The American Red Cross Bulletin (Vol. IV, No. 2, April 1909) - American National Red Cross

(Signed) “B. CHIMIRRI.

“To His Excellency,
“Hon. Lloyd C. Griscom,
“Ambassador of the United States of America, Rome.”

MED. DIRECTOR J. C. WIRE
Copyright, Harris-Ewing, ’08

HOUSES FOR ITALY

Our own experiences after serious disasters in the United States have taught us that in nearly all of such cases one of the most serious problems to be met is the providing of shelter for the thousands—sometimes hundreds of thousands of victims. Italy has had this same serious problem to meet after the late unparalleled disaster in Sicily and Calabria. The American Ambassador at Rome was requested by the State Department to consult with the Italian Government as to the best use to be made of the $500,000 left by the Congressional appropriation of $800,000, after the supplies on the Navy ships, Celtic and Culgoa, which were sent to the scene of the disaster, had been paid for. The reply came in the nature of a request that this fund be expended in the purchase and providing of materials for houses. This suggestion has been admirably carried out by the Navy Department, which has purchased and shipped, fully prepared, materials for the immediate erection of 2,500 houses, including window sashes, doors, etc., and the charter of four ships for their transportation. Some eight expert carpenters and a large number of tools have been sent on these vessels, that the erection of these houses may go on promptly.