give it an immense circulation without the help
of travelling agents or the credit system: and to this policy he has
adhered. Besides this, he spared no expense which he judged would add to
the value of his publications, and his judgment has always set the
bounds far off on the very verge of extravagance. Whatever machine
promised to keep his office abreast of the times, and increase the
capacity for good work, he has dared buy. Whatever man he has thought
would brighten and strengthen his staff of assistants, he has gone for,
and if possible got, and whatever new departure has seemed to him likely
to win new friends for the MIRROR he has made.

In this way he has gone from the bottom of the ladder to the top. From
time to time rival sheets have sprung up beside him, but only to
maintain an existence for a brief period, or to be consolidated with the
MIRROR. All the time there has been sharp competition from publishers
elsewhere, but this has only stimulated him to make a better paper and
push it succesfully in fields which they have regarded as their own.

In connection with the MIRROR a great job printing establishment has
grown up, which turns out a large amount of work in all departments, and
where the state printing has been done six years. Mr. Clarke has also
published several books, including "Sanborn's History of New Hampshire,"
"Clarke's History of Manchester," "Successful New Hampshire Men,"
"Manchester Directory," and other works. Within a few years a book
bindery has been added to the establishment.

Mr. Clarke still devotes himself closely to his business six hours each
day, but limits himself to this period, having been warned by an
enforced rest and voyage to Europe in 1872 to recover from the strain of
overwork, that even his magnificent physique could not sustain too great
a burden, and he now maintains robust and vigorous health by a
systematic and regular mode of life, by long rides of fifteen to
twenty-five miles daily, and an annual summer vacation.

In making the MIRROR its owner has made a great deal of money. If he had
saved it as some others have done, he would have more to-day than any
other in Manchester who has done business the same length of time on the
same capital. But if he has gathered like a man born to be a
millionaire, he has scattered like one who would spend a millionaire's
fortune. He has been a good liver and a free giver. All his tastes
incline him to large expenditures. His