Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1898-10-30
New York Press.N

Bonner's Ledger to be turned into a |
monthly? Why. that Is almost equva- |
lent 10 destroying a monument. / am |
sorry for Mr. Robert Bonner. In a short |
period he has lost his best friend and |
spiritual adviser. DR.. John Hall. and his
dearest child, his pet. his pride. his joy,
his alter egO-the Weekly Ledger. which
for more than forty years was part and
parcel Of his existence. Bonner is now
"A years Of age. a clear-witted gentleman,
devoted to the fortunes OF the Fifth
Avenue Presbyterian church. the Harlem
Speedway, and his TarrytOwn establish
ment Of costly trotters. Incidentally,
he balances the hoof He began life
with g. worked the first year for S25. the
second for 49, and the third for Si5. He
lives at No. s west Fifty-sixth street.
who're his stable is almost a part OF DR.
Halls church.
The success Of the Ledger was due 10
advertising Bonner thought nothing OF
buying page al a time in the leading
papers. His advertising bills must have
reached quarter OF million dollars
a year The circulation of the Ledger
reached over 100000. It's advertisements
were unlike those Of any other publica-
ton. Bonner believed that If all adyer-
tisements in a paper were displayed, all
were equivalent to no display. His adj
vertisements were always original They
attracted attention, and the publishers
OF the papers who were ayerse to a dis
play objected to them. The biggest free
advertisement he ever received was when
he offexed Fanny Fern 500 a column to
write for the Ledger. The newspapers
OF the country published his extravaganza
broadcast, and he estimated that the
Ledger prOfited at least 5000 by the ar
rangement. He paid Henry Ward Beecher
$50 coo for novel, which not one person
in 900 can recall, but it was worth 100000
to the Ledger
The Bonner boys, TO whom their father
gave the Ledger q few years ago, attri-
butte it's decline 10 the Sunday news
paper. This is not altogether correct.
There is another cause of its falling off
namely. want of advertising. These boys.
filed with new ideas forsoolI To a great
extent the columns OF the daily news
papers. which had made their fathers
fortune. and turned to the bill-boards for
assistance. Now bilboards are all right
for cheap theatres and circuses, per-
| haps. but they are a failure as advertising
| mediums for anything else. III the boys
| had clung 10 the daily press II they had
| improved on the methods of their father
! in setting forth the merits Of their paper,
| the Ledger would not be drifting off
among the mOnthlies. but might he
| moving up into the ranks OF the dailies.
| Robert Bonner had the story-paper in
| stinct largely developed. He read with his
own eyes every word printed in the Led
ger as long as he actively managed It..
| He read all manuscripts submitted, and
himself selected those which he deemed
available. The contributor. no matter
how modest and humble, no matter wne-
| Their a beginner or an established author
| with Il byphenated name, was always
| courteously received at an outside desk
by the proprietor who advanced from his
| Drivate Office 10 return a story or deliver
a check I'm sorry we can't use this,
he would say in the first case. In the Sc
cond. handing over the chocl, Fetch US
another story" There was no waste OF
words. His prices, except for articles by
distinguished persons, were as low as the
lowest. Anything from 80 words 10 a
column be paid so for. If over column
there was generally an understanding, SO
| much a word