Banjo Paterson and a History of the Haste Waggons Part III - 1905

This is the third in a series of posts replaying Banjo Paterson’s reporting of the Dunlop Motor Reliability Trial.  The first article appeared in The Evening News of 25 February [1], the three that follow are from 26 February, they are consecutive articles in the newspaper but are listed individually in Trove [2-4], this is merely an artefact of how they have been archived in online archive.

MOTORING TO MELBOURNE.
THE RELIABILITY TRIAL
HISTORY OF THE HASTE WAGGONS. III
(BY OUR SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE WITH THE CARS.) 

It is a reliability trial sure enough. The second day's run was enough to fix that in the minds of the competitors. Eighteen miles, an hour over bush roads tries the best car, and there is a lot of luck needed to get through. The extra speed necessitates driving for all she is worth on the level, and if the level happens to be bisected by a drain, you haven't time to step out; must just bump over it. The result is that constant bumping and straining weakens the axles, and the wheels begin to lean in towards each other. Quite three-fourths of the competing cars are "developing bowed tendons," as the racing men would say. The axles are all bending a little. And coming round sharp curves through loose metal causes a side strain that sooner or later tells on the wheels. Two cars to-day— Messrs. Rand's 'and Langford's — pulled their wheels right off. Of course, an occasional "interesting adventure with cattle" is met with, but nothing of a serious character.

In fact, disasters began early, as the lady competitor — Ms. Thompson — got into difficulties soon after leaving Goulburn. The French demon driver, who has so far formed the chief topic of conversation on the trip, came to some sort of grief at Gunning. We passed him, but, as Mr. Jorrocks says, the pace was too good to inquire. From Goulburn to Yass you get the best bit of road we have seen so far; and being delayed soon after the start, we had to make the most of that bit of road. 

THE DELIRIUM OF SPEED.
In an English magazine lately appeared a picture of a car going at full racing pace. It is called the , delirium of speed. The last car to leave on each day has some such sensation. With all the others ahead, and with a perfectly clear road and good grades, the driver bends over his wheel, and, so long as the road is clear ahead, he lets her rip. Hill after hill, level after level, we flying behind, till at last a car is sighted in front, and then the driver knows that he is holding his place. It is a good deal like "picking up the wheel" of a racing cyclist; but when once the cars have settled to work it becomes a terrible nerve-straining contest against time. The motorist must have one eye on the watch and the other on the road. The other cars are almost sympathised with, as they, too, have their struggle against the common enemy. And as the bad roads are met, signals pass from car to car, and warnings are shouted as cars pass each other. 

ON THE ROAD.
During the, run the people whom we have met have, as a rule, taken an agreeable interest in the race. There was one exception, who cursed us with great fluency.

Gunning went by like a flash, Yass full of people, had a lovely road for eight miles or so on either side of it, and the Victorians, who had driven their cars over, had a big advantage, as they knew where they could safely "let her out." At Jugiong they were holding a race meeting, the march of civilisation having as yet made no mark on Jugiong. The Murribidgee was running yellow, probably with melted snow-water from the mountains. And then we plunged again into the stringybark ranges. By-the-way, though the guide-book issued by the Dunlop Company says that there is a "nice drop down" to Jugiong, the road we struck nearly landed us in Jugiong in one jump from the top of an adjoining hill, as the metalled road suddenly ceased, and the unmade track nearly led to disaster. But after Jugiong; we got out into the good flats about Colac, and so on to Gundagai, all good country and good road. 

Incidents were few and far between to-day. J. M. Arnott's big Innes car passed all the small cars on the hills, and as she is fitted for touring and carries three passengers and lot of luggage, it is a good performance for the Sydney-owned haste waggon. The next stage they say will try the cars more thoroughly than anything yet met with Stevens, in his Darracq, again headed the procession, and as things now are, with the Frenchman and Rand out of it, it looks like a well-deserved win for the Darracq. But there is a lot of road between here and Melbourne, and already the drivers are offering to bet that not half-a-dozen cars finish. 

HISTORY OF THE HASTE WAGGONS. IV.
(BY OUR SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE WITH THE CARS.) 

