As a compositor, he was not only neat and thorough, but was
remarkably rapid as well. On one occasion, when the "Courant" was
endeavoring to publish the "President's Message" in advance of all its
competitors, Mr. Bonner is said to have worked at the rate of seventeen
hundred ems an hour--a feat absolutely unparalleled.
In 1844, he removed to New York and engaged in the office of a new
journal, called the "American Republican," then lately established as
the organ of the American party in that city, upon which he worked
steadily during its brief career. His wages were small, and it was only
by practicing the most rigid economy that he could live upon them.
When the "Republican" suspended publication, Mr. Bonner was employed in
the office of the "Evening Mirror," published by Morris, Willis &
Fuller. Here he made himself so useful, that the business of getting up
or displaying advertisements attractively was soon left entirely to him.
His taste in this department was almost faultless, and the
advertisements of the "Mirror" soon became noted for their neat and
handsome appearance.
At this time there was published in New York a small, struggling paper,
exclusively mercantile in its character, called the "Merchants' Ledger.
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