OCR Text |
Show FUN IN A CIPHER AtPHABET. jH Havo you over como ncross n noto written by ono of your schoolmates which you wero entiroly unable to rond, not becauso of poor penmanship, but becauso ho or sho had used somo characters altogether strango to you, und which you could not mako out or undorstnnd7 That Is what a cipher alphabet or codo Is for. Statesmon, diplomats and detectives constantly omploy cipher codes when thoy sond messages of great Importnnco which thoy want no ono to understand ox-copt ox-copt tho person to whom thoy aro sent. Thoro nro mnny kinds ot ciphers, somo of them quite simple nnd somo so complicated that It Is almost Uu- O0OOOO0OOO 11 o o o e o o lil 00 && 1 1 o,r aw M Cipher Alphabet. 3 HJ posslblo to solvo them without n key. and ovon then a great doal of work to find out what is monnt About twolvo years ago cipher codos wero very populnr ntnnng bovs nnd girls who wont to public schools, nnd ovory group or set of thorn had n peculiar cipher which they used several sev-eral times n day In writing notes, perfectly confident that if ono of their notes fell Into tho hands of nnothor J LHJ "set" It could not bo understood at all. Jj HJ It set somo of tho more inquisitive S jHJ teachers nlmost crazy for n whllo, nnd tHj ovory tlmo a cipher noto fell Into their 1 jJ hands it balllcd thorn, nlthough most 'HJ ciphers may bo solved with n great jJ deal of tlmo nnd troublo by oxperts 1 ,HJ who mnko a specialty of It. But theso M HJ teachers, and certainly tho pupils, Si l.HH wero not experts, nnd tho ciphers ro- M fiHH malnod unsolved until tho boys and !$H girls using thorn grow older nnd left SI i H school, when tho fad died out Si H It Is lots ot fun, nnd n valunblo 8l H mental training, to write nnd rccolvo U H letters In cipher. It ' sharpens tho 91 Al wits, and Is n help In writing torso, Sj ' fl conclsx lCngllsh, but tho very beat fit H part of It nil Is to seo the bewilder- II mont of Eomo "crowd" who havo found ifi H a nolo that ono of your "crowd" has fn H written. " ij "'H A simple but vry puzzling cipher W .,1 which Is vnry eusy to mmuorlxu front I tho construction of i characters l- J U printed hero. Just try It on somo of shiH w.ttr schoolmate and seo what fun It .'I J in 'j JHJ ""tlsfl "illll |