g. Gift ofthe Pmama CanalMiuseum

Vol. 7, No. 7 BALBOA HEIGHTS, CANAL ZONE, FEBRUARY 1, 1957 5 cents

Research Laboratory . May Be Established

In Canal Zone Area

A laboratory for research into tropical

diseases, particularly the virus diseases transmitted by such insects as the mosquito, will soon be established in the Canal Zone if present plans of the United

States Public Health Service are carried

out.The Canal Zone Government, Army,

Navy, Air Force, and Public Health Service would cooperate in the work of the

laboratory. The National Institutes of Health, a unit of the Public Health Service, would supervise the research to be done here and operate the laboratory. The location of the research center and

other matters pertaining to its establish- ment are now being studied by a group

of scientists from Washington; they ar- rived here last Wednesday and will re- main in the Canal Zone until Feb. 4. Survey Group Here The group is headed by Dr. James A. Shannon, Director of the National Insti- tutes of Health. Well-known in the field of medical research, he served as a con- sultant in tropical diseases to the Secre- tary of War from 1943-46, was associate

director of the National Heart Institute

in charge of research for several years, and director of the Squibb Institute for Medical Research between 1946-49. Dr. Shannon is accompanied by Dr. Joseph E. Smadel, Associate Director of the National Institutes of Health; Col. Robert L. Hullinghorst, Chief of Research and Development in the Office of the Army's Surgeon General; Col. Richard

P. Mason, Commandant of the Walter Reed Institute of Research; Dr. Wilbur Downs, Director of the Trinidad Regional

Virus Laboratory, and by a Navy repre- sentative who had not been designated when this issue of The Review went to

press. Yellow Fever Study The laboratory in the Canal Zone

would be related closely to the Gorgas Memorial Laboratory in Panama which

has been doing research in tropical medicine since 1928. According to present

plans, key personnel would be appointed

simultaneously to the staffs of both or- ganizations. Among other projects in which the research workers would be interested is the progressive march of jungle yellow

fever through the Central American re- publics, and the newly-recognized viral agents transmitted to man by mosquitoes, some of which are related immunologically to yellow fever and dengue viruses, and others to encephalitis viruses. Preliminary plans for the establishment

IMPROVEMENT, EFFICIENCY PROGRAM

IS STARTED FOR PANAMA RAILROAD

A positive and vigorous program to cut expenses and increase revenue of the Panama Railroad has already been initiated in conformity with the report and rec- ommendations on Railroad operations approved last month by the House Merchant

Marine and fisheries Committee. The House Committee's report was based on a survey made last year by John T.

Ridgely, formerly Vice President of the Pennsylvania Railroad, who was employed

by the Congressional Committee as a consultant on the Railroad operations. Mr.

Ridgely spent several weeks on the Isthmus making the study which included finances, personnel, operating schedules, rolling stock, and potential business. The House Committee report, which Governor Potter has announced he considers

as a directive, proposed the following principal points: Continued operation of the Railroad (the proposal to abandon the Railroad led to the Congressional study). Diversion of military and Company freight and passenger business from the highway to the Railroad. A sturdy of "piggy-back" operation and other means of increasing freight volume. Provision of rejrigeraied car service. \J11iCQf- J. O"" tlQ Revision of some rates and schedules. Travel By Rail

Shortly after the report was issued, the Governor issued instructions to curtail to the minimum the transportation of Company-Government employees across the Isthmus by automobile. Bureau Directors and the heads of independent units were also instructed to consider any means within their individual units to augment business for the Panama Railroad, cooperating with the Comptroller and Transportation and Terminals Director in an investigation on accounting and operating procedures. One recommendation contained in the Consultant's report has already been in- stituted. This was for the replacement

of hand labor by a mechanical means for the control of weeds along the right-of- way. A chemical sprayer has already been placed in service and a force reduction of 17 men has been made in +he track and roadway maintenance gang. Refrigerated Cars

Six refrigerator cars are to be equipped

with mechanical refrigeration units to haul frozen products. When these are in service the Commissary Division will switch back to railroad transportation for supplying quick-frozen foods to Pacific side units. At present all refrigerator cars in service are chilled with ice but temperatures on these are not low enough for hauling products at near-zero temperatures. Only

six of the refrigerator cars now in service are fit for conversion to mechanical re- frigeration. The Governor this week submitted a long-range capital program for the Pan- ama Railroad to the Board of Directors. This includes the purchase of an additional six refrigerator cars (See page 18)

LEWIS WOOD, Balboa High School Senior, will swap his ROTC khaki for the gray uniform of the U. S. Military Academy. He was chosen last month

as the Canal Zone's candidate for West Point. A

native Isthmian, he is the son of Mrs. Lillian M. Wood of the Gorgas Hospital staff. Alternates for the West Point appointment are: Robert B. Hamilton, James L. Duran, and Gerald A. Durfee.

of the laboratory indicate that at least three years would be needed to determine whether or not the scientific work of the group were objective, while five years should show major accomplishments of the initial objectives.
THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW February 1, 1957

Merger Of Divisions Leads

To Transfer Of Some Units

Progress was reported at the end of the month on several changes to be made as a result of the merger of the Commissary

and Service Center Divisions at the first of January. The general outline of these changes was announced in the December

issue of The Review. The transfer of the wholesale house- wares section to Balboa is now scheduled

to take place about the end of this month. The wholesale unit will be combined with

the retail store in Balboa and will occupy

the masonry building on Balboa Road

opposite the Commissary Annex.

