PASSING THE HAT

PASSING the hat, passing the hat! Some one forever gets busy at that!

Oh, it seems useless to struggle and strain, all our endeavor is

hopeless and vain; when we have gathered a small, slender roll, hoping

to lay in some cordwood or coal, hoping to purchase some flour and some

spuds, hoping to pay for the ready made duds, hoping to purchase a bone

for the cat, some one comes cheerfully passing the hat! Passing the hat

that the bums may be warm, passing the hat for some noble reform,

passing the hat for the fellows who fail, passing the hat to remodel the

jail, passing the bonnet for this or for that, some one forever is

passing the hat! Dig up your bundle and hand out your roll, if you don’t

do it you’re lacking a soul! What if the feet of your children are bare?

What if your wife has no corset to wear? What if your granny is weeping

for shoes? What if the grocer’s demanding his dues? Some one will laugh

at such logic as that, some one who’s merrily passing the hat! Passing

the hat for the pink lemonade, passing the hat for a moral crusade,

passing the hat to extinguish the rat—some one forever is passing the

hat!

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