PERSONNEL OF THE EXPEDITION.
Representatives of the American Committee on board—Mr. Griscom, American Ambassador and chairman of the Committee; Lieutenant-Commander Belknap, U. S. Navy, Naval Attachè at Rome; Mr. William Hooper, of Boston; Mr. H. Nelson Gay, of Boston and Rome.
Executive Organization on board—Lieutenant-Commander Belknap, in charge of the expedition; Mr. Gay, in general charge of arrangement and distribution of supplies; Mr. Hooper, recorder, treasurer of the expedition and in charge of the afterholds.
Assistants—Mr. Weston R. Flint, cashier, and in charge of the forwardhold; Mr. Wilfred Thompson, supplies accounts and records of deliveries; Mr. John Elliott, interpreter, assistant in afterholds and elsewhere; Mr. Robert Hale, assistant in forwardhold; Avvocato Girodana, interpreter, clerical work and translation, assistant with handling supplies, aide to Lieutenant-Commander Belknap.
Medical Department—Dr. Cesare Scelba, Chief Medical Officer, in general charge; Dr. Guido Egidi, Dr. Paolo Alessandrini; Miss Mary H. Lawrence, head nurse; Miss Amy Claxton, second nurse; Miss Helen M. Moir, Miss Frances E. Nelson, Miss Emily A. Tory, Miss Mable W. Shingleton, duty nurses; Emma Niccolucci, head of Italian women nurses; women nurses, Schiarmi, Negri, Consolati, Manganelli, Antinori; Lanzi, head of Italian men nurses; men nurses, Neuci, Perfetti, Tondinelli, Guardabassi, Cascapera.
The Committee of the “Bayern.” Comdr. Belknap and Messrs. Hooper (of Boston) and Gay (of Boston and Rome).
Additional, not permanently with the expedition—Mr. Earle Dodge, Jr., embarked at Civita Vecchia and worked industriously in the forehold for the two days that he was on board. Mr. W. Bayard Cutting, Jr., American Vice-Consul at Milan, on special duty in Sicily, came on board at Messina, and continued from that time in close co-operation with the Committee to the great advantage of the prosecution of the work of the expedition. Mr. Winthrop Chanler came on board at Messina and remained until the second day at Catania, rendering very useful service for which his experience and knowledge of general and immediate conditions in the locality were valuable.
A few general orders were given, cautioning against the use of matches and smoking below decks; to report when orders had been compiled with; to apply for assistance from the ship only to the first officer or Lieutenant-Commander Belknap and the like. Simple arrangements were drawn up and posted also for stations for “Fire and Abandon Ship.”
Immediately on getting under way to Civita Vecchia, the work of arranging our supplies began, so that we might know what, how much, and where to lay our hands on everything. Fortunately, good weather favored us; the work continued in the forehold until 10 P. M. on Thursday, and went on all over the ship next day, so that by 4 P. M., when Messina was sighted, we were in all respects ready.
Only a few hours from Civita Vecchia we narrowly missed a serious handicap, Mr. Gay having a bad fall in the hold, breaking a rib. The loss of one who combined the best knowledge of what was included in our outfit, with tireless energy in getting it systematized, would have imposed a delay very unpleasant to contemplate, but, happily, Mr. Gay was the only sufferer by this accident, as he kept at work the same as before.