8
Then asked for wood to make a fire,
’Twas cold and I had walked the mire,
Which was in every soldiers car,
Enough thin shoes to deter;
The poor soldiers were lying about,
Like they would be in a route,
Indeed two days after a battle,
By the smell you would think of cattle;
Indeed, one passenger going through
Got so sick that up he threw
His dinner, which is no small loss,
If railmen knew what a dinner cost;
I then got wood and made it warm,
And from the soldiers I did learn,
This the first time they had been
Comfortable on cars since war began;
It does seem strange, very to me,
That railmen will never agree,
If not theirs, cousin Sam’s sake,
A little soap and water take,
A little wood, a little oil,
To make their cars free from soil,
But it does appear the country’s mad,
You may go naked so I am clad,
Soldier tired of cars to your tent,
For to worry us this, war was sent
To pay for our vexation of spirit,
None but us can get any merit,
Am glad to say before I left,
Mr. McCalls heart was sorely cleft,
And he goes to direct the man,
