The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-12-23

to say. For fivepence one could get a lentil outlet, which was very appetlz- ing and looked like meat croquette The potato stew was even better than the outlet, and was served with butter. beans, for flvepence. There were vart- ous other "savory dishes," which is the vegetarian's name for what meat-eat- CTS would call an entree, at from two to fivepence each. Plain vegetables were two pence and threepence plate, though the savory dishes were so very filling that plain vegetables to accom- pany them were not much in demand The sweets were, of course, like those served in ordinary restaurants.
 To see the sixpenny table d'hote dn- ner In full swing, one should go to the resaurant in Poultney, which is at the beginning of Cheapside, between 1 and 3 o'clock, on any day except Sunday.
 In the large, bare-looking room on the top floor are about dozen long, narrow tables. At these tables sit per haps 100 men, and it is doubtful If in any other dining room in the city of London can be found more diverse types of humanity eating together. The majority, of course, are rather seedy but here and there one sees a well-dressed an prosperous-looklng man, and fine intellectual faces are not uncommon. The man with frayed cuffs and dirty finger nails and vest minus a button or two sits beside the dapper- looking law clerk, and neither pays any attention to the other The chances are that they both come here for the same purpose-economy for a plentiful and well-cooked dinner for 3d. is a consid- eration to ethical side of vegetrianism. The cashier assures me, however, that many of the customers were strict veg etarians, who wished to encourage the movement in every possible way. ! On each side is a large bowl of brown sugar and another of salt, from which the customers help themselves at dis erection. A fork and two pewter spoons are laid beside each plate; but as vege- tables do not require to be cut, there are no knives on anyof the tables. The tablecloths are of coarse brown linen and scrupulously clean; but if one is so fastidious as to require a napkin, it is 1 necessary to hand over a penny for it's use. Though I looked carefully saw only two men in the whole room who had evidently thought it necessary to i indulge themselves in this luxury. On leaving I offered the waitress sixpence, as she had courteously answered all my questions, but she declined the tip, say | ing they were not allowed to accept gratuities under any circumstances.
 etween 4 and o'clock tea is served on the first floor, or, if desired, it can be had in the smoking room on the sec ond floor. One can get a pot of excellent tea, made fresh for threepence, or a single cup for twopence. There Is bread and butter for a penny cake at the same price, honey for twopence, and biscuits, buns, or pastry for penny. One can get Welsh rarebit for four i pence (8 cents.) but it is not a very large one, and is made with milk in
 stead of ale.
 Though these are strictly temperance places, they serve what is called lager and hop ale" for twopence a small bot tie, and anti burton ale'' at the same | price. Thesebeverages are said to con- tain no alcohol, and they certainly taste rather flat.
 These restaurants are doing much to make vegetrianism popular in London The Vegetarian society Is behind them and the cashiers desk at each place Is well stocked with literature on the sub ject, which can be had for the asking, and cook books for a penny, giving re ceipts for many of the simpler vegetar- ian dishes, which are forwarded to any one on application.
 Much propaganda work is done in the l poorer quarters of the city, and the poor people are taught how they can | live on g. vegetable diet st less than one-half the expense of a meat diet. They are shown, for instance, that meat contains 60 per cent. of impure water, which they pay for at the butchers at so much a pound, and that one pound of peas, beans, lentils, or oatmeaD at a cost of Id. or 2d., contains more nour- ishment than @ pound of beef or nut ton at six times the price, because in the former case water is added which costs nothing, while in the latter 1t is purchased at about Tod. per pound In support of the contention that meat is not necessary even for those who do tn ehardest manual labor, 1t is assert l ed that tn athletes of Greece and the soldiers of Rome were vegetarians, and that chief food of the Roman glad iator was barely cakes and oil
 The Vegetarian society now has hun dreds of members and associates. The full members pledge themselves to ab- stain from the use of flesh, fish,, and fowl as food, though the vegetable diet may be supplemented by such animal products as eggs, cheese, butter and
 milk. The associate members do not pledge themselves to total abstinence from meat but agree to promote the aims of the society and to follow them as far as their environments will allow. The minimum subscription is 1 shill- ing per annum, but friends of the movement are asked to contribute as literally as possible. Among the mem- bers and associates of the society are many of the brightest men in London. I-London Correspondence St. Louis
 Globe-Democrat.
 A