12
"Do your work as though you had a thousand years to live,
and as you would if you knew you must die tomorrow. "
"Clean your room well; for good spirits will not live where
there is dirt. There is no dirt in Heaven. TT
Cleanliness, order, and simple habits of life were their mode of

living. Their cleanliness was a byword with their neighbors. In keeping
with their objective to make living by their precepts as simple as possible,
their houses were so constructed and furnished that any dirt collected was

plainly visible. There were no elaborate moldings, no pictures on the walls,
no ornament on the furniture. The rugs on the floor were handmade, re-
movable and washable. Windows were uncurtained but had inside shutters.

Peg boards on the wall were handy not only to hang outside coats on, but to
hang up chairs and get them out of the way when sweeping. Each outside
door had a footscraper, each stove had a dustpan and brush. Most rooms

had built-in cabinets and drawers with wooden knobs; many other cabinets
were built flush with the floor so there was no .place for dust to accumulate
under them.
Occasionally, perhaps a couple of times a year, a day was set apart
for "general purification." Everything received a thorough cleaning; even
the brothers had to clean the barns and workshops, removing every cobweb
from corners and scrubbing the floors with sand.
Any group to whom order was so important would have order in their
routine of living, and so the Shakers did. A typical newcomer would be given
one week's trial to see if he liked it. * He would sleep in a separate room


* See Appendix A, page 51