~·:;.:·' .. :~ ... t:.?4:,.~·~~~~~s;r. .. '.t~.:.f,..i,':!:-:.~,:")~;~-.,,.;li . .. "· ... ;..~·:~..:,; .. ,~J.· -~" ,\l;.,-oe1"· r -:._ .... ~--.: ~; ,·.; 

• :):i1$~!;.J·; ... ~ .. '•: ... ) "1';/,::I";• ···~,~~,'i~- :---1- "'4.i'.°..f.,'1 ..,.,.!~·-·~·· . .--. .. -~.7-rt.r"~,•--v·~~-··-..,.•.:"".~"- .,..:::.. 41 '·'C..:-•, :·:; .......... ,._ ............... ':.. ~ 11'r'r-~,_~,, .. "'·' ... •. ·.1t--·:-~"'.l·-.~i.._..;-,:s..l., "-=; • ••• ,., • :~.f;f' ,~.II' ... ,..,,..- .. _.,.it.:c~-c;...('' •' 1r:·~=~.fiM.. ..r-~- . .,37...ri!,.,,.."'-;.-:..," .. ·:-• !.' ·-·~:.,"",..,r • '"!'·-i:"" '· '"" • __ ., __ ,... , _., ~ .. ,,. ...... "" .... _, ....... "? ..... "'~ • - .,, ... ~-R= n j"'.l"~B"i -...... t"·· ... , 0' 0 '.:~7, .. ;t';.;,~, \' 0 0 .;-·l=~~1.4--~4}~-1~:~:~i ;.:J·;,,.,_"'f1~ ... 7{ ... :.?t~df-..1!;,t..l~ff.1 :',, .... <.~ ... ~H~~i'~~~-,- .--~\ :~ ~-~~ -.';!,' ·~ --~ ~-· ... ~ ~~,:. _,~- ·'"-,:?.:.~~&!":, .. ~ 

-·•!itv.:t·.J'!::J;i .. · ~~ r ... ,._;""::~~.~=.~·_;::=.:J, :.~~i~-~~·--:;.;~·i~:~~~~~~l-\,~: ·~:~;!~~~·~~;~~ ~=·:;~;{:~ t~·~A·~,~=, .. · ~~!:~~;..i ... C'<~·-·;~ . ...,.~·-, .. ~-~ .- ~~-~~~ :;.,':~:~~~;~- ' I ""' °"'--"'' ,. , 1" > ,ro. •lit:i=: r"• 'l'°' ~:c ~~ ,_ ,_,,. ... ' a.ki,;,,f":~.,. ~ • • ::z"'"' -. ...,;.-,;..._.,, -... 'j• - , '"'" • ,., • •, "'\.)1'.j I . 

.. :x~..:.!.'-.. ~r.e..a-·-·.~.-=i,i• .... l .J"'CJ;:'",,"; ~."''#.-" 0 ~'°'"• -",JI.;,.'~•''•~·· .. ~~~,! ./( ;.~o",:.-.._••' ... •{:i:r.r"'.t- ••• !:'{/" :,::'' _,' P' •!.• • -~,.1r~ •, ..... r 

\~,~1:"'..r.::•;ii't"..;,.~~r~"~~."'.!-•.;:. £;• li:."'""~ • ...,...., .. ;.:,":"ti:_..•.,r.•. • "' "',,••ri/;~TrJ-~;( .. '':.~.-bJ'S"'J-.!..l~' •-..,;.,.~·.....\."' .. _ .-./~ ~ • . .: ,'\.;:,)-.-.,r-.~-:.;: . .. .;s1...;;. -*..:''C. ~~ .. -. ,... "'-• ... .. . -· ~'lr-.:-~~~-::!.ar:.2 2·-e'·· ..... ,:::.::;_:_~ i.:.~~7-'.t~ 

foreign 

produce 

ntle soul 

Li. :-.t last 

jll~t six 

:c·n<lliness 

.~1gnation 

! 't) '1 ·~-:~"' ~ ~~ .. I J I I 1::~"' ;\ .. ~~ 

'd I r 1 

· t?~ .~fl' A MI~:;.IO'.'.'ARY C RYl'TOGltAl'HJ::lt 2i0 1 ·I f~ ~·:.,'".IS.>'"' . i ' lt~~·-:t:~~ 

I du! not r!i,t11rh th" slcad~ Ii•)\\ c . .' .fa1,an.:,1: tr:mslal1onb, '1 ~- ::f'~£J 

'_; for in six months )Iuncly lmtl m:c<•Iu pli&hetl the unheard- ~ ~~ .;,: !). ./ 

of thing of mustering the rcalling uf the .Japanese Ian- tA.~~Tol. -:· 

''!... • • 

~~ guage. Ile h:ul dc~"1.!!..'.!:rl! i1~-~ix_~onths whu~.J..~.J;!l.s.~L 

··~ .;;~· 1!£!!lY_ortl~!!S i!!..:[i:~J!E:~~~ ye~ to.l):g poorlv. Ile had 

:~ the greatest capacity for Iung11:1ges of nny one I ha\·c 

q, 

. ' 

,. 

• 

... 

... 

.. 

,· 

·" .... ~ 

~··. 

'. ' 

,_. 

~ 

;:, .. · 

0

e\·cr known. Even back in HJ17 when he came to ~fI-8. 

he had this facility, lmt cryptobrraphy had slrn.rpenecl 

his intellect. lie had no originality of mind as n cryptographer, lmwe,·er, uncl needed assi&tance when a new 

cipher p1-ublcm confronted 11im; but us a sponge for 

'1hsorhiug l:mguuges he had no equal. 

The c.·ode I haJ broken, I designated .Ta for rcf'crcnce 

purposeo;-the J standing for .Tupanc&e, the a an arbitrary dcsignatiou. 'l'he next code we solved would be 

termed .T/J, the next Jc, etc. 

Now the .T apaucsc had no intention of permitting us • 1 

to re~t on our laurels, for from l!Jl!l until the spring of l! ... 1...i..v--~ • 

IO:W they iutroducecl clc\·en different <"odes. :-:~"-'-- :~-J... 

'Ve learned that they had e:mploy<'d a Polish cipher ::...-y-1!.L-·

1

_ 

expert to re1·ise their cotle aml cipher sy~tems. 'It took 

all our skill to break the new colics that this man produced, hut by now we had de,·eloped a tcchni<lllC for the 

solution of .T apane'e codes that could rend anything. 

'l'hcort:!ically the .T upanese codes were now more ~cientifically con&lruc!cd; practically tl1ey were easier to soh·e 

than the first code, although some of them contained as 

many as twent)·-fh·c thousand l,·ana, syllables :mu words. 

'l'he l'oli&h ('ryplographer seemed to specialize on 
... \. 

280 THE AMERICAL~ BLACK CHAMBER 

army codes, for the Japanese )filitary Attache's codes 

suddenly became more difficult than those of any other 

branch of the Japanese Government. This new system was elaborate and required ten different codes. 

