Peter T. Curtenius Directed

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It was suggested to the Committee, that General Lee will have occasion for the Intrenching Tools of this Colony for the use of his Troops while employed here; that it will be necessary for their preservation and the convenience of the Army, to have a person appointed to take care of the said Intrenching Tools, and the other Military Stores of the Colony. And Richard Norwood being recommended for that purpose,

Ordered, That Richard Norwood be, and he is hereby appointed, a Commissary, to take the care and delivery out, of all such Military Stores and implements of war, except Cannon, in this City and County of New-York, as shall be from time to time committed to his care, by order of this Committee, or the Provincial Congress; to make no issues without order of the said Congress, or this Committee, or the commanding officer for the time being, of the Continental Troops in this Colony; to take receipts for every issue, to keep exact accounts of every receipt and issue, and to attend, when and where necessary, to receive back any stores that may be, from time to time, issued, and be returnable after service to the said Commissary, for the use of this Colony; and that he be paid for his services, in his said office, as long as he shall be continued in the same, at and after the rate of eighteen and one-third dollars per month.

And it is further Ordered, That he receive all such Military Stores and implements of war as aforesaid, into his care, as are now in the hands of Mr˙ Curtenius, exchanging proper vouchers with him in that case, and with all others, in all other future cases of receipts and issues.

Colonel McDougall informed this Committee that Major-General Lee, on consulting his Engineer, was of opinion that the Intrenching Tools lately made in this Colony are not sufficiently numerous for the service; and that General Lee has requested him to inform the Committee that an addition of the following articles will be necessary, to wit: Six hundred Pick-Axes, three hundred Hatchets, five hundred Handbarrows, three hundred Wheelbarrows, two hundred Crowbars, (in such form as Captain Smith, the Engineer, shall direct,) five hundred Iron-shod Shovels, of others equally useful.

Ordered, That Colonel Peter T˙ Curtenius, as Commissary of the Provincial Congress of this Colony, do, with all possible despatch, procure the said Intrenching Tools and Barrows, for the use of the Continental Army in this Colony.

Whereas, the Poor of this City are in great distress, and many of them unable to procure subsistence at this inclement season:

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Ordered, That the sum of two hundred Pounds be deposited in the hands of Mr˙ William Vanderwater and Captain George Janeway, to be applied by them in purchasing barrelled Beef and ship Bread, to be delivered in bags; Turnips and Potatoes, Indian Corn-meal and Oakwood, for and towards the support of such poor inhabitants of this city as may stand in need of assistance for their immediate subsistence. That when the said articles are purchased, Mr˙ Vanderwater and Captain Janeway do convene the Vestrymen of the several Wards in this city, to the end that they, together, may proportion the quantity of the said articles so purchased, which the Poor of each Ward, from their circumstances, may require; and the said Vestrymen, in their respective Wards, are requested to assist Mr˙ Vanderwater and Captain Janeway to dispose of the said articles to the poor inhabitants, in such proportion as to them shall appear to be necessary; and that a copy of this order, certified by one of the Secretaries, be a sufficient order to Mr˙ Vanderwater and Captain Janeway, on Mr˙ John Ramsey, for the sum of two hundred Pounds, out of the moneys put into his hands by this Committee, for the employment and support of the industrious Poor of this city; and that Mr˙ Ramsey take the receipt of Mr˙ Vanderwater and Captain Janeway for that sum.