SEEKING FORTUNE IN AMERICA.
Seeking Fortune in America. By F. W. Grey. (Smith, Elder and Co. 6s. net.)—It is interesting to compare and contrast this book with tho one we have just noticed. In each case a young Englishman of character and ability tells how he faced the hard facts of life. The former, though often lonely and discouraged, was part of a great system, and so was not a prey to that grinding anxiety which besets the man who is struggling for a long time against actual starvation. Mr. Grey is to be congratulated on having endured many terrible experiences without losing the good spirits with which he set out to make his fortune. He wandered about Canada, the States, and Mexico, turning his hand and his mind to all sorts of work, from farming to laying down asphalt. The many stories he tells of murders, robberies, and official corruption should chase away any illusions cherished by young people as to the romantic pleasures to be found in the " Wild West." Not that the book is without a hint of romance, but this is personal, and not peculiar to America. He ends by saying that he is still seeking his fortune, " but it appears as far off in 1912 as ever it did. America is a land of great opportunities, but rarely for the Briton or the man without capital."
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