WCP792

[1]

Hamilton House, The Croft Hastings

Feb^y. 10th. 1889

My dear Bates¹

I received the 50th vol. of Journal and other Supp. Papers all right & thank you for sending them. I congratulate you on your family being all well provided for in the world & no longer a source of anxiety. I am interested to hear that one of your sons is an Electrical Engineer and has plenty to do. I am thinking of sending my boy² (now 17) to the Finsbury Technical College for 2 years to learn Engineering,— but whether civil, mechanical or electrical [2] I have not quite decided.

I hear Mech^l Engineering is over done, as is Civil Engineering, & though Electrical Eng^g has no doubt a great future, there seems to be such a rush of young men to learn it now, that I was afraid it too, might be still more overdone. I presume your son is working for an employer— not on his own account: I should be glad to hear— quite at your convenience— how he learnt the work, & [3] whether he had any difficulty in getting employment,— and what he thinks of the prospects.

I am now busy with the proofs of my book³ which I have had long on hand, as it was partly written before I went to America.⁴ I hope I will have the effect you allude to, and I am glad to see that you agree with me in thinking both Romane’s⁵ and Gulick’s⁶ papers of little account.

We are staying here a while for my wife’s⁷ health as she has been very unwell in the nerves for some time, suffering [4] greatly from sleeplessness— She is now much better, but we have had the vilest weather here the last 10 days instead of the warmth and sunshine we came for.

With kind remembrances to Mrs. Bates.⁸

Believe me | Yours very sincerely | Alfred R. Wallace [signature]