Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1859-08-30

ment; he told of The seeming chance which re
moved an important workman from situation
which il was found difficult to fill-of the as
constituent Of his employer when he was inform
ell that young Robert Bonner had acquired the
requisite skill and knowledge I" occupy the va
cancy--of the strife among the workmen tc
test which could accomplish the largest amount
of work in Il given time-oe the quarrel tina,
arose between him and one of his co-laborer,
who was reluctant 10 admit that Bonner haC
beaten all the others. (Which was the case)-o
( his gnin. To New IOrk-of his entering ano
thcr oicc-of his becoming the correspondent
I of various papcrs-of his purchasing with the
money lc had earned by his untirin. cxer
/ tiunS the merchants Ledger which had il
! that dav circulation of .frC fh""san1-of hi.
making it the boomers Ledger Of the pre-
sent day. the circulation Of which is between
/ tour und IRE handred Mo"saad. All this wa.
related without the least approach to Roasting
or scflamlation, but as II mere history o
| facts.
lie spoke very unlissuscdly Of his indcbt
edneSS to Fanny Fern, whom he paid one hun
dred dollars per column for the first story that
drew public attention to the paper.
| The manner in which he dwclt upon Mr. Ev
erett's articles would have been highly crafty
ing to that gentleman As it was TO his friends
Mr.. Bonner said that the articles had not mere
| lv-met, but s"rJus"d his expectations; that
not only had they been Of even more benefit tc
his paper than he expected. but their Mtrihsi,
c0lue was beyond his antcipations. He had
every facility. he said, Of learning the true, un
biased opinion Of the public, 81 tie @'"~''s, and
he knew that among them there was the mOsl
unqualified satisfaction in regard to the Mount
Vernon Papers" lie had also heard able cri
teal Judges loud in their cncomium>, and he
found that their estimate Of the contributions
was AS high as his own.
Mr. Bonner made all the ladies' laugh, not ;
little, by describing his test Of the appropriate
ness Of articles for the Ledger. lie said thai
he kept in the Office highly respectable, wei
educated, im0ginary old lady, who might be
supposed to have just returned from hearing 4
Wednesday evening lecture by Rev. DIR. Potts
| This venerable gcntlewoman was consequently
in most elevated, vet most rigid state otmind-
she was the head Of LARGE (ami! y-she glayely
unfoldcd the Ledger to read it aloud to hel
circle-shc wanted her hearers TO he entertain
cd and to he instructed in the most thoroughly
unobjcctionnhlc inanncr-shc must not mcc
with n line which she could think it necessary
to read in Il suppressed tone. on account of it'
possibly injurious effect upon her auditors
| This old lady, Mr., Bonner declared, sat in dali,
Judgment upon all the contributions received
for the led ger and if they coull not >tan'
the test Of her approval they were laid aside Il:
inappropriate.
Mr.. Bonner also spoke Of his securing Dick
ems, Paul Norphy. Morris, Willis and Bryant Il
| Il fl,at Ia,
believed his success was chiefly owing In III
endeavor to let each number Of the Ledger
contain some matter To suit all classes and al
hmithrul tastes.
\ iocosc allusion was made 10 his peculiar
mode of advertising. In answer he iold th'
following anccdotc He said that 4 highly Is
tccmcd friend once demonstrated with him con
corning his extraordinary advertisements, ano
asked, "Why would not few lines do rs wei
as the repetition Of the same words, in that ri
diculouS manner, all over whole sheet o.
sheets :" Bonner replied: If you had >ccI
only the few lines, would YOU have asked any
question - What answer could lave been
more appropriate This advertising nictloc
struck people rs strange, made them take no
tee and consequently impressed the Tact Of tn
"Icdgcrs" existence upon their minds
| Some of the Young ladies were very l'iXIoiI'
10 know whether the lcticr.ali>wcrs were 6
imaginary correspondents. Mr. Bonner assured
them that they were invariably replies 4
genuine letters. Also, that 80 many icttcr
with questions daily flowed in, tlla; only ont
in ten could receive reply.
When Mr.. Bonner took his leave, the ladies'
and gentlemen alike, desired to see somctllin:
Of his much talkc,l.of horses, and accompanied
him to the gate. lie very good-naturedi,
ordered his colored servant 10 drive them "a
| and down the country road, that their "a:
might be exhibited ] canno; conceive mor
beautiful specimens Of Tie noble animals On,
hardly knew which toalnirc most, their swift
ness or the exceeding grace with which the!
moved, and which showed their rapidity 10 b'
10 effort, Decidedly they, like their master
would be. lin common parlancc,j hard t.
| heat ~