European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 01, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 6 the stars and stripes monday april 1,1991 sculptor Jim Sanborn stands beside his cryptic creation in Washington that has everyone stumped. Top spooks can t figure out message on Cia sculpture Washington a the new $250,000 sculpture decorating the inner courtyard at Cia Headquarters contains a secret coded message so difficult to unscramble that its spooking the spy Agency a smartest spooks. Sculptor Jim Sanborn wrote the message but steadfastly refuses to divulge its contents. He says the text is known Only to himself and Cia director William h. Webster. And neither Man is talking. Sanborn a encrypted brain teaser is etched in 2,000 let ters on the curving Copper plates of his outdoor sculpture the work was erected outside the mirrored windows of the Cia employee cafeteria offering a tantalizing Challenge to the lunchtime crowd inside. A everyone wants to know what it says a Sanborn. Says. A a they re out there All the time. There Are groups of dark suited people pointing at it and getting Down on their Knees trying to figure out what it says. Some Tak photographs. One Guy copied the whole thing Down with Pencil months ago As rumours of the mystery sculpture swept through the corridors of the Ciao a wooded enclave in suburban Langley va., police caught two men climbing ladders outside Sanborn a Washington studio. They had been trying to photograph the inscription through his windows. Sanborn says a a a Friend of a Friend told him recently. That frustrated Cia operatives sent a copy of the coded message to their Arch rivals at the National Security Agency to run through their Ultra smart Cray supercomputer., a a the last i heard they Hadnot gotten very far a Sanborn said saturday a they might have figured out one fourth of the sculptor a big bearded 45-year-old who wears aviators sunglasses talks freely about his other works which have been exhibited at the smithsonian a Hirsh Horn museum and the Corcoran gallery of Art in Washington. Quot a a a Quot but when he discusses a a Krypton a greek for a a hidden a Sanborn retreats behind the cautious elliptical speech of somebody who a trying to hide something. He said the sculptures message deals in several Levels with the Ciao a tradition of secrecy. He hints that it was a a collaborative project a possibly written with the help of a spy novelist but elaborate. A a the inscription includes a Vignere table a system of ciphers devised by the 16th Century French cryptographer Blaise de Vignere and a Vignere coded message that Sanborn says an expert can decipher in a few hours. But the rest of the message contained in the lower right quadrant is a a whole different Ball games of multiple codes Sanborn said. It was written by a retired Cia cryptographer whom the sculptor wont identify. They conducted business Only at secret locations never by Telephone or in writing. A the developed something that really stumped them out there a Sanborn said. A parts can be deciphered in a matter of weeks or months but other parts might never be deciphered without the knowledge that Webster has. He has the key to the code and he can easily figure the whole Sanborn knew head have to share his secret with a Cia confidant. A their business is to gather information he said a and if they done to know or Tate a going on in their own Back Yard How would anyone believe they a know what was going in it the rest of the world a so when the sculpture was dedicated in november Sanborn handed Webster two sealed envelopes. One contained the translation of the message. The other contained the keywords required to break the code a emr. Sanborn. You have captured much of what this Agency is All about a the Cia director said. A we like to be tested and we enjoy a a i Hope you can keep a secret a the sculptor said giving Webster the envelopes. A yes indeed a Webster replied. A my lips Are sealed. So is Exchange for his clues the Cia has allowed Sanborn to haul away 6 tons of soggy paper pulp a what a left of the Agency a discarded secret documents. After its dried Sanborn will use the stuff to make future sculptures imprinted with coded messages a even if someone freaks the Cia sculptures code someday Sanborn said the message wont make sense. A they will be Able to read what i wrote but what i wrote is a mystery itself. There Are still things they have to discover once its deciphered. There Are things in there they will never discover meaning of a Ellis Island Wall of Honor damaged new York apr deep gashes and Graffiti have spoiled the Wall of Honor on Ellis Island unveiled Only six months ago As a memorial to the thousands of immigrants who passed through the Gateway to the United states. The 951-foot Copper Wall engraved with the names of 200,000 immigrants will probably be repaired and cleaned this summer says National Park service which maintains and administers the Island. Ait had not been determined if the engraved panels on top of a Waist High Wall that runs along the Edge of the Island would be closed to the Public or removed for repairs said spokesman Manny Strumpf. Careless tourists and sea gulls Are As much responsible for the damage As Are vandals Strumpf said. A we Are not denying the fact that there is vandalism a he said. A but the Wall is so designed that it catches and retains every piece of Bird dropping and being right by the water the Birds Are having a Field Day. A a a with people leaning Over to look at the Wall and into the water Belt buckles purses wrist watches medical Alert bracelets and cameras scratch it even further a he added. Stars help serve meals to homeless in . _. From wire reports \ los Angeles a comedian Steve alien actress Tyne Daly and a a jeopardy game show Host Alex Trebek were among More than a dozen celebrities who helped serve Early easter dinners saturday to about 5,000 homeless people. The Star studded Volunteer Force dished out Honey baked Ham and Gravy mashed potatoes Green Beans com Rolls and Apple pie at the downtown los Angeles volunteers included actors Tony Dow who played Wally on the old a leave it to Beaver television series and Jeff Conaway the aspiring actor in a other shelters serve easter i driers on Sun i Day so this Mission decided to do it a Day before and give the homeless an Opportunity for two Holiday dinners a said Mission spokesman i Chad Mckee. A the Mission has 100 Beds and serves about 650 meals continues Arcadia . A a Man who was swept away by a rain swollen Creek a Day before his wedding saturday remained missing authorities said. Saul White jr., 28, disappeared aftera car his Fiancee was driving Slid off a wet Road in Davidson county Friday night and plunged into Muddy Creek about 80 Miles West of Raleigh. His Fiancee Janet Stanley Johnson 38 escaped out a car window and swam to safety Highway patrol trooper Barry Hower dog a Trail Ore. A Steve Macy says his neighbors dog Buffy More than repaid him for months of table scraps when she roasted him from his bed during a fire Early saturday at the historic hotel. A i think the dog saved my life a Macy said after the 5-Montn-old Cocker Spaniel came scratching on his door. He said he was sleeping soundly in the second floor room he rents in the 75-year-old hotel when the fire broke out in another room. A the smoke was so thick it looked like a new England fog a he said. A i just scooped up Buffy and ran Down the firefighters arrived in time to contain the Blaze to a second floor room of the hotel where such guests As president Hoover and novelist Zane Grey stayed during local fishing expeditions. No one was Hurt. 18 injured in collision los Angeles -4 a bus and a pickup truck bus collided at an intersection saturday injuring 18 people a fire official said. The four people in the truck were injured two of them critically said fire department spokes Man David Holcomb. A fourteen of about 35 passengers on the South Ern California rapid transit District bus were injured and four of them were taken to hospitals Holcomb said the extent of their injuries was not immediately known. A a Wood stays radioactive Cleveland a a Man whose garage was built. 17years ago with lumber salvaged from a. Uranium processing Plant was surprised to learn the Wood is still radioactive. Quot Hank Novak who obtained the lumber when i the former Che Metron co. Plant was remodeler said he used the Wood of build a garage at his Home in suburban Parma. A i was a drafts Many a assistant to the Engineer when they Tore the building Down a he said a when they told me to Burn it i thought i could use it to build my garage. The Wood was dirty and had Staples in it but was otherwise usable. I was Happy when they let me take it Novak sold the Home to Joseph and Patricia Lubowicz a few years later. Novak said he thought nothing of it until Reading a recent newspaper Story about residual radioactivity at the Plant. A a when an Ohio department of health worker ran a radiation Check on the boards last week he found they were still radioactive
