Arizona republican., 1920-12-26
Chile, Prodigies of
 Fraud
RY Erederic J. haskin

AA0
 By Frederic J. Haskin
 NEW YORK CITY, Dec. 24.-The child podigy is now a familiar figure among us. Nearly every week the pie torial supplements of the newspapers contain the photograph of at least one child genius who is early blossoming | into fame. Last year, one of the great | est sensations of the season was a | child pianist of II, and this year it is 1 q 9-year- old chess champion. Colum- bia university has just matriculated a 1 14-year- old boy, who is said to acquire i his high marks without studious eff fort, and Harvard of course. has had a child mathematical genius for two or three years. But the development of child prodi- gies has not been confined to the arts and sciences. They are also springing up in amazing numbers in criminal circles. New York is witnessing a rush season of small artfuI dodgers who are surprisingly skilled in relieving people of their watches and pocket books under the very noses of round cops. Still others are evidencing abil- ity in the. usually mature business of fraud.
 There is Sniffski, for instance, aged 6. a product Of Greenwich Village, who is master mind in his own line. Sniffski was not born with q silver spoon in his mouth. but with a great talent for acquiring something of the kind for himself. He is one of large family of ill-clad children who look very much alike, with the exception that Sniffski has an unusual pair of large, expressive. somber eyes, which he has learned to use to good advan- tage.
 Just when sniffski began to recog- nize their value is no known. but begin ming with this fall the people living in Sniffski's neighborhood were touched by their appeal. young woman artist was one of the first vic tims of their magic power. She was entering the corner drug store to buy a sundae when she beheld q small boy with a towseled head and ragged clothes staring in the window. The whole little figure seemed to express a tremendous longing, and she thought vaguely that the child would make a good sketch, but forgot about him in ordering her sundae. As she took the first bite. however. she happened to turn to the window. and encountered the eyes-Iarge brown eyes. swimming, the artist told a friend later, in per feet sea of wistfulness.e Well, the immediate result was that Sniffski was brought into the drug store and treat ed to a sundae.
 The Sniffsk System few nights later, the same young artist entering the corner drug store found Sniffski seated on stool beside an old lady, drinking an ice cream soda. and the night after that he was doing the same thing in company with l q genial old man. But on the neX' l night the climax came. As the young woman approached the drug store, she l saw Sniffski in the clutches of the 1 neighborhood cop.
 1 Now. just you run home as fast a' you can, if you can run at all aftel drinking all that muck. the cop wa adlnonishing the boy in Q stern voice ! which became less stern as he eneoun tered the dark, somber eyes. Tn little rascals had five sodas tonight, he explained to the interested onlook CTS and I'm afraid to let him hay another There's q limit to his stom icl, but there ain't any limit to tn number of people who are willing t buy drinks for him.
 This put an end to Sniffskfs ice cream soda game for while, but n soon discovered another equally ! good. It did not work so quickly, bu il provided fair amount of sma change whereas the other had secure merely food. He began to study tn people of his neighborhood and to pie out those with kindly. good nature faces Working one street at time he would wait for these individual in the morning and turn upon ther the full power of his dark, wistful eye and tiny smile The kindly souls, en tirely unsuspicious of plot, wer greatly flattered by this attention frof d child They were just in the rigf frame of mind for Sniffskfs fins stroke of genius, which usually cam about the third morning. This tim the neighbor was hapidly approache by Sniffski, his large eyes shining. an greeted with, Say, mister, today's m birthday"
 Invariably the neighbor inquired cor corning Sniffskis age, and invariabl Sniffski promptly answered Ten" An always the same result was one nor dime in Sniffsld's small pocket.
 Tn another section of New York a equally clever child prodigy has bee working an even more complicate scheme for separating trustful persoT rom small portions of their cash. Tn cnterprising lad who has a cherub counteuance, rings the bell Of a hous where there is no telephone Man such houses still exist in New Tor especially since the telephone compar has become so indifferent to increa, ing it's business.
 The Fake Phone Call
 By careful inquiries the boy has d. certained that furnished rooms rentt in this particular house and has S, cured the names of the Iodgers.
 So on a Sunday morning, MT Hibb