The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1889-04-12

Aersss ~ <,ssnH 4 ennPis.
New Ycxx san.
A man who h1d received eAi,ze
message composed q nothing but
names Of cities went 10 "A expert
maker "a cipher codes 70 So II be
could throw any light On The En<aning
Have yon made no peronsi ar
rang<menf with any correspondent b.
which those nasnes q cities are To-
stand for certain phrases p asked the
expert
81 have Eos. answered the man I;
II came 70 you f<rauss thought ynu
might have some code containing the
eiphers :
There II no printed code that con.
fainz ryDrex nanzes ~ elphErss said
tho expcrf- The reason i this Tie
cable companies accepted all kinds Of
business ST fret. even combinations 81
letters which spelled nothing But
they soon fonnd that the ingenuity OF
their merchant patrons enabIesi them
to send almost any message At the
cost 81 few words. By 9esIsing codes
wherein each letter st0sd for S phrase,
and wherein even the iaxtafsssstion OF
letters and numerals. which IN tkesHr
selves had rneanfngs4 Indicated sflli
other meanings. OF course, this re-
dsacesi the profits of the cattle soupa-
MES. 40 they began 10 make rules
They refu1<d to transmit any comb
nation Of letters unless IL spelled an
actual word. Then they limited the
number Of languages they would trans
INST Then they refused % accept
w1fsssover certain number Of letters
In length. Then they refused % take
proper names, unless the context
shovszt they we're necessary part.
ali this, Of course. was % make IL
80 hard 70 get up satisfactory and per-
naueut cable codes that the merchant
would Be compelled for safety'1 sake
to resort 70 straight out-andsout dis
course ia framing his message. But
as the difficulties increased. men re
gan 10 make speciaities ii ssevising In
geuioas codes, and finally the eonpa-
faias bad 10 come out Iiat-footeti and re-
fuse to transmit messages IN cipher.
OF course. this was q severe blow to
trade. a. q vast quantity Of small hassi-
ness could not then be done. because
the cost Of cabling about ID cut of
most Of the eventual profit.
Bat even then codes were used, but
OF curious sort. In one that know
Of. for instance. Il was arranged that
certain large catalogue Of common
verbs. nouns. adjectives and prepo
fita0ns should he understood 10 have
no meaning whatever. The cipher
words were made mp outside Of this
catalogue, and the exempted words
we're used 10 Gil In, giving the SEM
bIanee Of an actual stsAight-out sem
teuce. Here was q sentence. for in
stance. that | eahled while q clerk In q
shipping house
Carrie very III. Tell Thomas prepare
nitrate. Ananias going. Telegraph Jo-
THAT looks innocent: yet this is
what IL means:
Carrie MARKET on eve Of sharp rise.
svefy-~ Buy for speculation.
''fii-No meaning.
'sTeil-No meaning
sThomas-Ship at earliest dispatch.
APrepsre-One hundred tons.
Nitrate Nitrate OF soda isaltpstre).
"Ananias We can sell 81.
'.tsoing No meaning.
'Josephine-Siae cents.
$50 you see ] really sent this mes
sage
market on eve OF sharp RISE Buy for
speculation. ship 100 tons nitrate OF soda
e @esiiest dispatch. We can seiss . cents.
Telegraph.
THAT Is to say. sent twentv-six
words at a cost OF eleven words. while
appeared TO the cable company 20 be
merely transmitting communication
that poor Carrie was sick and that
Ananlas was going to telegraph Jose
phine about II. ii nalst have seemed
strange TO the operators that we
should telegraph Thomas, who was
5000 miles away. 20 prepare medicine
for Carrie, who was presumably In
New York, especially as the rate then
was about 81 a word. Ii must also
have seemed strange that Carrie got
very III every time there was rise In
the nitrate market. Bat the message
was straight discourse. and OF course
the company had nothing 10 do but
accept the message.
Competition finally came TO the
merchants aid. New cable lines.
seeking business, offered more liberal
conditions. and gradually the mer-
chant acquired. as hin recognized
right, the power al using cipher code
stili fnostot the original petty restric-
tons we're adopted by all competitors.
Among these we're the regulations
against proper names. As q matter
OF fact. in the present state OF competi-
ton. one is totally safe ia using proper
names and eiphers, for each COM
pany Is afraid os driving custom 20
a rival BY applying the rule. Conse-
quentiy there are any number of small
personal oS temporary codes agreed
upon between man and man 10
serve certain immediate purpose,
in which names of towns or persons
figure as ciphers hat we sofes-
slenai codemakers who compile and
print expensive codes for sale 20 the
public, carefully avosd infringing s-TC:s
sieNd-lettef rules, because we do not
know when sefne bic cable company
may swallow up small competitor
whome she of our patrons patronizes
and screw down the thumbs on some
rule, 60 the disadvantage OF our pat
ron and ourselves.
Looking over this catalogue here of
the cable lines OF the world, Won viii
still hnd doscn or more companies,
chiefly located In the ends III Asia,
Africa and Polynesia, who boldly adj
yerfiss, No csphers permitted That
means that they have monopoly OF
their particular fields. and are working
their diamond saines for all they re
worth. In no line of business Is the
advantage Of good competition shown
mere strongly than in cabling, Mer-
chants who destyith far-off countries
VIII tell you that those lands which are
reached by only one cable lire are as
YET practically undiscovered by trade.
rRNrry 1rana~sswps