If additional space is needed, the build- ing adjacent to the new wholesale and

retail shoe store will be used for storage

space. Meanwhile, plans are being made for the necessary alterations to Building 28

in the Industrial Division area in Balboa which is to be occupied by the new Commissary and Service Center Division headquarters. This move is not scheduled until about the end of June. The consolidation of the wholesale housewares section with the retail outlet in Balboa will involve the transfer of only one U. S.-citizen employee from the Atlantic

side. About 30 local-rate employees will be involved in the transfer. Lew W.

Mcllvaine, now Assistant Housewares

Manager, will be transferred and will be in charge of the unit after its move to Balboa. The abattoir and sausage plant at Mount Hope have now been closed, the

last cattle being slaughtered there on

January 24. In the future native-dressed

beef and sausage will be bought through

the abattoir in Panama. Arrangements

have been made for selective buying of the beef cuts desired upon inspection by

Weil-Known Educator Now Visiting Canal Zone

To Develop School For Handicapped Children

A detailed study of plans for special educational facilities for Canal Zone

handicapped children was being made

this week by Ray Graham, Director of Education of Exceptional Children for the State of Illinois, working with officials of the Canal Zone schools. Dr. Graham, an expert in the field of

special education for exceptional children, was employed in the capacity of a special consultant to the Schools Division. He

has spent the past week here, discussing plans for the program for handicapped

children, diagnosing the Canal Zone's needs in this respect, and helping to de- termine what facilities will have to be

provided here. An appropriation to establish special educational facilities for the approxi- mately 220 handicapped children in the Canal Zone is included in the budget

for the coming fiscal year. The budget

request includes funds to employ specialized teachers and medical technicians who will be needed to staff the

school. The special facilities to be offered probably will include lip reading for children

Canal Zone Government veterinarians. With the closing of the abattoir and

the general reduction in cold storage products handled, the expensive refrig- erated warehousing space is no longer needed and would require expensive al- terations and rehabilitation. Because of these factors and the prospective cost of conversion of equipment to 60-cycle operation, studies have been initiated to de- termine the future of cold storage operations. Management Interns

CANAL EMPLOYEES WHO have participated in previous years in the Management Intern program

given in Washington, D. ('., by the C. S. Civil Service Commission, are shown above with Harry C.

Egolf, Supervisory Housing Manager in Balhoa, shortly before he left for the Tinted States to take part

in this year's training program. Mr. Egolf, seated at the left, was appointed by Governor Potter as the Canal representative and Elmer J. Nordstrom, also seated, was selected as alternate candidate from

the Canal organization, Standing from left to right are Albert Hendricks, Rates Analyst, Office of the Comptroller; LawTence Barca, Jr., Engineer, Pacific Locks; .1. Douglas Lord, Storekeeper, Pacific Locks; Joseph M. Watson, Administrative Assistant, Maintenance Division; Frank Wilder, Security Assistant, Internal S [rity; Otto \Y. Helmerichs, Employment Branch. Personnel Division; William S. Wigg,

Administrative Assistant, Administrative Branch; W. A. Dryja, Assistant to the Marine Director; Maonner Huff, A' mntant, Accounting Division; and H. W. Osborne. General Engineer, Maintenance Division,

with hearing difficulties; sight-saving

classes for children whose eyesight is below par; muscle training for children who are spastics or who have had polio; remedial work with children having

speech defects; and special crafts classes

for mentally retarded children. The

Health Bureau is cooperating with the Division of Schools in working out the program. Mrs. Gladys Light made a survey of the U. S.-Citizen schools and A. E. Os- borne made a similar study of the Latin American schools to determine the number of children now in school who need

special attention. Working with them

Dr. RAY GRAHAM

were Dr. Howard Pritham, School Doctor, and the two school nurses, Mrs. Erma Forbes and Miss E. Jane Holcomb.

In addition, parents of handicapped

children between the ages of 3 and 21 who are not attending the Canal Zone

schools were invited to report to the Superintendent of Schools, if they were

interested in the special facilities. A check made by school officials re- cently disclosed only a few persons in the Canal Zone who have had training in work with handicapped children. Because of the shortage of such teachers, the Schools Division may have to establish its own training program for this specialized field. Dr. Graham also discussed with

school officials the possible location of the classes for handicapped children and looked over the sites which are

available. As in the case of the program

itself, no decision has yet been reached on the physical plant. Dr. Graham has a background of 35

years of educational work, much of it with exceptional children. He was rec- ommended to the Schools Divsion by the United States Office of Education. He has served frequently as a special

Lecturer in this highly-specialized field, and is a member of many committees

national, state, and in his home town

on educational problems of this nature. He has written a number of articles on

the Illinois Plan for Special Education of Exceptional Children, and is co-author

of a chapter on Administration of Special Education of Exceptional Children in the 1950 Year Book of the National Society

for the Study of Education.
February 1, 1957 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW 99-/-//7-C3

Almost 500 Applications Already In Current Magazines Feature As Insurance Plan Gets Under Way Articles Of Interest Here

Articles either concerning the Panama

Canal or of interest to Zonians have been

appearing frequently of late in a number

of I'nited States magazines. One of the

first of these was Time Magazine's account,

in mid-December, of the transit of the

billionth ton of cargo through the Canal. The January issue of The National

(leographic Magazine carried an article entitled "An Engineer's View of the Suez"

written by a former Canal Zone Governor, Maj. Gen. Glen E. Edgerton. General Edgerton is the only American on the board of 18 experts appointed by the Suez Canal Company to advise on canal maintenance and improvement. He has

served on this board since 1952. He was

Governor of The Panama Canal from

1040 to 1944 and is now a member of the Canal Company's Board of Directors. Another article of interest to Zonians appeared in the January 19 issue of The

Saturday Evening Post. The story is Part Two of Frank Schreider's account of a

trip from Alaska to the tip of South America in an amphibious jeep. The

January 19 installment carried four pic- tures of the partial transit of the jeep, which was named "La Tortuga," through

the Panama Canal. Zonians appearing

in the photographs are W. H. Hebert,

Chief Admeasurer in Balboa, and Capt. Robert G. Rennie, Panama Canal pilot. Most comprehensive of the various articles is a story on the Panama Canal and its operations scheduled to appear in the February issue of Fortune. The article, which was written by a staff writer, covers a wide range of topics pertaining

to the Canal and its operation. A number of color photographs were furnished by Mrs. Faye Minton and Charles McG.

