The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1906-05-10
CONVENTION OF roUGHs.
american Yeggmen Meet on Little Is
land In the Mississippi. =

>-OA~A AOSSHcH CMe0C Oh n AlCCl0 IS.
land In the Mississippi.
Where the Mississippi flows broad
and untrammeled by sand Bar or reef
all the year round, just outside the
city limits of Dubuque, Iowa, lies an
island, which combines the advant-
ages OF being seldom visited by law
abiding citizens and of being easily
reached by those who wish to visit it.
OF course there is reason why hon
est men make detours to avoid the ILL
fated shore; why steamboat captains
would rather have their boats run
upon rocks in mid-current than beach
them on the gently sloping sands; why
the people of neighboring towns live
in constant fear. .-..-
In all the miles through which the
great river flows there is not another
| spot more beautiful than this-rising
in long, easy reaches to midland
crowned with leafy verdure and man
stately trees. Yet, for all that, there
is a something, an indefnable in
fluence, emanating from the shady
groves, that repulses. This innocent
looking island is, in a sense, a ma
| tional headquarters of crime. It is
here that yeggdom holds it's annual
assembly. at which, they boast, none
but a yeggman has ever been present.
The gathering begins with a business
like council of war, planning the out
RACES to be attempted during the
year. 1t ends in wild debauch, and
probably not a few murders, although,
the corpus deficit is never in evidence,
the swift rushing current is too con-
venient for that.
Many a dark tale could be told by
the dropping beeches that edge the
open dell which lies at the north end,
many story of drink-crazed fury
and nauseating horror, but they are
silent-and so are most of the partici-
pants. Boatmen give the island a
wide berth during the fall months.
AS a rule, when the revels are in
progress, uncanny fires blaze in the
remoter depths of the enshrouding
shrubbery.
Every fall come the yeggs and after
making the place hideous for few
weeks, dispense upon various evil err
rands to the four quarters of the land,
although not very often to the south
In the south there are severer peni-
tertiary laws and chain gangs, fewer
large cities than elsewhere, and living
conditions not ideal for yegg COM
fort. For days before the exact date
of the meeting has been circulated by a
mysterious system of communication,
resembling nothing so much as telep-
athy, the organizers have busted
themselves in ordering great dray-
loads of beer direct from the brewery,
cattle and sheep in droves, and in
"lifting" many "gumps''-the yegg
term for chickens-from the coops of
the terrorized farmers in the vicinity.
1U U0hOO OIL OAO1 uOuS oluOuuU VI 1OOO
and drink to feed a couple of hundred
hungry mendicants out for a good
time and quite willing to elbow" a
seasons savings, if they have them,
at Zone whoop.'
By means of travel known to their
class they hasten to the rendezvous.
Some use the ''plantin on a rod"
some the "springin' in,' some the
"dise train" methods. The rest walk.
The first two phrases are the terms
used to describe the methods employed
in riding beneath passenger trains
and the last refers to riding in the
interior of sealed merchandise car.
The tricks are arts in themselves,
known only to the true-blue yegg, and
are used by no other type of criminal.
Naturally, the first to arrive are the
men working the star routes" The
second and third-raters straggle in at
almost any time, perhaps a week after
the festival has started. At the be-
ginning everything is decent enough.
Much beer is drunk and many oxen
roasted over great open fires. There
are no shelters on the island, so dur
ing rain or shine the yegg sleeps only
with a blanket to cover him. Grad
ually the fun becomes wilder. Beer
is now too mild to warm stomachs
surfeited with beef and mutton. So
they drink whisky, but it tastes little
better than beer. and soon few of the
most sober are sent into town for pure
alcohol.
Then the horrors begin. Two or
three hundred men consuming pure
alcohol, slightly diluted with water
and wintergreen, soon become crazy,
and the scenes that follow are too
horrible for description. Every yegg
carries in a little case suspended
around his neck a carefully sharp
ened razor, his 'shive, which he is
only too ready to use. It is not long