Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1883-12-14
THE BABY WALKS"

received Il very important letter this
week. 1t contained the announcement
that 1.-THE baby walks 1t is with no
desire To pm that | say that this is Il
great step forward for the baby.
OF course this event has not been en-
tircly unexpected in our family. have
been looking every day for the news for
some time past. Our baby has been 4
remarkable baby from the Very first +,
and a large number oi his immediate
relatives have been waiting with bated
breath for the tilings that his long
Journey had commenced. The particu-
lars OF this suspicious event are not At
hand, but can see in my mind eye
lust how the wonderful occurrence took
place. The baby is ont in the country
staying with his ''SisterS and his couS-
in> and his auntS," and ! suppose if
they had been near enough to Il telc-
graph office they would have sent me I,
dispatch about the supreme event. Al
though the habv's fat LEGS are rilicu-
lousy sturdy, he has had all along I,
great ditlidencr in trusting To them.
Now. last Sunday held and still main
tain that the baby took one distinct step
towards his devoted father. The news
was incrcluluu>ly received as being toe
good to be true. and the whole family
from his grandmother to the kitchen
girl, collected around To- see if he would
take another, but the little rascal seemed
to think it was the biggest kind OF Il
Joke To- bring the fathers reputation Tor
vcracity into question 10y laughing and
| holding on to chair, but refusing all
the while to move away from it. 1t WAS
all in vain that held out my hands and
| all the cndrarng inducements | could
| to get him to take the necessary steps to
come to me. He would keep one band
on the chair and reach ont the other
| hut not until he had clcnchcd his pudgy
hand around my finger would he let 70
| 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 HOY
! cred moment in wavering inderisioI
and then instead of stepping forward
sat cmphatically down and resumed his
favorite style OF locomotion. He never
crept as an ordinary baby would have
done, but sort Of hitched along. lie
would sit down, and, putting a hand
now on one side of him and again on the
other, his fat little body swaying this
way and that would hitch along Will
his little dumplings OF feet ahead of hin
like Il railway cowcatcher. and in this
way he moved over the floor in sitting
posture at Il speed that was wonder
full Practice had made him SO per
feet at this sort OF movement that ht
an ornamental supertluity. 1t wa.
most comical to see him forge ahead
as the boat racers call it, with boil
hands full, holding them up from tn,
floor and swaying forward without any
help from them. He occasionally took
to his feet, and with brcathless hast,
would work his way along the wall il
Il handover-hand fashion until gettin,
too elated at his new excitement, woult
upset and roll helplessly over on tn,
carpet These accidents shook his con
fidcnce for the time being in the stabil
ity of things, but happily baby
memory is as short as Il baby, and tn,
perils of Professionalism We're brave,
again and again. Often the poor it'll
fellow looked like a battlescarred vet
cran after his tumbles, but it is Il lucky
thing that babies are exceedingly elias
tic, otherwise the population of thi
country would not he as great as it i
now. Anyhow, anothor competitor ha
entered into the walking match: "The
baby walks. - Luke Sharp, in Detro
Free Press.