The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1908-08-21
WORKS OF JOHN YEGG
A Daring Burglar Who Attained
Fame In His Line.
HIS NAME A POLICE LEGACY.
II Is Now Applied TO the Most Danger
Gus Criminals With Whom the OFF,
GERS of the Law Have to Contend.
Nitroglycerin In Safe Bursting.

|
NitrosIycerin In Safe Bursting.
In the expressive slang that per-
meates police circles throughout the
country. a "yegg' Is one Of the dan
gerous criminal class.
The question Is often asked, "What
is n yegg, and how did the expression
originate? An answer to the latter
| part OF the query will lead to an elucl-
/ dalton OF the first.
| Some years ago, when the United
States government was experimenting
some death dealing and destructive
shell that would cause more damage
| than any before manufactured, some
one suggested that introglycerin be
| tried. Up TO that time this most pow
erful OF explosives had not been util-
ized in this way.
The government experts went to
work and the results OF their expert
ments were from time to time pub
llshed broadcast through the commu-
! nifty. At last they succeeded In max
Ing n shell In which nltroglycerin was
! the chief component part and which
made all former ones sink into insig-
| nihcance.
In town I'm the middle west at the
! time there lived man named John
| Ycgg. In his earlier days he had been
one of the most expert electricians as
well as all round experienced mechan-
les In the country. Later, through drink
and bad associates, he had descended
to life of crime, his principal art be-
Ing that Of safe blowing.
| lie was attracted by the published
accounts OF the experiments OF the
government authorities with nitro
glycerin. The thought struck him,
Why could not this be used in blowing
! safes?
| The method at that time was to drill
hole i'm the safe to be wrecked, fill
| this with powder or dynamite and
! then touch the fuse This method,
however, required considerable time to
pull off "a job" and was noisy and
dangerous.
! Yegg went TO work on the nitro
glycern method. He tried It, and 1t
was n complete success. Furthermore.
! after he had performed job after job
he had the police of the country baf-
| fled They did not know how the
work was done. Yegg instructed
! others I'm the art, and soon from one
| cad of the country to the other safes
were being wrecked. but by what man
ner no one knew.
Yegg's method was to take some of
! the explosive which he and those with
him called "soup"-and, by the way,
! this term is still eXtant-and pour It
I'm the crack OF the safe near the
hinges of the door The small aperture
was then covered with soap TO hold
the explosive I'm place. The fuse was
applied, and with the explosion of
went the doors, slick and clean. The
entire job took but few minutes. 1t
remained for a young Pinkerton de
tectlve TO solve the matter on safe
that was blown I'm Coldwater, Mich,
where a bank was wrecked and many
thousands Of dollars secured.
The crime was traced TO Yegg and
some Of his companions, and they
were found guilty and sent to prison
Thereafter those who employed the
nltroglyuern instead of the older
methods were called 'yeggmen" or
"yeggs."
This was the beginning of the term,
but since that time the application OF
hu p
viewed from whatever aspect Is the
most dangerous criminal with whom
the police OF the country have TO deal
He is one who rides the country DER
on freight trains. working through the
south I'm the winter and migrating to
more exhilarating climes during the
summer He will beg when he is
hungry and will steal and commit
murder when he sees an opportunity
OF benenting himself.
Today there are thousands of 'yeggs
scattered throughout the country, Most
OF them belong To some certain band.
each one of which has n leader. He
recruits. To him also is shipped all
the loot, ana he In turn converts IL into
money and places the amount to the
credit of the member sending Il In
For this the king receives n commits
sion.
Most of the 'yegg" gangs carry what
is known as kitten" with them. The
kitten" is boy. young man or Grip
pie, whose duty II Is TO visit houses
and places OF business, apparently. beg
glng food or selling shoestrings. lead
pencils. etc. and who then reports TO
the gang "the lay Of the land" SO that
when the Sima comes for pulling or
the job all are familiar with the prem
ises THE kittens" are often runaway
boys and later become "ycggs" them.
selves. destined TO follow life OF
rrlme and observation-disclosures Ca
tette-Times.