New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-05-30
UNCLE SANS CIPHER CODES
SECRET WRITING USED BY NEARLY
ALI. THE DEPARTMENTS.
From The Boston Transcript.

From The Boston transcript
recentiv published to the effect that the Spanaras
have found the key TO the clpner usSo ps when
Donartment and are reading the kilograms WIZ.
nass between Washington and Havana The secre,
code employed in this service Is one 81 me Kew
word changing automatically from time to Tune;
The translation Of message lramea az ~ course
KEY might be stolen copy of il being IN tine pos
session OF every ConsuGenera ana M,ni;'e enud
hardly be utilized with success by an outsider o%
Ing TO- the shifting Of the key word 9y prea''
In fact the state departments cipher Is so com
plicated as interfere seriously Wt ,iLo,v IN he
twenty four hour job make it out The co md
employs groups of figures 10 , eiuaws affords
pppportunity for mistakes in transmission Al tne
same time it is better in this respect oa murh as
TEN latter after are kely to go wrong over the wres
Suppose for example that Dom'ciie foreign ,ee.
sre onerator unacquanted with Engllsil, ma!
get the word crooked and make lot o, ot OF
heir wits by mistakes in ciphers. , ,,os
Figures you see the same in all the 1 G
~ ni,izai nations. The cipher now enpo!eI py
the state Department has been in use ioT aooI i
twenty years. However the rnarre.nondence
NAYS NAYS Hi1ad tines In those nearly
every public man had his own private cipher suSh
a nrecautior being made necessary by me PteHI"-
ience Of the practice of nerceptng or tampering
with letters The President Of the Ini,ed s ga
uses the State Departments code when ne sends s
secret dispatch but this rarely happens ana cpher
telegram has not gone out from the White House
mont Of state is the Presidents office. as 1t were;
and through it he corresponds with diplomatic ana
consular officials
ITS ECONOMY
so MANY mistakes occur in the transmission OF
photographic messages that the cipher is used ony
when necessary for secrecy or economy IL cuts
down the cost of kilograms very greatly. thus max
ING an important saving in cases where. as In the
difficulty with Chill. continued correspondence Das
70 he kept up al an expense of 81 or more word
is paid to the keeping Of diplomatic secrets. me
more open and frank Diplomacy used TO be mere
game OF tricks. and the ablest Ambassador was ne
who could lie mosi skIfuly me tihs G ths
AT being brought such perfection that dispatches
opened without apparen; injury 70 b he ne sea as
Secretary Of sHe TO ee
uses a cipher more or less in it's CORRESPONDENCE
The Treasury In 1883 adopted "A code that Is stu IN
s s hsn One purpose Of it Is TO save telegraph
tolls the wires being worked very freely helweeh
minis in different cities. But frequently i would
be very undesirable that the public, should nave y,
knowledge of The contents of the DISPATCHES. II
might not be we'll to warn train robbers that big
shipment OF gold was TO he made at certain Zine ,me
cisco Furthermore Information gathered by the
department might be utilized for
to dnancial conditions and prospects o,,,sr
Is its extreme simplicity This simplicity, the OH
Gals Of the Department say is It's best safeguard:
there is nothing for outside translator 10 start
with II consists of lot OF words win hrpi,rary
uuences of words with meanings attached The
words are names OF people animals plants, gems,
etc Dispatches In this cryptogram can De read
on nd by those who understand II. ana usually
without reference to the KEY. IL Is not necessary
70 lock the door and go to work on telegram as
If II were an inscription In cunelform hierosyphics
from Dabylonian tomb Keys OF this cipher are
ieent az all the sub-treasuries. mints ana assay
of,ircs When the code Is changed, as has hap
nencd twice since 1888. new Keys are forwarded 10
those establishments 10y registered mail ana the
o,J onee nre carefully destroyed by burning.
There is another cipher In use In the treasury
Deuartmoni by the Bureau OF the Secret Service.
A Kew 10 !. Is In the hands of every field agent.
The little OF field agent Is a cuphemism for de-
,octIye OF course. the detectives or the Secret
service are engaged almost exclusively In the bsi-
ness OF catching counterfeiers. and their work has
10 be done with the utmost secrecy Hence IL u
very important that they shall be able 10 hold pri-
vate communal aton with their chief In Washing
ton II IL worth mentioning in this connection that
The nrst cryptogra phic code devised for the War
Department was made by Arson Stager. In Oc-
tobcr 1861 and the first key OF II was intrusted 10
the famous detective Allen c. Pinkcrton, while
employed by the Government on a dangerous mis-
sion in Kentucky. The War Department to-day
has n cphcr Of its own but rarely uses IL. II was
employed at the time OF the Chicago riots and dur
Ink the Indiana campaign OF l@O-N
THE NAVY DEPARTMENT CIPHER
The cipher employed by the Navy Department is
one Of the most elaborate systems ever devised II
is the work. mainly. OF Admiral John u. Walker.
lately retired. There is copy OF the Key on board
of each flagship In the service, and the officer In
command IL held responsible for Its safekeeping
The key makes two large volumes. each ha1 -