The DeSmet leader. (DeSmet, Kingsbury Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-11-10
THE KEY-WORD TO WEALTH.
How Telegraph operator Caught
On 10 Fortune Disguised in
I4rmpninu

Louisville CourierJaurnal
Later tan reporter met an old operator on1
wa talking about this same matter of cipher,
"A Curlou. man haS no right TO be a tele-
grapher,' said he. 1--WE are forbidden to
talk about what passes through our hands,
aud II man were 10 try to catch the mean
Ing OF the queer and mysterious things he
reads be would have no time for business. j
remember once when was in Chicago hear.
lng some OF the inen talking about n big
strike that one Of the boys made His name
was John Gilmore, and he is a wealthy New
orker now; lives on his money aud spends
IL like lord has his fast tr0tters his servants
IN livery, his trips abroad, and all that The
WAY Gilmore got his money so they say in
Chicago, aud never heard OF his contradict
ms 1t, was this: Hoi are not old enough 10
remember the vast speculations that the
war produced when men bet millions on
the result Of Il battle by buying bonds or gold
or cotton, when princely fortunes were made
in an hour and s'luandcred in IA day, when
bcggalS rose in n month 10 Monte Christos
ana AZ the end of another month were beg
gaIs again You can haveno conception OF
the iierceueSS Of speculation twas something
like the war that was raging. Everything
those days was sublime. Men sreclIatod like
god, AMI robbed each other like epic heroes.
The mighty conflict that was raging made
men diStGlst everything Well in those DAYS
cipher dispatches were more in vogue than
they are now. Every speculatpr had sep
aratc Kind of cipher tor his broker, and half
our work was done in this language of shadows.
We knew nothing of what We were doing,
whether it were IA battle won or n market
broken. whether il was the nation or the stock
lnar6ct that was paved There was at that
tue % wealthy old spcculator in Chicago
named Armsteah, of Armstrong, or some such
name ~ that, who dealt only IN cotton and
gold He seemed t. have some secret source
ui information at Washington, and never
failed tr profit by every battle, no matter
whether the sout, or the north came out
v@tor All his dispatches passed through
Gihnores hands, and all OF them were signed
'Sparticn They were never over q dozen
words These words bad a peculiar sound
They seemed like language to Gilmore.
There was nothing of That harshncSS of manu-.
taCurei words about them that one always
sees IN English cphers Gilmore covelfly
copied ono of them ana took il 10 a learned
friend OF his The gentleman read il
ana then said The words are Almeni-
an, hut they make no sense II is mere
JumIle. There IL not word OF ii under
stood Gilmore was in quandary. He
went back 10 his table and the next day re-
ceiYed another telegram from Armstrong
Ile compared II With the copy of bis former
message II was precisely the same, with
the exception Of one word. He happened TO
come across friend. who was speculator,
and asked him casually about Armstrong.
The friend told him that yesterday be had
bonght cotton short, hat that day bought il
long That was all Gilmore wanted la know
He consulted his learned friend and learned
from him the Armenian words were FOR long
and short. He knew that the cipher wor,
that had been used on the second day mus
have been long, and the previous day short
Tie fact that the word didn't mean long in
Armenian did not trouble him. IL was tn,
kej word to the cipher BY the word he got
FL think, six cipher letters, and easily got tn,
balance. He soon understood what was sale
as readily "a Armstrong did He mad,
money rapidly. 1t is said that on the result
| of the battle Of Gettysburg alone he mad,
| S25J00 He knew the result before any onI
on change. He doesn't speculate now
Come around during the races and III give
you some tips. said the old operator; you
know we get all the tips"