Then he read the lengthy minutes of the gathering before,

To the ever-growing murmur of the Democratic snore.

And he put before the meeting all the questions of the day,

Such as "Shorter hours for Delegates, and seven times the pay."

With a minor matter for the end—"What shall the Council do

About this fellow Mackensen? they say he's coming through

With a hundred thousand hirelings of the Hohenzollern Line,

And breaking all the Union Rules by working after nine."

At this a group of Delegates departed for the door,

To consult with their constituents the conduct of the War.