h her audience,
rather than didactic statement.

J.C. CROLY, "Jenny June."

One of the friends I miss most at the farm is Sam Walter Foss. He was
the poet, philosopher, lecturer and "friend of man." His folk songs
touched every heart and even the sombre vein lightened with pictures
of hope and cheer. He was humorous and even funny, but in every line
there is a dignity not often reached by writers of witty verse or
prose. Mr. Foss was born in Candia, N.H., in June, 1858. Through his
ancestor, Stephen Batcheller, he had kinship with Daniel Webster, John
Greenleaf Whittier, and William Pitt Fessenden.

Mr. Foss secured an interest in the Lynn _Union_, and it was while
engaged in publishing that newspaper that he made the discovery that
he could be a "funny man." The man having charge of the funny column
left suddenly, and Mr. Foss decided to see what he could do in the way
of writing something humorous to fill the column. He had never done
anything of this kind before, and was surprised and pleased to have
some of his readers congratulate him on his new "funny man." He
continued to write for this column and for a long time his identity
was unknown, he being referred to simply as the "Lynn _Union_ funny
man." His ability finally attracted the attention of Wolcott
Balestier, the editor of _Tit-Bits_, who secured Mr. Foss's services
for that paper. Before long he became connected with _Puck_, _Judge_,
and several other New York periodicals, including the New York _Sun_.

Mr. Foss's first book was published in 1894, and was entitled _Back
Country Poems_ and has passed through several editions. _Whiffs from
Wild Meadows_ issued in 1896 has been fully as successful. Later books
are _Dreams in Homespun_, _Songs of War and Peace_, _Songs of the
Average Man_.

[Illustration: SAM WALTER FOSS]

He had charge of the Public Library at Somerville, Massachusetts,
and his influence in library matters extended all over New England.

His poems are marked by simplicity. Most of his songs are written in
New England dialect which he has used with unsurpassed effect. But
this poetry was always of the simplest kind, of the appealing nature
which reaches the heart. Of his work and his aim, he said in his first
volume:

"It is not the greatest singer
Who tries the loftiest themes,
He is the true joy bringer
Who tells his simplest dreams,