By WALTER DAY

By WALTER DAY

I had an Uncle George long

ago who made a lot of money and he parted with money reluctantly. I thought at one time he was frugal. That is not the right word to describe old Uncle George, who died long ago. The right words are miser, cheap, or even shyster. I believe “frugal” is someone who is saving, trying to get their money’s worth. Uncle George hoarded his money but mostly he tried to get other people’s money. He ran a farm produce brokerage business and was known far and wide as a shrewd dealer.

One day my father gave five acres to my brother and I to raise Great Northern beans. This would be our year’s wages for working on the farm (now that I look at it, tne old man drove a pretty hard bargain himself)- The frost hit early that year and wiped out most of our harvest. I remember watching old Uncle George figure out how much we would get for those beans. It came out to $12 for both of us. But to get the man to give us the money was painfttl. He put it off t until my mother came in (she was waiting in the car) and screamed at him.

I did not witness the following event though I wish that I had. A widow woman fanner with a grudge over past dealings came to his mill one day with a big leather whip, caught Uncle Miser out in the open and horsewhipped him for about 100 yards. For miles around there was a celebration, even among his relatives.

The point i§ that this is not being frugal but it is cheap or miserly. Now I will explain frugal.

We had this old Great Aunt Sara. She used to come and visit for a week or two at a time. She was pleasant to have around and enjoyed a little nip whenever anyone was nipping. She wasted nothing, always finished her drink and always cleaned her plate. How she stayed so skinny we never could figure out. She went to work for an insurance