The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1907-10-04
THE INVET ERATE
BORROWER.

the inveterate borrower is to move
out of his neighborhood, but some
times this is impossible. It 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 to make an
effort to declare your independence.
Often the case seems hopeless on &C.
account OF friendly relations betweens
the families, and must be endured;A ts
there are ways and means of gest56g
rid Of the borrower. - ss,s sz4s
Que old gentleman W VAS espe.
ois'iy annoyed by havips go after
his tools when he needed them, put up
8 sign Oh his door shat he had tools
rent by the hore and charged small
fee when theJ left his shop. The con.
siderate neighbors who borrowed
once aud while and promptly re-
turned the articles. cheerfully paid the
rental only to have it handed back
latter on, while the man who kept
things week in and week out, sudden.
ly found it convenient to buy for him
self. In this way there were no hard
feelings and the troublesome neighbor
was effectuaIly disposed Of Every
year the sign on the Of tool she'd is
freshened op aud the old gentleman
has peace and quiet with his possess
ions.
Another man escaped lending to a
shittless neighbor by always manag-
ing 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 wagaNs always minus
wheel or the tongue whensN Neighbor
Smith was likely to borrow. OF
course this necessitated great deal
of work and sometimes it was not
done soon enough to save the ma
chine, but the farmer and bis sons got
to be quiae handy at tearing things
apart and often these really needed
overhauling.
fyou move into 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 be does the easy -goiag
people who allow him to use their
machinery for nothing, and for all
neighborly purposes everything will
be serene.
II one neigbborbood 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 member
should have certain number OF days
each menth if be 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 to-
gether, making the scheme easily
carried out and each one has very lit.
tie invested. Of course nothing in
the lins Of wagons, cultivators or
much used machinery was brought
together, but the things every farmer
needs occasionally.
One man in having his farming i'm.
plements insured had the agents in
sert 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 glad
ly explained the clause 10 all bis bor-
rowing friends, and the implements
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 "no" to all the people who
wanted te 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 be received the almost
lifeless body Of his child, the father
would have given more than bis farm
to recall the harsh words, but it was
too late. The borrower is nuisance,
but it is not necessary to be unkind
in order to be firm. 1t Is fine thing
to live at peace with all men and even