Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-05-20

!: !: !. J: J
@&x~ New York harbor, and
W noted the vast amount
X& Of signaling silent
0N M talking the
81 EM> vessels Of the United
NNH%MV States squadron, have
&Tk "" doubtless wondered
how the Navy Depart
ment manages to COM
municate copidentiallv
with its commanders when they are thousands
OF miles away and in foreign waters. The
mails. in which sealed messages may be sent,
are far too slow for these progressive times,
and the telegraph and cable are frequently in
the hands Of interested parties who would be
quick to take advantage OF any available in
formation that might be transmitted to our
naval representatives.
The United States does not often become in
volved in controversies with other nations, but
such incidents as the recent unpleesantness in
chile may occur at almost any time. and Uncle
Sam is obliged to be prepared to communicate
speedily and secretly with the officers com
mandlng our ships in every quarter of the
globe 1t sometimes happens. too, that the de-
partment wants to know which of two contend
Ing factions In foreign war is getting the bet
ter OF the other, and this information must
come from our naval officers who chance to be
hOoI tuc scdt vi dCtlOu. WIN their 1dSL SHIPS
they are enabled to secure the latest and most
reliable news. which. il it were openly trans
mitted to the department, would be eagerly
scanned by the belligerents who happened to
be In possession OF the wires. The United
States would thus give aid to one the other
OF the contending factions and thereby violate
the strictneutrality which it is the special pur-
pose OF this government to maintain at all
times.
To meet these requirements the Navy Depart
ment has devised Il cryptogram cipher code
so ingenious and SO complex in its construction
II Is beyond the power Of the human mind to
unravel the simplest message transmitted under
its cover.
SECRET WRITING.
Cryptography or secret writing Is a science
as old as the most primitive system Of hero
glyphics. Herodotus, the famous classical
writer, tells an amusing story of u cryptogram
invented by Hysti&us. a Grecian, who during
a visit to Persia. desired to transmit a valuable
bit OF information to his friend, Aristagoras, at
Athens. Having slave afflicted with sore
eyes he promised to cure him by shaving his
head and scarifying the scalp. When the hair
had beon removed Hystiaus imprinted his
message upon the scalp with an indelible stain
and kept the slave in close confinement until
the hair grew long enough to hide the marks.
Then he sent him to Athens with a message to
hrstaSoras 10 shave MS head again, assuring
the poor creature that he would then find himself
perfectly cured. Aristagoras followed his
friends instructions and thus obtained the
secret information transmitted by means of an
ignorant messenger. 1t Is needless to say that
the slaves eyes were not materially benefited
by the treatment.
THE NAVY DEPARTMENT CIPHER CODE.
The Navy Department cipher code is dis
tinctly nineteenth century affair. 1t is the
invention Of young Englishman named Hawk.
but its development and elaboration are due to
the ingenuity and industry Of Admiral John G.
Walker of the famous "white squadron" who
personally superintendent its preparations
work that kept several clerks busy for nearly
six months.
Two objects were sought in the construction
Of the cipher. 1t must be impossible to decipher
without KEY messages committed to 1t, and Its
use must reduce the cost OF cabling. 1t NAV be
interesting to know that for every word the
Navy Department cabled to its representatives
in Chile during the recent revolution it paid the
telegraph and cable companies two dollars.
The rate to more remote points on the globe Is
twice that sum. As Congress makes a very
modest appropriation for the cable service of
the department the necessity for economy is
apparent.
NUMERALS AND WORDS.
The underlying principle Of Admiral Walkers
cipher was simple, but its evolution was COM
pick The plan in q nutshell is this For the
words Of q message it 10 desired to send certain
corresponding numerals are substituted. and
these in turn give place to queer-looking words
specially constructed by the admiral and his
aids. These odd words, which are ca bled, are
simply arbitrary combinations of syllabies hav-
ing no meaning or significance. except that they
stand for the numerals which represent in the
cipher code the words Of the proposed message.
1t was in the invention Of these curious words
that the PHOTOGRAPHERS found their most diff
cult task. 1t like constructing a new
language without plan starting point.
When the work was finally completed it filed
two thick volumes, each half big as au una
bridged dictionary. One set was provided for
the use Of the department and one for each
flagship in the navy. The two volumes were
handsomely bound in Russia leather and in
closed in water-tight copper case. The COM
manding officer Of the flagship to whom this
code is intrusted is held personally responsible
for its safe keeping. and should he be relieved
from duty he is required to transfer the code
to his successor and take a written receipt for
it. Admiral Walker devised these precautions.
for he did not propose that anv one outside the
navy should get possession Of his cipher and so
make it necessary to construct another.
PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION.
The principle of the Walker cryptogram can
best be shown by practical illustration of the
preparation of short message. 1t should be
said, by the way, that no attempt is made here
to reproduce words. phrases or numerals ac-
tually used in the naval cipher-the plan only
is presented
One of the volumes Of the code contains in
alphabetical arrangement long lists of phrases.
words and geographical names which experience
has shown to be likely to occur in messages re-
lating to naval matters. This volume also con-
tains the letters OF the alphabet, which it NAV
at any time be necessary TO use in spelling out
unusual words or names. list OF numbers is
also included. In parallel columns with these
phrases words. letters and numbers are printed
numerals composed of five or six figures. The
upper left-hand portion of a page OF this vol
ume looks something like this:
lOO0l Proceed to
InOUl Proceed without deav
luOu3 Proceed wit 4out delay to
100 Proceed at Your dis 'retion
1905 Proceed At you. discretion TO
lUOO6 Proceed as 81 on You have coaled
lO0F1 Proceed as soon as you have coalyd to
1OUOS Proceed TO -- and await orders
10000 Proceed to - and report 20