EARLIEST DAYS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26783, 28 May 1948, Page 7

EARLIEST DAYS

MOTOR CAR’S HISTORY DIFFICULTIES OF DRIVER DUNEDIN MAN'S MEMORIES The earliest days of motoring with their attendant dangers and thrills are remembered clearly by Mr H. Jackson, who was apprenticed to the Austin Company, in Birmingham, in his youth. Now aged 78, Mr Jackson joined the Automobile Association in London when it had only 12 members. He emigrated to New Zealand in 1912, coming to Dunedin as chauffeur to Sir Lindo Ferguson with whom he stayed for seven years. After operating a taxi service for a number of years, he retired and now lives in South Dunedin. Pitchforks and Stones Indelibly imprinted on Mr Jackson’s memory are the experiences he met when he drove his first cars in the ’nineties. As he travelled through the countryside, people would rush out into the roadway brandishing pitchforks, sticks or any weapon that came readily to hand and frequently they would subject the unfortunate motorist to a barrage of stones. Mr Jackson, though he received many bruises, was never injured seriously and he can laugh about these happenings now—but they were not laughing matters to him in those days. In his first years with the Austin company, one-cylinder models, nicknamed “ puffing Billies,” were produced. From one-cylinder machines, the company graduated to two-cylinder models and then to four-cylinder cars. Of the last type. Lady Warwick was one of the first to make a purchase and Mr Jackson delivered it to her home. He also had the distinction of taking the first car to Ireland. In those pioneering years it was not regarded as remarkable if the car broke down every two miles. Some of the models were so difficult to start that a person, Mr Jackson averred, would nearly break his arm cranking them. Severing his connection with the company, he became a chauffeur and travelled extensively with his employer in the United Kingdom. He also made

a 12 months’ tour through France and Algeria and one of his most treasured possessions now, is a licence permitting him to drive in France. It is dated 1899 and besides the usual official formula, it carries a photo of Mr Jackson. Other early permits which have withstood the vicissitudes that such documents usually encounter, are a County of Croydon licence for the year 1909 and a County of London one, dated 1912. Mr Jackson was also a member of the National Society of Chauffeurs which was formed “ to protect the interests of chauffeurs generally.” Noisy Vehicle Mr Jackson returned to his trade, working for a year at a motor works in Glasgow, and subsequently at the Daimler factory in London. He next obtained the position of chauffeur to Sir Lindo Ferguson, coming to New Zealand in 1912. He had a 65-horse-power Daimler as his first charge here. It was chain-driven and in the words of Mr Jackson —‘‘You could hear it from one end of the city to the other.” Traversing the roads in New Zealand was a somewhat terrifying experience, Mr Jackson said. Full of deep pot-holes, they were narrow and very difficult to negotiate. “One of Mr Jackson’s interests in life in recent years has >been as a blood donor and he has now given nearly 60 transfusions.