Cryptology - Unofficial St. Mary's College of California Web Site

88 CHAPTER 5. MONOALPHABETIC CIPHERS
JACKSONVILLE, Nov. 22
S. PASCO, Tallahassee:
Gave p p a i s h s h
charge of i t y y i t n
s he sent to m a
p i n s i m y y
p i i t But not to
the other. Brevard returns
sent you to-day E m y
y p i s s a i n y
Gone to Tallahassee Talla
with him and let me know if I
shall send trusty messenger.
J. J. DANIEL.
The Tribune started its explanation by noting that
It appeared to be nearly certain that the first cipher word [in
the second message] was the name of a person, and the second
and third were names of counties. If we assume that each cipher
[letter] consists of two letters, we must find as the equivalent of
“ityyitns” a word of four letters, the first and third of which,
“it,” are the same. “Dade” is the only name in the list of Florida
counties which fulfils these conditions. The letters of “Dade” are
repeated in the next word, and fit in with the obvious interpretation
“Brevard. . . . The construction of the rest of the alphabet
was now easy.
Please complete the construction of the alphabet, and so decrypt the
messages.