Brandl to illustrate the article. The Fortune article is also scheduled to be reproduced in the Spanish edition of Life International in an early issue.

MEMBERS OF THE Canal Zone Insurance Board are shown above at a recent meeting in the Board Room of the Administration Building. Left to right are Harold W. Rerrie, Robert Van Wagner, Harold

Williams, Charles McG. Brandl, Leroy Cockburn, Rufus Lovelady, Robert H. Miller, Reginald Callender, William R. Dixon, William Jump, Thomas L. Sellers, Jefferson Joseph, Henry T. Carpenter, and

Alfonso Alexis. Two members, Ellis L. Fawcett. on the left, and James Elliott, on the right, were out

of camera range The group health insurance plan for Canal employees got off to a brisk start

late last month. Almost 500 applications had been re- ceived by the end of last week even before

distribution of the brochures giving details of the group health insurance. The

distribution of the brochures, prepared by the Group Health Insurance Board

and printed by Mutual of Omaha, was

delayed by a late delivery of the material. The distribution throughout all units and to every individual employee was

begun during the past week. An ample

supply of application forms has also been

received and these are being delivered individually through the representatives appointed in each Canal unit. While the number of applications al- ready received is substantial, members of the Insurance Board have urged that employees who plan to join the group health plan do so early since it will become

effective on a non-selective basis when at

least half of the employees have filed application. Every effort is being made to acquaint employees with details of the group health insurance plan, which will provide cover- age for both normal and major medical

service. This is being done through meetings of small employee groups, through

supervisory personnel, and other methods. A traveling information table has been used in most communities during the past two weeks, manned by Andrew M.

Wright, Agent of Mutual of Omaha. The

information table was located in several

different places on the Pacific side during

the first week, and in Atlantic side towns

during the past week. The group health insurance plan has been in the making now for about three

years. The proposal of Mutual of Omaha

was accepted after bids were received from four large insurance firms and upon

the determination of the ad hoc committee

that it provides the best coverage at the lowest cost for employees on an organi- zation-wide basis. The Canal administration is firmly supporting the plan, although it is to be administered completely as an employee

project. Governor Potter last week met

with officers of the new Group Health

Insurance Board at which time the entire program was discussed in detail. The

Governor assured the Board officers of

his full support in making the plan

effective. While a two-month period is planned

for the receipt of applications, Board members are hopeful that the plan will be fully publicized and a sufficient number of applications will be received to

initiate it well before this time limit. Distinguished Visitor

MRS. CARL ZELLER, National President of the American Legion Auxiliary, center, paid a call on Governor Potter, a fellow Ohioan, during her official visit to the Panama Canal Zone Department last month. Above she is shown in the Governor's office at Balboa Heights accompanied by local American

Legion Auxiliary officials. From left to right are Mrs. Louise Griffon, Mrs. Frances Gilley, Mrs. Zeller, Mrs. Jeanette Toney, secretary to Mrs. Zeller; Mrs. Vera Bolek, and Governor Potter.
THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW February 1, 1957 Here's The Man

Who'sAide ToThe Governor

MAJ. DAVID H. SMITH'S job as Military Assistant to the Governor doesn't leave him much time to sit at his desk. The job of Military Assistant to the Governor is full of superlatives or qualified superlatives. The Military Assistant greets more

important visitors than anyone else in the Company-Government organization. He visits Miraflores Locks more fre- quently and makes more trips through

Gaillard Cut than anyone except the men

who operate th? Locks or run tugs or launches through the Cut. He meets

almost as many Panama Line ships as the personnel of the Panama Line's local office. He serves as aide to the Governor, is the major liaison between the Panama

Canal organization and the military forces stationed here and is also personnel officer for the service personnel who are assigned

to duty with the Canal organization. The present incumbent of this highly

varied job is a likeable young man—he

will be 32 on March 28 —named David

Halstead Smith. He holds the rank of Major in the Army Corps of Engineers. His close friends call him the obvious

Dave, or Smitty. He is known by sight

to a good many Zonians. Those who

haven't had personal contact with him

can recognize him because of his fre- quent appearance in photographs of dignitaries at the Locks—even though

he tries to duck into the back row when

ever possible. Of all the many parts of his job, he

prefers the Grover Whelan role welcoming Congressional visitors or other import- ant men and women to the Canal Zone. But his welcoming role doesn't end with saying "how do you do" at ship- or planeside. Visitors must be lodged and trans- ported and shown around the Canal Zone.

Since he becim" the Governor's Mili- tary Assistant, in July 1954, he has made

"more than 100" visits to Miraflores Locks and "close to 50" trips through

the Cut aboard the launch Diana. He

has arranged for baby-sitters for Congressmen's children ami escorted d >zens

of visitors on shopping trips. (He drafts

his vivacious, Georgia-born wife, Gloria, when women visitors want to shop.)

