The Rural New-Yorker 
The Business Farmer’s Paper 
VoL. LXXVI. XKW YORK, Aruil, L’S, llllT. No. 44l>7. 
Weekly, One Dollar Per Year 
Postpaid 
Single Copies, Five Cents 
Published by 
The Rural Publishing Co. 
333 W. 30th Street 
New York 
The Transmission Line. Fig. 239 
The Water Wheel. Fig. 240 
The Fails and Dam. Fig. 241 
Borrowing Money in Massachusetts 
The Farmer as a Financier 
blockod tlie roads. It cost lue $l.no. It was be¬ 
fore teleithones were common. 
Owning nothing but stock .and tools, a life in¬ 
surance iioliey and it few other tilings, I have lior- 
rowed thousands of dollars during tlie years of 
activit.v, and have saved hundreds by thus doing a 
cash business. Many times I have been unable to 
]iay ni>tes wlien due, hut the hank never has ques¬ 
tioned a renewal. I see to it that the hank knows 
my business as well as I know it myself. If the 
T he bank as a IIELBEB.—The exiiorieuce of 
L. ]’., page 543, is a very common one in New 
England. liOoking upon a h.-ink as an enemy rath- 
(‘r than as a friend is a kind of inherited super- 
sfition here. B>nt, in reality, banks are incorpor¬ 
ated for the purpose of helping people to do busi¬ 
ness successfully. d'heir ruccoss depends on 
tlie pros])erity of their customers. 
If you borrow money, or “cre¬ 
dit.’' from a bank you “accom¬ 
modate” the hank quite as much as 
the h:ink accommodates you. You 
iiei'd not cringe or how low. 
'I'liere have been times when hanks 
were very cautious about loaning 
to farmers, hut they are now 
seeking the farmers’ custom. They 
are glad to liandlo small checks 
also for farm customer.s. 
I’EltSONAli EXBEBIENCE. — In 
the hojie that my ]K‘rsoual experience 
may he heljifnl to others in i.. P.’s 
chass I offer a leaf from an ex|ieri- 
ciice of many years. I learned early 
that it "Was hotter to owe one man a 
large debt than to owe numerous men 
>mall ones, and th.it it was better 
to owe a bank than to owe a pri¬ 
vate individual. All the hank wants 
is good security and a fair deal. It 
has to he strict because it is lian- 
dllng other folk.s’ money. 
(JATXINt; CREDIT.—I liave al- 
w.iys been a poor man, hut I liave 
the reputation of being ricli or well- 
to-do, simply hecau.se I i>ay my liills 
as I go, and live comfortably, and 
luiy wlien and where I can do so to 
the best advantage. A two per cent, 
diseount for cash will pay four 
months’ interest. Some houses -give 
live per cent, or more. 
A MATTER DE*CONFIDENCE.— 
No living man in the community 
round about knows anything about 
my assets and liabilities. Rut the 
hank knows quite as well as I know ^ 
myself; and it never talks on tlie 
street. Occasionally I make out a 
statement, in halancc-slieet form, and 
flepo.sit it with the hank. I talk it 
over with the hank and know .just 
how far I can go. Besides knowing 
the limit of my credit, hank oflicers 
are wise men, well informed, men of 
sound judgment, capable of giving 
good advice and humanly glad to do 
it. A good laile to follow is, if in 
<Ioubt go to the bank. 
QUESTIONS INVOLVED.—In the 
loaning of money, or, strictly speak¬ 
ing, “credit,” the bank a.sks two main 
questions. 1. (and most important) 
—What is your pei-sonal character’;' 
3. What are your assets and liabili¬ 
ties? Then, “as a matter of form,” 
it calls for an endorser. The ou- 
dor.soment i.s-fhe most tronhle.some 
point in New England, regardless of 
the chai-acter of the would-he bor¬ 
rower as a rule. 
THE WIFE AS A PARTNER.— 
I settled that point in this way: 
M’hen I bought my farm I had it deeded to my 
wife “in her own right.” So, if I am in need of 
credit I draw a note; my wife endorses it, or rather 
she signs it as a principal, and I mail it^to the 
hank and draw my check against it. Signing as a 
principal is an important imint. It prevents the 
danger of iirote.st. Notes are protested to hold the 
endor.ser. I once had an endorsed note protested 
on aeeonnt of a heavy snowstorm that effectually 
time should come when my credit suffered at the 
hank tliat would be the time to go out of busines.s. 
