The Savannah morning news., 1901-11-14
pETRoIT's wONDERFUL BOY.
He is Only Three Years Old, but He
Possesses n Remarkable Memory.
From the Detroit Journal.
..An..4 .n..nAinrr,, in q ,,nn1ch n1niaiie

From the Detroit Journal.
Infant prodigy is a much misused
term, and, besides. il seems very
formidable expression to apply to such
a dimnutive, quiet, black-eyed fellow.
but still that is what Rubin Suttkus.
in the absence of a. better descriptive
phrase. must be called.
Three-year-old Robin is unquestion-
ably a prodigy. and he is an infant.
The child has a memory which in a
grown-up person would be considered
a remarkably developed faculty He is
the sixth child of John Suttkins a
carriage maker. and has been brought
up Just like the other children, and
IL was purely by accident that his ex-
traordinary mental attainments were
discovered.
1t was about a year ago when the
child began to show his singular de-
velopment. Mr.. Suttkus had construct
ed a puzzle for the amusement of one
odd-shaped pieces of wood, which
linked together. would show a large
picture, the parts of which had been
pasted on one side.
1t was a rather intricate affair and
puzzled the ingenuity Of the whole
family. Little Rubin became interest
ed in IT. Creeping on the fioor--he
could not yet walk--he would manage
to get hold OF the box containing the
puzzle and for hours amuse himself
with attempts at solving the problem.
Where his older brothers and sisters
failed he succeeded. and he soon had
mastered the difficulties involved in
putting the pieces together
When he had completed the picture
once or twice he was able to accom-
plish the task without hesitating. He
had menorized the location of every
piece and was able TO place each in
its proper place with unfailing GER
tainty. So sharp was his memory that
finally he could correctly solve the
puzzle with the picture side Of the
pieces downward.
Last Christmas Rubin got another
puzzle. II consisted of eighteen large
square blocks with the component
parts Of a picture. large design, on
one side, and letters and numerals on
the other side. The tot knows by
heart what is on each block. You show
him one block with, for instance, a
w. on one side. and he will tell you
without hesitation what is on the
other. He will say "Hoss' head or
Flowers" just as the case may be.
On the other hand. IL the side with
the letters or numerals on it is con-
cealed and he is shown the side re-
presenting a part OF the general de-
sign of the puzzle as a whole. he will
instantly tell you the characters ap-
pearing on the reverse of this parti-
cular block. ~, V, and c." he will
say. or Il. j." or any one of the eigh-
teen different combinations that ap-
pear on the eighteen blocks
Surely IL Is far from being an ordi-
nary feat for any one TO retain in mind
the precise combination which a speci-
fed one of the eighteen blocks may
bear. and when the part Of the general
design on the reverse which this par
ticular block is merely portion OF is
a part OF the border. or the almost un-
recognizable fragment Of a flower worn
dim by the hard usage the children
have given Il. the fact that 4his little
one can unhesltatingiy name the COM
bination OF letters and numerals which
he cannot see inspires Amusement
He knows the alphabet by heart and
can read many printed words. He viii
go TO the blackboard. draw a pic and
write "P g" on n. And yet he is bur
three years old. Nobody has taught
him. Nobody has told him. He has
picked Il up By observing the older
children doing their school work III
every other way the little fellow q
thoroughly chiillke ana not different
from any other child ~ his aNe. lfe
a. playful end full ~ pfanks ~ me-
mofy. however, he an Far beyond TIE
ordinary end hls performances excite
fhe aei0nishmeul oi the entire neigh
borhoo3,