The Salt Lake Tribune from Salt Lake City, Utah • 68

I rr 1- 1T 'H laiHapp2n! MUST THET PART? Are MU Mary Lackey and Hef Talented Papili Giorgio aid Ragglera Ricci Wkc Me Baca 1 tailed by Critic While Lawyers Parents and Guardians Battle One Boy Genius Speaks His Mind About His i A FORTUNE IN HANDS la This Photo Rugglwm Ricci Acclaimed Genius of tho Violin Display Hie Million-doller Head Which Already Havm Brooght Him Feme and My Sen Bring Him Wealth given luxuries they never before had enjoyed Soon after Miss Lackey was served with a writ of habeas corpus instigated by the parents on the ground that ehe was exploiting the youngsters In brief the attitude of tho Riccis as set forth by their attorneys was this: They loved their two talented boys they wanted them not for their money but for their love Legally they contended that st guardianship granted to Miss Lackey In California did not hold New York State Miss attitude was this: She had trained and cared for the children and they loved her ShW had given up any share In their earnings She haa given them a proper atmosphere even at a sacrifice of time and money and she was by legal processes their guardian Judge Louis A Valente who passed on the habeas corpus proceedings held this view i That It would be cruel to turn the children who are very touch attached to their present environment over to their parents immediately They can remain with Miss Lackey until the first of the year that tune" he concludes Court will be in a better position to judge of the effect of the present program for the children upon their general welfare and to determine to what extent Miss Lackey should have continued access to them and in what respect if at all she should bo permitted to participate in the supervision of their musical But what of the children? Are they supposed to have anything to say about itT Well Ruggiero does say something To the writer of this article he expressed himself forcibly with flashing dark eyes: "If they take me away from Miss Lackey never play the Rum Code aha had beau A A i I IT A Ntw York Apartment are two bewilder little boys They era waiting lo parent guardians would-be guardians and lawyer! to upon their future 4 The two boys particularly one of them hare been proclaimed by critics throughout ho United States nautical ffeniuseg They hare been hailed en-Lhusiastically by the public during their appearances In the concert auditoriums of large cities Only recently nearly 8000 music- lovers ef New York City taxed the capacity of Carnegie Hall to hear nine" year-old Ruggiero Ricoi play But Just before the concert was to be given on seems the boy was forbidden to appear the Tbe Mayor it tee had stepped the conesrt becauss of the objection of the parents The crowd in Carnegie Hall was stunned They could not understand But behind It all was a skein of tangled legal troubles and a story with many contradiction It involves a bitter earning much mora than this Miss Lae to do so She had the lade The Bsrletta two prodigies appear iV MOTHER OP A GENIUS Is Mrs Pietro Ricci with Her lafSat Sea Frederica She Originally 'Consented to Hava Another Train Her Two- Older Soa Bccaaae They Shewed Sack Musical Taleat not wealthy and the parents heartily entered into the proposition They even suggested that Giorgio receive similar care 4 In May 1927 the parents and Miss Lackey signed a contract In it the parents relinquished custody of Ruggi-ero until he was twenty-one years of age There also was a provision that the parents and Miss Lackey were to share equally in the earnings A year later a similar agreement wes signed in reference to Giorgio Both of tho boya were happy with their guardian Meanwhile Ruggiero wes feat achieving fame Ho wen the boys achievement contest In Han Francisco and later tho Oscar Wail Scholarship open to any mident of California up to the age of twenty-one The new to run for Bear never stories Soon Investigators began to suspect that code messages to men on rum boats were being sent out from the station They believed that waa why the stories sounded so peculiar At any rate on night while "Aunt CariUM MM limeelUoil SmMI Sara PRIVATE Produced ia ike Fire! Page aa Announcement Coacert by the Two Ricci Boy ia Sponsored by Mr aad Mr Frederick Wke Backed Them Fiaaacially made other