In the past 30 months, Major Smith

has met the President and Vice President

of the United States, a number of Latin American Chiefs of State, and scores of others who are tops in their particular

fields. A number of visitors he has wel- comed and escorted have gone to the

trouble of writing him a note to say how

much they appreciated his help. Although he does not bear the title, Major Smith performs practically all of the duties of aide to a general officer. In this capacity, he assists the Gover- nor and Mrs. Potter in their official social life. He is officially Chief of Protocol, with Emily Post and the Diplo- matic Guide as his required reading. He must have at his fingertips all the

fine points of meeting and seating and

other like matters which, if improperly

done, can lead to all kinds of international misunderstandings.

Unlike other aides, however, he does not accompany his general wherever the

latter goes. He cherishes the hope that

possibly, just possibly, Governor Potter might want to take a trip to South America—and take him along! Another part of his job involves liaison work between the Canal's civilian administration and all military organizations

here. If anyone in the Canal organization encounters a problem having to do with

the military, he contacts Major Smith who then gets in touch with the proper

military office. This may be anything from locating a transmission line tower

in a military area near the locks to toplevel problems. He was born in Philadelphia, too late to see active service in World War II he was in the Military Academy during

the war -but in plenty of time to get into the Korean action. A great deal more studious than

his out-going, exuberant personality would indicate, he admits, under pres- sure, to having been eleventh in his West Point Class. His new assignment,

to the Army's Command and General

Staff College at Fort Leavenworth

which he will enter in September, is a

tribute to the work he has already done

at Army schools at Fort Benning and

Fort Belvoir and at the California Institute of Technology where he received

his Masters' degree in Civil Engineering

His job and his family of two small

daughters, Suzanne, 7, and Alice Ann, 3, don't leave him much time for hobbies but when he can he plays golf at Fort Amador. He sometimes plays with his

boss, whose scores are decreasing much

too rapidly to suit Dave, but usually he

is part of a foursome made up of himself, Paul Runnestrand, the Canal's Executive

Secretary, Arthur O'Leary, Assistant Comptroller, and Maj. Robert Hughes,

of Gorgas Hospital. He also likes woodworking, and a table, some chests of drawers, and a few other

pieces of furniture in his quarters are his handiwork. "He could do real well on woodworking if he had time," Mrs. Smith

says. He is much pleased with his new assign- ment, but he knows he is going to miss

a number of things. One of them will be

the interesting people he meets and greets

here, day after day. New Director

Newest member of the Panama Canal Company's Board of Directors is Ralph

A. Tudor, of San Francisco, whose pic- ture appears above. He had planned to attend the Board meeting here this week

but had to cancel his plans because of

illness. A graduate in Civil Engineering from

Cornell University, as well as a graduate

of the U. S. Military Academy at West

Point, Mr. Tudor has been engaged in a number of important projects, among

them the San Francisco-Oakland Bridge,

for which he was Senior Designing Engineer. He now heads the Tudor Engineering Company of San Francisco. In 1953, he took leave of his company

for a year to serve as Under Secretary of the Department of the Interior, developing a national water and power policy and a policy relative to the development

of the St. Lawrence Seaway. He served in the Army during World War II and was awarded the Legion of Merit for his service on the Bonneville Advisory Board. After the war, and

until he formed his own company, he was

Vice President of the Mollis Knutsen

I nternational Company.
February 1, 1957 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW

THIS WEEK'S SPOTLIGHT

The past, present, and future were all topics for consideration by the Board of Directors at the annual meeting in the Canal Zone this week.

All three time-periods were wrapped up in the Board's study of the future capacity of the Panama Canal and the various plans for meeting the requirements of shipping in coming years. A generous serving of the past was provided for the Directors

last Tuesday along with roast wild pig at a picnic luncheon

on the site of the Zone's construction period capital of Culebra. One Board member attending the meeting this week, Maj. Gen. Glen E. Edgerton, could give other Directors some first-hand

stories about Culebra; he served in the Canal Zone during the

construction period as an engineer on the relocation of the Panama Railroad which originally ran through the town.

Most of Monday was spent on a field trip which included a

visit to the Pacific Locks and a trip through Gaillard Cut. The meeting this week was the first on the Isthmus for Ogden R. Reid, President of New York Herald Tribune, Inc. Most of the members attending the meeting this week

arrived by plane last weekend. Arriving with this group was

\V. M. Whitman, Secretary of the Company. All of this group went to the Atlantic side Monday to meet other members

arriving on the SS Cristobal and the remainder of the morning was spent on inspection trips to various installations on the

Atlantic side. The first formal meeting of the Board was held Monday

night at Diablo Heights. The panel below gives the pictures, names, year of appointment, addresses, and very brief bio- graphical data about the directors and general officers with the exception of Ralph A. Tudor. The announcement of his ap- pointment was made too late to obtain a picture for inclusion with the group below.

John H. I U.i II. .

11 ston. Te „ 1955 Independent oilill pro- ducer; Director, Texas

National Bank, Reed

Roller Bit Co., Texas

Fund, Commonwealth

OilGo.

John W. Martyn

Washington, II. C. 1940 Administrative Assist- ant to the Secretary of the Army.

George H. Roderick

Washington, D.C.; 1954 Chairman, Board of Directors, Panama Canal

Co.; Assistant Secretary

of the Army (Civil- Military' Affairs); member. U. S. Air Coordinating Committee; Vice

President, American

Seating Co. (on leave

of "absence).

