The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1902-08-20
4 Class Of Criminals A5oNt Whom
Little IS Known.
THEY ARE VERY BOLD THIEVES
They Loot Country PostOtfi ces. Rail-
road Stations and Stores.
Sudden appearance and
Disappearance.

! the W. I'm part OF the state and in
the country districts of all the other
states, especially those in the south.
The safe blowing and robbery by
''veggS" at Port Chester last week in
dicateS to those who know the habits
of this queer class of criminals that a
band is working this way. 1t IS on
the cards for them to be heard from
soon in New Jersey or down on Long
Island. although in the past the
''yeggs" have bothered Long Island
very little.
The men whose business it is to know
all about criminals. their ways and
the peculiar marks by which their
work may be told have had hard
time in studying the 'yeggS." One
reason is that the "yeggS" are a COM
paratively new class. 1t is only with
in ten years that they have become
known in this region. II they were
known previously N other parts Of the
country detectives here never heard
of it.
Very little of their origin is known.
but that they have more complete
organization than even the common
American tramp is well established.
Their work is all Of the same class.
They loot country postotliceS and rail
road stations. country stores and oc-
casionally, but not often. a country
residence.
They use dynamite in blowing open
safes always, and they depend upon
the terror that their boldness spreads
over a neighborhood for success. Some
Of the raids that they have made
right in this state are uneQualled fol
bOldness by anything ever done by
the stage robbers Of yellow fiction.
The "yeggs" are really tramp Grim,
inals. They must not be confused
with the country road tramp who
loots kitchens and hen-rooStS, because
they do not belong to that class at al
and hold such petty criminals in great
contempt.
The ''yeggs" are bright, clever
thieves, who dress well and plan al!
their operations with care. Their
chief characteristic is their utter
fearlessneSs. When they mark place
for a raid, they don't sneak up to it,
throw out guards and use other pre-
cautions. They just march up with
their implements, break open as many
doors as may be necessary, charge the
safe with dynamite and touch it of,
Then they take what they want from
the interior and disappear.
If any one interrupts them they
shoot at him. Almost invariably
fusilade follows any attempt to inter,
fere with ''yeggS," and this evident
willingness to shoot reckleSsly always
has the effect of keeping people off
1t must be remembered that the
"yeggS" work almost exclusively ir
country places, where there is no or
ganized police force to interfere Will
them.
Some folks think the ''yeggS'; are
g:pSieS. but they certainly don't show
any signs of belonging to that race.
They don't camp out anywhere ano
they are seen very little on the road.
What road travelling they do is dore
is night. as it is part of their buSi'
ness to keep their movements secret.
Occasionally "yeggS; are caught.
Then they are found to be men Of un.
usual intelligence. They are Of all
nationalities, and seem to come from
so many different walks of life that
the notion thai they are class like
the gypsies is exploded.
1t is the organization of the "yeggS''
which eXciteS the admiration Of men
who have seen something Of it. They
have ways of communicating with one
another that are mysterious and ef-
fective. They will swoop down on a
country postotlice, blow open the safe,
shoot several people. and then get
away with the loot without leaving
the slightest trace Of their movements.
/ They haven't been seen coming in and
they haven't been noticed going out.
\ general alarm sent out over the sur
rounding country never seems to re-
suit in catching the participants in
any of these raids. They seem to
melt away.
A remarkable instance occurred
last summer in Southern part Of New
York. \ gang of about thirty ''yeggS'
descended on the place. Instead of
roDIOing stores. they carried out a
carefully planned raid in the residence
district. This town has uniformed
police force OF some thirty men, but
despite this the "yeggs' marched in,
went into houses without bothering,
to tnd out whether any one was at
home or not, took what they wanted,
shot at any one who objected and at
some who didn't, and then went
away. They walked through the
main streets Of the place with their
loot, fired shots in the air, and 50 ter
riticd the local police that the latter
did not dare to interfere.
The next night they came around
and went through the same perform
ance. The third night they did 1t
again. On the three nights they got
away with about $40, 900 worth Of sill
yer and jewelry. and not one was ar
rested.
The ''yeggs" fired about 300 shots
during this time and never Injured a
person. They probably never meant
to- Their object in shooting SO much
and 50 freely was to create terror. and
they succeeded.
Alarms for these marauders were
sent far and wide, but not one Of them
was ever captured. Where they stayed
during the daytime on this particular
raid NO one ever found out, although
it must haze been somewhere inside
or just outside of the town.
And what is more mysterious is
what they did with their loot. They
never could have got away with all