Tombstone epitaph., 1891-01-25
THE KNOCK ALPHABET.
VARIOUS ACOUSTIC METHODS USED
 IN RUSSIAN PRISONS.

And now for the "kncck 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 it's own. The simplest system is; One knock ut the wall signifies a, two knocks b, three knocks G, etc. But as the Russian grammar contains thirty-five letters, this system is tiresome and inconvenient, and to facilitate it various acoustic methods are used A knock at a wall with the end of u 1uger sounds different from knocA with knuckle. A thumb nail causes another peculiar sound. The sound of the palm of the hand is different from that caused by fist. All the finger nails at once creates peculiar sound of their own. the knuckles make the knock sound diff. ferent than the finger ends, or the wrist, or elbow. Again various sounds can be elicited with every or several fingers al once, and the sound of bass button or 6 penholder can also easily be distinguished The formation of knock alphabet further depends on the figures marked on the wall by the knocks. A straight line could easily be indicated by two knocks at different points, 6 triangle by three knocks, 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 signi1ed yes; several knocks, repeated quickly one after an other with the end of the thumb, signif1ed no; a rectangle indicated by knuckle, meant relatives; square, friends, com rades, members of the same party; straight line, what Russian prisoners call 'volia," the outside, free world; two straight lines. Siberia; a triangle, prison a bow, which was indicated by rubbing brass button at the wall, prisoner; two parallel lines signified corridor; vertical line, director; crooked line, warder; semicircle, mediator; a knock at the wall with the elbow, czar, and so on. Severa! knocks at the wall with the knuckies was Q warning: "Don't knock, somebody ts comingp' Two slow knocks at the wal signified: ''Halloc do you care to speakf' One knock with the knuckles and ont with the ends of the fingers went for ''Wait, am busy" and one knock witt the whole palm signi1ed: "Now, go on, am ready to listen." I was expressed by knock at the wall with the little finger you, by knock with the wrist.
 Before entering into the minor detail of the knock alphabet as it was in use a the central prison of Belgorod, few pre- Gminary remarks gre deemed necessary There are in the Russian alphabet hare and soft, long and short vowels, so called Instead of giving their respective names the approximately corresponding English vowels will be given below for the sake of convenience. The Russian g is pro nounced like the English g in get. The Russian like the French 6 or ] in ger main or jeunesse.
 INGENUITY ys. THE GEAR.
 The alphabet was composed as follows One knock at the wall with the large finger stood for a, ia, or ya; two knocks with tle same finge> e, ie, iou, oryr; one knock with two fingers, i, ie, ei, ea, ory two knocks with two fingers, o, ca. 10, or yo; one knock with the first finger joints, DO, ou, iu, or 700. It must be said that for the sake of quickness the vowels were left out whenever it was possible. B or p was expressed by on" knock at the wall with one knucklc, usually with that of the large finger; or by two knocks with one knuckle; s or k by one knock all knuckles, or by one 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, ts, or oh by one knock with the knuck .es and one with the fingers, fol lowed quickly one after another; kh or the German oh b: one knock with a knuck4e and one with a finger. stch ol Bh.cb Ves expressed by two quick snaps nt the wall. As to figures, such were easily denoted by corresponding numbers of knocks. One knock with the middle joint of the large finger, short pause, five knocks with the same slowly re. peated, another pause, and two knocks with the fist went for 1,500, the fist knocks indicating zerOs, and so on.
 As fur as quckness is concerned, the above is the most convenient, if not the simplest, alphabet used in Russian pris ons. It was not the product of sudden discovery at the prison at Belgorod, bul the result of notifications made grad ually in the course ot months. All sorts of systems were tried, not excepting tho system used by telegraphers, that is points and lines; or the so called figure system, that is, expressing, for instance the twenty-ffth, twenty-eighth or thirty third letter of the Russian alphabet b! two and five, two and eight, or three ant three knocks, with pause between, bu they all had to be given up. To make { line distinguiShable it was necessary t( rub some metal, for instance brass but ton or chain joint, at the wall, but th' sound was too sharp, and the warden could easily hear it. The figure system was too slow, monotonous and weary Besides, the wills of the solitary cells o the Belgorod prison were of solid ston' blocks, and this, perhaps, made the ab0v system most available. Brick or woodel walls would have necessarily required somewhat modified system. - Michae
 AalkCff in Chicago Nows.
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