John tells Joseph that he will be unable to leave for Shippensburg as early as Joseph wants him to, because he has many arraignments to make at home. He tells Joseph that he has reflected about a building that they are getting built for the forge and that if they can get Mr. William Lusk to build it, then they ought to do it immediately, but if they cannot, they ought to wait until such time as they have more money to meet the expenditure. He sent a letter to Mr. Blackford, asking for advice, but he has not responded yet. John talked to William Kendrick about this project, and he said that if they built this one thing, it would lead to them building a new Furnace Billower, and a New Mile. John later brings up how he saw in a newspaper that, on March 15th, a court will come back into session, and Mr. Ege will probably bring him back into court. John has heard that the Hughes Furnace is doing "better than common" because of a new founder, or chief iron worker.