successful appearances in Carnegie Hall in Chicago and in other lam cities Then all of a sudden things began to nappen and tbe lives of the two boye were thrown into legal turmoil The Bartlett suddenly withdrew their support from Miss Lackey Her guardianship was contested but she was upheld by the Court in San Francisco The Supreme Court confirmed the decision Mr Bartlett brought tha Ricci family on from California The latter were placed in a sumptuous twelve-room apartment on Riverside Drive There A 1 I fight to Settle the question Should (Ruggiero 9 and his brother Giorgio I be returned to the custody of their parents or allowed to remain with their guardian who has trained and guided them to public recognition I Four years ago their parents Mr and Mrs Pietro Ricci were eon fronted with no such Problem They lived in San Bruno California Be aides Ruggiero and Glergio they had four other children: Lorraine now 12 Rosa 15 1 Emma 5 and Virginia 2 An infant son Frederico sines has been born Their family was musical one Mr Ricci besides doing odd lobe was All asalitant bandmaster All of the cbil dren used to- play but Ruggiero and Giorrlo showed especial talent One day In May 1926 a friend told Mr Ricci he ought to taho Ruggiero to set Louis The latter is pot only a famous Sea Francisco violin ''teacher but also is bead of the Dam-roach School violin department Mr Perainger turned the boy ever to hla assistant Mias Mary Elizabeth Lackey found her pupil of such unuaual promise that she gave him two lemons a week without charge Rug fiero continued to visit her pome in erkeley for a year Then fa 1927 it wss suggested that he would xnako bet ter progress if he went to live with Lackey Ths Ricci fatally was 0 anted Floy a former police lieutenant of Seattle was accused by officials ef being a bootleg king They became interested In ndio and in Mrs Omited who am "Aunt Vivian" would broadcast bedtime stories nightly Because of her connections the Federal officials became auspicious of her The whiskey business v'" Suspicious Federal Agents Confused Bedtime Stories with key says she agreed faith in the future ef subsequently had the at many private recitals In their home In November 1928 Ruggiero appeared with Mr Peninger in a recital at Scottish Rita Auditorium San Francisco He was immediately hailed as a new Yehudi Menuhin and a brilliant star on the musical horizon The morning after his euo-cess his mother requested Mias Lackey to take out legal guardianship papers for the two boys This she did although she saw she realized that in so doing she had to forfeit 60 per cent of the earnings The following February 1929 Mr Peninger moved to New York Miss ackey wanting the boys to receive his tutelage secured the consent of tbe parents end a court order to move to New York also One of that great musical sensations was debut in October 1929 with the Manhattan Symphony Orchestra Ha wee sentenced to a year in prison His testimony unleashed an astonishing series of charge against others It waa claimed in court that boats were used to run rum high officials faced trials of bribery and conspiracy Other rum kings went to prison "Aunt Vivian" vanished from radioland In flt Brtule SUM Iwml STRICTLY Tide Exhibit Ceart Show Privet I1 Bartlett rested Mrs Omited wee later released without any chargee having been proved against her But her husband was convicted of "doing DOUBLE DUTY "Official destroyed the redie stetlam after charting that "Anal bad hraadcaat bar bedtime eterle aet aaly a eatertaia children hat a warning signal ta rnm-raaneri at sea Thn charge ware never proved" frfHE CITY OF SEATTLE Wuh- I' ington waa astounded recently by series of Investigation! that revealed wholesale rum-running krib- ary smong Federal authorities jacking and other einlster conditions One of the most eurioua developments was the report ef how official destroyed a radio station because they suspected It was using Its as warning signals to rumrunners! This happened some timm ro 'i- i The station KFQK waa located Ira the 20000 home of Bor and Lime violating the Prohibition Laws end SHE TOLD BEDTIME STORIES Latest Photograph of Mr Eli Omsted A Woman of Culture and Daughter of a Prominent Seattle Family Ska Married Police Lieutenant Wke Later We Convicted and Imprisoned for Liquor Law Violation.