Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 260, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 October 1919 — A WAIL FROM PANAMA. [ARTICLE]

A WAIL FROM PANAMA.

I am sitting here and thinking Of the things I’ve left behind. And I hate to put on paper What is running through my mind. We’ve dug a million trenches And cleared ten miles of ground; And a meaner place this side of Hell I know that it can’t be found. But there’s one consolation, Now, gather ’round while I tell, When we die, we’re bound for Heaven, For we’ve done our hitch in Hell. We’ve killed a million poisonous snakes f That tried to take, our cots.. . And “Shook a million spiders We’ve marched a hundred thousand miles And made a thousand camps, And pulled a thousand sensitive plants * . , From off our army pants. And when our woijk on earth is over Our friends behind' tVill tell: “When they died, they went to Heaven, For they’ve done their hitch in Hell.” When the final taps are sounded, And we lay aside our cares And do the last march Right up those Golden Stairs, AiM narps’ fifffgin to play, As we draw a million canteen checks And spend them in a day, ’Tis then we’ll hear St. Peter tell Us loudly, with a yell, “Just take the front seat, privates, For you’ve done your hitch in hell.” —From Panama Privates.