WORK IN THE ARMY 
219 
Bathing Stations and Laundries. 
No other establishment maintained by the Zemstvo Union at the 
front enjoyed such popularity as did the bathhouses. As we have 
seen already, attempts had been made by the field detachments to 
open bathhouses for the soldiers. Needless to say, the committees of 
the front were only too well aware of the importance of proper 
bathing facilities for the troops from the hygienic standpoint; but 
it was very soon discovered that a bath was likewise one of the best 
means of maintaining the morale of the men. To witness but once the 
pleasure shown by those who had been given an opportunity of a 
bath after the appalling filth of the trenches, was sufficient to con- 
vince one of the importance of properly organized bathhouses in the 
life of the army. In spite of their primitive equipment, the bath- 
houses at the front rang all day long with banter and merriment of 
the splashing soldiers. There were instances when entire companies, 
having had their bath and received clean underwear insisted upon 
giving a rousing cheer in honor of the Zemstvo Union before march- 
ing off again. The commanding officers likewise fully appreciated 
the benefits derived by their men from the bathing stations. 
The history of the organization of the first bathing station at the 
front was as follows. One of the first measures undertaken by the 
Warsaw committee of the Zemstvo Union, which was established in 
December, 1914, was to study the conditions which would permit 
the opening of bathing stations on a vast scale. One of the zemstvo 
commissioners was accordingly instructed to visit the front, to make 
a careful study of local conditions, discuss the subject with military 
authorities, and to report to the committee. The Central Committee 
approved the report submitted by the commissioner, and in March, 
1915, the first detachment for the organization of bathing stations 
was equipped in Moscow and set at work on the western front. 
This detachment was expected to erect ten bathhouses and laun- 
dries. The intention was to use such buildings as were already avail- 
able on the spot, chiefly peasants’ cottages, in order to save ex- 
penses. The idea was to make the bathhouses easy to move, for which 
purpose a transport including sixty-five horses was attached to the 
detachment. The equipment of both bathhouses and laundries was 
very simple. In the case of the former, it was limited to a large water 
2 Jzvestia (Bulletin), Nos. 12-18, p. 75.