ORIGINAL VERSE.

Taranaki Daily News, 11 October 1918, Page 6

ORIGINAL VERSE.

®HE WAIL OF THE CHEESE PUNCHED Only a poor old "Cheesy" Only a simple jay, Working, swearing and sweating For twelve long hours each day; Heating, setting and cutting, Cooking the curd in the whey, Milling, salting, and pressing From August till end of May. Taking in milk from six o'clock Till the tired ones come at nine, Heaping abuse on your worried head, If they're short of whey for the swine; Carrying, branding, and turning Dressing the hoops in the press But teaching the new chums what to do Is the greatest trial, I confess. One of this class put his hand in the mill And left two of his fingers behind. Another got tangled right up in a belt And now he is out of his mind. Only a tool of the "Cookies" To be cast aside any day, But the wages are really magnificent For skilled men get ten bob a day. Aloiig comes a "hack" who lias never seen cheese Except in a gTocer's shop. He draws as much pay as the older hands Or you couldn't get him to stop. One of this kind puts in a whole day And then an old fever returns; v Another .put in about three or four hours, Theß he left, a mas 3 of burns. Firing, oiling, repairing Priming the old water pump, Then in comes the boss, with a blooming sore head, And he makes those new chums jump. Scrubbing, sweeping and washing Everything spotlessly clean With soap, sulphuric and soda Till your face in the .floor can be seen. The cookies are getting their two bob a pound, Can you wonder they all have a car? Now "Punchers," you talk of your "acid" Where is it—enclosed in a jar? Then off with the lid in a hurry (Who cares if you starve after May?) Pile it on thick and see if we can't Get a shade more than ten boh a day. "THE MUG.'* Te Eoti, 30th September, 1918.