The Sun.
London, England, 1869-08-23 00:00:00

VELOCIPEDE FEATS IN GERMANY.

A Berlin correspondent says :—" I have to report two
feats of velocipedism, both of them extraordinary, though
in different ways, but neither of them to be recommended
for imitation. Several members of the Berlin Velocipede
Club have lately been staying at Warmbrunn, near the
j*;ot of the Schneekoppe, which is the loftiest peak of the
Giant Mountains, and 4,990 feet above the level of the
sea. The summit consists of a very sharp cone, about
600 feet high, and is ascended by a steep and rugged
zigzag. Derr Langer, who enjoys a great reputation for
his skill in riding the iron horse, sent up his machine
without the knowledge of his friends, and then
ascended the mountain in the company of three other
gentlemen. As soon as he had reached the top, and
before his friends are able to interfere, he vaults iota the
saddle and rolls down the first portion of the zigzag. At
the first turning he and his machine tumble over ; but,
nothing daunted, he mounts again and rolls down the
second portion, coming to similar grief at the end of it.
Hero his friends overtake him, and oppose his apparently
suicidal intentions with such good effect that at last be
promises to walk as far as the Riesenbaude, at the foot of
the cone. Here, however, be mounts again, and rushes
off at a perfectly breakneck pace. The little brake
applied to one of the wheels bad hardly any effect, and
the machine flew over stones, watsr•channels, and bushes,
so that he probably spent quite as much time in the air
as on terra-firma. He afterwards effectually jammed the
hind wheel with a piece of wood, and then things went
on better. In this manner he reached Seydorf, at the
foot of the Schneekoppe, in an hour and a half, a
distance which requires about six hours, or rather
more, on horseback. Herr Langer had three more
falls in the course of his expedition, and at one
or two particularly steep places he was obliged to
dismount. His friends, who followed in his track,
never expected to see him alive again ; but,
nevertheless, he reached his destination without any other
damage to himself or his machine than breaking one
spoks of the hind wheel. Some other members of the
Berlin Club went from the Josephinenhtitte to Warmbrunn,
a distance of eleven English miles in 47 minutes. The
first six miles and a half, which is all down hill, was done
in 23 minutes. And now for the second feat, which in not
so much one of velocipedism as one of raising the wind
\Large posters announced last week that Maim-
strum, a Swedish velocipedist, would drive his
machine along a tight rope gt feet from the
ground. On Sunday afternoon, a few hundred
people paid their money for the best places to see this
wonderful performance, which was to take place near the
Alsen Briicks, and a few thousand others looked on from
outside. The exhibition that followed was certainly a
bold one, not from a velocipedistic point of view,
but as an attempt to swindle the Berlin public with
such an arrant piece of humbug. Attached to
the velocipede was a sort of pendulum, weighted
with about 5 or 6 cwt., which made it almost
physically impossible for the machine to diverge
from its vertical position. ' To make the chances
of an accident still more improbable, there were iron bars
at inch side as a sort of balustrade, so that under no cir-
cumstances could the machine fall over altogether. It was
then drawn along the slightlyinclined rope at an elevation
of about thirty feet, by five or six men, by means of cords,
and then allowed to descend slowly with the bold velocipedist
upon it. The people were so enraged at the imposition that
had been practised upon them that the exhibition was
received with groans and yells, and the police had the
greatest difficulty in saving the principal actor from being
lynched on the spot. A little rioting following, in the
course of which one unfortunate young man was mistaken
for the real offender, and experienced some very rough
treatment. Eventually, however, a small party of soldiers
was called in to assist the police, and quiet was restored
without any serious injury to life or limb."