Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1900-1909, 1900-08-21
BONNER'S FIRST HORSE.
1t Was Bought by the Publishers Dc
tor to Force Hin, tn Exercise

6oNNER's FIRST HORSE.
It Was Bought by the Publishers Doc
tor to Force Him to Exercise.
81 well remember the first driving
horse that Robert Bonner purchased"
said DR.. Samuel Hall, of New York
City. ITO be more accurate, it was I
who purchased the animal for Mr..
Bonner. l was his family physician
during the fifties, and one hot summer
day met him on Broadway. He had
been so busily engaged with the New
York Ledger, which he purchased in
1851, that had not seen him for some
time. When l met him was actually
startled by the mans appearance. He
was well-nigh unrecognizable. Dark
lines showed under his eyes and his
', skin was pale and drawn like the skin
of consumptive.
Bonner, l cried, what have you
been doing to yourself? Here, come
into the shadow. You're in an excel
lent condition to suffer a sunstroke'
".Oh, there's nothing much the mat.
ter he answered, I'm simply worked
out, trying to make this paper of mine
/, go. That's ALL
THAT'S allv said I. Well, that's
nearly enough to put you In your
grave. Here, jump into this omnibus
and get breath of air.
"'Can't do 1t, doctorv he replied. 4
have an important engagement which
must be kept
Bonner, persisted, gripping him
by the arm and OBTAINING him, it's my
duty to tell you that you are killing
yourself. You must take a rest But
in spite of the most direful warnings
! and strongest pleas, the Scotch-I Irish in
him insisted on having its own way,
! and he left me-not, however, until I
had made him promise to drive regu-
larly in the country at least once q
week.
''To make sure that he would keep
,, his promise, l bought an excellent
roadster, which cost, l remember, $3.50,
and sent the animal to Mr. Bonner.
Shortly afterward l met him out driv-
ing. His cheeks were aglow, and on
recognizing me he pulled up alongside,
and reaching his hand to me, said in
great enthusiasm: Doctor, want to
thank you. l never would have known
the joy of sitting behind good horse
had it not been for you.
"Two or three months later he bought
a span of iron-gray horses, for which
he paid $500.
'From the time of this purchase un-
til his death Mr.. Bonner was the best
known strictly amateur horseman in
this country. To crafty his taste for
| fast horses he Purchased some of the
| most celebrated trotters in the world
but withdrew them from the race
| course. Probably his greatest horses
| were Peerless, Dexter and Maud S.,
marking as they did three distinct
epochs in the.history of trotting horses
in this country.
"To my mind" continued the doctor,
"although Robert Bonner's purchases
| were prompted for the most part by
an honest, real love for Thoroughbred
| trotters, there is no doubt that he was
| the shrewdest advertiser of his day.
Whenever he bought horse at SEEM
| ingly exorbitant figure, the issue of
every prominent paper in the country
| on the day following would contain
description of the animal purchased,
| and, parenthetically, very complete
description of the New York Ledger
The result was that for every dollar
Mr.. Bonner gave to horsemen he re-
ceived the amount dozen times over
| in return from the public, which was
| attracted to a man who had the un-
| selfish spirit and generosity to practi-
cally pension the idols of the turf by
| buying the best of them for use In his
own buggy. l have no doubt that this
clever advertising had much to do with
bringing the Ledger before the people
and it's ultimate success."-New York
Mail and F,XDreSS