(1.,..., C· ~' ~~"'...f The Japanese would first encode a few words of their 

"~ : · message in one code, then by the use of an "indicator" 

.,N-C(l.1-,...._t... ' jump to another code and encode a few words, then to · 

~ · ·· still another code, until all ten had been used in the 

encoding of a single message. 

Messages encoded in this manner produced a most 

puzzling problem, but after several months of careful 

analysis, I discove:red the fact that the messages were 

encoded in ten ditf erent systems. Having made this ... discovery, I quickly identified all the "indicators.,, From . 

this point on it was not difficult to arrive at a solution. 

The Japanese Government ·must have received in-

. formation of our successes, because they not only employed a Polish cryptographer to revise their codes, but 

also began a series of well-planned and secret inquiries 

at the Cable Companies as to whether it was possible 

for the United States to obtain copies of their code 

telegrams after they had been filed for dispatch. 

Information of this type always reached me, for as 

Chief of the Black Chamber, I was not only executive 

and cryptographer, but was 'obliged tO maintain my own 

espionage system as well. 

Early in 1921 there were rumblings of an .Armament 

Conference for the limitation or reduction of arms. · No 

doubt anticipating this, the Japanese again launched a 

A"?' 

new type of c 

of trouble. 

pended on th 

ing telegr~npect either -

This made t 

code comp&i 

But they 

several weekus to develo~ 

I am SW'[ 

describing. 

for encodinf 

or four part 

were now gi 

only two se.= 

were three e 

four, W,X, 

Then the 

the last secti 

became Z .Y 

became Z, 1 

this order h~ 

sent it to th'=' 

This arra 

ingl And;_ 

nerable poi• 

However 

the discove:1.: 

---- ~--- ---
--1 : .. ~ . 

. i .: ,-:_,-','.·: 

290 THE AMERICAN BLACK CHAMBER 

· · structe~ new codes, but had adopted a new principle in 

• their construction. we all dropped' everything we were 

doing and concentrated on its solutioii. 

Our difficulty in breaking this code-was due to its 

scientific construction. .· .Aithough the code messages 

· were on their face the same as others (they were all in 

· groups of ten letters) we could iiot discOver the real 

length of the code. words. Heretofore the code_ words 

had been of two-letter and four-letter length~ We 

divided the ten-letter groups of· these messages in all 

their various combinations without success. 

Finally we discovered that . three-letter code words 

were interspersed throughout the messages. . The code . 

· · words in all oth~r codes had.been divisible by two~ This 

___ -_;f_i.n _,_,. . . :: =~f .::~soth':~O::d us that~ could not · 

iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitJff 11!t '.· -· · However, once we ad discovere4 the three-letter ele-

~1~·:: J· ·· ments, we quickly solved the messages, and within forty 

--= -"!~f: '. : days after their receipt were reading current telegrams. 

==~_"J-,;~~ , ·. almost as rapidly as the Japanese themselres. :MOmen- -=t~j . • tarily, at least, all those in. the Black Chamber -gave a 

-1· -~lt sigh of relief. This new code we designated as Jp, the i 7' J . ·. sixteenth code we had broken since my original solution. 

~·:ff~. u!: ,! ::a:~/na:: ~~·!':n anp: ~~a:::~ -=~j;l 

;~to~· the cryptographer, and I have repeatedly .urged this -, 

f\....W"""' 

- · • - ~,J- 'h'-'1A upon our own government, with not a gre~t ~al. of sue-_ 

-~--1'.'i.~.;: ~.e._ . ~ cess, I am sorry to say:~. ~~ _.di.--w ~ _,,~ " Y.'IJ.-.J.LU ~~ . . L . . -.'I~ " : .; "• :,- ..... t . .. · . · ~-U- 'T- ~TC': ~""° . i "t'C-

. : .. ; ;~t .j_ t_ ... I ·,\~ • ' ' .~· ;~ ~ 

. t I -1"· . '1-t.t ... :-'-"-. M.<~~.1.()L .. a,,'.._;,;;;... -~·~ 

--_-_:;_·_-.·::/, I ,jl'~_,\_•J .. ~·Ji.- •....:a · r-:7~ b . "4t..4ti 1 . :mi ·::.:),: (j • _c.+-..1, 

.... ~ ~- '\ 

..,'...-· 

:~---------------------------------------

t;-

THE l". 

Thet 

Tokio ; 

London 

with Lo 

Frt 

To 

YE 

ces:_ 

si~ 

aF 

pro 

the 

Gu-~ 

gen• 

the 

dik 

frou 

at l 

.Tap 

a.he. 

CAD!il. 

B 

A.m .. Chi;: 

con. • I ea:u,. 

a.nd 

-;erv._ 

a1iu·. 

ticm 

.Ang 

•te~= 

ests = 

side1-
THE illEB.ICAN .BLACK ·CHAMBER .. . . . . 

· that it would be a good plan tQ move at fre- .· ·.· queiat intervals so that people in the neighbor- · · hood would not get wise to our· activities.· 1·e,xplaioed to him that I felt~ that no one hi our 

Deighborhood suspected ijie nature of our work, 

especially U.. view of the fact that_ there are .. · aJmnst a halt-dmen other o8leea in the ume . block in private. homes c:onduCtecl m the same . . manner as this ot1lce. · . . · . . 

. . . . He askecl wJietbeio I~ ezperieDee ·any '·. 

diftlculty. in ·C&;fbing ehecks during .. ~ • · · aenee. I told ldm there:would be no trouble at· · ·. a1L . . 

-· .. .. .. . .· - .. 

_ID J'mae, ien, 1 returned from Amona·m·~. :. ;:_ 

heal,. but. fOund my most· valuable aaistant ·in a fright- ; ':" . 

. rui condition. #le bad been working sixteen houn ~day ·. :~t 

. r for io "long that he f.a11red ~~br. with ...... ·.: 

-light in his eyes. I bit close watch over him for ·a.week : : 

·. ~ -~~ fOJ" _erfPtog.rai>Jiy steai. in~ ... ~~ ~ ·.· ·~; 

· · and· cioes cmious tbiilp to peop~ · . . . . . . ·: · · 

·· · ··- · · · · ·t~fselthad&lreadyhadiroablem·thisres,eet.. -Then··_;~i .• 

: there~ the cases of. two gii-ls who were near a nerVoua 

· ~own .and. asked. that I let diem. ~ One 

dftamed constantly that a bulldog·~ loole in ~--roo.D. 

F~ hours she chased it ·under and ·over the bed;. behind 

the· chair, under the dresser~ and ftDallY w1-i she caught . ·-.~.­

it, she found written on iti side the word cotJ,e. The other .:·!· 

· lkl dreamed~ night ~f wl.llri*1g ~g ... -~,-~. .:'.:: .. 

Weighed down by an. enorrOOui sackful of pebbles. She . ;i~:~. 

