property that under your charge, and for that to be properly protected from thefts by enclosures or otherwise — I shall at [undecipherable] future opportunities give you such further directions as the Nature of the Service may require — [Maj^r James Crawford & M^r Donaldson] War Department 25.^th April '98 Gen^l: Should your convenience admit, you are requested to examine the Ship Ganges and report her age, the exact State of her Hull, Masts & yards, Rigging, Sails, and every other particulars by which a judgment can be formed of her value; also the number of Guns she can carry and your opinion as to her fitness for a repot of War — you will also State the alterations, repairs, and articles, which she will require to fit her for Sea — The Time in which She can be fitted and an Estimate of the Expense — I am Gen^l &c — [Maj^r I. I. Broils Baltimore] War Department April 7.^th 1798 Gen^l: Mr. Chase Garrison late chief of the Navy yard at Baltimore having been appointed by the President of the United States, purser of the Frigate Constitution, and as the preservation of the materials and Stores deposited there is of great consequence to the United States, I have therefore to request that you will be pleased to employ a person of good Character, fitted to be entrusted with the public Jno —