WORK IN THE ARMY 197 
54.5 per cent; infectious cases, 2 per cent; and the remainder suf- 
fering from various other ailments. The average time spent by each 
patient in the trains on the western and Caucasian fronts was three 
days, while in the Galician trains and in the trains evacuating sol- 
diers in the interior of the country the average time was only one- 
and-a-half days, so that the average for all trains was 2.35 days. 
The Hospital Trains and Their Patients. 
What were the feelings of the sick and wounded soldiers during 
their journeys in the zemstvo hospital trains? Evidence on this 
point is available from a number of letters and reports. Thus, the 
head surgeon of one of the Caucasian trains wrote as follows : 
It is curious to note how the mental condition of the soldiers devel: 
oped during the nine days’ journey of our train to Rostov-on-Don. 
During the first day of the journey the patients seemed rather bewil- 
dered and indifferent to their surroundings. The second day was devoted 
almost entirely to eating—eating as only a healthy, hungry man can 
eat. After that, as they felt more cheerful, there was a complete change 
in the general atmosphere, and singing and laughter could be heard. 
At the stations along the road the patients were quite willing to enter 
into long conversations with curious visitors and spectators, and by the 
time we reached Rostov they seemed almost completely recovered. This 
goes to show that a change in the surroundings affects them just as 
beneficially as would a medical treatment. 
Among the numerous letters of appreciation that poured in from 
the patients of the hospital trains to the offices of the Union, we 
shall here quote at random two or three that are characteristic. The 
following was written by an officer: 
It was only in your hospital that we received the most solicitous 
treatment; the government hospitals could never restore our courage 
and lead us back to normal conditions as your care has done. Straight 
from the trenches we came to your cheerful, comfortable train. In addi- 
tion to the moral comfort and rest, we also benefited by the excellent 
food. I tender my sincere and heart-felt gratitude to the whole medical 
staff of the train and I doubt whether this pleasant journey will ever be 
effaced from my memory. Lieutenant Shershov. 
A group of Cossack privates wrote the following letter to the 
head nurse of a train: