Colac Herald (Vic. : 1875 - 1918), Monday 28 March 1904, page 1


A LADY AMOTORIST. DRIVES FROM ADELAIDE TO MELBOURNE. Mrs B. Thomson, the wife of an Adelaide dentist, last week achieved the distinction of being the first woman to drive a motor car from Adelaide to Melbourne. Last May her husband, who is also a motoring enthusiast, made his first successful run between the two cities on a De Dion motor. The journey was accomplished with great difficulty, as there are ,sandy stretches along the road which only a light flying car call traverse. Mrs Tlomnson, whose previous experience had been restricted to a few spins in the vicinity of Adelaide, decided to attempt the trip on a Beeston Humberette car, of five horse power, and weighing about five hundredweight. She was her own chauffeur, and was dressed for thli part in leather overalls, peaked cap:' ear-lIaps, mask, and goggles. Thus attired, Mrs Thomson might have sat for her portrait as an Esquimaux squaw, and the impression which her appearance made .on village hotclkcepcrs along the road rendered it difficult at times to obtain acconmmodation. for herself and the mechanic wilo accompanied her. But a keen sense of humor and the consciousness ,of being a pioneer among lady motorists enabled her to surmount these petty obstacles. Mrs Thomson left Adelaide eight days ago. Her first day's journey brought her to Meningie, after a run of 115 miles. Here she expected to get a fresh supply of petrol. Through some mistake, however, .the oil had not been sent on, and Mrs Thomson was obliged to wait a day before the fuel arrived. On Sunday she tra-1 velled from Mcningie to Kingston, the next stages being from Kingston to Mount Gambier, Mount Gambier to Camperdown, and Camperdown to Geelong. Outside Geelong one of the tyres punctured, and shortly afterwards the excessive vibration caused a leak to start in the radiators. Hasty repairs were effected at Ocelong, and yesterday morning Mrs Thomson telegraphed to the Autoi mobile Club that. she was starting on the last section of her journey. The vice-president (Mr T, Rand), accompanied by Mr I-I. B, James and several other enthusiasts, set out on auto, mobiles along the Geelong road to meet her. The meeting took placeon a dusty stretch of road on the Werribee plains, and could not have been exceeded in enthusiasm. The sight of the pass of smoke lying over Melbourne put fresh heart into the pluck\ motorist, whose arms were numbed by the continual vibration ol .the steering-wheel.- The next 25 miles, however, were destined to prove more troublesome than even the sandy deserts of Coorong. The water-tank began leaking badly, and several halts had to be made to refill the reservoir before the journey was colmpleted. Mrs Thomson stuck to her work bravely, and had the satisfaction of steering her .motor to its destination. She was in charge of the machine throughout the tour, and her performance is one of which any motorist would be proud. • _