PAPA, WHAT IS A NEWSPAPER, AND WHAT DOES IT CONTAIN?

Auckland Examiner, Volume 1, Issue 45, 22 October 1857, Page 3

PAPA, WHAT IS A NEWSPAPER, AND WHAT DOES IT CONTAIN?

Organs that gentlemen nlay, my boy, To answer the taste of the day, my boy, Whatever it te They hit on the key, And pipe in full concert away, my boy. News from all countries and climes, my boy, Advertisements, essays, and rhymes, my boy, Mixed up with all sorts Of (f)lying reports, And published at regular times, my boy. Articles able and wise, my boy, At least in the editor s eyes, my boy, And logic so grand That few understand To what in the world it applies, my boy. Statistics, reflections, reviews, my boy, Little sc-aps to instruct and amuse, my boy, And lengthy debate Upon matters ot state, For wise-headed folk to peruse, my boy. The funds as they were and thev are, my boy, The quibbles and quirks of the bar, my boy, Ami every week A clever critique On some rising theatrical star, my boy. The ago of Jupiter’s moons, my boy, The stealing of somebody’s .spoons, my boy, The state of the crops, The style of the fops, And the wit of the public buffoons, my boy. List of all physical ills, my boy, Banished by somebody’s oills, my boy. Till you ask with surprise Why any one dies. Or what’s the disorder that kills, my boy. Who has got married to whom, my boy, Who were ent off in their bloom, my boy, Who has had birth Ou this sorrow-=tained earth, And who totters fast to the tomb, my boy. The price of cattle and grain, my boy, Directions to dig and to drain, my boy, But t’wonld take mo too long To tell yon in song, A quarter of all they contain, my boy.