[Capt. Ja. Sever] War Office May 14, 1795. Sir I have received your letter of the 26^th your direction for putting the white oak timber [selec]tion when droped into salt water, is doubtless a very good one. By this post will be transmitted to M^r Hacket copies of two letters from M^r Humphreys, the Constructor of the Frigate building at Philadelphia. In one of them he suggests that it may be expedient to bore the ends of the timers and for a certain part to run a whip saw through the center, and then to fill the auger holes, and the opening with salt in order to prevent the rotting of the timber. Should M^r Hacket approve the project of boring, and sawing the putting them into salt water will more effectually preserve them, I conceive, than M^r Humphreys's application of salt. The part sawed may be opened, as M^r Humphreys proposed, and if the time they shall lay in the salt water shall raise a doubt whether they are sufficiently penetrated, the dry salt may be afterwards applied. I understand that the copper arrived at New York, is merely for the Frigate building at that place; a similar arrival has happened at Philadelphia. The copper for all the other frigates may now be expected daily at the respective ports, or at posts convenient to those where the frigates are building. Unfortunately a mistake in copying the directions for the bolts at the Office of the Commissioner of the revenue, last year, has occasioned the sending out the largest bolts of [undecipherable] inches diameter, instead of 1½ [undecipherable]. Experiments have been made to reduce them. It is under con—