had formerly been three 

 sisters there, but that the 

 cold and dampness had 

 been too much for the 

 others, who had been 

 forced to go home to re- 

 • cover their health. She 

 showed me a new hut 

 which was being built 

 for her under the shelter 

 of a near-by hill, which 

 it was hoped would be 

 drier and more comfort- 

 able than the tent she 

 had. 



There are about 25 of 

 these "points" scattered 

 at various places along 

 the front, and the inten- 

 tion at each one of them 

 is that anybody who 

 comes along shall be 

 taken in, whether pris- 

 oner, officer, visitor, gen- 

 eral, or private, and 

 given whatever he may 

 be in need of. 



Facilities are provided 

 for hot baths and clean 

 suits of underwear for 

 tired soldiers ; good and 

 bountiful meals are sup- 

 plied smoking hot for 

 -any one who is hungry ; 

 beds are there for as 

 long a stay as may be 

 found necessary, and in no case are ques- 

 tions asked. 



I enjoyed a very good dinner during 

 my visit. The fittings were of the sim- 

 plest, but everything was clean and good. 

 I peeked into the bath-house and found 

 there some half dozen soldiers thoroughly 

 enjoying a steaming vapor bath. They 

 had just been allowed to come from the 

 trenches and were shortly going back. 

 Other groups of soldiers were lying about 

 at rest, enjoying a smoke and perhaps a 

 game of some kind. 



This work is the nearest approach to 

 what would be called Young Men's Chris- 

 tian Association effort in this country 

 which I found anywhere on the Russian 

 front. In general the men simply lie 

 around then- barracks when they are not 

 working, unless they are attending church 

 or playing some game in the open. 



. Photograph by Gilbert H. Grosvenor 



a feathered fortune-teller and his keeper at the 

 Famous nizhni-novgorod fair 



THE GRATITUDE OF THE SOLDIERS 



All of this work was at first greatly 

 resented by the officials who should have 

 done it themselves, but before long even 

 they realized what was being done in this 

 quiet, inconspicuous way, and today the 

 whole army realizes that without this 

 splendid service the war, so far as Rus- 

 sia is concerned, would have been over 

 long ago. 



Under these circumstances the defects 

 of bureaucracy and the good work of the 

 unofficial organizations became more of 

 a reality to the peasant soldier than they 

 could otherwise have been, and his grati- 

 tude, while silent, was none the less sin- 

 cere. 



The zemstvo assemblies, which have 

 long been the most liberal influences at 

 work in Russia, have now become the 

 most popular. They have unbounded in- 



237 