.. struggled along 'or miles wi-thia heavy burden on her . · ;-

. . . · · ~ searching· for pebbles :that mat.ehed those_-io the :: ·.~;: 

~ 1!~.. . . ~ ~ R ,.. -·-n· J. ··'9. t'rU t;...:_.. ~ ... -1-r-:.-:J ;,o·. · --~~t · · :~~1 .~~1<1.1;;~c.. . ~~-. /) _;J ·1i i .. /2 · • ·, . . · ·. ·/. 

. ~t4·ii'~'-tt:[W'-,....1_· , ~~- . . · f~;,,,7 .. ~. . ""/.l· . < .. ·· . '·. . .. y··· ~ .. ·;.::;-, : .·. · .. · :,-j 

. 'IRECEr. 

bag~···Wh.e 

· . ··could tab 

:the sea.. 1 

bur.den that 

It. wal .. t~ 

.IDJ"~ 

. and told :m;r 

himtogoa-:. 

. codes and ei 

.· to give up. 

· ... lnall:y faun 

: I smpect .th 

. Not.~ 

ordered to 

. Beinhrelm•· 

B~ 

. ~theDi 

.• .. ·era10.-... 

he is relievo. 

' . .· . Jieved. becu.t 

.· . General. 

. "Yardley_ 

talked abou!. 

. . And" the See 

·.··~ed~ 

I cOuld o 

part played 

mentConle 
One 

·•··beach -·~ ., 

l!s. She 

cnon her 

the 

• 

·' 

b::g. ''-"lien she fonacl "n~ ti•:i.t exactly m:m:heu ~he 

could take the duplicate from the bag ruid cast it into 

the ~CU.. 'fhis \VUS her only method of lightening the 

burden that weighed so heu.l"ily upon her shoulders. 

It was therefore with some concern that I obser\•ed 

my nssista.nt. l!'inally he ca.me to me of his own accord 

:mcl !2!4_!!!.ll...!!~~illl~eemning afr:1i<!_2.U!l~lf. I told 

him to go away for a couple of months and try to forget 

codes und ciphers. Upori his return he sai<l that he wished 

to gh·e up cryptography and try something else. '\Ve 

finally found a. good position for him in another field. 

I suspect tha.t he does not now regret his step. 

Not long after I returned f1·om Arizona. I was 

ordered to Washington for a conference with Colonel 

IIeintzelman. He had just been promoted to a 

Brigadier-General and would shortly be relieved, because the Director or :Military Intelligence is not a general officer. '\Vhcn a Director is promoted to a Generu.l 

he is relic\•ed by a Colom:l. Colonel Yolun hud been n;-

lie\·ed because he too had been promoted to a BrigadierGeneral. 

"Yardley," General IIcintzelman begun, "I have 

talker! about you to the Chief of Staff, Ge"nerul Pershing, 

and the Secretiuy or '\Var. You arc to receive the Disting11i5hetl Service .i\lccfal.'' 

I coulrl only conner;t this in my own mind with the 

part pl:J.yed by the Bla.ek Chamber during the .Armament Conference. It was :i. surprise to me, for no matter 

I i 

I i ' • 

' ' 

·: 

·'· 

., 

·' ,, 

, .. . '' 

'! 

" 

.. 

': 

" 

' " .. 

1, 

' 

;~ 

' ·'· 

' ''· 

'' 

" ., 

'• 

,,, 

' 

' 

·' • 

I 

.! 

' I· 
} "· . ,..., . . . IRECEI' 

c11ch other': 

men do not 

messages. 

t!ult we wei 

their codes, 

struggle - to - War·Depar 

my citation 

government: 

After .disc 

of my office, . \ 

weeks was ai 

I ·was 'to 

at two 'p .M:. t 

ofiiee I asked 

really knew l' 

assured me th 

supporters of 

I felt rath 

War, asher 

little to do wi1 

ments, but I , 

my lapel, for 

The wink pie~ 

The vague 

from my secrc 

some idea of H 

activities woul 

to move our of 
"~~;.. .......... . . . •. 

·. 

·. 

" ... ...~ t• :. ) ... ~ ~ - . -,;:..: .... .. ,· 

. ltl.9 .i•- • -.,._v:_::-.: .... 

C•1:im· , • ..,,,. . . .. .,.~ 

t both ;;, :.· . ;: .. ~ 

• ' ·•.-.:~·.,. .. I 

it was _ .. ·;i' -.~:.. t .. r."'9!. • •t. .. • 

t:i.ry or '~;.i;:: ;-; l 

l'.-.. .\.: .... ;., 

Oill the ' ,. 1 - ... i 

. ,• -

~ ':.. -· . 

"· 

.- .-

l 

l 

each other's he:i1lqunrtrrs. so also in diplomacy state.-

men do not protest against the •Olution of each other'b 

messnges. Howe,·e~~-_!~reig~._.!~~-~!_e.!!!!!.~L 

tb;it we__vt!..~'lE!.~ful th!:):. would irl_!medfately change 

their codes, and we would be ob!!gei!..J!fie.1:. years o( 

strug~ to begin all Q!!1" again. For this reason the 

\V u.r Department would need to draft the wording of 

my citation in a manner that would not lead foreign 

governments to suspect the skill of the Black Chamber. 

After aiscussing with him some of the new problems 

of my otHce, I returned to New York, ani within a few 

weeks was again ordered to \Vashington. 

I was to appear before Secretary of \Var \'Veeks 

at two P.llr. to receive the D. S. l\I. On the way to his 

office I asked General :Heintzelman if Secretlll"f \.Veeks 

really knew why I was being awarded the D. S. ~I. I-le 

assured me that the Secretary was one of the most ar•lent 

sup11orters of the Black Chamber. 

I felt rather silly standing before the Secretary of 

\Var, as he read my citation that seemed to have very 

little to do with the breaking of codes of foreign governments, but I was relie,·ed when he pinned the medal on 

my lapel, for with a twinkle in his eye he winked at me. 

'.l.'he wink pleased me immensely. 

The vague phraseology of my citation and the note 

from my secretary to me while I was in Arizona g:L\·e 

some idea of the fear on the part of \V ashington that our 

activities would be discovered. \Ve were not only asked 

to move our office from time to time, but many other so-

,1, I 'j 

r 1 • \ I I I~ 11 

',I I ~I 

I•' 

~ ! i ,, 

11 I I 

~ I • • I 

I :I \ ' I 

'· I' \•. 

; I . ',· ! . ~ I 

{' 

. 

I 

\' 

.. I: . ., 

' . ' . . j: 

.. •I 

. ' 

I, 

•' 

... 

I' '•I 

.. I'!' 
IRECEIV 

messages. 

telegrams ~1 

u.n incontest 

hue.I decipher 

diplomatic a 

came around 

Wll8 told tha 

Dureau, and 

The situatio 

officer knew t 

was nothing h 

It certain] 

experts give t 

Bow did the 

a Navy Cryp 

up their office 

cause of their 

This morn· 

1981, I wus inf 

ington that the 

had one thousa 

turned over to 

they couldn't 

very enligh teni 

the Black Ch~ 

.!;_~"}!tograE_h~ 

been closed by 1 

In spite of : 

regarding our n 
I RECEIVE DISTINGUISHED SERVICE llED..\.L 325 

me:ss:i.ges. lVe in ::'.'few York h:i.d :ilre:uly :i.nalyzeJ th~ 

telegrams and could, at u. moment's notice, have given 

llII incontest:ible opinion as to their authenticity, for we 

J1:id deciphered thousands of l\Iexican code and cipher 

diploma.tic and consular messages. The Navy, however, 

came a.round to my correspondent for his opinion, but 

was told that the War Department had no Cipher 

Bureau, and did not know a. thing a.bout the subject! 

