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MRS. MARGARET A. CROWL.

BORN: CANADA, SEPT. 14, 1849.

THIS lady was married in 1869 to Amos T. Crowl, and now resides at Merriam Park, Minn. Her poems have appeared in the Pio

MRS. MARGARET A. CROWL. neer, Tracy Trumpet, Republican and the local press generally. Personally Mrs. Crowl is about the average height, rather slender, with black hair and gray eyes.

NETTIE.

Just a score of happy summers

Have passed over your dear head;

And you've brought us naught but blessing
With the years that now have fled.
May the hand of time touch lightly,
As the seasons come and go,
Your dear brow; and may no sorrow
O'er your life its shadow throw.
May the coming years be freighted
With a love steadfast and true,
Health, and friends, and every blessing,
Without number, come to you.
And when calls the voice of duty,

May you thoughts of self lay down;
Knowing we must bear Life's crosses
If we'd wear the victor's crown.
May you hear that welcome plaudit,
When old age to you has come:
"Come ye blessed of my Father,
Welcome to your heavenly home."

SNOWFLAKES.

Oh! ye tiny little snowflakes
Falling softly to the ground,
Covering valley, hill and hamlet,
Yet not making any sound;
Ye remind me of the dewdrops
Falling in the silent night;
Watering this great earth-garden
Ere the dawning of the light.
Likewise sands of Time are falling

Through his hour-glass sure and slow,

Leaving not a trace of footprints

Of our pilgrimage below.

All are mighty! yet how gentle!

We can here a lesson find; In the paths of love and duty, Gently work with willing mind. Work! until Life's sands have fallen Through the hour-glass, the last time; And our hearts has ceased its beating, And the bell tolls its last chime. Work until the gentle dewdrops Water flowers above our dust; And the Autuinn winds are sighing A low requiem over us. Then may gently-falling snowflakes Wrap us in their snowy sheen; And our sleep be calm and peaceful Till the Morning" dawn serene.

TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY. In a quiet village

Down among the hills, Two hearts were united

To bear life's joys and ills.
It was in the Autumn,

And was cold enough to snow,
But we heeded not the weather,
For 'twas twenty years ago.
Then this happy couple
Settled down in life;
Will was a loving husband,
And Jean a faithful wife.
They worked from early morning
Until the sun was low,
For people had so much to do

Some twenty years ago.

Their cup of joy has oft been full,
And sometimes running o'er;
They've also drank at sorrow's fount
"Till hearts were tired and sore;
But we're told with every gloomy cloud
Some silvery linings go;
And they'll be happy as they were
Just twenty years ago.

And as the years fly swiftly by,
May they more trustful be;
Knowing a Heavenly Father's love,
Can all their troubles see.

That might hunger's keen pang release; The many shall not bow to the tyrannous few, But all men be treated as men! [ing sue--When the poor for their lives shall not kneelO, when is that time? tell me when! Yes, there is a land where the weary can rest,

A home for the grief-laden heart; [pressed, A time when true manhood shall not be opNor groan under poverty's smart: [come, A clime where no grief and no sorrow can Where riches all shall alike share!

To reach it, with Christ we must enter the tomb;

With Him we must pass it,-'tis there.

POSTHUMOUS APPRECIATION.
There grew a plant, the legends tell,
While many years went by;
It held all fragrance, as a spell,
And mirrored earth and sky:
It garnered all the sweets of air,
From every wind that blew,
And in its life held treasured rare
Worth, more than wise men knew.
One day rough feet, with cruel tread

Had crushed it to the ground,

Lo! when 'twas crushed it fragrance shed,

And filled the air around.

Men marveled that to plant not fair

Such fragrance had been given;

Nor dreamed, till crushed, it was so rare

And held incense of Heaven.

GEORGE RUDDELL.

BORN: UTICA, IND., APRIL 1, 1868. REMOVING to Paola, Kansas, at an early age George was there educated, and later attended the Baker university at Baldwin City, passing examination in that institution two years later. About this time George commenced teaching school, which avocation he has since followed.

LIFE IS A RIVER.
We can fight a lively battle
To the end if we are true;
We can make our firearms rattle
And the enemy pursue.

If our cause is what it should be
And we do what we think right,
We shall live a life as happy
As the noonday sun is bright.
Can't we fight the ever tempter
With a will and all our might,
For the joys the Savior's offer,
For the peace and truth and light?
We have but to push sin backward,
And our will then to control;

And we'ell find our path clear'd homeward
There with Christ our Savior stroll.

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Why should I care for those who gaze.
On me with cold, indifferent eye,
Since oft there comes a loving throng

Who never once have passed me by.
And yet, this human heart of mine

For human sympathy oft yearns; Yet that in which deception lurks

My whole soul rises up and spurns. For peace and truth and love are mine, And wheresoe'er these powers are known

1 walk serene, content to know

That I am never all alone.

But human eye a limit has

Which may not penetrate the heart; And so I clasp my faith more close, And patiently I walk apart. For well I know there'll come a time When I'll no longer walk alone,

For in the home that is to be

My heart shall know and claim its own.

THE ANGEL WIFE.

Death's mystery is hers at last.

Through mystic portals she has passed Into the limitless unknown,--

The journey each must take --- alone. What was the secret dying brought?

How was that icy stillness wrought?

What were the visions, floating far,

That greeted her from the gates ajar?" For with that heavenly smile of peace, When her pure spirit found release,

Bright angels in the azure dome

Were sent to guide her safely home.

Now to my waiting ear there seems

A voice to come, as in my dreams;

These are the words I seem to hear

From the beautiful soul that hovers near: ..Life in the spirit world is sweet,

But needs you, dear, to be complete; Grieve not for that frail form of clay

Which mother earth enfolds to-day; ..Nor think that I am gone from you

To a far-off heaven, beyond the blue; Thought cannot bind this world, so fair, It's many mansions' are ev'rywhere. And do not think, because your sight Is wrapped in earth's gray mist of night, That I forget my promise, dear,

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To come again your heart to cheer.

.. With soul to soul, and mind to mind,
A closer union we shall find;
But lives on earth are lived alone,

But here we know as we are known!"
These are the words that come to me
From the beautiful soul I cannot see,
As I sit in the twilight shades alone,
To catch the sound of a seraph's tone.