, 1877-01-20


the Victoria papers for some days,
over the merits of Leathers' Artifi-
cial Stone, eliminated on Monday
last by the commencement of sin
gular proceedings against Col. J. II.
Thorp, one of the patentees. He
left Victoria more than a week ago,
his wife remaining behind. On the
North Pacific last Tuesday, Mrs.
Thorp was passenger to Tacoma,
where she took the cars for Kalama
and Portland. On the same train
we're two gentlemen not of Verona
but of Victoria. who were exceed
ingly anxious to obtain an interview
with the aforesaid Col. Thorp.
They visited every newspaper Office
along the route and inserted adver-
tisements to caution people from
negotiating certain promisory notes
given to the said j. II. Thorp and
L. L. Leathers, which notes they
claim he discounted at one-half
their face. They regarded this as
a most singular way of obtaining
money. and began to think they had
exchanged their sovereigns for a
very queer article. What the mer-
its or demerits of the case may be,
it is hard to say. We are no archi-
tects, and never did days work
outside Of newspaper Office or q
steamboat, in our life, Hence, we
have no right to say one word. for
or against it. There are some twen-
ty-eight or thirty patents for artifi-
cial stone in America, of which the
Frear patent is the one generally in
use. That men of standard business
reputation, like Messrs. Davies,
Sayward, and their associates, must
necessarily be surprised to find their
paper hawked off at fifry cents upon
the dollar. is not to be wandered at.
Nor is the supposltion an unnatural
one, that property obtained under
such circumstances, would be re-
garded dear at half the money. One
thing which initiated very much
against. Messrs. Thorp & Leathers
was their love of display and the
profusion of iewelry they wore. 1t
does not require a gallon of whisky
per hour to persuade sane men to
purchase anything of standard val
ue; nor does the giving of chari-
table raffles, entitle man to be con-
sidered responsible alone. Messrs.
Thorp & Leathers may be men of
honest intentions, and we know
nothing to the contrary. But their
haste to leave the country with any
thing they could realize from the
notes of first-rate business men, was
naturally calculated to engender
suspicion in the minds of anybody.
MAR1NL.-Bark Harvest Home,
hence for San Francisco, was at an
chor at Port Townsend when the
North Pacific passed up on Tuesday
Bark Atlanta from San Francisco ar
rived on Tuesday at Port Gamble
with an assorted cargo for the Puget
Mill Company. .....A large bark
was off Dungeness as we passed
across the Straits. -. Ship Wild
wood, from Nanaimo for San Fran
cisco was at anchor at the Royal
Roads as we passed out of Victoria
..... Bark Columbia, Capt. John
son will be towed over from Royal
Roads to Seabeck, to-day, to load
lumber. Schooner American Girl,
Capt. Lawrence, will sail from Port
Blakely tomorrow. The schooner
Frithiof has nearly completed her
load of lumber at this place.
Ship Washington Libby will proba
bly, sail to-day, with cargo made
up partly from the Renton and partly
from the Seattle mine. -. Ship
Sycamore was to saffron San Fran
cisco on Tuesday. Her destination
is Port Gamble. -. .Barks j. B.
Bell and Samoset (the latter having
come down from Tacoma yesterday
are loading at the Seattle wharf. -.
The Aureola is ready for sea and,
with the Washington Libby, will
probably be gone down the Sound
as soon as this paper reaches the
breakfast-tables of our subscribers.
:. The Dakota will complete her
cargo of Talbot coal to night. :. A
bark probably the Cambridge sail
ed down the Sound early yesterday
morning.
GOOD TIME-Tbe steamer Messen.
ger arrived here yesterday afternoon
at quarter past 3 o'clock; time, seven