I recently came across a very interesting and amusing pamphlet, entitled "From Small Acorns", dealing with the remarkable progress which the Automobile Association has made. On the 29th June, 1905, the organisation was founded in the interest of motorists who had the temerity to break the 20 m.p.h. speed limit, which was strictly enforced in those days on the main roads in England. Many were the police prosecutions against that then very unpopular person, the motorist.
Today the membership figure exceeds 400,000, and when one considers the enormous staff employed by the various offices of the Association, one might well think it is to be congratulated on its success. For, 25 years ago, the pamphlet reminds one, the "offices" consisted of one room, and the entire staff of Major Stenson Cooke as secretary, one typist, the inevitable office boy, and the "eight just men" who patrolled, on push-cycles, the London-Brighton road and saved the erring motorist from many pitfalls or police traps.
Major Cooke deserves nothing but the highest commendation for his work during the intervening years, and a substantial reward for his well-guided activities is surely manifested in the fact that today he is head of the largest motoring organisation in the world.
The Irish Times, June 30th, 1930.