Perth Amboy evening news., 1920-12-17
THE HASKIN LETTER
CHILD PRoDIGIEs OF FRAUD
Nv Frederic j. Haskin

NEW YORK CITY, Dec. 14-Tne
child prodigy is now a familiar f1g'
ure among us. Nearly every week
the pictorial supplements Of tn
newspapers contain the photograph
Of at least one child genius who II
early poisoning into fame. Las
year. one of the greatest sensation:
of the season was a child pianist OF
eleven, and this year 1t is a nine
year-old chess champion. Columbis
University has just m~atriculated q
fourteen-year-old boy, who is said
to acquire his high marks without
studious effort, and Harvard, OF
course. has had a child mathemat-
ical genius for W or three years.
But the development of child
p~rodieies has not been confined TO
the arts and sciences. They are also
springing up in amazing numbers in
criminal circles. New York is wit
Messing a rush season of small art
full dodgers who are surprisingly
skilled in relieving people of their
watches and pocketbooks under the
very noses of rotund cops. Still
others are evidencing amazing abil-
ity in the usually mature business of
fraud.
There is Sninski, for instance,
aged six, a product of Greenwich
Village, who is a master mind in his
own line. Sniffski was not born
with a silver spoon in his mouth, but
with a great talent for acquiring
something of the kind for himself.
He is one of a large family of i'll 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 advantage.
Just when Sniffski began to rec
ognize their value is not known. but
beginning with this fall the people
living in Sniffskis neighborhood
were touched by their appeal. A
young woman artist was one of the
first victims of their magic power.
She was entering the corner drug
store TO buy "a sundae when she be-
held q small boy with a towsled 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 or
dering her sundae. AS she took the
first bite. however, she happened to
turn to the window and encountered
the eyes-large brown eyes, swim
ming, the artist told a friend later,
''in a perfect sea of wistfulness."
Well, the immediate result was that
Sniffski was brought into the drug
store and treated to a sundae.
The Sniffski System
A few nights later, the same young
artist entering the corner drug store.
found Sniffski seated on a stool be-
side an old lady. drinking an ice
soda, and the night after that
he was doing the same thing in COM
pany with a genial old man. But
on the next night the climax anne.
As the young woman approached
the drug store. she saw Sniffski in
the clutches of the neighborhood
cop.
Now just you run home as fast
as you can. if you can run at all
after drinking all that muck" the
cop was admonishing the boy in a
stern voice, which became less stern
as he encountered the dark. somber
eyes. The little rascal's had five
sodas tonight" he explained to the
interested onlookers, land I'm
There's a limit to his stomick, but
there amt any limit to the number
of people who are willing to buy
drinks for him.
This put an end to Sniffski's ice
cream soda game for a while, but he
discovered another equally as
good. 1t did not work so quickly,
but 1t provided a fair amount of
small change, whereas the other had
secured merely food. He began to
study the people of his neighbor-
hood and to pick out those with
kindly. good-natured faces. Work.
ing one street at a time he would
wait for these individuals in the
morning and turn upon them the
full power of his dark, wistful eyes,
and tiny smile. The kindly souls, en-
tirely unsuspicious of 4 plot v-@"e
greatly iattered by this attention
from a child. They were just in the
frame of mind, for Sniffski's
final stroke of genius, which usually
came about the third morning. This
time the neighbor a rapidly APP
preached by Sniffski. his large eyes
shining, and greeted with, Say, Mis-
ter. today's my birthday"
Invariably. the neighbor inquired
concerning Sniffski's age. and inva-
riably Sniffski promptly answered
len. ANU dlWdyS TIC SAINT Icouit
was one more dime in Sniffski's
small pocket.
In another section Of New York
an equally clever child prodigy has
been working an even more compli-
Gated scheme for separating trustful
persons from small portions of their
cash. This enterprising lad. who
has a cherubic co~untenance, rings
the bell of a house where there is no
telephone. Many such houses still
exist in New York, especially since
the telephone company has become
so Indifferent to increasing it's
business.
The Fake Phone Call
BY careful inquiries the boy has
ascertained that furnished rooms
are rented in this particular house,
and has secured the names of the
dodgers.
SO on a Sunday morning, Mr..
Hibbs, who lives in the third floor
front, is informed by his landlady
that he is wanted on the nearest
drug store telephone. The drug