Wllber M. Brucker

Secretary of Army

Washington. D.C..1955

Stockholder, Panama

al Cc Att Governor of Michigan,

193 1 -32 ; General Counsel, Defense Department. 1954-55.

Howard C. Petersen

Radnor. Pa.. 1953 Attorney; President.

Fidelity - Philadelphia Trust Co.; Ex-Assistant

Secretary of War.

Julian L. Schley

Washington, D.C., 1928

Governor. The Panama

Canal, 1932-36; former

Chief, Corps of Engineers, U. S. A.; Major

General, U. S. A., re tired.

Robert P. Burroughs

hester. N.H.. 1955

lent and Treasur- R. P. Burroughs Co.

istee. Manchester

ings Bank.

Portland. Oreg., 1953 Attorney; President. Equitable Savings and Loan Association.

Charles S. Reed

Omaha. Neb.. 1954 Attorney; President. Bank of Bellevue; for- mer Assistant Attorney

General of Nebraska

;

former Member. Nebraska Legislature.

William E. Potter

Balboa Heights. 1956

C. Z.,

President, Panam

al Co.; Governor aCanof the CanalZone; Majt

eral. U. S. A. rGenPhilip L. Steers, Jr. Balboa Heights, C. Z.; Comptroller, Panama

Cana! Co.; former Comptroller, Mutual Security Agency in Austria.

H. W. Schull, Jr. Balboa Heights. C. Z.; Vice President, Panama

Canal Co.; former District Engineer, Jacksonville. Fla.. Colonel, U. S. A., Corps of Engineers.

Glen E. Edgerton

Washington. D.C.. 1940 Governor. The Panama

Canal. 1940-44; ExPresident, Export- Import Bank; Member.

Suez Canal Company

Board on Maintenance and Improvement; Major General, U.S.A., re- tired.

Ogden R. Reld

Purchase, N. V.; 1956

President, N w Vork

Herald Tribu ne. Inc.; Author; Editor of New

York Herald Tribune

since 1955.

William M.Whitman

Washington. IXC; Secretary, Panama Canal

Co.; former Assistant General Counsel, The Panama Canal.
THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW February 1, 1957

HONOR ROLL

Bureau Award For BEST RECORD

DECEMBER

SUPPLY AND EMPLOYEE SERVICE BUREAU

ENGINEERING AND CONSTRUCTION BUREAU

CIVIL AFFAIRS BUREAU HEALTH BUREAU

AWARDS THIS CALENDAR YEAR

Health 11 Civil Affairs 8 Supply and Employee Service 5 Engineering and Construction 3 Marine 2 Transportation and Terminals 1

Division Award For NO DISABLING INJURIES DECEMBER

COMMISSARY DIVISION SERVICE CENTER DIVISION HOSPITALS AND CLINICS HOUSING AND GROUNDS DIVISION MAINTENANCE DIVISION DREDGING DIVISION ELECTRICAL DIVISION MOTOR TRANSPORTATION DIVISION STOREHOUSE DIVISION POLICE DIVISION

FIRE DIVISION AIDS TO NAVIGATION

SANITATION DIVISION

AWARDS THIS CALENDAR YEAR

Aids to Navigation 12 Sanitation 12 Storehouses 12 Hospitals and Clinics 11 Motor Transportation 11 Service Center 11 Commissary 10 Industrial 10 Dredging 9

Electrical 9 Housing and Grounds ( 10 raos.).. .. 8 Railroad 7 Maintenance 6 Navigation 5 Police (6 mos.) 5 Fire ( 6 mos.) 4 Locks 4 Terminals 1

SLOW DOWN - AND LIVE

Tomorrow being Groundhog Day in a good many parts of the United States, let us consider this little creature who might

be thought of as Nature's first Safety

Engineer. Within limits, that is. In some ways,

especially where modern machines and

high speeds are involved, he is just as

silly a soul as a good many human beings. When he pokes his nose above ground

to see whether or not he has a shadow

and we have never been quite certain just what that proves everything in sight has

to be exactly right. If it isn't, he and his family go back to bed for a couple more

months. When he lays out his house, he always adds a few safety devices. He has at least one back door, by which he can escape

if the front door is blocked, and he usually

selects a location among rocks or under

the roots of a tree from which an enemy

cannot easily dig him out. But when it comes to machines and

such modern inventions he hasn't any more natural sense of self-preservation and safety than a good many of us. He simply cannot understand that a man on a hill a quarter of a mile away

is just as dangerous as a man close by, provided that the far-away man has a

high-velocity rifle with a telescopic sight. Similarly, we human beings cannot un- derstand that an automobile traveling at 80 miles an hour is a lethal instrument. Like the groundhog, we feel secure, for- getting that speed has narrowed the limits

of safety to almost nothing. The fast driver never believes that he

is driving too fast. He feels perfectly

safe, because he is behind the wheel.

Sure, maybe he is a good driver and maybe he has never had an accident. That

doesn't mean that automobiles never have

mechanical failures or that other drivers on the road are as good as he. For these reasons, the National Safety Council has adopted a "Code of the Road." Groundhogs can't follow this Code, but humans can, and they won't

be road hogs if they do:

1. Share the road by driving in the proper lane.

2. Allow ample clearance when

passing.

3. Yield the right-of-way to other

drivers and pedestrians.

4. Give proper signals for turns and stops.

5. Dim headlights when meeting

or following vehicles.

6. Respect traffic laws, signs, sig- nals, and road markings.

7. Adjust driving to road, traffic, and weather conditions.

8. Never be in a hurry. Take it

SLOW D0Wif~

and LIVE!

