From Alexander Hamilton to Otho H. Williams, 11 August 1792
To Otho H. Williams
Treasury Department, August 11, 1792. “I enclose you an Advertizement, concerning proposals for the supply of rations for the Western Posts, which I request you will have inserted in the paper of your City, stiled ‘the Maryland Journal & Baltimore Advertizer’1 to continue untill the 29th of Septr next.…”
LS, Columbia University Libraries.
1. This advertisement reads as follows:
“Notice is hereby given, that Proposals will be received at the Office of the Secretary of the Treasury, until the Twenty-ninth Day of September next, inclusive, for the Supply of all RATIONS, which may be required for the Use of the United States, from the first Day of January, to the Thirty-first Day of December, 1793, both Days inclusive, at the Places and within the Districts here-after-mentioned.…
“Should any Rations be required at any Places, or within other Districts, not specified in these Proposals, the Price of the same to be here-after agreed on, betwixt the Public and the Contractor.
“The Rations to be supplied are to consist of the following Articles, viz.
| “One Pound of Bread or Flour, | ||
| One Pound of Beef, or ¾ of a Pound of Pork, | ||
| Half a Jill of Rum, Brandy, or Whisky, | ||
| One Quart of Salt, |  |
per 100 Rations. |
| Two Quarts of Vinegar, | ||
| Two Pounds of Soap, | ||
| One Pound of Candles, | ||
“The Rations are to be furnished in such Quantities as that there shall, at all Times, during the said Term, be sufficient for the Consumption of the Troops at each of the said Posts, for the Space of at least Three Months in advance, in good and wholesome Provisions, if the same shall be required.
“It is to be understood in each Case, that all Losses sustained by the Depredations of the Enemy, or by Means of the Troops of the United States, shall be paid for the Prices of the Articles captured or destroyed, on the Depositions of Two or more creditable Characters, and the Certificate of a commissioned Officer, ascertaining the Circumstances of the Loss, and the Amount of the Articles for which Compensation is claimed.
“The Contract for the above Supplies, will be made either for One Year, or for Two Years, as may appear eligible. Persons disposed to contract will, therefore, confine their Offers to One Year; or they may make their Propositions so as to admit an Election of the Term of Two Years.
“The Offers may comprise all the Places which have been specified, or a Part of them only.” (The [Baltimore] Maryland Journal and Baltimore Advertiser, August 21, 1792.)