New-York daily tribune., 1858-12-14
SUCCESS OF A HARTFORD BOY.
F,on 7he Ha,Vora Daily P1e... Dee u, ls5s.

The recent payment OF ten Thousand doiaIs 10 the
Hon Edward Everett, for the Mount Vernon AssOca-
ton as remuneration for series OF articles Tor ne
Ner York Ltdgcr has turned public attention 10 the
paper in which they e'e to be puohsaea' an 70 the
wonderful success of liz proprietor, Mr.. ROBERT Bon
neI who Is able muDihoentlyt0 compensate literary
tabor. - ,
ir a business poLt Of view lie is although lot born
here He cqul, 10 tbs city when abou, fifteen years
Of age and shortly after became fellow apprentice
with one Of the publishers OF this paper, at ne
Courah ofice, in this city. This was 10 1883; He
wac faithful apprentice, always at mis- post du1ng
surkIg bours, taking interest IN tie business oi
the ofce snd eerfully discbatging whatever duties
w.re assigned hin. lie was a good printer and an
nIufUay quick posltOI, alf enjoyed the respect
oi lis fellow wOrkinen and the confidence and esteem
al his employer, the late Mr.. Boswell His lei ure
hours in q great measure, were spent IN improving
hs mind aud occasionally articles from his pen found
tb.ir way into the columns Of Tie C0urdHR, and we
teieve sfO into Of the other city papers, secular
and religious. The intimacy of apprenticeship days
b,wcen the writer and Mr.. Bonner ha- never been IN
tenupted, many incidents connected wlth hs sue
c,ss lave from time 70 time be- ianilIdry tod US
Some Of these i'll Dteres. che public az well as snow
what eLergy tact, and high regard for principle,
Will accomplish. We write withOot Sir. Bonner
Buowlsd,e and may pOssi bly, err in publishing wnat
related 10 in the confidence Of personal friend
ship.
Soon after affirming his majority he removed to
N,w-YOIk, where for ii tire his iortune varied but
little from that Of jouTueynieo printers generally lie
Industrious and ecD.Umlcal, saving little from
of tie paper upon winch he wa employed were ire
quert and bis employer, approaching hls services,
advanced him from position to position, uutil he be-
came regularly ineoted With It's editorial depart
neDt
In 1913 he purchased, for small consideration,
The NJ rcha rs Ledger, paper published at the low
price Of fifty cents year. tie deslsn being to secure
large circulation, and acorrespondin. amount OF al,
veIsng at remuDerative prices. II was designed
manly for merchants, snd special effnrs made
TO secne accurate market reports, sDd Other inf)rna
in t..b fD.vy nfersS
were not forgotten, however, and sevcr columns Ci
usefnl reading, judciousy chosen were week gwen
Mr. Bonner's energy soon added largely - It's suc-
scip'ion list and advertising pati ionage, ana the paper
yieoed handsome profits. At this time lie was the
New.York correspondent Of papers IN Boston, New
Orlesrs and other places Soine onc ym)Gslyat
first prupused to furnish similar l-ters for the C1ufdnt
few were for sarded samples, aud as they were
unusually spicy for such corfespondence an arrange
mept nlsde for their continuance, at fixed price
per letter. The publishers were not ittle astonshei
fnd tha their author none otner than the former
graduate Of the office.
