Water, water, everywhere and not a drop to drink.  Sounds pretty ominous doesn’t it?  Well it is pretty ominous.  We have been wasting water at such a spendthrift pace that something drastic may have to be done to ration the supply.  You wouldn’t want that nor would I.  So let’s rally around the evaporators and take this matter of water wastage seriously.

No matter what your job, no matter where station if you think over the past twenty four hours you’ll know that you personally been guilty of running water needlessly.  Turning it on and off as tho you had all Niagara back around the catapults pouring tons of water into our tanks.  Letting it flow over your beautiful body in the showers while you groan a la Bing Crosby or Sinatra what you should be doing is observing the formula for a sea going shower.  Here it is and with a few other suggestions for curtailing your use of the precious stuff.

Now don’t wait till some officer-division or petty-cracks down on you before you quit wasting water.  Discipline yourself.  Practice moderation yourself.  Don’t be the type of man who has to be bludgeoned into cooperation.  When you get into a shower and no one is around to bawl you out for wasting water, don’t take a stupid advantage of it.  The main users of water are for washrooms, laundry, galley, and scullery.  Are you listening you big four?  IF you don’t we’ll have rationing by buckets, the washrooms will be closed the major part of the day and all hands will be blaming someone else for the inconvenience.  All of which can be averted by rationing yourself, and not muttering to yourself – “Well the other guys will cut down on the waste, so that lets me out.”  If that’s what you’re thinking, there should be a revival of that brutal custom of keel hauling. Brother, that way you’d get enough water to last you the rest of your selfish life.

Don’t be a water hog!  Keep yourself, and your ship clean but do it the sea going way.  We have no Boulder Dam reservoir.  Every drop of water you use had to be manufactured aboard.  Don’t waste and you won’t want.  Today start the open season for water hogs.  A bounty of two gedunks will be paid for _______  each and every Willie the Water-Waster.  Bringem ________  wet or dry.

 

                                                                                                D.J. Burke

                                                                                              CHAPLAIN