HE BOSS TRAMP

The reference to horse-cars in the following burlesque
on "Down in Lehigh Valley" places the original's beginings
at some time before the advent of electricity. "With
the exception of the pornographic parody, the following
is the most brilliant item the Lehigh Valley school has
produced,

Give me a corned beef sandwich,
A horse-car run down my throat,
Or give me a whiskey straight,
Or surely I will choke.

Once I was married and miserable,
And had a loving wife,
And thought no more of spending a cent
Than I did of taking my life.

'Way over in the wilds of Joisey,
Where you'd sink in mud to yer knees,
I had a cross-eyed daughter,
And she was just the cheese.

Mashes! why she had 'em by the barrel
Each one a pimple-faced hick.
But Nell, she didn't like 'em;
She said they made her sick.

Then along come a Bowery actor,
A regular free-lunch tank-
He claimed he was a song and dance man
With money in the bank.

Well, it's the same old gag,
And many a one has tripped;
He sent her to pawn my Sunday suit,
And then to the river skipped.

Now the poor gal never knowed much
And she had a terrible fall,
And when I got out of jail that day
She up and told me all.

I took her to my aching heart,
I smashed her in the smeller,
Then I drug the floor with her,
And throwed her in the cellar.

Now you can laugh and chew tobacco,
And say whatever you like,
But I'll tramp till I find that actor
If It takes till Saturday night.

Hobo's Hornbook, pp 54-55