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Social Life
Vegetarianism.
BY
MARTHA J. ANDERSON,
MoUNT LEBANON, N. Y.
1893.
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I

Social Life

- Vegetarianism. .
—JEY —
MARTHA. J. ANDERSON,
MoUNT LEBANON, N. Y.
1893.
GUIDING STAR PRINTING Hous E,
WASHINGTON HEIGHTs,
CHICAGO, ILL.

INTRODUCTION.
s—º-H.3%Hº-
As there are many inquiries con-
cerning the domestic arrangements of
our Communistic Home, the follow-
ing, which was written for the “Her-
ald of Health,” a few months since—
may give some idea of the daily rou-
time of life in the North Family of
the Mt. Lebanon “United Society of
Believers,” commonly called “Shak-
ers.” *. * ... O
There are fifteen societies in the
United States, extending from Maine
to Kentucky. These are formed of
families of from two to six in a com-
munity, each of which, under the
counsel and direction of a central
/
& —2—
Ministry or Bishopric, has charge of
its own affairs. In each family there
are two Elders and Eldresses, who
hold parental government, and spirit-
ual ministration, and also have gen-
eral oversight of business, counselling
with the Deacons and Deaconesses
who have charge of, and provide for,
temporal needs. As there is perfect
equality of the sexes in our home,
guaranteed by the law of absolute
purity, which frees woman from mas-
culine dominance, the sisterhood are
insured the right to manage their own
affairs, to carry on such work as they
deem proper and profitable in earning .
an honest livelihood. All labor, from
the least to the greatest, according to
strength and ability, and individual
faculties find scope and expanse in
the varied industries that sustain the
“United Inheritance.”
—8—
#Health Notes From Mount
Lebanon.
THE CULINARY DEPARTMENT.—It is
essential to good health that meals
should be eaten at regular intervals.
In the orderly round of our Shaker
life, we never vary from stated hours;
breakfast is at six in the summer,
(half an hour later in winter,) dinner
at twelve, and supper at six. We
have a light and airy kitchen, divided
into cooking, baking and dining
rooms; good soapstone ovens, heated
with coal from beneath; a first-class
range, with large copper boiler; suit-
able cooking utensils, mostly agate
ware; these, with plenty of hot and
cold water in the various departments,
make our work comparatively easy.
We have also another model arrange-
ment—a cooling room on a level with
the kitchen—which saves much back-
—4—
ache and weariness, and answers the
place of a refrigerator, or down-stairs
cellar. It is built of stone, by the side
of the coal receiver; around the sides
are coils of iron pipe through which
the cold mountain water circulates,
and then passes into two Portland
cement sinks, where we set away the
food in earthen crocks. We find it
keeps much better than when put on
ice. There are some board shelves at
the side, which we find very con-
venient.
For a family of between fifty and
sixty members, we have six sisters
and a little girl to perform kitchen
duties, and one to attend to company;
no other work is required of them out-
side of the culinary department.
These change with others every sec-
ond or third month—from four to six
weeks is a term.
It lessems the labor considerably not
to cook meat, and after some twenty
—5—
years’ experience, we find we can do
as well without it. There are veteran
vegetarians among us who have work-
ed many years in the field of reform,
but with most of us it has been a
gradual growth.
Our breakfast usually consists of
oatmeal or wheat mush, baked or
boiled potatoes, tomatoes cooked
with milk and bread crumbs, warm
apple sauce and Graham pie.
Dinner is more varied. There are
three kinds of vegetables, sometimes
the addition of Soup, plain fruit sauce,
either pie, pudding or other dessert.
For supper we have boiled rice with
Sugar and cream, or mashed potato,
tomato stew, apples baked, or in Sauce,
and preserves. We frequently have
the addition of fresh creamed cottage
cheese or crisp celery; the latter we
think good for the nerves. The green
stalks of celery are cut up in small
pieces and cooked until tender, which
—6—
takes several hours. Season when
half done; when ready to take up,
add a little thickened milk or cream,
and put on nice fresh slices of toasted
bread.