'fhe situation was especially ludicrous, for the Naval . , 

I i officer knew that my correspondent was 1)ing, but there : 

was nothing he could do about it. ,, 

It certainly amused us both to see so-called Naval ':' .§.., • .1... ~~...l.. , ; 1 

experts give their opinion about the Ilea.rst documents. ·:tu·•~. t£-...~' \ ,, I.fl , ' ·I How did they become expert? The last.!_ had seen of ::::.-.t': n .. ,t, • } :,. 

a Navy Cryptographic Bureau was when they closed 7 ,..f-:-.JJ-, : ' ·: 

up their office and placed a liaison officer in l\oll-8 be- ::}·, 'I 

l( 

.! 

cause of their failure to decipher a single message. 

This morning, and I um now writing of }'ebrulll"Y, 

l!l31, I was informed by a friend just back from \Yashington that the committee investigating Soviet activities 

had one thousand Soviet code messages which had been 

turned over to "Government experts" to decipher, but / 

they couldn't be solved by these experts. This was f 

•cry enlightening, for it had been my impression that: 

the Black Chamber h::t.d a monopol! . ...!'.!L experienced 

~J>log!:!i_E..~~ and the Black Chamber had long ugo-i 

been closed by the go•ernment. 

In spite of all the precautions to maintain secrecy 

regarding our activities, we were once nearly given away 

// 

" 

' ji 

,, 

I 

( 

' '• !• 

'I 

'I 

' 
....... :-·.·. 

..• ""'!'. 

I RECEIVE ... . :-·::. -·· 

to give ·such 

secret activiti 

activities of t1 

would change 

erased. N eecbootleg ciphe 

D~pite al 

so~e govern· 

secret activi~ 

could in the 

had not been 

for nothing •. 

For seven 

servation, . \ 

was no man 

shadow· behi:r 

private ~ve& 

unwelcome f 

along well be 

vestigator. 

being watch 

. deavored to • 

I returned t• 

sensed that· -

eluded purS'I 

Nearlyev 

at a speake. 

two before· 

more often t 

l ··9e.ei_~ 

'I+ , ~ .... f.~-

-----------------------------------

- . -- ._\"!'5--=::-_-:::~-
l ;:o .Bruce 

•• n .:stig:i.- ... 

,. ... ~. 

. • 

• • 

.. 

. . \ 

=t~;: .. _\_:,:~· 1' 

fine wines • · 

hum I wa9 ·.:: · 

Chief of · .:,£t." .. 

these mes-

·rlere with • 

0 hundred 

the latter 

sages we 

nature of 

f ..-Ulmtie 

me up to 

·on the depped dead 

mpha.tically 

h m~ .oJBce 1 ... • 'c.t- 'J.NJ.,. 

- "no\ 

... "' ..... 

... •' 

.. , 

. 

. ... 

.. .- ....... : 

- i'-":_ 

..... =.. 

-.... ~: .. 

• "'~t"I 

.. -.. . . , . . .. • 

. • . 

.... 

.. ":\ "'•I~ 

I RECEIVE DISTINGliISBED SRRVICE MED.\L 32'1' 

to g1..-e ~11cli teslimrmy. To do so would dJSClo&e our 

i.e..:n=t activ1t1es. 'l"h.: 1le\\&pu.p1m1 would be full of tho! 

actit"ities of the Black Chamber. Foreign governments 

would change a.ll their codes and yea.rs of Ja.hor would be 

erased. Needll!ss to say, this ended our co1111eCtion with 

bootleg cipher messa.p. 

Despite all our precautions, however, some one, or 

some government suddenly became interested in our 

secret activities and went about Jeaming wha.t they 

could in the DWll1el' I knew they would follow, for I 

hud not been cormected with espionage all these years 

for nothing. 

For several weeks now I had known I was under obaern.tion. Whenever I \-entured on the street, which 

was no more tha.n once or twice a d:i.y, I sensed this 

shadow behind me. But to ma.ke certain I employed a 

private investigator. After this when I appeared my 

unwelcome friend sprang from nowhere and strolled 

along well behind me, and behind him too ambled my investigator. We \\"ere of course now certain that I wus 

being wutehed. For what purpoae1 >I:r man endeavored to discover this by following my shadow after 

I retumed to the ofliee, but he was too clever. :He also 

sensed that he w111 covered and at the proper moment 

eluded pursuit. 

Nearly every da.y late in the afternoon I dropped in 

at a speakeusy in the West Forties for a cocktail or 

two before dirmer. As the bar was always jammed, 

more often th:Ul not one engaged a stranger in eonversaI I 

,. 

' a~ ~.:..a.~---~ .J '~"'"'-- :7.~ .... t f>.1L rl- ::'c.1-"""'---~ • I I • 

. . . ..!. t,"i -n. ... r ~:11:....,,,,,.,,- :"".,.c.". c..... .. ~ .. -i. ;hr--...r....., .. 'WI..., _,J .. 

{ I V 

::i • • i.l- • ~, ~,.J,.U-&1..:.'--"""'"- I ....... ~·- ,. 1- •• I 

• I I f1 r.. .c-"""':.. ·c· ~ 

~J ~ii '..J! ~\.4.,loLlo,,L.-.. ... - L •1 

., "'/ J J 1-J..(l.\i'"" -r. 

' " 

• 

.. 

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. ' . 

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• 

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~ 

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I : 

'I I 

. 

' I I ~ . 

. 

I 

'• 

I 

'1 

i : 

' I \ 

... 

: \ • :. 

I •: 

j• 
l:l 

ciollaD, a··.<, ·. ··:· 

iefs. ... . : · .... ;i' 

.eriw.ber •. :·.:/:;. . . .... ~.)· 

night. find .. '-~~ • .. ,r,. 

taken, but ; "< 

to ....... ·;) ...... ..·:f 

.. '. ~ -· ----) -...:-~_ ...... ____ ...;__.....;. __ ..:_ _____ ..:_ __ ___;__.._:__;____:_~ --- .. 
~. ·: •" 

.. ~ :. .. 

··._ .-· 

<:Dff~~· --___ ,,A:n-L 

been:-aF 

autmle -

of the: 1 

tlie'fub 

- -

_-·;~The t 

"1mcbint 

rector-~ 

- "Y&l'I 

-_,"I do. 

intrigue 

can be x 

I 

. iloti -

went--ve• 

oftlcer g 

Scarcely 

realize~ 

an_oppo. 

