The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-05-03
UNCLE SANS CIPHER CODES.
Most of the Departments Use Com
pick Secret Writing.


Spaniards have found the key to the
cipher code used by the state department
and are reading the kilograms which pass
between Washington and Havana. The
secret code employed in this service Is
! one OF the most inScrutable cryptOgramS
/ ever devised. the key word changing aU-
tomatically from time to time. The trans
lation of message framed in Il. with
out a key. Is practically an imposSibility.
| OF course a KEY might he stolen, a copy
] of 4 being in the possession of every
consul general and minister of the United
! States in foreign countries. but Il could
hardly be utilized with success by an
outsider, owing to the shifting OF the
| keyword by Encouragement between the
| parties corresponding.
TWENTY-FOUR HOURS DECIPHER.
| In fact. the state departments cipher is
so complicated as to interfere seriously
with its usefulness. When a telegram IS
received il is likely to he q 2-hOur job 10
make ii out. The code employs groups
of figures to represent words and phrases.
and a system of this sort always affords
opportunity for mistakes in transmission.
At the same time. it is better in this re-
spect than system that uses cryptic
graphic words. inasmuch as the latter
are very likely TO go wrong over the
wires. Suppose. for example. that Do
micile stands for the president OF the
United States. A foreign telegraph Oper-
ator unacquainted with English. may get
the word crooked and make lot OF
trouble. Governments have often been
frightened out of their wits by mistakes
in ciDhers.
Figures, you see. are the same in all the
languages of civilized nations. The eli
pher row employed by the state depart
ment has been in use for about 20 years.
However, the government has always
utilized cryptogramS IN its correspond
ence Stree revolutionary times. In those
days nearly every public man had his
own private cipher, such a precaution be-
ing necessary by the prevalence of the
practice of intercepting or tampering with
letters. The president of the United States
uses TIE state department. code when
he sends a secret dispatch. but this rarely
happens. and q cipher telegram has not
gone out of the White House N the last
half dozen years. OF course the depart
ment of state Is the presidents office. as
it We're, and through it he corresponds
with diplomatic and consular officials.
MANY MISTAKES IN TRANSMITTING.
SO many mistakes occur in the trans
mission of cryptographic MESA ges that
the cipher is used only when necessary for
secrecy Or economy. IT cuts down the
cost of kilograms greatly. thus making
an important saving in cases where, as
in the difficulty with Chilli continued cor
resDondence has to be kept uD at an ex-
penSe or - or more word. Nowadays
not nearly so much attention as formerly
Is paid to the keeping of diplomatic Sc
creA<ne dealings of the nations with one
anotner being much more open and frank
diplomacy used to be a mere game of
tricks, and the ablest ambassador was
he who could lie most skilfully. The
rif1ing of letters was considered a leeiti-
mate part of the business, the art being
brought to such perfection that dispatches
were opened without apparent injury to
thelr seals one of the most famous ex-
perts in this line was Wilsngham sec
rotary OF state to Queen Eliza beth.
Nearly every one of the executive de
partments used cipher more or less in
IT'S correspondence. The treasury in 1888
adopted a code that is still in use though
II has undergone many improvements
since then. One purpose is to save teIe-
graph tolls, the wires being worked free
II between the treasury and the various
SubtreasurieS and minis in different cities
But frequently il would be very unde-
sirable that the public should have
knowledge of the contents of the dis
patches 1t might not be well TO warn
train robbers that a. big shipment of gold
was to be made at a certain time and by
a stated train from Carson TO San Fran
CISCO Furthermore. information gath
cred by the department might be utilized
for stock jobbinS purposes. Many of the
disoatches have reference TO financial
conditions and prospects. The most no.
table feature of the treasury cipher is
its simplicity.
NAVY CIPHER is ELABORATE.
The cipher employed by the navy de-
pa-tmert is one of the most elaborate
:. stems ever devised. it is the work
mainly, of Admiral John G. Walker.
lately retired. There is a copy of the key
ard the officer in command is held re-
sDonsible for its safekeeDing. The key
makes two large volumes, each half as
b. as an unabridged dictionary; they
are bound in Russia leather and inclosed
in a heavy leaden case. kept always I'M
Ger lock and key on shipboard. The case
is perforated. so that should the vessel
be tGl-eE. il may be thrown overheard.
sinking and preventing the enemy from
getting possession of it. Nearly all of the
cable correspondence between the navy
department and our ships in foreign
parts IS conducted by the help of this
cipher. During the trouble with Chilli the
government was put TO an enormous eX-
Dense for cable tolls. which would have
been duad-upled but for the fact that
for every cipher word sent three were
saved in English.
OFFICERS TRANSLATE MESSAGES.
When the secretary of the navy wishes
to send message he dictates il in plain
Englishs TO a typewriter. Ii is then given
20 two officers who are especially skilled
in cipher work. They translate the mes
sage into cipher. the process being a very
laror.ous one. inasmuch as the utmost
care must be taken not to make any
m: stake. But the most difficult task is
to unraTel the messages in cipher