Year: 1879

wlck;"l can't stand those Thompsons
next door to me any longer. They are
the .awfulest people to burrew things that
ever saw. Coffee and butter and sugar
and flour don't mind so much, although
when woman borrows high-priced su-
gar and Java coffee, and sends back sand
and chickory, man naturally feels bill
lous and mean. But they've borrowed
pretty near everything in the house.
First it's ore thing and then it's another,
from morning till night right straight
along.


Now there's the poker. A poker is a
piece of machinery that you would think
anybody might 60 around and buy, or, if
they couldn't afford it, they might use a
fence paling to shake up the fire. But
Mrs. Thompson seems to banker after our
poker; she borrows it fifteen or twenty
times day, and last Saturday she sent
for it thirty-four times. She pays boy
two dollars week to run over and bor-
row that poker; and she's used it so
much that it is all bent up like a cork
screw.


Now the chairs, for instance. She asks
US to lend our chairs three times day at
every meal, and she borrows the rocking
chair every time she wants to put the
baby to sleep.


A couple Of times she sent over for our
sofa, and when the boy came back with
it he said Mrs. Thompson was mad as
thunder, and kept growing around the
house all day because there were no cas-
tors on it. Last Monday she borrowed
our wash-boiler, and we had to put off our
washing till Tnesdey. She did her pre-
serving in it and the consequence was all
our clothes were full of preserved peach
es. I've got on an undcrshirt now that
I'm mighty doubtful if III get it off, it's
stuck to NE so tight.


Every now and then she has company.
and she borrows our hired girl and all the
parlor furniture; once, because would
not carry the piano over for her and take
down the chandelier, she told our girl
that there were rumors about town that
was reformed pirate.


Perfectly scandalous! They think moth
ing OF sending over after a couple of bed
steads or the entry carpet; and the other
day Thompson says to me


'Butterwick, does your pump-log pull
up easy?'


And when said tn ught it did, he
said


Well, would like to borrow it for a
few days till can get one, for mine is
all rotted away


The only wonder to me is that he didn't
try to borrow the we'll along with it.


And then on Tuesday Mr.. Tnom pson
sent that boy over to know if Mrs. Butter
wick wouldn't lend him our tront-door.
He said theirs was away being painted
and he was afraid the baby would catch
cold. When asked him what he supposed
we were going to do to keep comfortable
without any front, he said Mrs. Thompson
said she reckoned we might tack up a bed
quilt or something. And when refused.
the boy said Mrs. Thompson told him if
l wouldn't send over the front door, to
ask Mrs. Butterwick to lend her pair of
striped stockings and horsehair hustle.
and to borrow the coal-scuttle till Monday.


What in the name of Moses she is going
to DO with hustle and coal-scuttle
can't perceive.


But they're the most extraordinary
people! Last Fourth of July the boy
came over and told Mrs. Butterwick that
Mrs. Thompson would be much Obliged
if she'd lend her the twins few minutes.
Said Mrs. Thompson wanted 'em to suck
off a new bottle. top because it made the
baby sick to taste fresh India-rubber.
Cheeky, wasn't it? But that's her wav.
She don't mind it any more!


Why, I've known her to take off
Johnny's pants when he's beer playing
over there with the children, and send him
home bare-leggcd to tell his mother that
she borrowed them for pattern. And
on Thompson's birthday she said her
house was SO small for party that if we d
lend her ours we might come ]ate in the
evening and dance with the company, il
we wouldn't let on that we lived there.


Yes, sir, I'm going to move. I'd rather
live next to lunatic asylum and lave
the fanatics pouring red hot shot across
the fence every hour. of the day. Indeed
I WOuld.-Mar AdZer.