The Bakersfield Californian from Bakersfield, California • Page 3

THE BAKERSFIELD CALIFORNIAN, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 0, 1924 Being One of Uncle Sam's Cryptanalysls Requires Rare Faculties BY FREDERICK J. HASKIN (Special to Tin; Viiltfurntun) WASHINGTON, April mention codes and ciphers is to suggest all nmn- of- mysterious and exciting sltua- Puzzling messages go with tales 'nt treasure, crime, war and diplomacy. The government has a number of em- ployes who spend their days working Jivith the fascinating material of secret messages. The department of Justice, the army and the navy, the state de- in fact ouch branch of the government, has one or more systems of secret communication which can bo used in conducting important official correspondence. Prominent among the small and select fraternity of code and cipher experts Is William F.

Friedman, who handled some of the most difficult code problems for the American army in France, and who is now a civilian in the signal corps headquarters, with the title of cryptanalyst. Aided Oil Probcrs When telegrams in code were first introduced into the Teapot Dome Investigation, the senators of the inquisitorial sent to the war department Tor a code expert. The call for help was answered by Mr. Friedman. He found it easy enough to meet the committee's requirements and he 'verified the statement the code telegrams which 'passed between persons in Washington and Kdward B.

McLean at Palm Beach were written in a department of justice rode. By looking up the words in the MULE TEAM BORAX SOAP CHIPS Clothes Colors Brighter Milk For Infartti, Children, The Aged Rich Milk, Malted Grain ext. in powder Food-Drink fot All Ages. Cooking. A light Lunch always at hand.

Also in Tablet form. Ask for "Horlick'a," at all Fountains: Avoid Substitutes The PRICE of Delicious Instant COFFEE Has not been advanced YET More economical than ever Wife of Lieutenant in Pathetic Plight (Associated Press Leased Wire) ANGELAS, April Daisy Brown, who recently motored from her home, near here, to San Diego, to return to the naval authorities there fi suitcase containing alleged to have disappeared from Mobile, along with her husband. lieutenant Kr- viric Brown, destroyer division' paymaster, will not be able to go to San Francisco, where Brown Is reported under arrest. "I should like to go so much," she said, "but I cannot afford It. I have not even the railroad fare." Wife Doing Good Work "I have been bad off with stomach and liver trouble and bloating for many years.

No doctors or medicine helped lire. On tbe advice of my druggist I bought a bottle of Wonderful Remedy and I don't want to miss a sjngle do.se. Jt has given me more benefit than fill the medicine I have ever taken. I feel I am doinr' good to recommend it." It is a simpk, harmless preparation that removes the ea- tarrbal mucus from the Intestinal tract Snd allays the Inflammation which causes practically all stomach, liver and intestinal ailme.its, including appendicitis. One dose will or money refunde'i Al all Adv.

code book an expert could easily translate, the messages. No especial effort to baffle a code specialist had been made by the writers of the messages. If the code book had not been available the export would have been confronted by a problem, but given several long men- sages, he could, in all probability, hava worked out the translation. The cryptanalyst's skill and detective powers become really impressive when he lays bare the secret of a combination of code and complicated cipher writing. In a code, a single word or symbol Is chosen arbitrarily to stand for a word or group of words.

In code, a word like "watting" Ynay be agreed upon to stand for a completa sentence such as "Dla rnonds sent to Chicago." Code books are often used In commerce merely to lesesn the cost of sending cables and telegrams. Cipher Is Different A cipher is an entirely different affair. A code may be designed for secrecy, but a cipher Is always used for that purpose. There are a great many systems but nil of them are based on one of two principles. One kind of.

cipher Is made by transposing the letters of the message In a systematic so that, for instance, the word "detective" may be enciphered as "vteciete." The other way of constructing a cipher is to substitute symbols for each letter of the alphabet. A may be represented by a letter, by the figure 5, or by a stenographic symbol. Some cipher systems appear very complicated and even impossible of solution to the layman. In the well known Playfair cipher, which la sometimes used by the British army, for instance, each time a mesasge Is sent each letter of the alphabet may be represented by a new substitution of letters. This is possible because the cipher Is built up on a key word.

This cipher is known as one of the best for army purposes because the key word can be changed regularly, and each time a message falls into the hands of the enemy the cipher experts have to work out the puzzle afresh. By the time they key word Is discovered, the event with which the message dealt is probably over. All Can Be Solved There is probably no such thing as a cipher system which can not be solved, If sufficient material is available. Short, isolated messages may, of course, baffle the expert because they are mere puzzles and no processes of logic, analysis and deduction can be used in analyzing them. The war department's cryptanalyst says emphatically that he never wastes any time on such material.

Ho is not interested in guessing games. On one occasion the navy department received a cipher m'esasge accompanied by a claim that it represented a system of communication which no expert could solve. The inventor suggested that such a system would prove highly valuable to the government. The navy department turned the problem over to Friedman, and after some study he sent back the analysis of the system, together with a translation the message. It read: "The ideal American breakfast is a combination of grapefruit, grapenuts, bam and eggs, coffee, chewing gum and a cigar, but so wonderful is the American stomach that not even the Himself could analyze its contents after eight o'clock in the evening.

All this, however, has nothing to do with the cultivation of white mice as a garden vegetable, nor has it any direct bearing upon the probability of the navy department solving this cryptographic message." Tax On Ingenuity Tills statement, which looks so absurd, is cleverly designed to tax the ingenuity of an analyst. So wide a range of subject matter covered in it that the expert can not guess very many of the words by the context in the process of deciphering. It is safe to say that if this message could be deciphered, a war message could be more easily handled. Mr. Friedman explains that three factors hjlp the analyst to solve, wartime messages.

