Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1888-03-31
THE KNOCK ALPHABET.
VARIOUS ACOUSTIC METHODS USED
IN RUSSIAN PRISONS.

How KNOCKS and Scratches on the wali
Arc Made to Reprssont Words and
Phrases by which Prisoners May Hold
Communication.
And now for the knock Language, ''or
"knock alphabet" There Is multitude
OF such alphabets at the various political
prisons Of Russia and Siberia, almost
every prison having an alphabet OF its
own. The simplest system is; One knock
mt the wall signifies n, two knocks b,
three knocks c, etc. But as the Russian
grammar contains thirty five letters, this
system Is tiresome and inconvenlent, and
to facilitate II various acoustic methods
are used. A knock at d wall with the end
OF finger sounds different from knock
with a knuckle. A thumb nail causes
another peculiar sound. The sound of tho
palm Of the hand il different from that
caused by n fist. All the finger nails at
once creates peculiar sound Of their own:
the knucklcs make the knock sound dlf-
fcrent than the finger ends, or the wrist,
or elbow. Again various sounds can be
elected with every or several fingers at
once, and the sound Of bass button or
penholder can also easily bc distinguished.
The formation Of knock alphabet further
depends on the figures marked on the
wall by the knocks. A straight limo
could easily be indicated by two knocks
at different points, triangle by three
knocks, a quadrangle by four knocks, and
so on. The time which elapses between
the knocks is also taken into consideration,
and some knocks often signify whole
words and phrases.
WORDS AND PHRASES.
At the central prison Of Belgorod, words
frequently used were expressed by knock
figures as follows: One knock with the
end of the thumb signifed yes; several
knocks, repeated quickly one after an
other with the end OF the thumb significd
no; rectangle indicated by knuckle,
meant fahatiyes; q square, friends, COM
rades, members, nf the same party; q
straight line, what Russian prisoners
call VOLTA" the outside, free w6rit3;; two
straight lines, Siberia; n triangle, prison;.
bow, which was indicated by rubbing a
brass button at the wall, prisoner; two
parallel lines signifled corridor; vertical
line, director; a crooked line, warder;
semcircle, mediator; knock at the wall
with the elbow, czar, and so on. Several
knocks at the wall with the knuckies was
n warning: Don't knock, somebody Is
coming" Two slow knocks at the wall
sienified: 'Halloo, do you care to speaks''
One knock with the knucklcs and ons
with the ends Of the fingers went for:
"Wait, am busy" and one knock with
the whole palm signifled: 'Now, go on,
am ready to listen" ] was expressed by
knock at the wall with the little finger,
you, by knock with the wrist.
Before entering into tho minor details
Of the knock alphabet as it was in use ut
the central prison of Belgorod, few pre-
1iminary remarks are deemed necessary.
There are in the Russian alphabet hard
and soft, long and short vowels, 80 called.
Instead of giving their respective names,
the approximately corresponding English
yowels will be given below for the sake Of
convenience. The Russian is pro-
nounced like the English in get. The
Russian ] like the French g or ] in GER
main or jeuncsse.
INGENUITY VS.. THE CzAR.
The alphabet was composed as follows:
Ono knock at tho wall with the largo
finger stood for a, Ia, or va; two knocks
with the same finger, c, ie, lou, or ye; ono
knock with two fingers, I, ie, eli, CO, or y;
two knocks with two fingers, o, on, 10, or
20; one knock with the first finger joints,
90, OH, in, or yoo. 1t must be said
that for the sake Of quickness tho
vowcls We're left out whenever it was
possible. b or p was expressed by one
knock at the wall with one knucklc,
usually with that Of the large finger; or
I by two knocks with one knuckle; or
k by one knock all knuckles, or by ono
knock with the thumb and the next finger
put together, or by two knocks with
the same, M or n by one knock with all
fingers, or sh by two knocks with all
fingers, C, Is, or ch by one knock with the
knuckies and one with the fingers, fol-
lowed quickly one after another; kh or
the German ch by one knock with q
knuckle and one with finger, gtch or
shtch was expressed by two quick snaps
at the wall. AS to figures, such wero
easily denoted by corresponding numbers
of knocks. One knock with the middle
joint of the large finger, n short pause,
five knocks with the same slowly rc- |
peated, another pause, and two knocks |
with the fist went for l., 500, the ist knocks |
indicating zeros, and so on.
As far aS quickness Is concerned, the |
above is tho most convenient, IL not tho
simplest, alphabet used in Russian pris- |
ons. 1t was not the product Of sudden
discovery at the prison at Be!gorod, but l
the result Of notifications made grad |
ually in the course of months. All sorts /
OF systems were tried, not excepting the |
system used by telegraphers, that is, |
points and lines; or the SO called figure |
system, that is, expressing, for instance,
the twenty fifth, twenty eighth or thirty |
third letter OF the Russian alphabet by |
two and five, two and eight, or three and |
three knocks, with pause between, but |
they all had to be given up. To make
line distinguishable it was necessary to /
rub some metal, for instance brass but /
ton or chain joint, at the wall, but the |
sound was too sharp, and the warders /
could easily hear it. The figure system /
was too slow, monotonous and weary. |
Besides, the walls Of the solitary cells of /
the Bclgorod prison were of solid stone /
blocks, and this, perhaps, made the above
system most available. Brick or wooden |
walls would have necessarily required
somewhat modified system. - Michael /
Malkoff in Chicago News.
Lady Chaperons for Lady Tourists.