“The foundation for the main buildings of the hospital is finished, and the framing is beginning today. I will push that work all possible, so that we may leave a cleanly finished set of buildings. The roofing, foundation, and plastering will each cost more than I had estimated, considerably; and the hardware for doors and windows must be bought. “Here at Messina, we are on the last week of cottage building, all houses being framed that we are going to build. I have told the Prefect that I would leave here on June 12th. “As the houses are completed, after Mr. Derby has inspected the kitchens and passed them, Lieutenant Brofferio and Avvocato Donate go over them, note whether they are ready for occupancy, or whether some minor repairs are needed, and then, on the revised list given by Brofferio, I report to the Prefect that the houses specified are ready for occupation. After the Prefect’s Committee have assigned a house, the applicant brings the written authorization here, and Donate installs him, or, generally, her. “The new aspect of the settlement, since the painting began, and the towering bulk of the hotel, have brought a steady stream of visitors; and on Sunday there were crowds, all over the place and through the hotel. These conditions are gratifying, but they make it difficult for us to remain and work; so that the date, June 12th, must be regarded as definitely fixed.” Translation of an inscription on a visiting card left in camp office (Crown) “COMM. LUIGI MAJOLINO “MESSINA. “Having the concession for the American house of A-7, No. 11,--before occupying it, I feel it due to salute the Egregious Doctor Donelson, Commandant Belknap, Lieutenant Buchanan, and Sub-Lieutenant Spofford, who, with love and self-sacrifice, have borne in among us for all time the good will of the great nation of the United States of America. “(Signed) LUIGI MAJOLINO. “Our last Sunday in camp, June 6th, the great Italian national festival, was celebrated at Villaggio Regina Elena, by throwing open the bridge which had been jointly built by the Italian and American working parties, connecting our respective quarters in the village. A very festal occasion was made of this, the children marching around the village in procession, guided by the teachers of the schools provided for them by the Queen, all of them dressed in clothes made in the village _laboratorio_, and waving paper flags of all sizes and nationalities, the Stars and Stripes being prominent.