Page 240 - The Lost Ways

Unfortunately, when threatened with having his gut sliced open, he agreed to a second
dose, gave up the ball, and chose to save his life temporarily. He was later executed for
treason.

Another unusual way to hide messages was to use the tight hollows of quills made from
goose feathers. Because quills were a common medium for writing, it reduced suspicion,
detection, and risk. Messages were written in thin strips of paper that could be rolled up
to fit in the small hollow. The goal was that the spy could easily discard the message in
worst-case scenarios, like Daniel Taylor.

One message written by Henry Clinton during the Revolutionary War was preserved in
the Collections of the Clements Library. It was a particularly long message, so they had to
cut it into two parts to insert it in the quill easier.

(Both images from the Collections of the Clements Library)

Invisible Ink

The different forms of hiding messages listed above may be something you’ve never
heard of, and if you have, it might have been from museum tours or history classes. The
invisible ink method could be something you’re more familiar with.

Today, there are different kinds of pens that can produce the same effect as the ones our
ancestors used. Some pens are equipped with clear ink that can only be seen once
subjected to UV light. Our ancestors had no such luxury. What they had was the basics:
ferrous sulfate, water, and paper.

The “ink” was composed of ferrous sulfate mixed with water. During the war, a popular
strategy was to disguise the actual message in between the lines of an innocent letter
that was written with normal ink. Using the mix that makes the invisible ink, soldiers,
spies, and generals wrote on the original, non-threatening letter. The recipients of the
message could reveal the contents of the letter written with the invisible ink by subjecting
the paper to heat or a chemical reagent like sodium carbonate.

239