River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1883-11-22
ssThA Baby WallkS.O
ike Sharp in Detroit Free Press.

Luke Sharp in Detroit Free Prtss.
received a very important letter
this week. 1t contained the announce
ment that "the baby walks" 1t is with
no desire to pun that | say TINT this is
great step forward for the baby.
OF course this event has not been en-
tirely unexpected in our family. |
have been looking every day for the
news for some time past. Our baby has
been a remarkable baby from the first,
and large mum er of his immediate
relatives have been waiting with bated
breath for the tidings that his long jour
ney had commenced. The particulars
of this suspicious event are not at hand,
but can see liz my minds eye just how
the wonderful occurrence took place.
The baby is out in the country staying
with his sisters and his cousins and
his aunts." and | suppose if they had
been near enough to a telegraph office
they would have sent me dis
patch about the supreme event. AL
though the baby's fat legs are ridicu-
lousv sturdy, he has had all along q
great diffidence in trusting to them.
Now, last Sunday held and still nam
tain that the haby took one distinct
step towards his devoted father. The
news was incredulously received as be-
ing too good to be true, and the whole
tamiy from his grandmother to the
kitchen girl collected around to see if
he would take another, but the little Tas-
cal seemed to think it was the biggest
kind Of a joke to bring his fathers rep
utatlon for veracty into question by
laughing and holding on to a chair, but
refusing all the while to move away
from it. 1t was all in vain that | held
out my hands and all the endearing in
ducements l could to get him to take the
necessary steps to come to me. He would
keep one hand on the chair and reach
out with the other; but not until he had
clenched his pudgy hand around my fin
ger would he let so the chair. Once /
had enticed him in this manner to quit the
chair and then suddenly withdrew my
hands from his, leaving him standing
alone. He lowered a moment in waver-
ing indie cision, and then instead of step
ping forward sat emphatically down and
resumed his favorite style oflocomotion.
lie never crept as an ordinary baby
would have done, but sort of hitched
along. He would sit down, and, putting
hand now on one side of him and
again on the other, his fat little body
swayiug this way and that, would hitch
along with his little dumplings of feet
ahead him, like a railway cowcat her,
and in this ay he moved over the floor
in a sitting posture at speed that was
wonderful. Practice had made him go
perfect at this sort of movement that lie
evidently came to look on walking as an
supernuity. 1t was almost
comical to see him forge ahead, as the
boat racers call it, with both hands full,
holding them up from the floor and
swaying forward without any help from
them. He occasionally tooK TO his feet
and with breathless haste would work
his way along the wall in a hand over
hand fashion until getting too elated at
his new excitement, would upset and
roll helplessly over on the car pet. These
accidents shook his confidence for the
time being in the stability of things, but
happily baby's memory is short as a
baby, and the perils of professionalism
were braved again and again. Often the
poor little fellow looked like a battle
scared veteran after his tumbles, but il |
is lucky thing that babies are exceed |
ingly elastic, otherwise the population
of the country would not be as great as
it is now. Anyhow, another competitor
has entered into the great walking
match: "The baby walks"