I learned a similar song, evidently a variant on the one written by A. Smith, in the 60s. It had another verse about rushing to answer the telephone, and when you do so, the voice on the other end asks, "Are you there?"
Each verse in that one took the form

Foolish questions, the answer is of course
"No, this is a recording and you're talking to my horse."
Foolish questions, what is there to say?
Foolish questions, you hear them every day.

(The Uncle Ned verse, for example, said,
Foolish questions, you might as well reply,
"We thought we'd have the funeral first then later on he'll die."

I never heard the newspaper verse until Woods Tea Company but I love it!