Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-12-29
CLEVER WORK OF SPY.
How Great Britain's Naval Signal
Code Was Stolen in Civil War Times.

| From Pearson's Magazine for January.
There was good deal of bitterness be-
| tween England and the northern states at
| this time, and the government at Washing
\ ton was deeply Interested In the dispatches
forwarded by the British minister to his
home government 1t was known that Eng
| land was friendly to the confederacy and
willing to aid 1t secretly, II not by open
recognition. Under such conditions. 1t be-
came necessary to know as much as posi-
BILE of what was passing to and fro be-
! tween Washington and London In the form
| of cryptograms, and while most of this
mater went by message or mail to New
| York, there were many cipher kilograms
| sent at the last moment to catch the out
going steamer, there being no ocean cable
at that time. At the telegraph Office all
such messages were subject to examination
and copies of them were made. After a
| brief conversation with Secretary Welles,
| the old gentleman brought one of these
cipher copies and, placing It in nv hands
| said:
Mr.. Osbon, you have a way Of finding
out secrets. Do you think you can solve
| that? If you can, 1t will be worth 5000 to
you
| 1 did not know even the nature of the
paper at the time. but saw that it was a
cipher made up partly of words and partly
of a combination Of numerals, usually in
groups OF four figures. omething about it
suggested to me a naval signal book and
the thought occurred that perhaps II we
had copy of that used by the British
service we might unravel the mystery. /
studied the paper for some time, and the
| more l considered the matter tho more
certain L became that the British naval
signal book would furnish the key.
finally informed Mr.. Welles that IbelievedI
could work the matter out but that I
would need several days leave from my
paper and perfect copies OF the ciphers.
The former l obtained without difficulty
w nrn mt " Nod
them In an inner pocket left that night
for Boston, where a British man-of-war
was lying. 1t was my purpose to secure
her signal book at whatever hazard and by
whatever means. for in such cases the old
adage of All Is fair in love and war
holds true.
What l had undertaken to do was
risky business The two nations We're at
peace, outwardly at least, and If my at
! tempt were detected 1 could expect neither
mercy from one side nor succor from the
other. l think, however, / gave this phase
of the matter but slight consideration. Ny
. chief thought was of the signal book and
how to get 1T.
Arriving at Boston I promptly used my
naval acquaintance to get introductionS to
the officers of her majesty's service, and
by a diplomatic course OF winning and din
Ing presently made myself welcome visi-
tor on her majesty's vessel. Indeed, l soon
became a favorite with all on board.
pecitly with the signal officer, to whom
l told my best yarns, often inviting him
to dinner ashore to hear them. OF course,
this resulted in return invitations, and
sometimes it happened that when l wished
to brush my hair or otherwise attend to my
toilet l was invited to make use of his
room for that purpose.
It was but a brief time before I had To-
Gated the coveted signal book-a tidily
bound volume with leaden plates riveted
to the corners, so that in event of cap
ture 1t could be handily dropped overheard
and lost. The whole was encased in
suSDeDdeI a shoulder u.
During the next visit l had sufficient OPP
portunity to examine the book for a few
minutes, and found, to my delight, that 1t
did, in reality furnish the key / wanted. /
had memorized a few of the Topographic
words, and with the book before me and
the signal office at muster on deck | veri-
fed my conclusions. The next thing in
order was to secure this priceless volume.
l reasoned that as there was 10 other Eng
hsh vessels nearby, it might be weeks be-
fore the book would be needed, and that If
l could remove the contents from the COW
ers, substituting them with leaves of the
same bulk and appearance, there would be
good chance not only to get safely clear
of the vessel, but for a considerable period
to elapse before the loss was discovered, by
which time 1t would be by no means GER
tain when the abstraction had occurred.
l therefore took careful measurements,
and the next time l boarded the ship my
dummy book was with me-a copy of Rays
arithmetic, If | remember correctly, picked
up on secondhand STALL That was a
foggy night and l fingered late. When /
mentioned going ashore my friend, the sig
nal officer, protested, and offered me the
use of his room. 1 had hardly dared
hope for this stroke of fortune.
/ had plenty of time that night to do
the Job in neat and workmanlike man
ner. / was really proud of the resemblance
the Rays arithmetic bore to the signal
book when 1t properly in its neat COW
ers and riveted leaden plates. Then, after
carefully adjusting my prize to It's new
dress / Law down and slept the sleep that
comes Of well-dong and clear conscience. |
that would not do. 1 even fingered lit
tle and finally bade them all goodbye, with
q good deal OF regret l must own, for they |
were jolly fellows.
Arriving on shore l lost no time In get |
ting train for the capital, and once aboard |
the strain told me, for l had been keyed |
to pretty high pitch during those days In |
Boston. and l dozed and slept most of the |
day and all that night without a break.
But was at the department next morn |
ing bright and early, and when the Secre- |
tary had glanced over his mail he sent |
for me to come in his private office.
We'll, Mr. Osbon," he said, you have |
made g. long stay. Have you been able |
to read those kilograms YETI?
I drew up chair beside him, and pull |
Ing out a cipher of over one hundred and |
fifty words read to him a well connected, |
perfectly Ineligible. highly interesting and |
Important communication from the British |
minister to the home secretary.
Russia's Stoud Peasantry.