GO THE BRIGHTON ROAD 



said twenty-two, others thirteen ; but it is certain 

 that the conditions were too much for many, and that 

 while some reposed in wayside stables, others, broken 

 down in lonely places, remained on the road all through 

 that awful night. The guests, who in the morning 

 had been unable to find seats on the " horseless 

 carriages," and so had journeyed by special train or 

 by coach, in the end had much to congratulate them- 

 selves upon. 



But, after all, looking back upon the hasty 

 enthusiasm that organised so long a journey at such 

 a time of year, at so early a stage in the motor-car 

 era, it seems remarkable, not that so many broke down, 

 but that so large a proportion reached Brighton at all. 



The logical outcome of years of experiment and 

 preparation was reached, in the supersession of the 

 horsed London and Brighton Parcel Mail on June 2nd, 

 1905, b}^ a motor-van, and in the establishment, on 

 August 30th, of the " Vanguard " London and Brighton 

 Motor Omnibus Service, starting in summer at 9.30 

 a.m., and reaching Brighton at 2 p.m. ; returning 

 from Brighton at 4 p.m., and finally arriving at its 

 starting-point, the " Hotel Victoria." Northumberland 

 Avenue, at 9 p.m. With the beginning of November, 

 1905, that summer service was replaced by one to run 

 through the winter months, with inside seats only, 

 and at reduced fares. 



The first fatalitv on the Brighton Road in connection 

 with motor-cars occurred in 1901, at Smitham Bottom, 

 when a car just purchased by a retired builder and 

 contractor of Brighton was being driven by him from 

 London. The steering-gear failed, the car turned 

 completely round, ran into an iron fence and pinned 

 the owner's leg against it and a tree. The leg was 

 broken and had to be amputated, and the unfortunate 

 man died of the shock. 



But the motor-omnibus accident of Julv 12th, 1906, 

 was a really spectacular tragedy. On that day a 

 " Vanguard " omnibus, chartered by a party of thirty- 

 four pleasure seekers at Orpington for a da)' at Brighton. 



