It is interesting to notice that of my three selected pioneers the only one who was not haled before a judge was the devoted martyr, who hoped, by getting himself convicted, to call attention to the absurdity of the law. Mr. Ellis escaped, while Mr. Koosen and Mr. Elliot were both fined. It is also worthy to be noted that the fines contrast in a marked manner with those of more recent times. One can imagine the consultation on the J.P. Bench. 'There is no need to be hard on these lunatics.' 'Such absurdities as motor-cars will never make their way in this country.' 'The idea of any sane man using such a thing, when he can get a horse, is ridiculous.' 'Oh, fine the idiot 1s.,' &c., &c. Now, it is stop-watches, measured miles, policemen in disguise as yokels, 10l. and costs—the strongest possible proof of its being realised that automobilism is a permanency which must be reckoned with.
Circumstances did not admit of my being a pioneer myself, but I lay claim to have shown my interest early. I was present at both the Exhibitions, one at the Crystal Palace, and the other at the Imperial Institute, and at an early stage I engaged a seat to go from the club to the Crystal Palace for a competition there. Looking back on these three events now, I feel justified in saying that I have something of the doggedness shown by other pioneers, for anything more disheartening than my experiences it would be difficult to imagine. I took a considerable party down to Sydenham, and found hunting for autocars to be like seeking the proverbial needle in the bottle of hay. At last we found a shed in which were three or four cars and three or four men, machines and mechanics looking equally melancholy and unbusinesslike. After a long wait one car came out and went along the terrace. How it did jingle, and how it did smell, and how it did smoke! My party did not turn and rend me, but when I dilated on the future of this new mode of locomotion, their eyes looked past my head expressionless, and their lips uttered no sound. I could only, on the way back by train, silently chew the cud of discomfiture, hugging the thought in my heart that the day was soon coming when my
