CHAPTER III 



ROBERT BONNER ON SHOEING 



Robert Bonner was born in Londonderry, Ireland, 

 April 28, 1824, and was brought up a strict Presby- 

 terian. When fifteen years old, he came to the 

 United States with his mother and brothers and sis- 

 ters, and entered the printing office of the Courant 

 at Hartford, Conn. He was ambitious to excel and 

 worked over hours to learn as much as it was possible 

 to learn about the business. He came to New York 

 in 1844 and founded the New York Ledger, mak- 

 ing a phenomenal success of it. He accumulated a 

 large fortune and spent money generously to uplift 

 humanity and to advance the interests of breeding. 

 He despised shams and resolutely set his face against 

 the foibles of fashionable society. His associates 

 were the intellectual men, the dominating spirits of 

 his day and generation. It was my good fortune to 

 win his confidence, to study him behind the scenes 

 as It were, to see him in all of his moods, and to 

 closely advise with him. I always found him as 

 true as the magnet to the pole, never stooping to 

 deception, unflinchingly advocating what he believed 

 to be right, never swayed by public clamor, and his 

 word was in truth as good as his bond. There is 

 much that I should like to write about him, which 



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