FAMILIES OF MOBILIZED MEN 139 
of 13.5 rubles a month. The zemstvo investigation disclosed 1,700 
families in particular distress and a total of 25,523 rubles was ex- 
pended for their relief out of the zemstvo funds by October, 1915. 
For the whole period from the beginning of the War this amounted 
to about 15 rubles a family. All other organizations operating in the 
district, together with private individuals, gave a total of 46,570 
rubles for the benefit of 6,800 families, which made an average of 
6 to 7 rubles per family for the entire period. At the same time, 
nineteen village relief committees, twenty parochial relief commit- 
tees, and sixteen other organizations were engaged in the relief of 
soldiers’ families in the same district, not to mention the official 
volost relief committees and the zemstvo commissioners directing the 
work locally. Of course, this is merely one instance, and the organi- 
zation of relief was probably quite different elsewhere. 
Nature of Relief. 
We now have to deal with the question of the nature of the relief 
granted by the zemstvos. Its more important features have already 
been noted in the table furnished above. We may combine them 
roughly in three groups: (1) direct assistance to families of mo- 
bilized men; (2) the care of the orphans of soldiers killed in ac- 
tion; and (3) assistance toward the upkeep of farms left without 
working hands. 
Direct aid was particularly needed by the families of workers and 
artisans in the larger cities, who found themselves in a truly des- 
perate situation after the outbreak of the War. In Petrograd the 
district zemstvo board hastened to organize relief committees (there 
were nineteen altogether) which began their work by opening soup 
kitchens in the school buildings, where about 6,000 dinners were 
supplied daily to families of mobilized soldiers, with milk for their 
children. Next in importance was the problem of housing. Those 
most desperately in need of dwelling accommodations, were quartered 
in the school buildings which stood idle during vacations. Then fol- 
lowed vigorous efforts on the part of the relief committees to find 
permanent quarters for these families, subscriptions were collected, 
premises were rented, and a considerable number of dwellings were 
placed at their disposal by the landlords rent free. These quarters.