I am searching for an Australian poem which describes the meeting of
Jake the Spruiker, recovering from a hangover, with a horse mounted
parson. The parson admonishes Jake for his drinking. Jake responds by
asking , "which has caused the greatest slaughter, was it grog or was
it water?" and goes on to give examples of water caused catastrophes.

There is an old W.C. Fields routine about the hazards of water
compared to booze. I wonder if there's any relation.

Hope someone finds this poem. It sounds entertaining!

I'm only guessing because I can't find a relevant online publication
to confirm, but it sound as if it could be from the Australian
classic, "The Sentimental Bloke" by C.J. Dennis? Either that or from
Henry Lawson's poetry. It's not an answer, I know, but maybe it could
help you focus your search a bit.

It's very interesting and enlightening.
thanks 
dollar

Hi pedro1427,

I have good news! I made a few enquiries for you when you first posted
your question and I've just now received an answer from one of them.
If you'd like to post a new question "For Hummer-ga", I can let you
know the title of the poem, the title of the book it's in, where you
can order the book and probably the URL where you can view the entire
poem online (I haven't confirmed that yet). Will look forward to
hearing from you.

Cheers, hummer