-:Myvc 

"Ourread, but 

inquire.j 

withmyThe w 

sociation 

m tbiS c; 

turned b 

-""'IT 

- iOU = 

bother w 

.+-9~~ :~ 7: ... -t_ 1 ;.;u. 11-

..... 
.. 

-

-~ .. , . 

. . 

THE SECRETARY· SEES TlJE PRES:r;DENT , 888 

A. new -D~I shall not give bis -name-had · been •ppoiDf;ed. and ·1 was ordered to W ashiDgt.on to . 

outline the history of~ actmtie.-and 8cconiplisbments 

.. . . -.. 

. . : .:·: . . 

·of the Black Chamber, and to give him my plans-for. 

the future. . . . . :··:· ........ . . . ;- .. ,, : . . · .· ·. ..:.·~-~~)~;// 

d 

.t 

,. 

N 

The :new· Director, his executive o8leer and I were· · · · ... _... ii · · . •• r·~ :· ·. \\ · 

lunching at the Arm1 and. N &Vf Club, when the ~ ·· · : . ·· >:.> : 

rec;tm. asked~:-. . ·. · .:·:·_··:··.-.:.- · :: ... ··._:>,_>:: · .. _· · : __ :·::·,:·)-·:r,:_. .. .-: __ .. ; .. _.~X:fi}_:~: 

'Yardley, what code do you plan to IOhe ..mr . · ... --'. .. · ...-.~.· 

."I don't lmow~ but the Vatican code telegrams rathet -·~ _·. ·:·· .. ,.·_·~~·~.: ___ -•. 

-intrigue me. Our preliminarJ. ana1yais shows that thej'_ .. . . ' 

~be re.a.-~ ... -~ .. · ..... : .. . · ..... '. . . . ,_ ":. ·. . ·. , ..~ .. -~:.'...:\~~~ : .l 

·. I iiopm With raprnent that the -DireCt.or'a face ___ , ... :~.. t 

went Tert whit.e. ·At t.he· same moment .the ezec:utire· ·. . . ··. _.,. :·: , 

, _.._ ma,ve me· a~ kick. mider _ ..... _ table. .It .. ~:·=-·:·_:·~;::.- i 

UllWla" o- tillll . ' . . . ! 

aca.rcel)" needed the. injUl'f. to my shins . to make me · · ·· .. 

. realize that the Director 'W8I a CathoHC. but it gave me · ...... ·. ;_,· ; 

·. an Opp~ty to cover up my conf'illion. . 

· My To.ice 'was a bit tremulous, but ·1 began again: · : . 

. 110ur pnHminarf analysis shows that they C8D be" .· . : , .... :_.-,._ ·. 

~but I~ feel tm.Lt it.~ !!Pcthical for .. us. ~ ..... ..: ... ·· .. :., 

.. "inquire. mto-.the Vatican m. I hope you c0neur.-. · .. · .···:/·:··. ·_ 

. 

..;.a....: ln'V' ..:-.-" • . . . : '; .:· .. : . . ·. . . . . . .. : .: . ·;_. ::" .. ·. W&llll -,, Y.Mmiffl . · .. · · :" · : 

· The word unethicai iioUnded a bit .f:nmge in ibi.... · "·;::-;:-_-:. 

sociation with ~ activities of •· B~ Chamber;c but ·:. ~- ·. _; <_:j:f_.: 

in this case ·it .was d~, lor the blood slowly ~ . . . -:-:>:. . :.··.·-· 

tumecl to th~ Director's lace. · . .··. 

' \' . 

I

I ~ ~ 11You are quite Jisht, Y .mley," -he said. .. 111 woulclD't .·' ... · 

. bother ~th the Vaticul code t.elegnlila..· ·rm gla(\ to. · • ._ t 

+- 9~ ~ ~ L. __ -~. ~-;:~~· ~-,_-~·;~···:·.::~,:;:~:.i ·. -l~ . 1~ ~- . . .. :. . (/'~ .· .. : .. ·.·-•:;..·: ,, (' 

'l~ ; _ _ ______ _ _ --~-~, ~: ~ _ :_: __ -~C~:- --:~_;i:_ l { __ - -· .. ··-- __ :.._:···:.:.·-.·.: ____ :·.~---·:.:: ··· .. _: · ... :·.-··.--·:::.:..::.:...···.:. ··=-·--·=-~·-::.:···· . .. -···-·-···-
" 

!j 

\j 

. , 

-.,,,. .. ""· ... '-' .. ..;,.~ ( 

· r-rl'.l:.. 

33-1. THE AMERICAN BLACK CIIA::\IBER .~ . .- ,:;t-i:~ ... ·.r .... ~-1 

&ee that you recognize th:i.t there :tre certain limits thu.t' -.: -·r,F 

we can not exceed in the espionage necessary for the ·/.~.". ! 

successful oper:ition of your bureau." , , "' :.;rJ1 

Though the Black Chu.mber made preliminary analy- :-·::!,qi ~es of mu.ny codes that it was never called on to solve, . !j,~f!, A 

it was on the other hand required to solve all the codes ,,.,.:, };-1 

f · tr· h h h ·· ,.;,f ~·1 

~e:~::inin7o:a~~;ne:~n~;~!1u:, :~~e :~ ;~: 1~::::-;' ·:~!~, there were no important questions being discussed. Thls ~\~!?j 

was done of course with only a few governments, and . ~;~~~~· 

was necessary, for only bv continuity is it possible to ·-\~·~?:~ 

).;cc~~ with the chanffes that the codes of nil gol·ern- -~-.-Jtf 

!_Jlents gradually undergo. In fact the success of a Ci-· .; i~;;­

pher Bureau in breaking new codes is often dependent . i~1:. 

on continuity. If we rend a. pu.rticulnr government's '.:l;'t_: - J ~ ... 

messages over a period of years, when the code is sud- >·if:· 

denly changed, it is less difficult to break the new one, . :f;!;~ 

because, having observed this government make slight -~.-..;'~".­

improvements from year to year, we are familiar with '_-':>, "1 

the line ~f rensoning of the expert who is compili11g the · ·::: 

codes. Each government has pet theories about codes _' l :~~ 

1 and ciphers, and as long ns the same man compiles them, · ::, .· ' " . we assume, when confronted with a new code or eipher, ~- ~~~, · 

that we are dealing with his partieular type. :_ :~l~'·. 

Let us t:ike the l\fexicnn Government us an example. ··' ,.-~ I " I • 

In 1917 they enciphered theil' me&sngcs in simple substi- · .:'(;, .. 

tution ciphers, of the Gold Bug type. Shortly after- ·-:c:!' 

ward their cryptographer evidently thought these un- · · -i·~·' 

safe, for he adoptccl multiple substitution ciphers. , ';~!·;._., .• J.:i'' l ~ ~· .~r; ... ! 

. "s~,- . . . ·:.:~ .. J .... ~,;-~·.::. 

-.~"-i{; 

:. .. ~ .. .,-: , ;- .,,,-,~--: 

-· ... '.... ' r •II • .. 

- ... '!'=~- -- .. -- . - -- ·------:-... ""'. :. 

