Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-09-03
A TOUR ON A WHEEL
That Covered Many European
Countries and Part of
Africa and Asia.
FEAT OF A PITTSBURGER
Who Discarded the Customary Modes
of Travel for Others, and
GAINED HEALTH AND KNOWLEDGE
Oscar A. Lappe the wearer of an English
Medal for Being the
FEAT OF A PITTsBURGER
GAINED HEALTH AND KNOWLEDGE
CIcLER WITH LONGEST TOUR RECORD
rsrnc1AL rrLreRAx TO THE prsp.roH,

tsrHc1AL TELEGRAM TO THE DrsPkroH.l
NEW YORK, Sept Oscar A. Lappe,
OF Pittsburg, was one of the passengers
landed from the steamer City of Berlin, to-
day. Mr. Lappe has just returned to
America from a 15-months cycling tour of
the Old World. He went all through
European countries and portions of Africa
and Asia
The tourist, who is . member of the j. C.
Lappe & Sons Tanning Company, of ALE
gheny, took the trip for the pleasure
In It, and also for the opportunity it offered
for seeing the sights of the Old World. He
weighed 135 pounds when he started and
was in average health. When he stepped
of the steamer to-day his weight was 145
pounds, and he was bronzed and hearty.
Mr. Lappe is an expert hill climber, and
while IN Switzerland he astonished the ma
tives By riding up the steepest and most dan
gerous ascents In one instance he rode up
very steep pass and met a conveyance
coming down. The declivity was SO abrupt
that the ladies who had been riding got ont
and walked They were much astonished
TO see Lappe wheeling up the
mountain. Three times he wheeled to
point 5000 feet above the sea level, and
among the noted passes which he ascended
were the Bruning, Col de ForelaI, Julier,
St Gotthard and Beraina
A Narrow Escape on . Mountain.
Coming down the St Julier one day, the
handle bar, which was heavily weighted,
snapped of, and Mr.. Lsppe was thrown
from the wheel. Had he fallen to
the left he would have gone
down the mountain side. Fortunately, he
tumbled to the right, into the road. One
dark night he ran into a huge bowlder,
smashed his wheel and bruised himself
From Interlaken he telegraped to England
1or a new wheel, and remained there till
the machine srrived
Into Africa Lappe went as far south rs
the Nile cataract, but did no riding, the
sandy roads compelling him to strap his
wheel on the back of mule.
On the trip from Palestine to Syria he
camped out. Lappe carried his own drago-
man, and was also accompanied BY Bedouin
chief as protection against plunderers
The cycler, however, was compelled to
paw tribute TO the chief In that part of the
country there was a continual stretching
out of hands and q steady cry
of "Baksheesh," or aims Lappe
noticed that the faces of the chill
dren were nearly always covered
with flies, and one day, when he called the
attention of q mother to the fact, she |
brushed away the flies from her child's |
face, and then held out her hand for fee.
A Cushion Tircfvheei the Bs..
.11appe brought ms wheel home with him.
It is cushion tire, made in London He |
used 'Clincher," a variety of pneumatic, |
on the start, but it did not last long |
He says that for touring the cushion |
tire is best Lappe Joined various |
bicvcle clubs on the other side, and they |
entertained HIM royalty, sending delegates
with him when he started away. When he |
Joined the Cycling Tourist Club, of London,
he made the eighteen thousandth member |
That club presented gold and silver medal |
TO LaPpe, on which was an inscription set
ting forth that he had made ''The longest
cycling tour on record"
Mr. Lappe is not a member of auv bicycle
organization in Pittsburg, but intends to
join the L. A. w. before leaving New
York.
Alter wheeling all over Europe Mr..
Iappe is OF the opinion that the best roads
are in Switzerland, and are the ones con-
structed by Napoleon. He had little
difficulty in covering 100 miles q day on
those roads Among the curiosities he
brought home is collection of unique
canes
Mr.. Lapps intends to start on another
tour, shortly. He will go by way of San
Francisco, through China, and return by
way OF Europe and the Atlantic