All of these building operations are under the direction of Lieutenant Commander Belknap. In this he has had the efficient assistance of Lieutenant Allan Buchanan and Ensign J. W. Wilcox, two capable young American naval officers assigned to this duty from the naval yacht _Scorpion_, which spent the spring in the harbor at Naples. John Elliott, the well-known American artist of Rome, laid aside his brush and willingly became the architect and draftsman for this extensive American project. With headquarters in Reggio, Mr. Winthrop Chanler, of New York, took charge of the building of over two hundred American houses in some of the smaller towns near Reggio. Several young noblemen of Rome, fired with zeal to help in the work of relief, joined Mr. Chanler and, under his guidance, spent some weeks in individually going among the people in the ruined villages of Calabria, studying their particular needs and supplying them with tools, sewing machines, and other equipment necessary to enable them to become self-supporting. At the end of March the lumber from America had been all unloaded from the five ships that carried it to Italy, the working forces engaged in putting up the cottages had been completely organized and Captain Belknap had the great satisfaction of reporting that twenty-four complete houses were erected every working day of ten hours. The American houses are turned over to the municipal authorities of Messina and Reggio and the assignment of the houses to individual families is in the hands of the municipal officers. It should not be supposed that America is the only agency engaged in building temporary homes. Some have been built by other countries and a very large number by the provinces of Italy. I was informed at the office of the Minister of Public Works in Rome that sites had been assigned at the end of March for the erection of fifteen thousand eight hundred temporary houses. Considering the size of the average Calabrian or Sicilian family, it is probable that these temporary buildings will provide shelter for most of the survivors of the earthquake who are unable to obtain homes through other means. _Attitude of Italian Authorities._