Mangalore’s First Car ' De Dion'
Before the advent of automobiles, the horse-drawn coach was the chief means of transport for the aristocracy, including in Mangalore. The Highland Saldanha family was one such, which imported the first car into Mangalore in1906. Apart from, it also imported a driver for it from another province, Bombay, of British India. Luis Williams, the driver, was hired under two contracts written on 8 annas (Rs. 50 paise of today) stamp papers, signed by the driver, with three witnesses to boot. Both contracts set down similar terms and conditions, except that one signed in Bombay was drawn up by J M Saldanha ( apparently Joseph Manuel Saldanha (1886-1952), son of Stanislaus Saldanha (1817-1888) who lived in Codialbail. A journalist, Joseph was initially on the editorial staff of the Bombay Gazette, and later worked for The Statesman, Calcutta.) who perhaps recruited the driver in Bombay for his daijis in Mangalore and advanced Rs. 20 for rail fare and expenses during the jou...