The Havre herald. [volume] (Havre, Mont.) 1904-1908, 1908-08-12
WORKS OF JOHN NGG
4 Daring Burglar WAC Aita~ed
Fame In His laae.
HIS NAME a POLICE LEGACY

II Us Now Applied 20 che Mosk DamSsr-
Gus crsEesnaie With Whosa tho o.
eess Of the Law Have te cosAsasa.
Nitroslyeerin I'm Safs BuraAias.
IN the expressive slang th&s eAR-
nseates po1iee circles khroashsut fe
country, Q .'yeEg' is one Of The S&a-
seTous criminal class.
The question Is often asksa, .sWEas
Is a yegg, and how did the sxpssssSea
originate? An answer 10 tina lsaAee
part OF the emery viii head ts aa sssei-
dalton of the faRst.
Some years ago, wheR tbs Unitea
States government was exper4mentfiiis
with high explosives, Wishing 10 sseune
some death dealing and lasaEust3xe
shall that would cause Rsore hamaxe
than any before manufactured, Some
one suggested that antrasiyeerin bs
tried. Up to that time this most paW-
erful of explosives had met been mais
lied In this way.
The government experts wsRt b
work, and the results OF their expert.
ments were from time TO time uaL
Iished broadcast through the eomHu
nifty. At last they succeeded in aaak.
ing shell tn which nitYoglyceran was
the chief component part and whSck
mifisanee
In town in the middle vast at the
time there lived man named John
Yegg. In his earlier days he had been
one OF the most expert electricians AZ
well as NIL round experienced meehaa.
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.
He was attracted by the published
accounts of the experiments of the
government authorities with nitHs-
glyeerin. The thought struck hfrM,
why eould mot this be used tn blowing
safest
The method ut that time was 10 ARiA
hole I'm the safe TO DO wrecked, nm
this with powder or dynamite ind
then touch the fuse. This method,
however, required considerable time 10
pub Off "a job and was noisy and
dangerous.
Yegg went TO work ON the niero-
glyeerin method He tried It, and Dc
was complete success Furthermore.
after he had performed job after jeb
he had the police Of the country haf-
fed They did not know how the
work was done. Yegg instrustad
others I'm the art and soon from enc
end of the country 10 tbs ether safas
were being wrecked, but by what nran-
ner no one knew.
Yegg's method was TO take some Of
the explosive which he and those w1Sh
him called 'soup"-and, by the way.
this term Is still extant-and pour AZ
In the crack of the safe near the
hinges of the door. The small apegtgae
was then covered with sonp to isola
the explosive i'm place. The fuse was
applied. and with the explosion ok
went the doors, slick and elean. phe
entire job took but few minutes. H
remained for young Pinkerton de-
tective to solve the matter on safe
that was blown In Coldwater, Mica,
where 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
instead OF the Older
methods were called ''yeggmen" or
"yeggs."
This was the beginning OF the terra
but since that time the application OF
1t has grown greatly. Today ''yegg."
viewed from whatever aspect. lis sh.
most dangerous criminal with wEen
the police OF the country have to deal.
He La one who rides the country Ger
ON freight trains. working through the
south in the winter and migrating "a
more exhilarating climes during the
summer. He will beg when he ii
hungry ana will steal and commit
murder when he sees an opportunity
Of benefiting himself
Today there are thousands of "yeags.
scattered throughout the country. Nest
Of them belong to some certain band.
each one of which has a leader He
Es the king Ii Is his duty to enlist
recruits. TO him also is shipped an
the loot. and be In turn converts it int
money and places the amount to the
credit Of the member sending it in:
For this the king receives commits
,ion.
Most of the ''yegg" gangs carry what
8 known as a kitten with them The
kitten is boy, young man or Grip
Die. whose duty it Is TO visit houses
md places Of business apparently beg
Ting food or selling shoestrings. lead
pencils. etc. and who then reports to
be gang ''the lay of the land so that
when the time comes for pulling of
he job al are familiar with the prem
ses. The kittens are often runaway
'oys and later become "yeggs" them
'e1ves. destined TO follow a life OF
rsme and Observation-Disclosures Ga
ette- Times