The Big Stone Gap post. [volume] (Big Stone Gap, Wise County, Va.) 1892-1928, 1894-12-20
TAKE a LESSON FROM TAsBN.
Mothers Shouidn,s Allow Their Babies 90
Ia Caresssd to Excess.


Ba Caresssd TO Excess.
You know how it is with kittens
they musf' t be handled too much II you
want '.ratters.r But the baby is passed
from grandma to Third Cousin Maria;
he is tickled, tossed, squeezed, pokeo
and kissed until the marvel IS where
the world gets its human "ratters'
To be sure. there is here and there an
independent baby, baby who holds
all promiscuous cudalings IN righteous
scorn. He is not o popular BABY 're-
formers never are), you don't dare Toss
him, you hesitate before trottlng hiln'
and you would no moro think OF ou,y
ing your face in the satin folds Oh las
pink neck than if he were young
gentleman of years instead OF mon0ns.
Mamma and grandma call ms. !us'y
and rebellious yells ''spunk;" dlpio-
matte relatives get out of it with WISE
mods and the somewhat ambiguous re-
mark that .'the world will hear from
him yet" And so it does, generaliy.
A baby born with sufficient tirmness oi
character to regulate the familiaritles
of intimates will be pretty certain ~
have voice in the worlds affairs later
on, and to some purpose. If there are
abuses to be done away with-rats 10
be caught, as it were-he'n be keen on
the scent don't think DR.. Parkh"rs'
could have been popular" baby
It doesn't seem as if it would Take
anything beyond an ordinary endow.
ment of common sense to see that IL
handling is bad for kittens it Is ten
times worse for babies. The average
well-mannered infant accepts the
squeezings and tossing as peculiar con-
ditions of an existence he is too young
to understand, and so late is he from
angel land that he even ventures a
''goo goo" after a peculiarly trying
squeeze. This we take as. indicative OF
enjoyment, and we squeeze again; II ne
protests we look for a pin-surely noun
ing but pin would make our "oWnsey
downsey" cry when his little stomach
was full; if he still murmurs, we toss
him. But if he lives through what
would kill ninety lives in cat, whas
docs he amount to? Look about you,
what has he amounted to? For one
ratter how many sleek Tables and
Toms are there doing in comfort?
They are seldom so lost to all sense OF
duty that if a mouse ran across the
floor they would not run after 1t; they
have even been known to sit two hours
on stretch before crack in the china
closet, but to go down cellar and dellb;
,erately hunt rats, like a common cat,
they may not reason it out, but they
don't do it.
1t is unfortunate for the kittens and
babies that their charms are OF so IRE
sistible nature, but irresistible or
not, what right has an adniring stran-
ger to take liberties with the helpless
little things just because they are soft
and pretty? It's quite time some one
took a stand. Too many babies are
being ''eaten up" by fond grandmas,
aunties and cousins. The country can t
stand the drain.
Another thing; it ought not to take a
physician to teach us that, tender
baby body is not to be squeezed and
tossed about like a worsted ball, and
that everybody's breath, or even the
breath of an extensive family circle, is
not good for baby lungs. Where is the
blame? Watch the old cat next time
you take up her kittens to cuddle;
human mothers could take a lesson
from this mother cat, Springfield Re-
ID inon