DECEMBER 1956

BUREAU

Supply and Employee Service

Engineering and Construction

Civil Affairs

Health

C. Z. Govt. Panama Canal Cc. This Month)

Marine

Transportation and Terminals

Number o( Disabling Injuries .... ...11

FREQUENCY RATE- Disabling injuries per 1,000,000 employeehours worked. II II ) 5 10 15 20

. i i i O.00 ^

> 1 0.00

' "" 1 0.00 ^ .7"T

1 ^ipsa

11 5.1b %^M^MMP< ,:' 11.6b

.....'"j 5 13.26

'\,„ ',„,.' ;...,,, ,

, 5 10 15 20

Employee-hours worked 2,137,262 LEGEND

, Frequency Rale this month ;;;:] Accumulative Frequency Rale this Calendar Year Z3 1953-1954-1955 Calendar Year Average
February 1, 1957 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW OF CURRENT AND FUTURE INTEREST

OPERATION' OF THE locks, as shown on the control pane!, always facinates visitors. Movie star James

Stewart and his wife were no exception. Donald P. Hutchison of Miraflores shows them how things work.

Local gardners got another break last month. The old Corozal compost pits were

reactivated by the Housing and Grounds

Division and, as any gardner knows, nothing makes hibiscus grow bigger blossoms and croton produce brighter leaves than a good shot in the ground of a well-ripened compost.

Delivery of drum lots can be arranged. The prices are: $3 for a 55-gallon drum, or 50 cents per bag. Purchases may be made

at the Mount Hope Nursery Sales Store,

in building 5124 at Mount Hope; the Balboa Nursery Sales Store, which is located temporarily next to the Shoe Repair Shop; or the Summit Garden Sales Store at Summit

Experiment Garden. Hours at the Mount Hope outlet are: 7:15 to 11:45 a - m- an(i I2:45 t° 4 :I 5 P- m-. Mondays through Fridays; the Balboa store

is open from 9 a. m. to 5 p. m. Tuesdays

through Saturdays; and the store at Summit is open Mondays through Saturdays from 7 a. m. to noon and 12 .30 to 3 :30 p. m.

Comptroller-New York Office. Winthrop

H. Havenor has been designated Assistant

Chief, New York Accounting Office, in addition to his previous title of Chief, Reports and Budget Branch.

Teachers in the Canal Zone's Latin American schools are turning in an out- standing record in their work toward degrees. Daring the past year, 23 teachers earned

the Associate of Arts degree locally and

two won Bachelor ot Arts degrees from

universities in the United States. Five oi the Latin American teachers have been granted leave of absence which

they will spend in the United States this coming year attending various universities.

The name of the Finance Department of the Panama Canal Company's New York

Office was changed the first of last month

to the New York Accounting Office.

It is under the direction of Peter DeStefano, who has been designated Assistant

Preparations are being made for the Sixth Annual Firemen's Ball which will be

held in the north patio and Balboa Room

of El Panama Hotel on Washington's Birth- day, February 22. The party will get under- way at 8 p. m. to music provided by Luis Azcarraga and his orchestra. Fred A. Mohl is chairman of the committee on arrangements. Other members are: Osmond N. Austin, Joseph F. Dolan, John

F. Rice, Kenneth T. Daly, and Richard B. Simpson. Tickets may be obtained at any

Canal Zone or military reservation fire station.

Official Panama Canal Company Publication Published Monthly At Balboa Heights, C. Z. Printed by the Printing Plant, Mount Hope, Canal Zone

W. E. Potter, Governor-President H. VV. Schull, Jr., Lieutenant Governor W. G. Arey, Jr., Public Information Officer

Zonians whose work-day ends at 4:15

p. m. don't know when to quit any more. The daily sounding of the air-raid sirens which used to indicate that it was time to pick up and go home was changed January

14 from 4:15 p. m. to 12 o'clock noon. The new middle-of-the-day testing hour

allows more time during the day for repairs,

if any of the sirens need them. The change

in the hour for sounding the sirens was

discussed by the various Civic Councils. Those expressing a choice voted for midday, as being the hour when the fewest would be asleep.

J. Rufus Hardy, Editor Eleanor H. McIlhenny, Assistant Editor

On sale at all Panama Canal Service Centers. Commissaries, and Hotels for 10 days after publication date at 5 cents each. Subscriptions, $1 a year; mall and back copies, 10 cents each.

Postal money orders made payable to the Pan- ama Canal Company should be mailed to Editor, The Panama Canal Review, Balboa Heights, C. Z,

The duties and responsibilities of the Chief of the Balboa Fire District are cur- rently being shared by two captains in the

Fire Division. Capt. Perc F. Graham has

the responsibility for the prevention and

control of fires and Capt. William G. Dolan

is handling the administrative work. They are assigned to these duties during

the absence on leave of Balboa Fire Chief W. E. Jones who is spending two months

at his home in the Yolcan.

Approximately 6o Company-Government

employees in supervisory positions on both

sides of the Isthmus will begin supervisory

training courses next Tuesday and Wednesday. The course will last until April 4. The classes for the two Pacific side groups will be held in the new training center on Corozo Street. The two Atlantic

side groups will meet every Wednesday at the training center of the Commissary Division at Mount Hope. *

The Pacific side groups meet each Tuesday and Thursday morning, one group re- porting at 7:15 a. m. and the second at 10

a. m.The course, similar to those given previously, will include such subjects as leadership, the supervisor's job, mutual responsibility, cooperation, work planning, safety, security, and discipline.

