Seen from a Railway Platform. By William Vincent. (T. Fisher
Unwin. 3s. 6d. net.)—Mr. Vincent's pleasant little book of reminiscences contains some information—about the growth of railway bookstalls and the increase and distribution of newspapers and cheap books—for which one would probably seek in vain elsewhere. As a boy of thirteen, he entered the service of Messrs. W. H. Smith and Son in 1861 at Swansea, and he worked his way up to a high position before he retired in 1908. He reminds us that his firm was well established long before the railways were made. When the London newspapers were published at seven o'clock in the morning, the firm's express-carts would be sent off to overtake the coaches which had started two hours earlier. In 1837, when King William the Fourth died, the express-carts were sent as far as Holyhead, whence a special steamer took the papers to Ireland ; the news- papers thus outdistanced the King's Messenger conveying the news to Dublin Castle. Mr. Vincent saw many interesting people in the course of his long career, and, as he was repeatedly transferred from one town to another, he must know a great deal more about England and Wales than most of us do.
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