PIONEER MEMOIRS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 171, 22 July 1930, Page 16

PIONEER MEMOIRS.

(By. OLD-TIMER.)

WHEN "ONE-LUNGERS" WERE THE VOGUE.

THE CARRIAGE.

"I'll have a pen'orth, guv'nor. What, ain't yer sellin' chestnuts?" Thus a London cabby in Oxford Street one day in 1896 to a harassed motorist, wlifese car had stopped for some reason unknown. Cars were not, at that time, allowed to run on the English roads without the attendance of a man with a red flag, twenty paces in front, and "horseless carriages" were still a matter of great interest to pedestrians, and a source of derision to cabbies and busmen.

It was about this time that I had the mortification of breaking down in the centre of Piccadilly Circus, and what I heard during that hectic half-hour from

derisive Jehus of all sorts, remains with me yet. These were the days of tube ignition, chain or belt drive, and tiller steering, to say nothing of solid tyres and sundry other means to "comfort." The days when tho 2§-h.p. Benz, with its high and low speed belts, was the car for the man of moderate means, and the 8-h.p. 2-cylinder Daimler was the autocrat among cars, and the purchase of which necessitated engaging an engineer to run them. Believe me, that engineer earned his money. If he was not lying on his back underneath it monkeying with a spanner among a maze of nuts, bolts, piping, etc., he was probably pushing it. But it had its compensations when one stood in the centre of an admiring group and dilated on a non-stop run of ten miles just-accom-plished', or when one related how he had passed a gig on the Richmond Road and simply left it standing. "It simply wasn't in it, old chap, I assure you."

Of course one did not mention that aforesaid gig passed one a few minutes later. Probably the trouble was giving the belts another anointment of powdered resin, or that one of the tubes in the radiator had come loose from its moorings, and allowed 20 or more gallons of water to lay the dust on the road, with the attendant desire of all and sundry to invest in roasted chestnuts or baked potatoes.

Liberty at Last. Finally, the Government passed thi Automobile Act, allowing self-propelled vehicles the use of the highways and byways, to celebrate which a run from London to Brighton was inaugurated. What a wonderful collection of "horseless carriages" paraded on that beautiful June morning of 1896 in Whitehall. The noise and smoke in that historic thoroughfare was beyond description.

Going West. Just after this I was sent to deliver a 6 h.p. "one-lunger" to a gunsmith in Exeter, a matter of 86 miles. Having taken a sad farewell of my nearest and dearest, and explained to my various pals that my face would be missing from our usual haunts for a period which was totally in the lap of the gods, I started. For two days and two nights I picked up everything' that could fall off a selfpropelled vehicle and stuck it back in place, and when exhaustion had nearly done its work I sighted the"~spire of Exeter Cathedral projecting above the horizon. After two days of strenuous tuition I left that optimistic gunsmith the proud possessor of the only automo- i bile in Exeter. J

Three days later came a frantic 5.0.5., and. I duly caught the Exeter express. Arriving late, I consumed everything he had in his larder, also most of what he possessed in his cellar, and we then adjourned to his shed. In a moment of inspiration I suggested he should go through' all the he had made to start his self-propelled vehicle. Having tickled the carburettor, blown down the air pipe and retarded the spark, he proceeded to play "The Honeysuckle and the Bee" with the starting handle. While he was indulging in physical culture I thought of the ignition switch and turned it on.

On returning to London I was informed that the .firm had received a . four-cylinder air-cooled Mors car, which, in a moment of mental abberation, had been bought by a Mr. Graham White, long years after famous as an aviator and aeroplane builder, and that it was my job to teach him to drive it. After several, friendly chats with the aforesaid Mors, which usually left me speechless, I duly started on the task. My one consolation was that, being air-cooled, it, at any rate, could not spring a leak and lose the water.,-

Red-hot for Brighton. After a morning driving round Regents Park, an afternoon in Verrey's, and an evening at the Cafe Royal, we decided that the night was an auspicious one for a run to Brighton. Having crossed Westminster Bridge, Graham White thought he would like to drive, so we changed over. Although he knew nothing about the car, he soon discovered what the throttle was for, and we tore along at about 18 miles an hour. Being about 2 a.m., the water carts had started work and the road Was greasy. Just as we reached the Elephant and Castle a market wagon turned into the road in front

•of us. White turned the "wheel and headed the car for a structure near the road side. "Stop her," I cried. When we had disentangled things we decided it was a towing job, so we' squared the market cart driver to leave us a towline and returned with him to Covent Garden in state.