Saturday Afternoon
ON THE TRACK.
(By "Bill Bowyang.")
When the shearers do their washing,
Than start looking 'round for brooms.
And the rouseabouts are singing
As they're cleaning up their rooms.
You can hear cook start swearing
For he is the only person working
On Saturday afternoons.
The ringers all start bustling,
As they're letting go their nags,
And the jackeroos start shaving
Before they don their newest rags;
Their hearts start beating faster,
For they will see their sweethearts soon.
They're heading for the village,
For it's Saturday afternoon.
While the young folk go out sporting,
And bless the country air,
The girls are strutting 'round the house
With wavers in their hair;
You can see the children playing
With kite or toy balloon.
For the world is such a happy place
On Saturday afternoon.
There should be no greater hero
Than the man who made the law,
That the working hours on Saturday
Would not be more than four;
His name should be in song hits.
Set to a happy tune,
So the world could sing his praises
Every Saturday afternoon.
P.C.B. Townsvllle.
Notes
From Bill Bowyang's column "On the Track" in the Queensland newspaper the Townsville Daily Bulletin Thursday 30 January 1936 p. 5.
The last verse is a pointed reflection of the struggle for shorter hours and the beginning of a shorter working week, arguably as apposite today as it was in 1936. Who was P.C.B. of Townsville?