Los Angeles herald., 1905-02-26
e~ JOSIAH FLVNaT
ORIGIN. NET HODS
SLANG es0ollVES
e1s ROBOES WHO
ARE PROVING tbe
MOST DANGEROUS
eePREDATORY
C2gRagNALS
,-,RfMfNAI .fypaa 7ro almost asl 7

- ~ MIN ~ ~ P"1 3iH afHi'9' "e
NsriseIe as STYLES i'm dress or
~ tastes in ari The highway roh-
her or ono generation nnds himself
ohsoleacent and laid Oh the shelf IN
another his Implements ard skill haze
become uusuted to new couditiond
The riclsnoekei must also keen study
ing the ever changing clothes and
pannerism0 of his victims. Pockets
that he could pick With ease twenty
years ago either no longer exist orI
have given way tp others more care
fully gnarded The sneak is like
Mise CONTINUALLY Watching for new de-
selopn1ents in bis branch Of crime
Indeed all Of this so-cslisd 'profes
sionals and the bulk'of crime n the
tnited states Is oommtted by this
ciass Of oftenders keen track ofl
cbargss M social customs ~ nliIutely
IS thes study new inXentions ON the
part, Of detectives for thel detection
and identidtaHon
Recently. elule enplored ss rsil-
road ear tracer ~ tlfr southwest be
anne yery much uterested in 2 new
typs Of bank vault aud safe burglar
Hs was not entirely unkuowu to ne
before going to the southwest, bui n
saw snd heard So much of him there
that it was possible for me to come
to some definite conclusions about his
class r refer 70 the tramp, OF hobo y
burglar. caHsd by hoboes The "vegg-
man ii1-herc is considerable oontro-
persy concerning The origin Of this
word According to one version there
was once a man called Jqhu Yegs
He was at the head Of j gang Of rob
hers in The FAR west and his followers
are SAID to have taken their leaders
patronynie for their professional
srrlonaber Anothar explanation isl
that the word IL of gypsy origin and
means ehieff a. ysgE il is de,
clsred by The .SHpporters iof the latter
theory is ane VINO demonstrates bgl
his .strength and courage that he isl
fitted 70 command The trmps arei
supposed . have, apprceriated the
teFn sgl given il TO those members
OF their elan who make a business ofl
robbery rathcr than of begging, They
are wqegs beea,ise thGy have the
nerve 10 risk their liberty and lives IN
dangerous criminal exploits The rank
and fiis ef tho traptp class arc con
ssausnty looked down Ipou by. the
f'ysggs as discouraged criminals
1nen who have been frightened out ~
the profession by buniehnent -or as 81
"pikers ebo have never known or
tried for ANYTHING better than a
tramps lifa
Like the bona nde tramps theI
'yesgsg have toad nagies. They have
also patched sdRether ycrnscrlsr not
very diferept from tho 'hobosn This
mafp difference between the two sys-
TENS Of slang is -fhat tho yeggs
dialect contains more words describ-
i1S thieving and matters connected
with the. police Tho following mona
bers or road names ares frequently
met with Dynamite FRITZ" sleep
less James wooden leg Frank
Galveston Lulu f"Oklahoma Riff
"Arbansas Fatty" etc. The name Of
hand Or "yeggs' is generally deter
mined by tho leader Usually his
frst name, or monaber' is given to.
the gang and it then becomes known
az "chi Blackie's Mob" milwaukee,
Shorts's Gang and so on, as the
leaders name happens 70 be. Some
ofrhe slang terms used could not pos
Fllolv be understood by outsiders, For
exampIe~ When "yeggs' are fright
ened away from an attempted rob
befy they refer to the disturbance as
a erumbIe 1--WE got a. rumble and
had to dbck' (get away; shooting an
oficer is'immying a bull" revolyers
are 'rodS. blowing a safe is .snuffing
a;dfum, policeman prone 10 use his
club is> "dapperN am express train
Is a "dangler, alcohol drinkers are
"whte liners" silver money IS junk
niro-glycaine is Soup and oil
'kiokv is pocket a Jain Is dump
fuse s ss9pibs money drawer Is a
chip and steel chest IS AL
"kelster Az camps whore The gyeggs
congrcgate they use these idioms al
most exclusively and an untutorel
stranger happening upon them would
pe as helpless ln interpreting their
meaning as an American country boy
listening TO collection Of Chinese.
The development Of The "yeggsH as
erlmina class IA the United States u
not hard TO trace. There have alnaysl