The water in which potatoes are
boiled makes a delicious soup, by
adding a little egg batter, a pinch of
parsley, seasoning, and a cup of milk,
cream, or a bit of butter. The best
part of the potatoes is usually thrown
a Way. .
We put up three or four hundred
gallons of tomatoes every season.
Cooked in various ways, and eaten
in moderate quantities, we consider
them a healthful article of food.
Our chief method is this: To one
quart of boiling tomatoes add one
quart of cold milk; (if it all strings .
together do not be alarmed, it will
boil out,) when it foams up well, add
some rolled cracker or bread crumbs,
let it boil the third time, season to
—7—
the taste with salt and pepper, add a
little cream or butter, and serve boil-
ing hot from a covered dish.
Tea and coffee are used on our table
in moderate quantities, no one tak-
ing more than one cupful at a meal;
some prefer hot water. Hot beverages
should be made of freshly boiled wa-
ter; if it has stood in the tea-kettle
over night it is not fit for use.
No one can well abstain from a
meat diet unless he has good bread.
We have three kinds on the table at
each meal; white bread, also unleaven-
ed and leavened, made of unbolted
wheat, which is washed and ground
fresh at home every week. Warm
rye and Indian bread, baked six hours
in a covered iron dish, is nice for
breakfast; so is oatmeal made into
bread.
With a moderate amount of skill,
and an interest in hygienic methods
of preparing food, a good housekeeper
—8—
can place on the table many appetiz-
ing dishes cooked without fat or soda.
The more one becomes accustomed
to plain food, the finer grows the
sense of taste; rich, greasy viands
become alike"obnoxious to sight, pal-
ate and stomach.
Would it not be better for the poor
to save their hard earned dollar and
buy fruit for their families, thus pre-
venting a feverish condition of the
blood, engendered by too much heavy
food? We are increasing our fruit
crop every year. Grapes are especial-
ly wholesome and are much cheaper
and more palatable than drugs.
SICKNEss.-We have but little seri-
ous sickness in our family, and sel-
dom call on the doctor. People are
not as strong physically as were their
ancestors, but those who come among
us in ill health usually improve in a
short time; especially is...it so with
children. We have taken some very
—9—
frail ones who have grown stronger.
Some must always battle with inher-
ited tendencies to disease, but if they
live strictly moral lives, and adhere
to hygienic laws they will live more
comfortably. Great good is attained
in this direction by fortifying the
mind against the ills of the body, and
rising superior to them.
We have not had a fever in the
family for thirty years. Judicious
water treatment, simple massage, and
the use of hot herb drinks, are our
methods of cure in cases of sickness.
HEAT AND VENTILATION.—Three of
our large houses are heated by steam.
The dwelling containing the sleeping
apartments breathes. In the roof,
directly over the stairways at each
end, there are large Archimedian
ventilators; they are kept open in
warm weather, but are closed in
winter because cold air comes down
in large quantities. In the base-
—10—
boards of the rooms are ventilators;
also over the doors, and in the chim-
neys. On the outside of the house,
directly back of the heater, there is
an aperture which conveys air up
through the tubes of the radiators,
so there is a warm as well as a fresh
atmosphere to breathe; it is a cir-
culating current all through the
room. The cold air is drawn from
the floor and heated, so we have no
cold feet nor overheated heads. Two
-inch width boards are used under the
lower part of the windows; this gives
a current of air between the sashes,
and there is no draught.
SLEEP.—When people turn night
into day, and keep in a state of un-
natural excitement, there is no normal
sleep; hence the increasing use of
narcotics. The old adage, “Early to
bed,” etc., contains a goodly amount
of wisdom. The members of our
household usually retire by nine
—11—
o'clock, or earlier if they choose. The
quietness and harmony of our sur-
roundings enable most persons to
sleep well. We rise at five or half-
past five A. M.; the early chores are
done, such as milking, taking care of
teams and furnaces by the brethren,
kitchen and dairy work by the sisters.