Star gazers and others who are interested

in the wonders of the heavens are getting together every Monday and Friday night between 7 and 9 o'clock, at the Canal Zone

Observatory near Miraflores Locks. The

Observatory opened January 1 1 and will re- main open to the public during the dry

season when weather conditions are favorable.Either J. W. Seaquist, science teacher at Balboa High School, or B. J. Brown, of the Engineering Division, is on hand on open

nights to give short lectures.

CIVIL DEFENSE

NEWS

Civil Defense activities are much more

varied than the average Zonian realizes. One of the most interesting of these is the radio communication between the Canal Zone and the United States which is manned by an amateur radio operator. This communication system has been set up and is maintained by Mrs. George

Dunlap of Balboa. She operates "ham"

radio station KZ5DG.

She has arranged a weekly schedule be- tween the Civil Defense Unit in the Canal Zone and Region III of the Federal Civil Defense Administration, in Thomasville,

Ga., to which the local unit reports. Along with other "hams", Mrs. Dunlap was of great assistance during the Jackpot V and Operation Alert exercises in 1956.

Strong emphasis is being placed at pres- ent on first-aid training of members of the Canal Zone's Civil Defense Yolunteer Corps. James Barrett of the Terminals Division, who is a trained first-aid instructor, has volunteered his services in this program. With the permission of the Transportation and Terminals Director, he is conducting

first-aid classes and giving other instruction

for the Civil Defense units on both sides

of the Isthmus.

FEBRUARY CIVIL DEFENSE VOLUNTEER

CORPS MEETINGS

Feb. Townsite Place Hour

largarita Service Center 9:00 a. m

7 Balboa USO-JWT4, Balboa Rd 9:00 a. m

13 Rainbow City School 6:30 p. m

14 Gamboa Civic Center 8:30 a. m

14 Santa Cruz _ .Service Center 8 :oo p. m

18 Paraiso School 7:30 p. m

19 Gatun Service Center 8:30 a. m

20 Diablo Service Center 9:00 a. m
THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW February 1, 1957 1958 Company Budget Calls For Expenditure Of $82,342,200

Budgeted expenditures of the Panama

Canal Company for the coming fiscal year

will amount to $82,342,200, according to the annual budget submitted to Congress

last month by President Eisenhower.

This figure includes a repayment to the Treasury estimated at $ 10,828,800 to cover

the net cost of Canal Zone Government. The budgets presented last month for Company and Government operations in the fiscal year 1958 bv the President do

not include a request for $1,000,000 for design and preliminary work for the construction of the $20,000,000 bridge over

the Canal. This is being requested in a supplemental appropriation for expenditure this year and next. Money for housing and other improvements at Margarita

required by the transfer of lands in Colon

will also be sought by supplemental appropriation after legislative action on the

transfer. The 1958 budget represents a decrease

of $6,754,000 from the estimated cost of Company-Government activities in the present fiscal year, and a direct reflection of the curtailments by the 1955 Treaty

in Commissary and Service Center operations and a reduced capital program. The budget document indicated a drop

in the volume of sales in the commissaries from $25,900,000 in the fiscal year 1956 ended last June to $20,400,000 this fiscal year, and to $13,760,000 next fiscal year. Separate budgets are presented to Congress for the Canal Zone Government and

the Panama Canal Company. The two

are different and distinctive in that the Government operates solely on appropri- ated funds with all income being returned

to the United States Government. A

business-type budget is presented for the Company operations since it is authorized

to use current income to meet expenses. Each fiscal year the Company reimburses

the U. S. Treasury for the net cost of the Canal Zone Government and this item is included in the Company's budget expenditures.

The following estimates give the highlights of the Canal Company operations

for the present and coming fiscal years:

1957 19.58 Commercial transits: (over 300 net tons) 8,340 8,570

Tolls . $36,580,000 $37,330,000

Tolls credits..., 1,250,000 1,250,000 Operating income from supporting

operations 1.115.900 8S6.SO0 Net cost of C. Z. Govt 9,917,800 10.S2S.800

Interest payable to U. S. Treasury. . 8,550,700 8,602,300 General corporate charges 6,710,300 7,015,600 Capital expenditures 12,075,488 9,166,300 N'etincome 982,800 202,300 Some of the items of general interest

in the Company-Government program of expenditures for the coming fiscal year are

:

1. The current high level of Canal traffic

is expected to continue through the coming

fiscal year, with a slight increase in commercial traffic and no change in U. S. Government vessels.

2. The heavy capital outlay for the re- placement of plant and equipment, as well as improvements to the Canal channel and

harbors, can be met from the Company's

resources through the 1958 fiscal year.

3. No capital refundment to the U. S. Treasury is budgeted in the fiscal vear 1957

nor 1958. The Company has paid'$15,000,- 000 into the Treasury for capital refund- ments since it was incorporated in 1951.

4. Provision is made in the coming fiscal year for continuation of the power conversion program, including the locks, with a

total of $4,500,000 being budgeted.

5. Budgeted for next year are funds to modernize the Administration Building with air conditioning and a new automatic

elevator as the principal items.

6. The Canal Zone Government budget

indicates a slight drop in school enrollment during the coming year for the first time

in over 10 years.

7. Funds are being requested next year

to build a new ROTC and general utility building in Balboa and to provide for oper- ating a school for handicapped children.

8. Rehabilitation of Thatcher Highway

is scheduled during the coming fiscal year.

9. Company operating expenses are ex- pected to decrease by about $5,150,000 next

fiscal year from this year's figures, despite an increase of about $900,000 for the net

cost of Canal Zone Government.

