From the archives of Bob Montgomery, motoring historian.
A WEXFORD MOTORING PIONEER:
It was in 1899, just three years after the arrival of the first car in Ireland, that HL Meadows of Wexford began motoring. There were probably no more than 10 cars in the entire country.
In 1904 he wrote of his experiences in a contemporary journal and in the process provided us with an interesting insight into the trials and tribulations of early motoring in Ireland.
His first motorised vehicle was a 1 hp Excelsior motorcycle. For two years he rode that machine and a more powerful Ormonde 1 hp without any trouble whatsoever and never had a breakdown.
Perceiving then that "the manufacturers had commenced to turn out more reliable cars, of better finish and sounder workmanship", he decided to invest in a second-hand 3 hp Benz Phaeton. His experiences with it were educational.
It turned out that the springs and wheels on the Benz were far too light for the roads of the Model County, and had to be strengthened. Once this was done, apart from a great thirst for petrol, the car performed reliably "and was always able to reach home without the aid of a tow rope".
His next purchase was a 6 hp single-cylinder de Dion. Meadows found it "so simple and the directions so clear that I had it running the day after it was landed on Wexford Quays." By the time he wrote of his experiences in 1904, this car had been in use for two years and had completed almost 10,000 miles without a breakdown.
"I have had no delay on the road except through a few punctures," Meadows wrote. "It uses one gallon of petrol for every 30 miles; has cost nothing for repairs excepting £2/6s for threads to back tyres and a few shillings for shackles for front springs, a grease cup, and a few other small items."
Indeed, so pleased was he with the performance of the De Dion that he ordered from the same firm a 12 hp two-cylinder car which arrived in December 1903. This larger De Dion took four passengers as well as the driver and Meadows related that he had been "around the county with it several times already" and "no breakdown is to be looked for."
Perhaps the most interesting part of the writing of HL Meadows concerns the use of chauffeurs and the cost of motoring versus horse-drawn transport.
"I attribute my freedom from breakdowns and the smallness of my bill for repairs to the fact that I keep no chauffeur, but always drive and look after the cars myself, and never take them out unless I am sure that everything is in order.
"Before I purchased these cars I was obliged to keep two harness horses. I now have only one in the suitable, and I would not have that one if motor cars were made fit to be used all through the winter. So far as I know, there is no car on the market fit for all-round winter work."
The editor of the journal in which these notes appeared evidently agreed with his thoughts about chauffeurs, for he felt obliged to add this note in a postscript: "It is not necessarily the fact that a good chauffeur is a useless encumbrance, but rather shows that the owner of the car should not allow himself to get into the power of his man. He should never rest satisfied until he is himself capable of keeping his car up to concert pitch and of diagnosing troubles. When he has reached this stage his troubles will vanish and high-class cars will perform uniformly well, even on such vile roads as obtain in the so-called 'model' county."