Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 171, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 July 1919 — Indian Talk Was Too Much For Fritz When He Tried to Tap the Yankee Wires [ARTICLE]

Indian Talk Was Too Much For Fritz When He Tried to Tap the Yankee Wires

There was one code Fritz never got on to in France. That was the Sioux. A soldier just back from France tells of it: “A good many German spies got over into the allied lines,” said the Yank, who was in charge of a communicating battery. “And there was some tapping of lines and listening in by German agents who understood English perfectly. We got around that in a clever way. We put Sioux Indians on the telephones to send and receive orders. “ ‘Ump. glum, hoosha, moo, chunk.’ an Indian would repeat over the telephone, meaning ‘bring up a battery of 75’s.’ “ *Og, gog, pom, began, cachoo, rakok,’ would come the answer, which might mean, ‘they’re starting, will be there in five minutes.’ “I don’t know how much of a technical war vocabulary those Sioux had. but Fritzie never got wise to the lingo.” ' ’