The Victorian Diary of Thomas Henry Milsom

16th July 1888  Arles, France

Today I met a strange wild looking Dutch artist in a bar; He speaks good English and said his name was Vincent. He tried to sell me one of his paintings that showed a bunch of sunflowers. If the painting had been a nice bowl of roses or a pot of daffodils I would have made an offer but there is no profit to be made in a painting of some droopy looking sunflowers. When I refused his offer he then proposed a picture of a chair with a pipe resting on it. I rapidly made an excuse and left.

16th September 1889 Paris

Today I visited the Paris World Fair. One of the exhibits is Herr Daimler’s V-twin cylinder engine which is supposed to make the “automobile” into a practical form of transport. As with most foreign ideas this is an absurdity.
The “automobile” cannot compare to a horse…
Will it respond to a spoken command ?
Will its droppings help my roses grow?
At the end of its working life can I send it to the glue factory?

No, No and No again!

 
Last extract from diary