In the recently published Fantagraphics volume: Bill Blackbeard, ed., Krazy & Ignatz: A Ragout of Raspberries, 1941-1942, appears a different version of the "speaking start" quoted above, which must once have been a separate song or recitation. George Herriman, creator of Krazy Kat, used a cleaned-up bit of it in a strip.

Here's the original quoted by Jeet Heer in the Introduction (he gives no source):

The steward went below, whoo-oo-oo,
To light the cabin lamp, whoo-oo-oo,
The lamp it would not burn, whoo-oo-oo,
Because the wick was damp, whoo-oo-oo. whoo-oo-oo...
The captain went below,
To kick the steward's ass,
Fire up, you son-of-a-bitch,
The Golden Gate is past.

Though the other version was made part of the "California Drinking Song" c. 1939, clearly both go back further, and there's at least a chance that once upon a time the original "Steward Went Below" had more verses, and its own tune.

Does anyone know any more about this song, further verses, history before 1939, etc.?

Bob