The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1879-03-15
MODERN CIPHERS.
The Use Of Language 60 Conceal Thoughts


TLiprncott for march,
The first use of language was the ex
preston of mems thoughts; the first us,
of writing was the perpetuation OF
events, and transmission of ideas anc
language. 1t was with advancing civil
ization that language came to be re
garded as means of concealinl
thought, and that certain methods OF
writing were devised for the conceal
ment of transmitted ideas 1t is per
fectly consistent with all that history
tells that when Hiawatha lamented the
loss of traditions, of the wisdom of the
wise, and the fact that
- Face TO face we speak together
- But we cannot speak when absent,
his bordering and musings should hays
resulted as they did - a att+
From his pouch be took his eolers
Took his paints of different coors,
On the smooth bark OF a birch tree
Painted many shapes and figures
Wonderful and mystic figures; -.
And each figure had meaning,
Each some word or thought suggested.
1t will be observed that the figures were
mystic, and the reason, as explained by
MIR. Longfellow, is that the noble savage
felt the want of some means of sending
secret messages. He did not wish his
couriers either TO know all his secrets or
to have a chance of perverting or be-
traying his messages or of revealing them
to individuals for whom they were not
intended. His system may be described
as picture-painting; and it was unques-
tionably very ingenious system, al
though not adapted to the requirements
of the modern Trainer of secret dis
patches. All primitive nations resorted
to the same means of perpetuating
events, and it was carried TO great per-
lection by the Mexicans.
The ancients occasionally used a slave
as both writing-material and courier.
They shaved his head, wrote the message
upon his scalp, kept him until his hair
grew again, and then sent him off to his
destination. The method has merits
worth considering, The Indian might
thus be utilized. There are, moreover,
and Mr.. Mast is here an authority
humble but rampant members of polit-
ical organizations among whose bristles
message would be as safe from obser-
walton as If written upon tree-stump
in jungle. Intelligence might thus be
conveyed upon skull too thick for it
to penetrate, and under circumstances
not very rare the absolute guarantee
against penetration afforded by the me-
dunn would be recognized as its greatest
merit. Its objections are obvious The
chief point to be considered in COM
petitive examination for the post of
courier would be the speedy growth of
hair, and the test would necessarily be
tedious for the examining board. Then,
again, when a state is trembling In the
political balance, and wire-pullets are
anxiously awaiting Information as to the
disposal of the "snews of politics." it
would be, to say the least, dangerous to
the Selling of golden opportunity to
call in the barber, force the growth of
the hirsute bush, dispatch the bristling
Mercury and then literally read his
bumps with the aid of a second barber
The deficiencies of all the previous
systems were, in measure, met by the
invention of that known as chifre, which
consisted simply of the substitution of
one letter of the alphabet for another, or
the representation of them by signs.
1t was, however, too transparent for all
the purposes of diplomacy, and recourse
was subsequently had to chifre quarve
or chifre tndechifratle. Here the letters
of the alphabet or signs are tabulated,
and word given as key. The latter
may be changed from time to time, and
a decipherer who has not the key must
equip himself with patience and perse-
verance before he can solve the riddle of
letters. By changes of the key and fire.
quent notifications of the system it has
recently been seen by newspaper readers
of the United States that limited
measure of safety from detection ma bey
secured. But as in England the compe-
tition between armor-plates and guns in
variably results ultimately in favor of
the latter, SO in America the cryptic
graphical armor of politicians has been
riddled by the ordnance of tie New
York Tribune. The Interpretation by
the indefatigable experts of that jour
nal of long series of intricate ciphers
forms one of the most curious chapters
in the history of cryptography. To
Americans it is of far more Immediate
interest than The history of the Rosetta
Stone, and the result must be either a
change of system or the avoidance of
the necessity for resorting to conceal
ment. Of the political results of the
Tribune's revelations, or of its reduction
of some of its opponents to ciphers,
nothing need be said, but in seeking a
political end it has also made valuable
contribution to the difficult science Of
deciphering. 1t might possibly be we'll
for politicians hereafter to revert, as faI
as they can, to something like the an
cient symbolical language. 1t has the
advantage, as exemplified in the oracles
of Delphi, of being interpretable in two
ways. II the fact initiates against the
usefulness of such language, it adds t.
its safety. Let me close with sugges
tive phrase used by Pythagoras, and
quoted here as an example of symbol
ical language. When," he said, "tht
storm is raging, worship the echo" Ht
undoubtedly meant that it is we'll wher
civil strife runs high or party warfare
becomes too hot to retire into solitude