A CRY FROM THE FAR WEST [To the Editor of
the SPECTATOR.] Sin,—I write from the banks of the mighty Athabasca River, in the Far West, where I am living and farming with my family amid primeval forests. I rarely see men or women ; the forests are very lovely, but terribly lonely to live in. 'Frankly this is a begging letter, for I want mental food and want it very badly. I receive the Spectator every week from a relative in the West of Scotland, and it is looked for eagerly. I also receive the Weekly Illustrated Times. These two papers give me news of the outside world. But it is not enough. I want the Fortnightly Review, Nineteenth Century, Contemporary, Asiatic Review, &c., &e. ; in fact, anything in this line. There must be thousands of these thrown away every month in old England, which would be worth almost anything out here, but how to get them here ? Can you help me ? I am trying to get people here interested in other things than the price of hop and grain. I am an old. soldier who, since leaving Cambridge in 1888, has seen much of the big world, and few can know the British Empire and East better than I do.
Anything in the reading line will be most gratefully received and passed on from house to house. Wishing the Spectator the best of luck.—I am, Sir, &c.,
F. W. PHILPOT (late St. John's College, Cambridge). Blue Ridge Post Office, Alberta, Canada.
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