The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-07-25

the paper little later on and became
| connected with the Merchants Ledger.
| He told his proprietor that he could get
a great many more advertisements If
l were to set them up, and 1T was in
this way that 1 got an offer of better
salary from the Merchants Ledger. /
took it. 1t was small sheet, devoted
| to mercantile affairs, and it had less
| than 5000 circulation. Soon after L
| became employed upon it the proprietor
wanted to sell, and 1 bought him out
l ran the paper for a short time as
| a mercantile paper and gradually turn
| ed it into a family one. One day L
| decided that if it had the best reading
matter a paper of that class could have
| it would get a very large circulation,
| and 1 concluded to get it. 1 began at
once to get the best of contributors,
| and among others secured Miss Fanny
Fern. Miss Fanny Fern was the most
| popular woman writer of that time, but
| she had never written for the news
papers. A book of hers had just had
q circulation of something like 5000
| copies, and 1 think she rather looked
down upon newspaper work. I first
| offered her $25 a column for a story.
| She refused it. l wrote her again and
| made the offer of $50 a column. This
she also declined, when the return mail
| brought her another offer from me of
friend: L like the spirit of that man
Bonner, and 1 wish you would go down
| and see him. Her friend came, and
we eventually got together.
IT then proposed to give her 500 a
| column, but said l did not want the
story to run over ten columns. She re-
| piled that she would write the story for
! 81 900, provided 1 would take it whether
| it ran nine columns or eleven columns,
| as she could not tell just how much it
would run out. / agreed to this, and
the story was published. The circum-
| stances Of the engagement were told,
| and nearly every newspaper in the
! country published my extravaganza In
paying 500 a column for story. l got
| $4,000 worth of advertising out of the
arrangement, and the people began to
| ask for the Ledger Before this I had
| had trouble in getting the news stands
to take the Ledger. After this they
were glad to get it,
Did Fanny Fern write more for you
| after that?" I asked.
Eyes; she wrote for me more or less
up to the time of her death, both she
| and her husband, James Parton. Fanny
! Fern was q genius. She had ability
somewhat like that of Henry Ward
Beecher. Her matter was always in
| teresting and valuable"
STORIES OF BEECHER.
Speaking of Beecher, Mr.. Bonner, he
also wrote for the Ledger, did he not2"
YES" replied the veteran editor He
wrote a great deal for me, and among
other things his novel Norwood, for
which I paid him $50, 000.''
How did you become acquainted
with Mr.. Beecher?" 1 asked
at was through q poem of one of his
| lady friends. He sent me the manu-
script, stating that If I used it a check
would be very acceptable to the lady.
1 wrote back at once that I had plenty
| Of poetry, but that I wanted himself
L told him that if he would give me
from a half to three-quarters of a col
umn a week that I would pay him
81, 900 year. 1 sent a check for $4,000
with the letter as the advance salary
for the first year. He accepted it, and
from that time until his death he wrote
for the Ledger"
What was the nature Of his writ
ings?'
"They were to large extent editor
ials," replied Mr.. Bonner MANY Of
them were published under the heading
Thoughts as They Occur by One Who
Keeps His Eyes Open The first arti-
| Gle, remember was entitled "A Cannon