The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1907-09-21
THE INvErERATE BORROWER.

A great many farmers are ready tc
declare that the only way to escape
the inveterate borrower is to move
out of his neighborhood, but some
times this is impossible. 1t is really
hard to find community without the
| selfish or careless member who re-
CARDS his neighbors' possessions as
his own so the best way is 10 make
an effort to declare your irdepend'
ence. Often the case seems hopeless
on account Of friendly relations be.
tween the families, and must be en-.
dured but there are ways and means
| of getting rid of the borrower.
One old gentleman who was espe-
cially annoyed by having to go after
his tools when he needed them, put
up sign on his door that he had tools
to rent by the hour and charged a
small fee when they left his shop.
The considerate neighbors who bor-
rowed once in while and promptly
returned the articles, cheerfully paid
the RENAL only to have it handed back
later on, while the man who kept
things week in and week out, sud-
denly found it convenient to buy for
himself. In this way there were no
hard feelings and the troublesome
neighbor was effectually disposed Of.
Every year the sign on the side of the
tool shed is freshened up and the old
gentleman has peace and quiet with
his possessions.
Another man escaped lending to a
shiftless neighbor by always managing
to have his farm implements out of
repair as soon as his own crops were
harvested. The mower would be In
pieces for attention to some part as
soon as the hay crop was stored, and
the wagons were always minus a
wheel or the tongue when Neighbor
Smith was likely to borrow. OF course
this necessitated a great deal of work
and sometimes it was not done soon
enough to save the machine, but the
farmer and his sons got to be quite
handy at tearing things apart and
often these really needed overhauling.
If you move into a new neighbor-
hood and find out who the inveterate
borrower is early enough, the best
way is simply to refuse and make it
plain that you neither borrow nor
lend. In this way you are under no
obligations and start with a clean
sheet. The man will respect you
Just as much as he does the easy
going people who allow him to use
their machinery for nothing, and for
all neighborly purposes everything
will be serene.
In one neighborhood the borrower
was defeated by the neighbors' max
ing little club and buying certain
things in partnership. There are
some tools needed on every farm but
not needed all the time, so the club
bought some good articles with the
understanding that each m e m b r
should have a certain number of davs
each month if he needed the tools. In
this way the borrower never knew
where the articles were, and if he had
known, they were in use most of the
time. The farm houses are close
together, making the scheme easily
carried out and each one has very lit
tie invested. OF course nothing in
the line of wagons, cultivators or
much used machinery was bought
together, but the things every farmer
needs occasionally.
One man in having his farming
implements insured had the agent in
sert a provision that they were not to
go off his premises unless actually
used by him in other fields, and this
saved him much annoyance. He
gladly explained the clause to all his
borrowing friends, and the imple-
ments remained safe and sound in his
tool shed when he was not using
them.
It isn't always necessary to use
harsh measures to accomplish things.
A man who boasted that he could
easily say mo" to all the people who
wanted to borrow, was exceedingly
sorry for his churlishness in refusing,
when the would-be borrower saved
the life of his little son and put him
in everlasting debt to him. In the
moment when he received the almost
lifeless body of his child, the father
would have given more than his farm
to recall the harsh words, but 1t was
too late. The borrower is a nuisance,
but it is not necessary to be unkind in
order to be firm. It is a fine thing to
live at peace with all men and even
the borrower may be reformed, though
there is little hope of this, if treated
with consideration in spite of his
faults.-l7llda Rfehmond tn Country
Gentleman.