,Current Literature
THE CORNISH MINER. By A. K. Hamilton Jenkin. (Allen and Unwin. 12s. 6d.)—All Cornishmen will enjoy this book. It gives a glimpse of a race apart, living under circum- stances which we suppose find no exact parallel elsewhere. Till lately Cornwall was very remote, yet it was largely indus- trial. The miners lived upon lonely moors, often far from the actual scene of their work, often hungry and always facing death. Wages were not everything to them because, though they might have enough money for corn, there was often not enough corn to be had for money. They would not work long hours underground, as they wanted time to themselves and time to think—also, it must be admitted, to drink. A wreck was a godsend, a harvest of the sea. They were nearly desti- tute, death was utterly familiar and had no supreme import- ance. That they ever were guilty of the heinous offence of causing wrecks Mr. Hamilton Jenkin vehemently denies. All sorts of interesting details and statistics covering a long period of years are here piled up before the eyes of the reader. He may feel that the arrangement of them is left a little too much to himself, and that some repetition could have been avoided, but in spite of these faults his attention is held from first to last.
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