Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1899-01-28
ECONOMY BY CODE.
MIR. CuppIe Takes One 10 Europe
with Him and Uses IL.

w INu ththh Jhu
When the passengers ON the tender came
off AT the landing stage, they entered a
large, barnlikc place and stood in impa-
ticnt groups while the baggage was being
transferred. The railway company had
several young men on hand To provide
tickets to London. and there was another
young man who received kilograms and
cablcgrams We had with us an Ameri-
can who had prepared "a wonderful code
with which Ia keep up cable communica-
ton with his wife. He worked on "A cable
gram all the way from the Isle Of Wight
up To- the customs house, and when he do
/ livercd IL this is the joyful message that
I went back to his family:
Lizcan, New York:
Z Hobgohlin. hucxwhcat explosion agriculture
cranberry suspicious. JAMES.
1 He showed this cablcgram and seemed
/ TO b. very proud of il.
That's what You save by having "A
code. he explained.
What will Lizcam think when he re
I ceivcs that
! He? That's my wifc's registered cable
address Liz for Lizzie and cam for
Campbell Her maiden name was Lizzie
/ Campbell
well, what does that mean about a
I buckwhcat hobgoblin having IA suspicious
/ explosions"
I ''Oh. those words are selected arbitrari-
/ " To- represent full sentences in the code.
When my wife gets that cable. she will
hunt up those words one after the other and
/ elaborate the message So that il will read
4 like this:
He showed us the following:
Mrs Chnuncey Cupple Mountjoy Hotel, New
/ York:
/ DEAR wiFE-Well. here we at Southamp-
4 ton after n very pleasant voyage, all things
/ considered. We had only two days of inclcm-
/ cnt weather and l was not scasick M any
| time. We great many porpoises hut
4 no whales. The third day cut won the pool
! ON the run. Formed the acquaintance of sew
/ eral pleasant people JAMES.
] IS just as good as a letter, = said tho
man from Buffalo
Yes ana ! saved - words, " said Cup.
/ Pile wouldn't travel without IA code :
Why don't YOU tack ON another word
and let her know how many knots we
made each day" asked the Buffalo man,
hut his sarcasm was wasted.
\ month later | met Mr. Cupplc in
| Rome, and h. said that his Southampton
cablegram had given his wife nervous
/ prnstratinn.
MIR Cupplc is not n careful penman,
and the cable operator had read the last
WORT uf the message ns auspicious'' in
stead of suspi ious." \ reference to the
code showed that the mistake changed the
sense of the message.
sIiciouS-Furmod the acquaintance
of several pleasant people.
AuspiciouS-Aftcr u futile effort To
work the pumps the caitain gave orders Ia
lower the boats The passengers were in
a panic. bat tie car tain cnolly restrained
them and gave rders t'Iat the women and
children should he sem Away first.
The message as altered in transmission,
caused Mrs Cupl some urcisincss. and
also il luz. iri her II was gratifying Ia
know that her husband had enjoyed the
voyage and cscal,d scasirkrvSs. hu; she
did not like to leave him on the deck of u
sinking ship wi.ha lot OF prxsumptuous
women and c. i.Crcn stepping NJ "a take
the hest places in the boats. Yet she could
not believe That he bad been lost Other
Wis how could h. have filed c;lblcgram
at Southaml ton?
She wanted further particulars, but she
could not find IL The code any word mean
ing Are you drownc,is'
so she sent Il 10 word inquiry 10 Lon
don, ard vixen Mr.. Curplc counted the
cost # it hc called back
All right. Ignore code.
CHI ago Record