The Union and journal. [volume] (Biddeford, Me.) 1858-1882, 1870-04-08
Oipher Writing.

In all ages It has bccna common prob
lem To convey important information bo-
tween distant persons without subIccting
Il to exposure II the medium Of Ia COM
munication should fall into improper
hands. For this purpose innumcrablc do
vices have been invented and used. Ono
of the oldest was to shave tho head ofa
slave, write the message on his scalp, Jet
the hair grow again. and then send him
to tho correspondent, who shaved his head
In turn and read the information. This
was n slow process, but answered very
well so long rs tho slave did not fall into
the hands Of any barber-ous enemy. Hy-
croglyphics wcrc an early device. and Of
course were scrviceablc toR certain cx-
tent. But they mado both the writing
and the reading complicated matter, and
could be dcciphcred. Various ciphcrs arc
now used by governments and by military
commanders and there arc those who
make their solution special study. 50
that messages falling into tho hands ofthc
enemy arc frequently acc'pnerca ny ."c''
experts. Tho lottery managers anu ,n0
brokers of our day largely usc, for telc-
graphic communication with their CORE
sp"ndents' cipher which consists SIMPLY
In tho substitution OF ono worn ior ""o'n'
or. Their messages present tho ap
pearanco Oh o succession OF worus "kcn
NJ random lrom d'c.'ohary' w''"ou' any
connection In sense. FOR instance mes
sage which mcans"Buy me 100000 worth
of gold, NAV read ..I,oots. fortit,idc. Nor
.i .,..,,,.. .,, h,,, .,.o
way, ProPci' ch'S''o UT my m"b o'''
that has no apparent sense. Tho objcc-
tions TO such cipher arc that Il must ncc-
a.,.r,,v ho ,,r,tod IN q. scoro or ala,
.',,,.'.o. | - =" -, .,d NJ, n n..d
.io'"'''o'"o " ,'"S', ',"' '
frequently 1t can be dcciphercd. Any ci-
phcr, which depends on the fixed and un-
VARYING substitution of ono word, letter or
c., e. .,o,ho- 90, ~, s,,d,o1 o,, With
"Smo 'o' ""oo'' "''" W '." '",
iittic shrcwdhcss ana Peil'hcc' Many
years ago, In an old publication, We saw
do.cr;,tion nj n svstem which Wa bcljeye
-,,..,.,,.,.. e, 4, -,.
" oc 'ho oh'y ""'o'''''y s"0 W" " oN
tcncc. 1t Is so arranged that any icucr OF
tho alphabet In the cipher. and In differ.
nm, ,,,cc, nv different ones. This renders
-, N ,,,.,.,,. =, ,.,...,s,
." s"''''"s' """ "' '"p. - @
the elements Oh u" c'pncr, n"c''! '""'''
We will describe the method rs briefly rs
possible: Ia..
T.,L. s,,.-o .hoo, or ,,,cr or convo.
n9 'i"no 49, rD. y. pr'' MIL. 4.
nIcm. s,]1- y. aoi.. ,n,. -
hundred and scycntyesix squares, twenty.
six each way. Tn the upper horizontal
row wrlte tho alphabet beginning with d;
there will then be one square lcn nt tho
end Of tho row-lill IL with A. Fill tho
third row by beginning with G, and writ.
Ing A aud B aftcr Il Mt the end. SO pro-
cccd until the whole sheet Is filed. When
complete, II correctly done, tho tablo will
present this appearance In the upper
horizontal row, the alphabet from lcit tO
right; In the lcft vertical row, the alpha
let from top to bottom; limo OF rs from
the upper right 10 tho lower lon corner.
Each party must have ono Of those tables.
A kcy-word must Also also oe agrcc1 upon,
y, MSn ,Sn rS,;.S @ ~ 2 IaSu.w. m n n can " n, vsn'
."."r,.i ~ ~" liz I. Ran,"s 'i..,.r. I'm ,r,I.r to
~ .oa% ,,o!.aH" s- s,r., ,vr;,o :, d, nl.;n r,c.
S III .Than Sr;,a t ,ho loy'wnr5 "x.r
ia,,.- % nvar ,e,,ar rc,.a,'rc n .s many
o. ,;..... o,'' ,.,.'. ,., nnoe.s.. q, sov.r M.
u.. ...,s' . @ .s y" TT. . s;;y,,i. ~ go r..
;''..a,,,' us,o 'sS. .."s @ 81. o nn.,'..J ;. n.
.nsu'ac,' .,mm y"Pl"so VIZ ~ Nv w. -. ~ ~
lar uon. ,'.,,.;u." Mu ',,' IT, .s",,Id w .r.rcnS
thH. ' ro''''"' '''" ~ ~
",s.,ns. "
h"veonod"ysProVo
Now find In the upper horizcns"i Dw
the first letter of the kcy-word, ~ In tho
lcft han'l vertical tho first letter OF tno
message, w: Follow tho lido straight
down nom L. and tho ono straight 70 the
right from w; and In tho anglo whSre
these two lines meet will be found tho
letter which must be written as tbs Arst
Of tho cipher. With tho second letter OF
the kcy-~ord: a. ana thc second Of Tho