'First, there is plenty of material available. Key words and code books are changed often, but oven so messages and code books are frequently found and this enables code experts to know a good deal about, the enemy's methods in secret correspondence. Secondly, prisoners and capturotl documents records are a source of much information. The third factor which simplifies life -in wartime for the code expert is that tho subject matter of war messages is limited to war. Tin-re is no possibility of the captured message deal- ingjWith American breakfasts or white mice, unless It happens to be a decoy or a joke.

Cipher Machine Secret communication was facilitated for the American army in France by a complicated cipher machine. This machine, which looks like a combination typewriter, moving picture machine, and telegraph switchboard, was invented during the war. cipher machines can now be seen in tbe signal corps A message written on the typewriter keys of tbe apparatus is translated Into a code and "this code message Is then turned into a cipher message consisting of holes in a strip of celluloid. The machine then sends the message electrically. It can also rrct'ive a message, decipher, and decode it into Knglish or into several foreign languages, and print all at the rate of 40 to 70 words a minute.

This almost human machine helps tbe cipher expert, but it can never take his place entirely. Only a reasoning mind can decipher an unknown system of secret writing. This work requires a mind that is logical, and highly organized along lines of deduction and induction, and also of a somewhat mathematical turn. Was Geneticist Once Sir. Frieaman is often asked bow he started on his strange career.

He explains that when he was graduated from Cornell university he had every intention of spending a dignified life as a geneticist, that is. a student of the mechanics of heredity. But fate took him to the Hiverbank laboratories of Colonel George Fabyan, an Illinois millionaire, who conducts types of research. While Friedman worked on a problem of heredity, a young woman was working in another part of the laboratory. She was studying the so-called ciphers which are said by some to exist in Shakespearian plays and to indicate that Francis llacon was the author of "Shakespeare." The young geneticist became greatly interested in ciphers, and also In the cipher expert.

They were' married and both have happily tin- fascinating cipher hobby since." Reorganization Anniversary Announcing the Arrival of Men's Clothing for Easter $45 and $55 Michaels Stern Suits $37 .00 Further Striking Values Provided in This Sale Suits at $19 Suits taken from regular 'stock, broken sizes of various assortments bought for this Spring and Summer, that were formerly sold from $29.00 to $39.00. Now $19.00 Suits at $29 Snappy styles for men and young men- that were formerly $35.00 and $39.00. Now marked at $29.00 Specially Bought for Easter Reduced for This Great Sale Fresh interest is given this Reorganization Anniversary by the arrival of 68 Men's Spring Suits by Michaels Stern, suits that were bought for the Easter trade. It provides the opportunity "to secure the finest suits made, at prices that would not be possible but for this The Reorganization Anniversary is a store-wide event, involving every department. We have therefore been unable to give the men's sections the window space and advertising that they really deserve.

We have large and well assorted stocks of men's Clothing, and the addition of these new Spring Suits makes the selection as fine as you would wish to see. High-grade garments styled and tailored according to the highest standards, new patterns and materials suitable for Easter and Summer' wear, suits that cannot fail to yield the greatest satisfaction in fit, wear and appearance. i. Our Entire Stock Reduced In addition to the huge reduction on these new Michaels Stern Suits, all other suits carry specially reduced prices. See the large window space devoted to showing the values.

This showing is representative of the larger assortments to be found in our men's a dozen or so to indicate how diversified are the stocks and how truly phenomenal the values. You are welcome to inspect. Michaels Stern Suits Regularly $45 and $55 37 FLOOR Men's $2.00 Fruit of the Loom Night Shirts at $1.33 An Extraordinary Purchase Silk Shirts for Easter Regular Prices $7.50 to $10.00 The newest Spring patterns and colorings are shown in this exceedingly attractive group of Silk Shirts. Crepe de Chines, Broadcloths and La Jerz Silk Shirtings With Easier just ahead of us, the opportunity to buy such beautiful shirts for so little is doubly interesting. All sizes included from 11 to 17.

This Is Typical of Many Such Values Shown Dozens of oilier items in Men's Furnishings make it possible to save on everything a man wears. Underwear, work shirts, dress shirts, socks, all greatly reduced for the duration of the sale. Take time to look will find it well worth while. FLOOR It Is Also Possible to Save on Men's Footwear Group Values to $10.50 Eight styles, consisting of Nunn-Bush black calf, .1. P.

Smith black kid lace, Grant's flexible arch, black bhicher. Brown and tan calf shoes. Brown calf oxfords in several styles. Sale price, $3.85 Group Values to $11.00 Four styles, consisting of Nunn-Bush black calf oxfords, Ntinn-Btish brown calf Nap-a-tan sport and golf oxfords. $5.00 Golf Shoes for Men A grim)) of attractive Golf Shoes for Xap-a-tan golf oxfords, in light elk, trimmed with black calf.

liegularly $8.50. Special, $5.00 Group Values to $12.50 A group which inclining some of, I ha best known makers of fine shoes. Brown calf shoos regularly $12.50. Nunn-Bush mahogany calf shoen that were $11.50. Same style in black calf.

J. P. Smith's brown vici kid dress last, regularly Nunn-Bush b7 own calf oxfords, were same stylo hi black calf, that were 111.50, anil Nunn- llush tan calf plain toe or bhicher sport oxfords. Sale Price. $7.85 FLOOR.