THEE 

The t>1 

:Mexican c 

fort ciphe1 

known as. 

7'ableau ci 

It is ab1 

tuire e.'ll:pr• 

of their a~ 

ing the k 

mounteban 

bo:i&ted of 

they hadn1 

'fhe full 

dceipherm1 

would beoJ 

ing mentio 

dicnte brie 

pl'oblem. 

'l'he l\fe 

of the Ben 

tion is the 

are bn&ed. 

crnment is 

alphabet. 

ten after t 

or disarra 

This ci 

tangle of 2 
, Di:part-

·ut would 

.-:er intertext mes-

·nsitlering. 

}.cs. Had 

r messages 

·e DepartEmba.ssy 

bns of tee 

u suddenly 

·onstructed 

: alphabets. 

!!abets, but 

!!ew system 

t we finally 

.mlve mesan Got'ern-

..rr:iphrr for - .. , ·re not very 

d alphabet-

·-~nee of the 

·- . .~ =-! -·- ;. "·1 ~ -.. .-,,._ :." "t;~ 

.... ~'.•'f­

..... , . 

·~ .. i .. , 

' . .. ··-· 

- i"" .:="' _;-.r.t, ,r.,•: .... 1 

-:~~ 

: ... .; :ii .. ,-,.1 .. , . . '~.- -~· =;:.-:"" 

r ... ~~I I r•("lf 

... 4-"51 

, ·~A._'i··~ • ~"ll 

': 111•.:1! ·~~~~ ,.,_~\.1 

••"\.:-t'I 

,. ' 

- I '3 

' ·-r·i -. I~-." .,_ 

..... it 

:;.. . ·..=:,-;.;; ·-· ., i!~ 1' 

. -

THE SECHETiU~Y SEE!> THE l'RJ::SIDENT 3,1,3 

code \t'ords and the plain text \t'ords for which thi:y 

stood, was thoroughly mixed. In Chapter VIII 

there is quoted a page from a German tri::nch code th.it 

shows how a thoroughly dis~L~rangetl cotle is constn1cted. 'l'he illustration facing page 313 also shows 

a. thoroughly mbced cotlc in use hy the :British l•'oreign 

Office during the \V nshington Armament Conference. 

The latter is what we call a "skeleton cotle.'' At this 

stage about thirty-five hundred words had been identified. The British Government seeme<l to prefer sma.11 

codes of only ten thous:m.tl words and phrases. 

\Ve have now watched the slow development of ~Iexican means for the encipherment of their diplomatic 

messages. They had started with simple single substitution ciphers and had gradually re:it·hetl the stage of 

the disarranged code. ll..:!!'as b,r continui!:.r_J!Jat we 

were :ible to soke them so readily. Q.l:er a_periotl ot 

~rs we learned not only their pet theories on socnlJ~deci,eherable codes Uiidtjphers, which assi:;t;;i' 

us immeusurably, but also bec:ime familiar with their 

st~~k exp;~o-;;s or ph~seology. No cryptographe; - __ __, -----~d- --- ---~ 

c31l hope for rapid solutions unless he has this hackground to assist him. Aside from this, if no attempt is 

made to decipher messages during quiet periods when 

there seems to be no likelil1ood of important issues nrisin·,:, the true aims and intentions of a government can 

not possibly be ascertained. One never knows at what 

moment another government will start a mo~·ement 

prejudicial to our intere3ts. 

, , 

" ,, 

.~ 

'j 

I/ 

,j 

'I \' 

r 

\· 

I 

' " ,· 
THE 

relations' 

us. But I 

roll. · Yo1 

Am I cle1 

"Yes. 

"Now,l 

roll. So i 

Attorney-• 

"But or 

turn this i; 

ment .. In 

.Tustice De 

"A .Tust 

activity or 

.T ustice c:is 

I was nc 

was none oJ 

"H~ve "K 

asked . 

.,Yes.'' 

"WouldJ 

roll?" 

"I think i 

"Then tr 

partment a, 

I promis1 

"There is 

office," I b1 
. 812 

. : ... _:,'. 

:_ ; . .~ 

·-·· ' 

THE AMERICAN BLACK CIIAJ.'1BER 

entire message before me~ I_ c_owd see, a~ a glance man;:;., 

other repetitions of several five-figure Code words. The: '. · · 

fourth group.-NC9TRAL .was probably cipher and:;~ 

speUed a pl&ce or a name not in the code book. . \'">:. 

~ . -· ~·immediately put through a call _t;o Washington: .,; -:~_1}~­ -- Just got your note. ne message • in ¢00.e and 1': 

- : \. 'suppose we c&n read it, but why all Ule illysteryf'- - -. 

• _ "I don't ~ow a thing, Yardley.". . ..-_ · _ -. : ~i~;,;,.'" 

"Well, you know where you got it; don't youf Y~-.. ~~-

can give us a clue as to the J.anguage it is in." · . ~· -;_.;~-

. "I haven't the least idea of the language S D gav~ :~~\ 

the ~age ici me under the most secreti~~ ~nclltions;XI:~ -but told me _-b, imp~essfon you the imporlance of a quick{'~' --solution. Be sure to -let me· know what progress -r,..;:,_ _ make, no matter how slight." _,·,; -· __ . _ ... ,.: .. 

. :- "All right,"~I i.lis .. ered,-an.d h~bp. _-, - · ~-. ~>;:.~~?~·· - ~t' :{, l • By S. D. he meant the State Department. This-~~':·}~'i- :::§~§t~l411: f;*li' · i ~: _ Just another on~ of those problems of opeiiing a safe :·'-_~}> !-:. ·)> i: -.~ :f~ V1 without the ooinbmati~' If the Deparlment of_ State"'··- -

:~. ~.I~ ~: ~ ".'as interested it must be a diplomatic message •. The only::'. ~~ ·~ft:; ~ "t-0 .... f ... .,,1 · important controversy- at the time was the- T•~~-<:· it' "'• ; -~\or''"''~ . ~. -

--~i f J'<i~ Arica ease in which the United States was «Cting as W,..:l( 

; ·t·<~ ~ ,' ~ ~#.7r\: pire. This _disputed terri~rJ:- had nearly led to war.:/~ ~;f :1;: )'-. .o 1 ':- - ·betiiveen Chil~ and Peru~·and the Uni~ States was·&~:t?-

__ }_}r -~;: ~ _ (u}. - tempting to get them to settle their dispute without ~{_ \t!l i, t ~ -_ -, 7 -

sorting to arms. The message, then, s0 I reasoned, must--\\ 

--~!·t;, j(.f: < - _ - be either Peruvian ~r Chilean. l had been surprised \'; .. 

::iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiia~-~ -~;~:: - that the State DepartmeDt had not.asked us to furniib'5~_, ___ .~ --- ~lu.::r '; _ -- : --decipherments of both ~tries' telegrams during tma::',\"/~~.~>-- ~f~;H :" j' ~··j[_- . ~ - ~~~- ":'~l:~·:lJ~~~~·i: ~L~t: · ·. t , "'k-~ ~-1;7~ · .. - ~i':';;~1t: :-J·j'_~ -~ -~-A-.A. ~~~ ~~ 71"1., ..... r~~~/~f,':~·;· -~-i~_,' ~ ~ ~ I J -~ 

,.,,_ ~- ~ J.. ~,,:.~d """""'"'." - o~J•t f'tA.."'"' • __ - ·.../. ,. ;ic..........- A-- .--.......~ - . - ,1·.<~·'f<;;.;.,.; - _,.,,,r.:_,,'.<~; 

-··1.-;; •, f. - I'vt~ M y - - _- --- 0 •· o.'.,)/'·· "';( · 

~·: 

-~ - .Jt.! 

eontroversy 

pate the De 

-· Wemain 

dexed a1i 'ar: 

papers :reg 

that-.We-- 001 

newspa~ 

clippiDgi ~~ 

the questior 

We- reasone· 

shouldocm4 

.As web 

during the.·: 

. tion, we 8SSi 

.. alphabet~ 

_re~~-­

. their numen 

the war we:r•: 

_ :fiye figures. 

Ouranaly. 

-: fnquently ;--. 

serled"this m 

de .AriCa -she 

, followed-de ~ 

. · Arica should 

-early in the c 

'We gave up: 

·4s nlbro• 

·the solution • 

-~·-1' l , - ., -- - - . - ...,. +-4- .. : . . ,. ~ ·,- ' I ...•• , .. ·-·· . ' .: ··-·-·· ·- •• • ···• ' . 

----~--~~--..;..... _ _;.. ____ ....;.·--.. --- .. -.:.----:;.;-··.;;;,··--.;;,.;-· .. -;,;., .... · .. .;;;,-"";;,;;;·"':;;:,;;-··;.;;---~----,;..--~;;;;,.:~------~-:~~~·-:~_--_---·===-:.:.-
.• u\~t: n1.my 

onls. The 

cipher and 

.......... ··- I"~, ·ri•.'1 : 

' : .... ~i~&.~~ ... 

You 

. ~ ._. ..... :. 

conditions, 

e of a quick 

you 

. This was 

nmg a safe 

•nt o'1State 

e. Theonly 

,.;thou~ re- -

soned, must 

n surprised 

15 to furni>h 

' during this 

::..._ ,I 

_ .... ._ r""".,,.:..ui-

' .... 

,., 

:;, ·:· ..... '' 

•. --·- .f '-~:. ... ~,;~~ 

/ 

' . ._ · .. ..,,,._ "'--

'.A WORD WITH THE ST.\TE DEP.\RTi\ffiXT 353 

controversy, but I was long past attempting to anticipate the Department's vagaries. 

We maintained a clipping bureau of our own, and indexed all articles in the New York Times and a few other 

papers regarding any international controversy, so 

that we could review what had been mentioned in the-

' I 

.. -· 

11. 

"Ii' 

·1· ': \': 

' . I ;1 

I

:· 

" newspapers without any research. A perusal of the I!; 

clippings regarding this controversy showed. that one of -·'I 1t 

the questions was the disposition or the City of .Arica. ) ~....:- I ;: 

\Ve reasoned therefore that the phrase ciud11d de Arica l & 3 ~- l. . ;j 

should occur at least once. · j I 

All we had deciphered the Chilean and Pen1vian codes ; 

during the wo.r and were familiar with their construe- I,:! 

tion, we assumed that this message was encoded in an ~( 

clphabetical system; that is, one in which the words I :

1 

retain their alphabetical sequence and t:he code words :; 

their munerical order. The codes we bad solved during 'i\ 

the 'l\"nr were, however, five-letter code words instead of 

five figures. 

Our analysis told us tnat the code word occurring most 

frequently was 36106, which we assumed as de and insertecJ'this meaning throughout the message. As ciudad 

de Arica should occur, we began to look for a word that 

followed de that would fit for Arica-the code word for 

Arica should begin with 00 ... since Arica would occur 

early in the code book itself. After several hours' search 

we gave up 36166 as meaning de and filled it in us en. 

As en brought no results, we temporarily abandoned 

the solution of 86106. 

-, 

,, 

1• 

ti 

., 

,. 

,, 

I 
-, 

. 

I 

I 

~ l. ' 

' . 

i I 

I ~ 

: i 

I: 

i' 

,, ' 

jl .. ''1 • Ii 

. , 

I I 

THE ,nrERICA..'11' BC.ACK CIIAlfllF:It 

We now selected 2735!1, another high-frequency 

group, to me'm di:, and again hegan our ~c.ireh for 

ciudad de ..J.rica, which we finally tentatively idcnti.ficcl. 

. -... ~ .._. I .::·_:t1· -- ' . -... ~,-~ - '-l~-:.."".l 

_t;.,,..J ~ '·i! .. ..; 

• "'"','f . -'t: ... t - .. '\.! 

.-:~r"-"'1 In this manner a.!ter the first day we filled in only ~ ~ ';i ~ 

such words ns de, en, el, que, y, a, etc., and were rather ';t;~ doubtful or a quick solution, for the problem now, of - ,}'I: 

course, became a great deal more complex, since about"' '.'-~t 

250 out of a total of 890 "code words in the message oc- -·--:~· 

curred only once. - · - - · - - ~- ~·. ~~ 

The next morning, however, we fortunat~ly identified';:!:~~: -'\!"" •• , the words Secretary of State, and such phrases, trans- ,'{;f-i 

lated, as the Secretary of State aaid, etc. ··\~-~~ 

When we made this discovery, I picked up the tele- /}~j 

phone and told my correspondent in 'Vashington to in--:·· :-· j;-i 

form the Department or State that the message was from ·- ',!-.~1 •. , { ·~ ,., ,, either the Chilean' or Peruvian Ambassador, und that the · :-;~~' 

t -<-.'i':" LJ ~· ... 1 • • , 

...... ~·~ , , ' - .\ ,~rj: 

. , ·,~·" ' 'I ._ • • 

. ' ,,. "' ~ 

, _. 

message reported a conversation with the Secretary of 

State about the Tacna-Arica controversy. Also that if 

they wanted a quick solution he should send us a resume 

of this conversation. ~as the Secrcta!]>'s custom to 

dictate resumes of conversations immediately :1fter a con- . . \.• .. ..,.. ference :with o._representative of another government. '-:•:. -• -. These were often sent to us and were invalua.bJe in the · ... • · '.F.: - --....._ '· ~ 

solution _________ of new codes. ..._.. .': ". · ·~.{-;•· -,.::b 1 

The resume arrived the next morning. and within a -•. s·· • i • ... .-· 

few days we had deciphered the entire mes~age, which · ,-~·· 

turned out to be from the Peruvian Amhass.1dor to his ·- -;•,/. 

•"•. I home government in Lima. A part of the translation· --.! · , . l

·s q oted ' .... ....-:...,·;r· u : " -- . ~ ~ .. ;?•/ 11.' ),~ .... .,;;, • t .. , ......... . 

