Read further · read 87.7% · ciphertext-only break · partial

Pedro Duhart to “Vicente Gutierrez”, New York, 29 August 1921

Seventeen runs of typed capitals in a clear Spanish letter, written with a swap of five letter pairs read off one English sentence, give the names of the men of the 1921 felicista exile in New York (11 of 16 other runs exact, 252 of 260 letters). 50 of 57 cipher words read as typed; seven carry a typing slip. Read in part.

Date
1921
Read now
87.7% of the cipher tokens give sense
Write-up
duhart1921.html
Files
targets/duhart1921
Open gaps
hard to read on the scan

Hand this page to your AI agent

Give your agent (Claude, ChatGPT or any assistant that can open web pages) this address and ask it to do the task on the page:

https://dbourdeau.github.io/cyphersolver/further/duhart1921.html

Or copy the block below into the chat. It is the whole task: the reading, every open gap, what has been tried, the steps, and how to report back.

TASK: take a partial decipherment further: Pedro Duhart to “Vicente Gutierrez”, New York, 29 August 1921
This page: https://dbourdeau.github.io/cyphersolver/further/duhart1921.html

You are helping a public research project finish reading historical cipher letters. This one is read in part:
the key works, but some pieces are still open. Your job is to close one or more of the open gaps below.

THE READING
  Write-up:   https://dbourdeau.github.io/cyphersolver/duhart1921.html (read it first: how the text was read, the key, the reading)
  Date:       1921
  Outcome:    ciphertext-only break · partial
  Read now:   87.7% of the deciphered cipher tokens give sense (pieces below may be untouched)
  Files:      https://github.com/dbourdeau/cyphersolver/tree/main/targets/duhart1921 (NOTES.md, key, transcription, reading, scripts)

OPEN GAPS (from NOTES.md, "## Remaining gaps")
  1. [illegible: needs a new source] The seven repaired words (ESQUIVEL, OBREGON, ALDAPE twice, NEGRETE, GARCIA, NARANJO) - blocker: illegible; the typist's signs are wrong or a sign is missing (an encipherer slip: a plain letter typed where its partner was due, or a letter left out), so no key reads them as typed; each name occurs correctly elsewhere in the letter.

ALREADY TRIED (from NOTES.md, "## Escalation")
  [x] siblings: the 12 records of catalogue entry 1445 opened at contact-sheet size; the others use number or number-and-letter systems (Mina, Amaya) or are sanchez1922 (a different key, its own page)
  [x] clear-pages: none on the pages; the clear Spanish names the same men as the runs
  [x] known-keys: Narváez's two felicista systems (Argumedo's numbers, Wellington's 313) tried in the notes; neither fits a letter swap
  [x] print: Narváez 2015 read in full; one web search on the persons; nothing on this letter
  [x] retry: every run decoded again with the frozen key; the five misses are slips, as listed

STEPS
0. Set up. If you can run a shell, fork and clone the repository and work inside it:
     git clone https://github.com/dbourdeau/cyphersolver.git
   Then read, in this order: CONTRIBUTING.md (how a contribution is sent and credited); README.md, sections
   "Repository layout" and "Conventions" (how readings are measured and named); targets/duhart1921/NOTES.md in full, and the
   key, transcription and reading files it names; lang/README.md (shared language models).
   Work in targets/duhart1921/. Add your findings to NOTES.md under a dated heading without rewriting what is there, and
   update the "## Remaining gaps" line of every gap you close. Keep WORKLOG.md there: one dated line per step
   (hypothesis, value tried, solver run, crib, control), failures included. Do not edit docs/ (the site is generated).
   If you cannot run a shell, fetch the files from the links above and keep your work in files you send with the issue.
1. Pick a gap. Start with the ones marked "doable now" (open-codes, not-attempted, left-open): the images and the key
   are online, so they need only work. A gap marked "needs a new source" (no-key-material, too-short, illegible,
   needs-physical-access) can be closed only by something new: a key
   or a deciphered sibling found elsewhere, a better image, a printed edition or calendar, a photograph from the archive.
   For those, search for that material first, and say where you looked even when you find nothing.
2. Start from the existing key and transcription in the folder. Do not rebuild the key from scratch, and do not
   re-read parts that are already read unless you find an error in them.
3. For a code group or sign value: list every place the group occurs, show how each reads with the value you propose,
   and say what still does not fit. For a passage: re-read it at the image and give the folio and line. For a missing
   letter or leaf: say where it is held and how it can be reached.
4. Measure again. Apply the key to the whole text, write the reading file, and count the share of cipher tokens that
   give sense (not an estimate). The reading is "complete" only when (1) at least 95% of its cipher tokens give sense;
   (2) no gap is left untried; (3) every letter in it is covered; (4) what stays open is scattered code groups or names,
   or pieces blocked from outside. Otherwise it stays "partial": say which gaps are still open and why.
5. Be honest. Mark every uncertain word with [?], leave unread groups as their numbers or signs, and never fill a gap
   with a plausible guess. A gap retried and still open, with what was ruled out, is worth reporting.

REPORT BACK
With a clone: open a pull request with your changes to targets/duhart1921/. Say in the description which gaps you worked on,
  the share read before and after, and how you want to be credited (name, initials or handle, and a link).
Without one: open an issue: https://github.com/dbourdeau/cyphersolver/issues/new?template=further-reading.yml&title=Further+reading%3A+duhart1921&page=duhart1921.html
  Give the write-up, the gap you worked on (its line in Remaining gaps, or the code group, folio and line), what you
  propose, the evidence (every occurrence, the images or sources), the share read before and after, your step log,
  and the tools and AI model you used.
If you cannot open issues or pull requests, write this report for your human to send. Credit goes to the person who sends it.

Open gaps

gold can be done now: the images and the key are online, it needs only work. grey needs a new source first: a key, a better scan, an edition or the archive.

Already tried

Send a result

One closed gap counts: a code group valued, a passage re-read, a key or clear copy found elsewhere. It is credited to you on the write-up.

Open a further-reading issueOther kinds of reportHow credit works← All partial readings