_Directly after the news reached Rome of the magnitude of the disaster in Southern Italy our American Ambassador, Mr. Lloyd C. Griscom, organised a committee of prominent American men in that city for the purpose of assisting the Italian Government, Red Cross and National Committees in the immense work of relief that required all the aid human sympathy at home and abroad could provide. The fact that Messina was in Sicily; that the railroad service had been seriously disorganised, and that the necessity of moving troops to the scene of the disaster would largely employ what trains and what lines were still available, led to the prompt conclusion that aid must be sent mainly by sea. Acting under this conviction, the American Committee chartered and equipped the steamer Bayern—a few of the members guaranteeing the necessary amount so as to lose no time, while waiting to hear from Washington if the American Red Cross would provide the $100,000 necessary for this purpose. This our Red Cross, on receipt of Mr. Griscom’s cable, immediately consented to do. Just sixty hours after this ship was chartered it entered the harbor of Messina, under the command of the American Naval Attachè at Rome, Lieutenant-Commander R. R. Belknap, U. S. N._ _Fifty-eight thousand dollars in a few hours’ time had been expended for the medical outfit, provisions and clothing, particular attention having been paid to the selection of food for little children._ _Before leaving on the Bayern Mr. Griscom was received by King Victor Emmanuel, and notified His Majesty and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Signor Tittoni, who was present, that the steamer would fly the Red Cross emblem. Both the King and the Minister remarked that his was an admirable example to the world of international fraternity for the Geneva Flag to fly over a ship carrying aid from one country to another in a period of disaster._ _The following interesting report, somewhat abbreviated as to details, has been received from Lieutenant-Commander Belknap, to whose ability, conscientious work, deep interest and constant energy the American Red Cross is greatly indebted for the success of this expedition._—EDITOR. I have the honor to submit the following report of the cruise of the North German Lloyd Steamship _Bayern_, which was chartered and fitted out at Genoa by the American Red Cross, through the American Relief Committee in Rome, and sailed from Civita Vecchia on January 7, with the Committee’s expedition on board, to render aid at Messina, Catania and other places in Sicily and Calabria to sufferers by the earthquake of December 28, 1908: PURCHASE OF SUPPLIES