if they would come to the hotel. Their Torah, or
manuscript of the law, had been written and mounted
in Bokhara, but was not remarkable. Their having
no synagogue, together with the poverty and ill-
furnished condition of their hired place of prayer, was
explained to a large extent by the fact that almost
all the Jews in Tashkend are traders and sojourners
only, as also by the oppression to which, before the
Russian occupation, they were subject under the Khans
of Khokand. We called later on the leading Jew
of the town, named Abdurrhamanoff, said to be a
very rich man, who was living in a fine native house,
built and ornamented in the style of the Sarts. He
had travelled a good deal, but not so far as England.
On Sunday we found that there was no Protestant
service in the town, and I was called upon in the
course of the day, and asked to conduct one for the
Germans ; but as my linguistic powers were not equal
to this, and they understood no English, I was powerless.
I heard of one countrywoman settled in the
town, but was not so fortunate as to find her at home.
After the Russian morning service the Nachainik
gorod, or head of the town, took me to visit first the
' prison, which I shall describe hereafter, and then to the
military hospital, where we were received by Colonel
Serpitzky and Dr. Proskouriakoff. In both places
I distributed something for thé inmates to read, and
found my pamphlets readily accepted. Whilst driving
through the principal open place, we stopped for a
few minutes at the grave of General von Kaufmann,
who is buried in the middle of the town. A few
wreaths remained on the mound, but no permanent
monument was as yet erected.
The hospital is in the suburbs, near the Salar Canal,
on ground 850 yards long by 550 at its widest part.
The high road passes through it, and on the west are
the houses of some of the staff. The ground east of
the road is allotted about equally between the winter
and summer buildings, and is thickly planted with
poplars. The institution ranks as a Russian hospital
of the second class, for 15 officers, 380 soldiers, and
20 women, with 300 beds in readiness and 100 in
reserve.* The houses in the winter quarters are all of
burnt brick, with iron roofs, each having a bath and a
retiring place. One house has a surgical room, and
the amount of air in the six is a total of 3,877 cubic
feet.f
On the 17th September, the day of my visit, there
were in the hospital 14 officers, 260 soldiers, and 31
women,I -305 in all, out of which number 35 were
prisoners. On the corresponding day of the previous
year there were in hospital 358 patients. The most
common diseases in Tashkend are fever and diarrhoea.
This is explained by the climate, which favours the
development of fevers and their results— catarrhal in-
* The winter quarters comprise wards for (i) venereal diseases, (2)
diarrhoea, (3) skin diseases, (4) fevers, (5) prisoners, (6) officers and
female patients. The summer quarters consist of 16 barracks, each
for 20 patients, and tents of three sizes for 14, 4, and 2 patients
respectively.
t The hospital has a church, a dispensary, dead-house, lodgings for
the staff and for two sisters of charity, two kitchens, a bakehouse, office,
bath, and cellars ; besides store-rooms and an anatomical theatre, with
mortuary chapel. The hospital staff consists of a head doctor, with 6
clinical assistants. The administration is in the hands of an overseer,
a commissaire, and a book-keeper, whilst to look after the patients
there are 105 soldier servants.
t Their ailments were as follows : Fevers, 16 ; typhus, 20 ; diarrhoea,
106 ; ophthalmia, 9 ; diseases of the chest, 20, and kidneys, 4 ; syphilis,
15 ; venereal diseases, 25 ; bruises, wounds, and fractures, 15 ; abscesses
and skin diseases, 10 ; rheumatism, 29 ; scurvy, 3 ; nervous
diseases, 10 ; insanity, 10; undecided, 8 ; women’ s diseases, 5.
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