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 bootrepair
 shops such as were already at work on some of the other
fronts. A large shop was opened at Smolensk, estimated to be capable
 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. Consequently,
 forty movable zemstvo boot-repair shops were organized at
different times along the western front and provided with the necessary
 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 meteorologists
 along the front to keep the army informed of changes in
atmospheric conditions that might prove propitious to the gas attacks
 of the enemy.
These and similar measures undertaken by the Zemstvo Union at