Some of us make it a rule to go out
in the fresh air, breathe deeply and
take a little exercise before breakfast.
As soon as we are up, all the bed-
clothes are taken off and laid across
chairs and nicely aired. The win-
dows are thrown wide open during
the breakfast hour, and, if the weath-
er is mild, all the forenoon until half-
past eleven, when the rooms are put
in order. No one sleeps on a feath-
er bed; we have bedsteads on rollers
so they can be easily moved about;
the footboard is low, and the bed-
clothes hang loosely around the sides,
so the air can have free circulation.
—12—
We use wire spring beds and have
mattresses. Great attention is giv-
en to drainage, so we do not have
sewer gas to breathe. Our bath-
rooms and water-closets are all well
ventilated. ( )
LABOR.—We have no alloted hours
of labor, as we are not the wage-
slaves of a soulless corporation; we
all have a united interest to build up
our communistic home, where all
share equally the blessings of ex-
istence. Formerly, brethren had oc-
cupations that kept some indoors
most of the time, such as putting up
seeds and broom making; competi-
tion has ruined their business, and
they are obliged to do what little they
can in the line of farming, gardening
and orcharding to get a living. We
have some carpentering and mechan-
ical work that occupies the time of a
few.
The sisters make white shirts, by
—18—
water power. The younger sisters
are the operators; they run the ma-
chines eight hours a day and frequent-
ly change employment. Those who
are in places of care and trust usually
work the hardest, and their hours of
toil are the longest, because there are
many duties devolving on them. In
a communistic home the Scripture is
fulfilled: “He that would be greatest
among you, let him be the servant of
all.”
CLOTHING.—The day of cloth weav-
ing is past—an industry that was
carried on for many years in our soci-
eties. Fabrics are procured more
cheaply than we can make them by
hand, but none are so durable. We
do our own tailoring and dressmak-
ing, and knit our own hose, especial-
ly for winter wear, from home-made
woolen yarn. The clothing of the
sisters is more uniform in style than
that of the brethren, and we change
—14—
our fashions only when we can make
a garment more comfortable and
comely. The sisters wear knit or
flannel underwear in winter, and our
skirts are attached to waists. We do
not encase ourselves in corsets, be-
lieving that nature constructed the
intercostal muscles and ribs to be self-
supporting, and that any artificial
aid weakens the thorax and compress-
es the vitals to the detriment of the
health, besides destroying freedom of
motion. We have good, warm, home-
made shoes, common sense and com-
fortable in every respect, so we can
take a firm, elastic step, and are not
tortured with corns, bunions, and
chilblains, which come from wearing
tight shoes and thin stockings. Our
light lace caps save us from wearing
wads of false hair, and from hours of
hair dressing. Ö
IMPROVEMENTs. – Great improve-
ments have been made in the past few
|
—15—"
years in labor-saving machinery.
Our washing is done with much less
drudgery. A good mill for cleansing
the clothes, and a wringer, both run
by water power, save muscular
strength. In summer our clothes are
dried out of doors on stationary gal-
vanized wires on a well kept lawn;
in winter, by hot air in a small room.
We have a brother who is an excellent
machinist, to whom we are indebted
for many conveniences.
RECREATION.—We seldom leave
home except on duty. In summer
and winter the family have a day's
outing, and sometimes a company of
brethren and sisters visit other soci-
eties, or spend a few days from home
for a change and recreation. The
boys attend school in winter, the girls
in summer, and when they are not in
school they are receiving an industrial
education, mingled with innocent
amusements. The younger sisters
—16—
have an hour for music each day, and
in the summer evenings take great
pleasure in playing croquet on the
lawn, or taking a pleasant walk
through the orchards and gardens;
they also have flower beds requiring
their care and attention. Our eve-
nings are spent in reading, writing
and knitting; we have some kind of
meeting nearly every night, either
for worship, general reading, singing
or mutual improvement.
