Very shortly after the relief work for California began, the Western Union Telegraph Company, the Postal Telegraph Company and the Long Distance Telephone Company gave to the Red Cross the free use of their wires for all communications connected with this relief work. The railroads and express companies throughout the country were most generous in providing for the free transportation of supplies of various kinds that the Red Cross Branches received for California. A more complete acknowledgment of this will be made later when fuller data are obtained from the reports of the Branch Societies. The response made throughout the country to the appeal for the sufferers from the great disaster was most generous and sympathetic, finding expression in the children’s pennies as well as the checks for thousands of dollars, and many interesting incidents were reported in the letters from the State Branches. A Chicago letter says: “Little girls are even bringing in dolls and dolls’ dresses for the little girls in San Francisco who have lost theirs in the fire. Some of the incidents occurring in the Armory where the ladies are receiving, packing and sending off clothing, are most touching. Yesterday a boy about eleven or twelve years of age came in, sat down on the floor and pulled off his shoes. He was asked what he meant by doing that and he said: ‘Well you see it is nearly summer time now and I can go bare-footed, so you can just take them shoes and send them to one of them boys who is getting his feet burned in them hot streets.’ It was with difficulty the little fellow could be persuaded to put on his shoes again and go away.” In many cases garments were brought in the giving away of which must have meant serious deprivation to the givers and yet there was evident joy at the opportunity of helping those even more unfortunate. Only a brief general statement can be made in this Bulletin of the contributions from the various Branches for San Francisco, the more detailed report will be given later when the returns are all received. In this Bulletin the receipts from the Branches for the Japanese Famine Fund and for the Vesuvian Relief are reported. The prompt sympathy that was shown outside our own country for the California sufferers manifested itself in several cases by generous appropriations by foreign governments and by contributions from firms and individuals. These were generally sent to the State Department. As the President felt that the liberality of our own people would meet the required aid and, moreover, if accepted by the Government from one country others might feel a necessity of also making relief appropriations, it seemed wise to decline with most sincere expressions of thanks such contributions.