Sometimes I ain't a thing to do, an' so jist for the nonce,
I think of things I didn't see out on Midway
Plaisance.
Although they claimed 'at every tribe an' nation,
seems to me,
Was represented, yit there's some I simply didn't
see.
I went all through the Cairo Street, an' saw the Luxor
great,
I saw the South Sea Islanders an' them from Congo
State,
I saw the Patagonians, but, durn it all, my wish
Was more to see them funny folks from
Benton Harbor, Mich.
I took in all the bildin's that was prom'nent on the
grounds,
Got in with a C'lumbian guard and we jist went the
rounds.
I says to him, "I'm here this week to take the hull
thing in;
I might not git a chance to go against the thing agin.
Outside o' horterculture an' some o' the smaller fruits
I want to see them Wolverines at's still a-wearin'
boots.
So don' show me no minin' er animals er fish,
I'd rather see them curios from
Benton Harbor, Mich.
What d' I care for foreign folks 'at come from pagan
lands?
I've heerd an' read enough of Paig, an' heerd the
tom-tom bands.
I've seen enough of Egypt, 'n Algiers, 'nd ancient
Rome,
An' now I'm jist a-spilin' for somepin' right 'round
home.
Why, gosh all Friday! Take yer Turks an' all yer
foreign kit,
I want to see them Wolverines, an' I ain't seen 'em
yit;
Old Michigan I'm after; seems as if I heerd the
swish
Of breakers like I used to in
Benton Harbor, Mich.
So comin' out from there I says, "We'll take another
route;
Course you may know your bizness, but I know what
I'm about.
I'm on a hunt fer friends jist now, not Japs er
Javanese,
Or sore-eyed Esquimaux, er Coons, er bias-eyed
Chinese.
I've heerd enough of 'Hot! hot! hot!' got frightened
at the roar
'Round Hagenbeck's, an' shook hands with the Sultan
of Johore
Until I'm simply tired out, an' now my only
wish
Is jist to see them old-time folks from
Benton Harbor, Mich."
I walked till I got dusty an' thought I'd like to
wash,
When lookin' up I saw a tower--'twas Michigan,
by gosh!
"Come on," I says, "I'll show you now some
folks you never saw,
Human bein's from Muskegon, Dowagiac, an' Sagi-
naw;
Them folks 'at raises celery 'way out in Kal'mazoo,
Cassopolis, an' Globeville, an' Ypsilanti, too--
St. Joe an Berrien Centre." I guess I got my
wish,
I jined the jays an' we went back to
Benton Harbor, Mich."
