Since he is quite gregarious, he took it upon himself to distribute first class amenities to other passengers and later tried to initiate a sing-song. I'll bet there are several passengers out there who are still scarred by the experience.
Was it in a way of "oh dear god, I had no idea they let people live like this! I'll start a campfire and we'll try to keep our spirits up!"???
(I'm sure, of course, your father did not then procede to light a fire in the cabin; please don't assume I'm accusing him of being a vandal
)