business that would lave satisfied many, only
spuri-d Mr.. Bonner TO greater exeit'ons' de 5000
increasing at the same tine s value 30 as 10 retain
its patrons and secure new ones. Atths time Fanny
Fern" was prominently before The pubhc having just
published her Ruth Hal" which made agrett .tr
10 the literary world. Mr. Bonner, believing that her
pen would add To the interest Of his paper and increase
It's circulation wrote to her, offering her twenty-five
dollars a column for a story; 1t was dechoe9 lie
increased the offer to nifty dollars column III WAS
declined Again he wrote, increasing the oiier 10
sevepty.fve collars II column. Another decnndtne
followed; bat her admiration for the "pluck' OF one
who seemed determined 10 secure her services, cost
what it would induced her TO send her business agent
to what manner OF man MI Bonner was. lhs
interview resulted IN Mr. BE- Increasing the amount
to &l00 column. This offer was hnay accepted, ana
the "esrd" worked precisely as Mr. Bonner antei-
pated The fact that Fanny Fern was writing ior
TIs Ie6eer = one hundred dollar h column story, was
pubshe0 far and near and orders for papers hIerey
poured in and continued TO do so during iis puonca
ton, which was continued ioI severai weeks; nv Cnv
arrangements were subsequently made with Fanny
Fem who is sti' one OF the regular weekly coniio
utors tn Tie Ledger.
Mr. Bonner not content to stop here, was on tn
look out for additional attractions. Sylvanus Cooo,
whose stores were very popular, was wnrg ior BdI-
ious Pictorial Their moral tone and dramatic i1ter-
est sttyaced BOuuers notice, ana lie de'erlnneu 10
secure the authors talent for The LefeeT After as
certsning that ola pen was not exclusively epgased
by any other paper, and that ne could hOaoraoiy ac-
cept commission Mr.. B. offered bim double the SUN
fNbatever II might bc) that he was then receiving,
for story. The Offer was accepted, aud now Tor
nearly three years Mr.. Cobb has written exclusively
for TIE Ledger.
The character of the paper having been somewhat
changed hy the exclusion OF advertisements, aud It's
circulation largely increased the jealousy o MA
delphia cotempoIaIy was mamie ste1, ana, amer
very Annoying attack upon Nj. Bonner, ne resoVel
10 punish them-not by public reply but Dy ds-
privpg them of their chief writer, Mrs Soutnworth.
lie accordingly visited Georgetown, her residence,
and after raining that her engagement was sach
that without knowing what she was receiving III
Philadelphia, be would double her compensation.
This was an argument she could not well resist, ana
Bonner came away with "tne documents III his
pocket. 80.
Disneusbed writer's in other departments Of htera-
ture have from time TO time been added 10 MS corps
He recognizes the fact tnat newspaper readers are not
all Everetts, CoDbs or Fanny Ferns ana hepee tae
varied talent called TO bis asslsance. lie believes ID
employing the best writers and IN literally compensate
ing them. His last great stroke is la engaging the
Addsouiau pen OF Mr. Everett. Leaving ont OF view
the fact that the psd for the benefit OF an "o1ect
which has enlisted the sympathes OF thousands the
compensation is greater 81 an has ever before been
paid for series OF newspaper articles. The arrange
IL eLt is mutually aivantsg geous-Nr. Bonner securing
valuable contributions and Increasing the literary
reputation of his paper, whlls the MOuOt Vernon 81
cety secures II large addition 10 its treasury. The
Ledeer claims circulation of three hundred thousand
COMES aud as i've readers to each copy not
trayagart average, Mr.. Everett, briggs his mind 10
contact with a million and hall Of persons weekly,
sxerting an lueIce greater than IT Is possible Tor
him 70 do through any other channel. HIS engage
meu is only part aud parcel Of the progressive policy
Mr. Bonner has pursued from the first, and that sll
be pecuuiarily profitable we have 10. doubt. Whist
the next great stroke will be, time must determine.
That it will cone, is as certain as that Mr.. Bonner
hives.
IL his b1siness Mr. Bonner has always pursued the
cash plan-owlng lo one over a SATURDAY n'gh', en'
allowing 10 one 10 owe hun. Profits are not swal-
lowed up III bad debts, and he has already saitei
down., outsde his business u handsome fortune
When in New-YOrk some months since, the writer
asked him why he did not sell out his business and live
Ike prince, if il suited his fancy. Mr.. B inquired
what amount Of money would satisfy US, and upon
moderate sum being named exhibited securities Tor
several times It's amount remsrkng that he must have
some business To occupy his mind and il the eaith
kould Open and swallow up his whole estabhshment,