We endeavor to keep well informed
on general topics of interest and re-
form; many papers are taken in the
family, both secular and spiritual,
and as we do not believe in light
reading or frivolous amusements, we
strive for ethical and aesthetical cul-
ture on the higher planes of thought
and life.
—17—
com Mon SENSE RECIPES.
g-w
JRaised Graham Bread.
Procure good flour, made of the
whole wheat, and not that which is
mostly bran.
For sponge, pour a little boiling
milk on one pint of superfine flour,
beat well to make smooth, then add
more of the scalded milk to make it
the consistency of thin batter. When
cool, put in one table-spoonful of good
yeast, cover, and keep moderately
warm over night. In the morning,
add half a pint of warm milk, and
mix in enough Graham flour to make
a soft dough, just stiff enough to
mould lightly; put in tins, as soon as
it begins to appear honey-combed,
and place immediately, in the oven.
It does not take as long to rise as
white dough.
—18—
Unleavened Graham Bread.
Upon three points of very coarse
meal, pour boiling milk, stirring
briskly; make the consistency of por-
ridge. When it cools a little, stir in
one pint of dry meal, let stand until
cool enough to handle, mould into
Small loaves, and bake on the oven
bottom, or in tins. Strong heat is
required to make it light; a cool oven
makes it heavy.
Graham Gems.
Into a quart of milk stir a pint and
a half of fine Graham flour; add a
pinch of salt, and stir briskly. This
quantity will make twenty-four gems.
To have them nice and light, the
gem pans must be very hot; grease
them well, pouri in the batter, and
bake in a well heated oven.
Graham Pie Crust.
Mix one quart of fine Graham meal
with two thirds' milk! and one third
—19–
cream; if cream cannot be obtained,
take a table-spoonful of good butter in-
stead. Let it stand half or three quar-
ters of an hour to swell, then take it
out on the rolling board (which should
be well dusted with white flour,) and
mould it thoroughly until it is free
from a sticky feeling; roll quite thin.
This makes a wholesome and digest-
able crust for any kind of pie. When
rolled very thin, placed in tins and
cut in squares, it makes delicious
crackers, if nicely baked, without
burning. 6
Graham Gruel.
To one pint of boiling water, add a
pinch of salt, and one table-spoonful
of Graham flour, previously wet with
a little cold water; let it boil fifteen
minutes. A table-spoonful of cream
and a little Sugar, if preferred, make
it very palatable.
Oatmeal Mush.
Into one quart of boiling water
—20—
stir one pint of oat flakes. Cook
thoroughly, but do not stir after it is
made, as it makes it slippery. All
cereals should be cooked in an inside
vessel, either by steam or in hot water.
Vegetable Soup.
Chop fine two potatoes, medium
size, one Small turnip, a stalk of cel-
ery, and a small piece of carrot. In-
to two quarts of boiling water put two
table-spoonfuls of pearled barley, and
the vegetables; boil one hour, season
to taste, then add a small lump of good
butter or a teacup of sweet cream.
Make a batter of one egg, a cupful of
milk, and flour enough to make it so
it will drop off the spoon easily.
Ten minutes before taking up the soup,
while it is boiling briskly, pour in the
batter slowly; it will float around on
the top, and will have the taste of
vermicelli.
-—21—
Potato Soup.
Peel, boil, mash and strain, six
middle sized potatoes; in two quarts
of cold water put one table-spoonful
of rice; when it has boiled half an
hour, put in the potato, and some
finely cut parsley. Boil twenty min-
utes longer, then drop in some batter
made of one egg, half a teacup of
milk, stiffened with wheat flour.
* Season to the taste, and add half a
teacup of cream, or a small piece of
butter.
Onion Soup.
