search, I should be disappointed, you only predicted half the truth.
As far as I can see at present, it is equally a matter of difficulty
to obtain the sort of work upon which I was told on all hands it was
best to begin. I do not mean to say I have made a bad spec by coming
here, it would be much too soon for that even if I had been crumped
out of every shop I showed my nose in, which I have not by any
means, for I have met with more disinterested and sincere advice,
and have received more good-natured "boosting" in this country in an
hour than I found in the old country in a month. What I mean is,
that it seems rather harder, or at least quite as hard, to get work
of any sort, as a fitter, engine driver, or anything else _at once_.
I was told that for a sensible chap who would begin small, there was
lots of work to be had for the asking; in fact, that there was a
demand for what I may call professional labour, but that is a great
mistake. The works here, of every sort, are just as slack as they
are anywhere else, rather worse perhaps. I went to the Grand Trunk
and also the Canadian Pacific, but there was not the remotest
chance; they are cutting down everywhere, sacking men, clerks, and
draughtsmen hand-over-fist. The bosses were all good-natured, and
sometimes spoke to their subordinates themselves, to see, as they
said, if there was, or soon would, be, any vacancy, but there was
not; and in the face of any number of their old hands waiting to be
taken on again, there was small chance for a new comer. Of course
both the Grand Trunk and the Canadian Pacific Railways have been
running for some time, and are nearly finished, so it is not likely
that they will be increasing their staff. The chances lie in the new
companies that will probably form, and in the new works that will
probably be opened, but this is a matter of waiting, not always
convenient. There is small doubt, I think, that by waiting and
worrying, some of these chances might be laid hold of, and that