s, thereby aiding many to a home. His motto was,
"Help those who help themselves," however, he gave much to those whom no
one else would aid. He was personally of inferior appearance; not only
this, but nothing pleased him more than a shabby dress, being often
mistaken for a beggar. As a benefactor and horticulturist he made his
influence to be felt in succeeding generations.

ROBERT BONNER.

Of all the newspaper editors we have ever read, possibly Robert Bonner
is the most enterprising. He was born in Ireland in the year 1824, and
at the age of sixteen came to Hartford, Connecticut. He had an uncle
here who was a farmer, but Robert aspired to own a paper, and drifted
into the office of the _Hartford Courant_. Robert Bonner determined to
own a paper; he, therefore, set about it, working faithfully every day,
and overtime, saving his money. He mastered his business, becoming an
expert compositor. In 1844 he went to New York and obtained employment
on the _Mirror_. He was intrusted with the oversight of the advertising
department, and it was soon seen that he had a decidedly fine taste in
the arrangement of this line, a feature which has undoubtedly had much
to do with his wonderful success later. He was also at this time a
correspondent of the _Hartford Courant_, also newspapers in Boston,
Albany and Worcester. About 1851 he bought out the _Merchants Ledger_, a
paper devoted to the commercial interests of the country. This he
transformed into a family story paper, and christened it the _New York
Ledger_. Fanny Fern was just appearing in the columns of literature.
Bonner offered her $1,000 to write a story for the _Ledger_, enclosing
his check for the amount. As this was a very high price in those days,
of course she accepted. Then the papers throughout the country were full
of advertisements--"Read the Thousand Dollar Story in the _Ledger_."
"Read The _New York Ledger_"--Some people said, "Well, first-class
journals don't use such flashy ways of inducing people to subscribe;
they rely on the merits of their paper." Bonner heard this and began to
study how to overcome this tide of sentiment. There was _Harpers
Weekly_--no one questioned its respectability. The Harpers never
indulged in any flashy advertising, but soon the people were surprised
to see in all the leading papers, 'Buy _Harpers Weekly_,' as no one
imagined that Bonner had paid for the advertising; they attributed the
advertisements to the necessity H