"·-~•"'I " ~··.:·-:~~t: . -...... :.,.·~ 

l \'~:;: .... 1' 

.•. !'~.tt ,,.••,,' ;1~ I 

.. : -~·:,. • I 1 r• ·" .. . :- oil'' .. 

- :-_ ---- =..:- .:..-:...:;....:.!!= ~~ 

AW1 

No. 

ST. 

Sec 

mg 

pre· 

fair 

in 1 

me 

at o 

abo1 

_self 

·.' 

-',fact 

toy 

grei 

ti on 

ton 

talk 

2. I 

had 

·tary 

The tt 

the subst 

State am 

Now 

State int 

tary of 

conferen 

Am bass 

attempt" 

only Pe 

Bolivia. 

country 
858 THE' AMERICAN BLACK CHAMBER 

and sat smoking while he made up his mind to tell me,: 

in his secretive way, what was on his mind. , 

"Yardley,'' he finally began, "I have wondered for a, , 

long time whether our OWn codes are safe." Anothe~~~. 

whethei 

course 1 

Govern 

"I sh 

necessa 

"Wb . 

. "I ar 

giveyo1 

telegra1 

Hele 

about o 

"I kr 

scribe t: 

the De1 

"Hov 

"Wel 

busines~ 

in not o 

in those 

"You 

thesem: 

I said 

At la~ 

showing 

I dre 

would n 

tionize it 

every on 

some to 
THE .AMERICAN Bi.A.CIC CHAMBER 

. ·_ . ,•,· .·.. ~ 

. •. ~: . ' . 

~. 

A. 

. .. : -~ . . 

means 

·. "TJ:: 

avoid.:& 

in 'aikk. 

.. noneew: 

"Th• ·_· . ,.,,.. __ . · ....... ~ 

.··.,,I .. .. ,-. t" ,..:. -

the·An 

you def 

-. "Yee_ 

'larger+ 

_of the'L 

then, m, 

sagesw; 

later all 

some sue 

a profes: 

.. , .. "Iho1 

.. .c 

·a memo.a: 

my expP-

. pillilg ID 

· · ventiona_ 

·of.comm 

.. ,_ .. Deparln 

I'm afr~ 

about it. 

:· ''Wha 

to the I 

... ·· . ,·,.:·.·· 

. ' . 

.. -~- _._ .. ;..__;_~...:..·-··- ---. 

~~-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~-
, h~ woulu 

In 

, c.lcciphere:ic: pbered 

,·bo.ml and 

the cable 

t ,ed the ndr simplicity 

e again you 

htions by a 

~ These m:i.-

'. To the eye 

~ciphers and 

.ithematical 

.• 

•I '. 

) 

I 

., 

A 'WORD WITH TllE STATE DEl'ARTlIEXT 365 

my experience, I wouldn't know how to go a.bout compiling an indeciplierable code or cipher along the conventional lines. There is only one indecipherable means 

of communication, and its adoption would require the 

Department to revolutionize its antiquated methods. 

I'ni afraid there is· nothing th:i.t either you or I can do 

about it. 

"'Vhat I have said might have seemed disrespectful 

to the Department, hut I'm sure you appreciate my 
_J !1 ,. I " • ' •• . '(~ ,,, ... _ , ,'i _,_._ ,. •lJJ. ....J.,, '"'\ 

:\,... -- . ci. ...... ,;;.i.t ... _ 

,--. 

,,,-;-. 

.. 

,r..~I,~ 

I : v 

I 

-l..v.A..,..4...- ~·J,,~'~·'.L/"'J -'..4'- .Ji.~ 

CHAPTER XX 

THE BLACK Cn.i.::IIBlill Is DESTROYED 

IN THE fatter part of 1928 the newspapers were full 

of the Anglo-American naval race. The British in 1927 

had walked out on llugh Gibson at the conference at. 

.Geneva, but when President Coolidge recommended tha 

fifteen-cruiser bill which would bring us to parity with 

England, the British statesmen suddenly changed their 

tone and decided after all that perhaps it might be well 

to enter :m agreement with America on limitation of 

.. -r 

' 

•,' 

,. 

' • · .. 

.. 

' ."~ 'Ai :i 

• ~jf 

••• . , '.) .-:.r;;~ 

. -:·r 

.··"'";! 

cruisers. ·1 " - ./ :i 

Everything pointed definitely to a conference in 1929. ~:~• 

We therefore set about to prepare ourselves to play an :::-'~ • ~ I} 

~portant part, as we had done in 1921-22 at the "\Vash-. . . ;;/~ 

mgton Armament Conference. ~ · · ; ~~ 

'.l'I. ' 1 ..,, ·

1 

11s was not a s1m11 e matter. The .nlack Chamber . ' 

had entered a critical period of its history. It became in- <~I creasingly difficult to obtain copies of the code tclcgru.ms .. I 

of foreign governments, and we were forc.-ed to adopt ... :. J 

rather subtle methods. Our superiors did not always · . ,: .. l 

ass1s "t us 'th m e measures necessary · · .I to mamtam the flow · · · 

of telegrams into the Black Chamber. . ~ 'i . i 

I envied the foreign cryptographer, for he had no such ·. . . .-. ,· 

problem to worry over. All coded messages were turned . . . •\ 

over to him as a matter of routine, as they were to us . . . \ 

during the ;war. In fact England, in her license con- . ' ·. 

sq 

THE Il 

tracts to cable 

to deliver all 

in the Admiral 

are hidden. T 

me considerabl 

matter once an 

. :My plan wa 

not give, faile 

. !ilomentaril 

ference. Both 

gressive than e 

China. we had 

thought, secret 

·America would 

hold the positio 

ference. The B 

. The new S 

but it was the 

ington to permi 

himself with his 

tion the activitie 

Finally we de 

sages, and when 

that this presell 

the new Secreta 

·. I accordingly 

with the greate 

news of the Se 

when I saw a le1 

.. 
------------

·- . 

. ; 

. i 

: ~ ~ .· ;..i ~- • ~'"" ,.~,-j-: ~~ • ' .. .., .,·~;;;;""'.. .. r • • -· ~~, • • • ,,~ ,'"'" o;~ .. 

-· ··: .~ •. .· ...... ·i'"..:. ·~... . •; ~· · . 

. r'· . r 

erjpto: 

entered 

their·i~ 

tion, .. tl.:' 

Theyd 

... an·exp 

/.:, :-· ~ . · ..... ,.\; 

-.··The 

ot the 

W~i. 

·:··]ief~ 

the J'Ol_I 

1..mm~ 

ber of 

burea11. -----·--·. 

depend 

wedesi .. 

• wh~-

llllile. -

- .:.".Ha 

• ..•"V"-- . · · .... "'" 

"It't: 

mow-

. any Sf 

. : ·~:·~-'No 

··'.We 

a?Ose ~ 

·,~'Th ' : 

•·- -. "simply 

witbou 

: ~ ·,· i~ . 

· .. ;· .. ·. ! ........ :·,:.:.· 

.· ..... 

. ;··