teel and gay uniforms that stretches for
nearly a mile along the pleasant street.

Crowds of people have gathered to watch the procession, and their
cheers, as some particularly well-drilled club passes, cause the men to
ride with great care, and to preserve their lines so well that they move
with the steadiness and precision of a body of cavalry.

Of all the riders in this long procession, the youngest was probably the
best. Theodore R----, or "the young captain," as he is called, is but
fourteen years old, and looks much younger. He lives in Philadelphia,
and has practiced riding the bicycle in a rink in that city until his
performances upon it are as wonderful as those of a circus rider on his
horse.

In the picture of "the young captain" he is represented as mounted on
his own machine, of which the driving-wheel is but forty-two inches in
diameter. His most wonderful riding is, however, done upon a bicycle
twelve or fourteen inches higher than this, and of which he can but
barely touch the pedals as they come up. Thus he keeps the machine in
motion by a succession of little kicks or pushes. He rides bicycles so
tall that to gain the saddle he has actually to climb up the backbone of
the machine after he has set it in motion with a vigorous push.

"The young captain" is a very bright boy, and excels in all games and
feats of skill, while at the same time he is a good scholar, and stands
well in all his classes.

Since the great Newport meet of bicyclers, or "wheelmen," as they are
now generally called in this country, a number of letters containing
questions about bicycles have been written by boys anxious to become
riders, and sent to YOUNG PEOPLE. In the following hints to young riders
I will try and answer all these questions:

Any active boy of ten years of age and upward may become a wheelman.

It is best to learn to ride on an old-fashioned wooden machine, or
"bone-shaker," or on a bicycle so low that the rider may touch the
ground with his toes. By this means he will learn to maintain his
balance without getting any serious falls.

Anybody who can ride a "bone-shaker" can ride a bicycle, though in the
latter case he must learn to mount his machine before he can ride it.

To learn the "mount" take your machine by the handles, give it a running
push, place your left foot on the step, and, rising from the ground,
maintain your balance as long as possible in that position without
attempting to gain the s