236 THE ZEMSTVOS DURING THE WAR 
on an adequate scale apart from the fact that neither raw material 
nor tools were available. Consequently, having observed the good 
work done by the repair shops of the Zemstvo Union, the military 
authorities were only too glad to detail their skilled workers to these 
shops to enable them to carry out urgent repairs. 
One of the most pressing needs of the army was for boots, and 
their careful preservation was imperative. The Union’s committee of 
the northern front endeavored to assist by establishing special shops 
which sold leather and cobblers’ tools at a comparatively low price. 
These endeavors, however, did not prove altogether successful, so 
that the committee was compelled to enlist the assistance of boot- 
repair shops such as were already at work on some of the other 
fronts. A large shop was opened at Smolensk, estimated to be capa- 
ble of producing 5,000 pairs of new boots and executing 10,000 
repairs a month. It was found, however, that there were considerable 
difficulties and much loss of time in communicating with the troops 
at the front and in the delivery of boots in need of repair. Conse- 
quently, forty movable zemstvo boot-repair shops were organized at 
different times along the western front and provided with the neces- 
sary transport facilities, materials, and tools. Each of these shops 
employed thirty or thirty-five men working for wages and headed by 
expert foremen. The daily output of a shop was about 150 “major” 
repairs. Using depots of the Zemstvo Union attached to each army 
as a base, the repair shops visited the various military units. The 
work done was recorded in each regiment on a special form, and 
upon presentation of this the amounts due were subsequently paid 
by the Army Supply Department. 
The army authorities requested the Zemstvo Union to help them 
in an entirely different field. After severe fighting, it was found that 
many rifles were in need of repairs, and that a large number of worn 
rifles might by repair be rendered serviceable. The Zemstvo Union 
organized repair shops to which all damaged rifles were sent to be 
cleaned and repaired. Soon after, at the request of the military 
authorities, the Union also organized shops for the repair of field 
telephones. The Union found it also necessary to station mete- 
orologists along the front to keep the army informed of changes in 
atmospheric conditions that might prove propitious to the gas at- 
tacks of the enemy. 
These and similar measures undertaken by the Zemstvo Union at