Gundagai to Albury was the hardest of the three days in the New South Wales ride, and it was hard enough for any one. The metalled road ceases soon after Gundagai, and the track is an ordinary bush affair, rusty and dusty, and the bush fires had burnt nearly all the culverts. The Sydney cars did badly on this part of the run. Mark Foy's Panhard car got along all right, but he is only out for an airing, and is very indifferent whether he scores full points or not. J. M. Arnott's big Innes car being new, ran hot, and two of the four cylinders ceased work. This stuck us up for hours, and we lost 68 points. Trying to make up points was the fun; during the afternoon we had 70 miles to do in under two hours — a quite impossible task on such roads, but the car was sent headlong into such dust and holes as we would have pulled up for on the first day. Once she took charge in a sanddrift, and spun away to one side like a skidding bicycle, and picked up a log and did a sort of waltz with it, and then regretfully dropped it again, and was coaxed back on to the road. The rest of the journey was run in a dust storm that nearly hid the front of the car, and nearly blew the chauffeur out of it; but no amount of hard driving would pull up the deficient points. H. R. Arnott, the third Sydney car, just saved his points by steady and careful handling of his car; but the advantage of knowing the road is very great, and Stevens, the Victorian, again did fast time; while his rival, the Frenchman, lost several points.  

THE FRENCH DRIVER INTERVIEWED.
 The French driver, who knows no English but the two words 'bad road' — was asked how our glorious highways struck him. He said there are no roads in all France anything like as bad as what we saw here, but there are some in Scotland nearly as bad, which is rough on Scotland. He does not despair of getting to Melbourne, as he considers the pace nothing— in fact, his great trouble is to go slow enough. The other drivers predict that he will snap an axle doing some of his steeplechase driving; but his car seems to stand anything.  

THE LADY DRIVER.
 Mrs: Thompson, the South Australian lady, had an awful time. Her car is one of the slow but sure order, and her great ambition is to do the run irrespective of what points she gets. All hope that her pluck will be rewarded. Her car stuck in the sand, and was towed out by "yokels," who seemed to spring up out of the ground. She arrived in Albury a lot late, but undaunted. Another Melbourne car dropped out, Mr. Stewart not having showed up.  

THE REST OF THE RUN.
 Friday's run is only set at 14 miles an hour, so the road must be awful. The contestants are all pretty tired of it, half blind- ed with dust, and bruised and shaken by being jolted about in the cars like a pea in a pod. It is really hard work to sit in a car on some of the most jolty places; but those who have got full points, or near it, mean to see it out, unless they break something. One chaffeur said: — "I reckon it's worth five pounds a minute to drive over such roads." The result of the hard knock- ing about is that no one feels equal to attending the entertainment very kindly arranged by the Mayor of Albury. 

LAST STAGE OF THE JOURNEY.
CHAFFEUR NEARLY THROWN OUT. 

EUROA (VIC), Saturday Morning.— The last stage of the motor trial was entered upon to day. The weather is fine, and the roads good. For the last sixty miles into Melbourne they are reported to be like a billiard table. It is almost impossible to make any change in the order of points. The competitors who tie will have to run off in a trial to Ballarat.
Mrs. Thompson got through yesterday. She started again to-day. She is very plucky. The Adelaide car, Nichols' Darracq, is only one point off the full, number of marks. He intends to appeal against the Dunlop Company on the ground that the timetaker at Gundagai delayed taking his time. 

The Sydney cars are out of it. We did not know what to expect in the way of bad roads, but will know more another time. 

The Frenchman intends to drive his car back again. His chaffeur was thrown almost out of the car yesterday. The driver managed to clutch him. He says that in the big Continental races the chaffeur is usually tied in. 

A big reception is being arranged at Melbourne. Each car as it enters will be preceded by a cyclist.  

IF THERE BE A TIE.
The contest will finish in Melbourne this afternoon, and at the end of the fourth section it seemed almost certain that contestants in each class would finish with the same number of points. 

Of the motor cyclists, B. James and V. Gard have each scored the possible 2000; and in the light-car, class J. G. Coleman, J. H. Craven, and S. Day have done the same; while four have got the maximum number in the heavy-car section — H. L. Stevens, H. Tarrant, S. Stott, and W. Ross. 

The conditions deal with a tie, and those who tie will have to compete in a further eliminating road contest, from Melbourne to Ballarat, a distance of 70 miles. 

References

MELBOURNE TO MELBOURNE. (1905, February 24). Evening News (Sydney, NSW : 1869 - 1931), p. 6. Retrieved September 8, 2017, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article112752255

MOTORING TO MELBOURNE. (1905, February 25). Evening News (Sydney, NSW : 1869 - 1931), p. 4. Retrieved September 8, 2017, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article112751090

LAST STAGE OF THE JOURNEY. (1905, February 25). Evening News (Sydney, NSW : 1869 - 1931), p. 4. Retrieved December 6, 2017, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article112751161

IF THERE BE A TIE. (1905, February 25). Evening News (Sydney, NSW : 1869 - 1931), p. 4. Retrieved December 6, 2017, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article112751162