In the afternoon, the Commissario Regio came on board, to return our visit and inspect our ship, bringing the following letter, to which I replied orally, stating that I would have the honor to bring it to the attention of the American Ambassador:
Cabinet of the Commissario Regio,
City of Palermo, January 15, 1909.
In the name of the city of the Committee I have the honor to represent, I accomplish the duty, heartfelt, of expressing to you a great many thanks for your generous offer of 20,000 lire and of food and mattresses, made through you by the American Ambassador for the benefit of the unfortunate refugees.
Messina, Sicily and Italy, in this tragic hour of disaster, feel an infinite sense of emotion before the universal spectacle of nobility and human kindness, before the common impulse that moves, in aid of so many sufferers from the reckless violence of nature, the generous, munificent souls of the world.
I beg, therefore, to ask you to be the bearer of our intense feeling to the illustrious American Ambassador, and to the American citizens, to whose magnanimous work will always be united the undying gratitude of this people.
Please accept, Illustrious Sir, on this solemn occasion, the highest expression of my consideration.
The Royal Commissioner,
BLADIER.
To Captain Reginald Rowan Belknap, Naval Attachè to the Embassy of the United States of America.