If farmers only knew it, the banks are the best 
friends they have. m. t. 
R. N.-Y.—^Tho reference here to tlie wife as a 
partner brings up another important point. Ever}' 
farmer’s wife or daughter slionld know how to han¬ 
dle a hank aeonnt, and to understand the meaning 
of notes, mortgages, general assets and liabilities. 
Electric Light Plant Driven by Small 
Water Power 
The Experience of a Maryland Farmer 
P ROCRES^ IN :M.VTT:RITY.—The pioneer in the 
development of small water iiowers for <‘lee- 
Iric light and power jmrposes in Harford County, 
Maryland, is iMr. Ceorge W. MeComas. A iiioneer 
is generally imagined as a young and liardy man, 
hut :\Ir. McComas has just passed las seventy-iirst 
birthday. When the avm'age farim*r 
reaches this age his thought of im- 
provmnents lias jiassed. lie drawls 
out the old song that he has gotten 
along tlins far Avitli what he Inis and 
he “guesses” he can make it the rest 
of the way. lint ilr. MeComas is 
different. 
HARNES?<IN(t THE WATER- 
FA I.F..—There appeared an adven-- 
tisement in Tin: R. N.-Y. stating th.it 
.some one had a w.iter Avheel to sell 
—cheap. Mr. ^MeComas I'ead his ));i- 
per that week as usual. At one place 
"11 the farm lie lias a small water¬ 
fall, and it occurred to him that this 
wheel would 'he just the thing to 
make that little waterfall do .sniiie 
Work. He would like very nineh to 
have electric lights like his friends 
in Baltimore, and it seemed to iiiiii 
that iii're was his opportunity. He 
bought tlie wheel like “a pig in the 
hag” with all of the paraphermili.i 
tliat went -with it and then .sent for 
.some one familiar with Avater power 
developments to Come to .see what he 
had. Out of the ly ss of material in¬ 
cluding sprocket, cliaiins, watin- 
wlieel, counter shafts, gear wlieels, 
pnlle.i-s, and generator, the Avater 
Avlieel and a pulley Avere selected 
and the remainder, excepting the gen¬ 
erator, scrapped. Tlie proiier gears 
and a noAV generator Avere bought, 
and the plant installed below tlie 
falls. 
S'I'.VRTTNO THE PLANT.- The 
Iniilding of the dam and the iioAver- 
lionse Avas done by local labor and 
the local electrician wired the lion.so 
and barn and built tlie transmission 
line from the power-Jionse to the 
residence. In the afternoon a little 
negro goes down to the stream and 
raises the gate oA'or the Avater Avheel 
to start the plant. In the morning, 
after the house has Iteen cleaned AvitU 
the vacuum cleaner, he goes doAvn 
again and closes the gate above the 
Avheel. A Avire is now being arranged 
to regulate the gate from the house. 
During the night the lioii.so is as liglit 
as day. Ir tlie living room there 
are live 20-Avatt lamps and in the 
kitchen one large 0(»-watt lamp. 
Mrs. MeComas said tliat she Avanted 
plenty of light in the kitclien. Tlun-e 
are lights in cA'cry room, ami when 
the family retires most of tlie liglds 
are left burning. This is a new kind 
* of electricity. It costs nothing. It 
is there for the opening of the gate 
ahoA-e the VA-'ater Avheel and the oil on 
the liea rings. 
BABN CONVENIENCES.—There 
are al.so three lights in the barn, one behind tlie 
coAvs, one behind the horses, and one in the cutting 
room. At night. Avhen the Avork at the barn is 
fini.shcd, a switch is thrown Avhich cuts off all the 
lights. Mr, ^MeComas is very proud of his plant as 
lie ju.stl.v shdnhl he. lie saw his opiKirtunlty and 
nailed it. lie bought “the pig in the bag” and won 
out. n. M. 
Maryla nd. 
