The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1897-04-01
THE BORROWING HABIT.
never Contracted by yse1f.Respectiag
Housewives.

Never Contracted by se1f.Respectiag
Housewives.
In the days of Shakespeare as we'll as
now, 1.-THE loan oft loses both itself and
friend" There is probably no small
matter that causes so much annoyance
and uctual money loss as the habit Of
borrowing petty household supplies,
which the borrower often judges are too
small to be re turned. 1t Is few spoon
fuls of tea at one time, a little butter at
pnother, and the sum total in II short
period may be altogether too large for
the lender to give away. There AZ but
one way to treat such borrowers who
never pay, and that is to borrow the
same amount of the same article until
the proper equivalent has been made.
This is considerable trouble, but it is the
only way torender justice to ones self.
1t is also delicate hint which the most
obdurate borrower is likely to profit
by. 1t may lose thefriend. but it saves
the loan.
There are a great many people who,
like the foolish virgins of the parable,
systematically fail to provide for emer-
gencies and expect to depend upon their
more provident neighbors. After nine
teen hundred years they are as typical
a class to-day as they were in old Judea.
There are the poor managers" the
women without faculty" who do not
hesitate to make their Stiffness an ex-
cuse for their dependence, and appear to
be utterly oblivious of the inconven-
ience they may occasion. Judicious
housekeepers make it a rule never to
borrow unless they are forced to do by
lenders that fail to remember their
debts. No servant should be allowed to
borrow. The most careless servant will
soon learn to keep list, and whatever
is needed can then be ordered at the
proper time.
No, independent woman with any
dignity of character indulges in any
such pernicious habit as borrowing
The borrowing of household utensils
like preserving pots, baking tins and
| similar articles, causes a great deal o1
| annoyance to lenders, who may lack the
moral courage to say no when they
| would Like to do so. The brass preserv
| ing pot of old-fashioned times was ar
expensive article which only few fam
lilies in a village could afford to own
and a large number of household!
formerly depended upon the kindness o.
their weather. neighbors for the mean!
of preparing their winters supply o
preserved fruit. In return they Otter
gave assistance to lenders in preserving
time. A large, porcelain-lined pot suit
able for preserving may now be pur
chased for 81, and no family need de
pend upon neighbors. Yet to-day tn
borrowing of preserving-pans is almos
as common as in those olden days, ant
no equivalent is ever given, because tn
preserving pot Is no longer costly
though the Inconvenience of lending
may be as great as before, and the in
jury done to it likely to be more lasting
The old brass pot was literally indie
structible, but the new pots are easil
injured.
The lender Of household articles mus
submit to much petty annoyance an
to much loss. If she does not submi
with smiles to all exactions made upo
her she Is likely to be condemned a
disobliging and mean. Itrequires NOR
frmness than the average woman pos
Resses to refuse.-N, Y, Tribune.