ORIGINAL VERSE

Press, Volume LIII, Issue 15929, 16 June 1917, Page 7

ORIGINAL VERSE

TH£ PASSING OF THE T7.S.S. (With apolosrfos to tho Chairman of tho P. and 0. Co., Lord Inchcape.) No 6tif in tho air, no stir in the sea. Though the U.S.S. will have ceased to be: And prone where cncli pood companies go— To tho bountiful artno of tho P. and 0. Without either 6igt> or eound of tho ehoclc It is eafo nshor© on tho Inchcape Rook, And over it thoro for a passing knell Wo boar tho sound of tho Inclieapo 8011. No bad Sir Ralph after yearn of Sniffers at laßt lor a sinful deed; This 'wreck ie tho crown of tho wise career 0! a modern bcncficcnt buccanccr, Timo—omnipotent alchcmist— Changed Sir Ralph to a capitalist (Tho bano of tbo ago wo wo told—though h« Is only, you know, what wo all would bo.) And tho money ho made may filtor through Till it oven mollifies ma and you, And ends tho fashion that heaps with «corn And muzilea tho ox that treads tho corn. But wo sigh for tbo Company lost to sight— Will tho old red funnels bo black and white? And will thoy alter tho Maori namca Just as Sir Ralph has becomo Sir James? Tho prido of New Zealand's early yoare Has merged in another's—henco these tears; But wo comfort ourselves, and wo emilo to know It is eafe in tbo arms of tKo P. and O. L.H.