This is a web-based version of the "A B C Telegraphic Code, Fourth Edition".
A PDF of this book is available at
Google Books for those
who want to view an electronic copy of the original.
I have tried for the
This is a web-based version of the "A B C Telegraphic Code, Fourth Edition".
A PDF of this book is available at
Google Books for those
who want to view an electronic copy of the original.
I have tried for the most part to mimic the formatting of the original, although
there are a few places where there are noticeable differences. One common situation is
for longer phrases; the original would use smaller type and/or put the final word(s) at
the end of the previous or next line, while I allow the phrase to wrap to the next line.
Notes about Commercial Codes
The use of a code to transmit messages was primarily driven by making the
message shorter, due to the expense of sending a telegram. Especially if you
were sending messages across the Atlantic, each word in a telegram
could cost the equivalent of several dollars per word.
From the late 1800's into the mid 1900's, there were a large variety of
codes available. Some were general-purpose codes like this one, others were
focused on certain industries. There were also the military and diplomatic
codes that common in that period as well.
As you look at this code, remember you are dealing with a document from 1880.
Due to the nature of this code, there are some (not many) places in the main code
that would be controversial today. The main exception is that the list of
products and commodities lists a number of items such as lion skins or tobacco
whose sale we discourage or forbid today.
The age and origin also shows up in a few other places, for example the spelling "to-day"
is used consistently.
Another thing to remember is that there are a number of terms such as "demurrage"
or "general average" that have a technical meaning in the area of commerce or insurance.
You can look up definitions for those terms on the Internet.
Why did codes disappear? Here are some of my ideas:
- The rise of other communication channels such as
reliable phone service, and the resulting decrease in
telegram use in general.
- Even in the world of the telegraph, the automation of communications meant that
a trained code clerk started costing more than the savings in telegram costs.
- In those cases (mainly military/diplomatic) where secrecy was
important, mechanical encryption (mainly rotor-based) systems tended
to be easier to use and more secure. Of course, these have since been replaced
by complex computerized systems such as
DES (example) and AES (example).
- When space is a concern, computers are much better at working with
abstract letters than dealing with the meaining of phrases.
Even today, it would be difficult to get a computer to automatically encode a
message using a code book like this one (decoding would be a lot easier).
Using these Pages
When you are in the process of encoding a message, the top part of the page will
look something like the following: (Note: In this example, only the navigation buttons
are active, and the message is fixed).
The parts of the page have the following meanings:
- Message: ENRIQUE STREAMLET SOLSTICE...— This represents the telegram as it would be sent.
Since Morse code doesn't distinguish uppercase and lowercase
letters, the message is displayed in uppercase.
- Next comes the various code words (along with the code numbers and phrases) that make up
the message. The "Delete" button can be used to remove each part of the message.
- The "Add Uncoded Text" button and textbox are used to include names and phrases
that are not in the code. How to use this button is better seen in 