Into two quarts of cold water put
two table-spoonfuls either of barley
or rice. Chop two small onions fine;
when the water has boiled add the
onions, cook one hour, season to the
taste, and add a little butter or cream.
Bean Soup.
Wash and soak one pint of nice
white beans over night; parboil half
—22—
an hour, turn off the water, put in
more boiling water, and cook three
hours, or until done. Cool, strain
through a collander, then bring to a
boil; put in a teacupful of milk or
cream, in which has been mixed a
table-spoonful of flour. Season to the
taste. Toast two slices of bread a
light brown, butter and break in
pieces in a deep dish, pour the soup
over at the last moment, so that the
bread will not be soaked too much.
Sliced Reets.
Wash and boil until nice and ten-
der, being careful not to cut the skin;
when done, pour cold water over them,
rub off the skins, sliver up in very
Small pieces, put on pepper and salt,
a little piece of butter, add half a tea-
cup of vinegar, stir all together, and
set on the back of the range in a
covered earthen dish, until wanted for
dinner,
—23—
Cut Cabbage.
One medium sized head of cabbage,
sliced fine; put in a close covered por-
celain dish, cook half an hour, pour
off the water, add a little thickened
milk or cream, season to the taste,
cook fifteen minutes more over a
moderate heat, and it is ready for
the table. º
Potatoes.
The more simply potatoes are cook-
ed the easier they are digested. A
steaming dishful of white, mealy po-
tatoes is appetizing, but when they
are soggy or half done, it is usually
from improper cooking. They should
be done, and have the water turned
off ten minutes before they are taken
up. Slide the cover off a little way
so that the steam may pass off.
Potatoes should never be fried in
fat of any kind. Sliced fine, when
cold, and heated in a little milk or
—24—
cream with seasoning, they are much
better than when saturated with
grease.
There are many ways in which
vegetables may be served to make
them attractive, palatable and whole-
some. Those who do not use tobacco
and strong drink, relish the plafnesi
food, detecting and enjoying the fine
flavors of the fruits of mother Earth.
To live simply is to live to nature,
and enjoy her common blessings.
“Man needs but little, were his judgment true.
Nature is frugal and her wants are few.
Those few wants answered bring sincere delights,
But fools create themselves new appetites.”
—25—

TA BLE NAIONITOR.
Composed and published many years ago, but
none the less true.
Gather wo the fragments that remain, that
mothing be lost.—CHRIST.
Here then is the pattern
Which Jesus has set;
And his good example
We cannot forget:
With thanks for his blessings
His word we’ll obey;
But on this occasion
We’ve somewhat to say.
We wish to speak plainly
And use no deceit;
We like to see fragments
Ileft wholesome and neat:
To customs and fashions
We make no pretense,
Yet think we can tell
4. What belongs to good sense.
—26—
What we deem good order,
We're willing to state—
Eat hearty and decent,
And clear out our plate—
Be thankful to heaven
For what we receive,
And not make a mixture
Or compound to leave.
We find of those bounties
Which heaven does give,
That some live to eat,
And that some eat to live;—
That some think of nothing
But pleasing the taste,
And care very little
How much they do waste.
Tho' Heaven has bless'd us
With plenty of food:
Bread, butter and honey
And all that is good,
We loathe to see mixtures
Where gentle folks dine,
Which scarcely look fit
For the poultry or swine.
—27—
We often find left,
On the same china dish,
Meat, apple sauce, pickle,
Brown bread and minc'd fish;
Another's replenish’d
With butter and cheese;
With pie, cake and toast,
Perhaps, added to these.
Now if any virtue
In this can be shown,
By peasant, by lawyer,
Or king on the throne,
We freely will forfeit
Whatever we’ve said,
And call it a virtue
To waste meat and bread.
Let none be offended
At what we here say;
We candidly ask you,
Is that the best way?
If not—lay such customs
And fashions aside,
And take this monitor
Henceforth for your guide.