“As the climate of northern Michigan is severe, and winter was close at hand, the providing of shelter was of immediate urgency. Mr. Waterman, the chief engineer of the railroad, designed a ‘shack’ which could be built quickly and cheaply and the work of housing the homeless, who in the meantime were crowded with almost incredible congestion into the homes of their more fortunate neighbors, began promptly and went forward with the utmost speed. The ‘shack’ consisted of unplaned lumber, long, upright boards forming the walls, rough boards forming the roof and floor, and the entire exterior of the structure covered with tar building paper. Each ‘shack’ was 14 by 16 feet and contained three small rooms. About twenty carpenters were gathered up along the line of the railroad and brought into the relief work. The plan of procedure was for the farmer to receive the lumber, paper, windows, hardware, etc., for a ‘shack’ and haul it to his farm. Then one carpenter would be sent to the place to direct operations and with the farmer and his neighbors helping, the ‘shack’ would be quickly completed. If two or three ‘shacks’ were to be in a group, one carpenter could supervise all at once. “On October 29, exactly two weeks after the fire, thirty-eight ‘shacks’ were completed and occupied on the sites of burned homes and twenty-four ‘shacks’ going up. It was estimated that about 150 ‘shacks’ would have to be provided by the relief committee and almost as many more for horses and other domestic animals. These ‘shacks’ cost, complete, only $50 each. “On October 24, Governor Warner announced the appointment of a State Relief Commission. It was composed of seven men, including Mr. Emory W. Clark as a representative of the Red Cross. It also included Mr. J. D. Hawks, president of the Detroit and Mackinac railroad. The Commission met on October 26, and elected Mr. Frank Buel, a prominent lumberman of Bay City, chairman, and Mr. B. M. Wynkoop, manager of the Bay City Times, secretary. The State Commission requested me to meet with it on October 30, and visit the fire district. This I did, and after a day with the members, became satisfied that they were men of affairs and that they had accepted appointment on the Commission for no purpose other than a sincere desire to serve the State. At this meeting it was decided to take over the relief work and put it upon a permanent basis with men in charge who would be paid for their services, but continuing substantially the same methods of administration then in use. As superintendent, the Commission employed Mr. F. E. Merrill, who had had a responsible position in the relief work from the beginning, and who was given leave of absence by the railroad company for the purpose. “From two sources should come help which will materially lighten the burden of relief.