10. Funds are requested for the coming

vear to furnish free school bus service on Labor Union Officers Meet

OFFICERS OF THE Canal Zone Central Labor Union-Metal Trades Council posed for this picture soon after their recent election. Seated, left to right, are: Louis S. Damiani, Legislative Representative; James Trimble, First Vice President; Edward W. Hatchett, President; James II. I'fau, Second Vice

President; James H. Elliott, Secretary, Standing, in the same order: Walter Fischer, Treasurer; Tom

Womble, Wage and Complaints Board Labor Representative; Burman S. Spangler, Trustee; Robert

(juinn, Sergeant-at-Arms; Eugene Breakfield, Trustee; Robert deddes, Trustee; Jack Purvis, Alternate

Legislative Representative and Chairman of the Legislative Committee; and Samuel Garriel, Alternate Labor Representative on the Wage and Complaints Board. Absent at the time the photograph was

taken was W. E. Thrift, who is Second Alternate Wage and Complaint Board Labor Representative.

the same basis with other Government

agencies in the Canal Zone. The following table gives comparative

figures on estimated costs of the Canal Zone Government for the current and

coming fiscal .years: CIVIL FUNCTIONS

1957 1958

Customs and immigration $426,900 J431.900

Postal service 1,104,800 1,156,900

Police protection 1,548,400 1,572,800

Fire protection _ 1.007.S00 1,063,400

Judicial system _ 68,600 69,600 Education 3,133.700 3,538,300

Public areas and facilities 1,282,900 1,442,800 Library 104,200 104,100

Internal security 106,500 107,700 Other civil affairs 112,700 164,300 HEALTH AND SANITATION

Hospitals and clinics $5,452,200 $5,755,200 Other public health services 591,100 660.200 GENERAL GOVERNMENT EXPENSES

Office of the Governor $54,400 $54,400 Other general government 1,383,500 1,400,000

Totals $16,377,700 $17,521,600 The increase in funds for hospitals and

clinics will cover expenses budgeted for the coming fiscal year to modernize the

psychiatric services at Corozal Hospital and an increase in personnel at the two

general hospitals and at Palo Seco to im- prove general services. The decrease in school enrollment is expected to total only about 200, but

additional funds will be required for the establishment of school facilities for handicapped children, and additional services. The principal projects of the Zone Government for which expenditures will be made during the coming year will be $441,000 for the sewage collection and

disposal system on the Pacific side; the ROTC building; improvements and addition to the physical education and recre- ation facilities; and $100,000 for road re- placement work. The Activities-ROTC Armory Building planned for Balboa High School and

the Canal Zone Junior College will pro- vide for an assembly hall, dramatic arts theater, a music center, and the ROTC

Armory.

Street and road work scheduled for the coming year will include the replacement

of a section of Terminal Street in Cristobal; replacement and widening of Third

Street in Cristobal; and replacement of a section of Espave Avenue in Margarita.

In addition to this work, $70,000 is being asked for various additions and replace- ments to the municipal systems, includ- ing street lighting, sewers and drains, and

sidewalks and driveways. The table below shows the estimated

gross income and direct operating ex- penses of the various operating programs

of the Company for the coming fiscal year:

Inromt Ezpcrnr Set Canal operations $42,153,000 51S.374.500 $33,778,400 Other maritime operations 6,251,300 5,119.800 1,131,500 Employee services 16,978,400 16.19S.300 780,100 Transportation and

utilities services 9.233,700 'MJVHIO - 195,200 Other supporting scrv- oes . 2,561,300 2.249.400 301,900 Net cost of C. Z. Govt.. KI.S2S.MKI HI.S2S.MKI

Interest charges 8,602,300 -8,602.300 Older general corporate

r\|lrlisc 6,163,400 -6,163,400

Total ... $78,019,000 $77,817,600 $202,300 A $12,000,000 capital program is out-
February 1, 1957 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW

lined in the budget for the Canal Company during the coming fiscal year, of which over $9,000,000 will be in actual expenditures with the remainder to be

carried over into fiscal year 1959. These are divided into seven main

groups which are listed below with the estimate for each together with a brief summary of some of the principal proj- ects or acquisitions: Canal projects $8,658,900 Of this amount, $6,250,000 is budgeted

for the replacement of the towing loco- motives. A total of $3,750,000 is budgeted this fiscal year for the conversion of

th.> Kicks to 60-cyele current but most of

this will lie spent during the coming vear. Only $137,000 is in the budget for this item next year. One of the principal items in Canal improvement work is a $1,S00,000 three- year project to improve the channel just north of Pedro Miguel Locks for which

$1,072,000 is budgeted for the coming

year. The work in the Cut bet.veen Gold

Hill and Pedro Miguel will involve the removal of 650,000 cubic yards of earth and rock to cut away a section of bank

jutting into the Canal, and widen the

channel. Other items include $6S0,000 for deepening of Cristobal anchorage; re-engine the U.S. Toro; raise locomotive tracks in emergency-dam depressions; replacing equipment in Locks Division caisson; and $50,500 to replace harbor launches and engines. Vessel repair projects $32,500 The principal work to be done in this category is improvement to the lighting system in the Cristobal Shops of the Industrial Division. Harbor terminal projects $110,300 This includes provision for continuing replacement of electrical distribution sys- tem of Cristobal piers, alterations to the

freight house in Cristobal, and the pur- chase of cargo handling equipment. Employee service projects $541,500 This will provide for the construction

of a modern 12-pump gasoline service station in Balboa to replace the existing

station, at an estimated cost of $134,000. With this addition, service station facili- ties will be expanded to include the sale of automobile accessory and replacement

parts, and both tire and battery service. Two other items of general interest are the replacement of the Balboa bowling

alleys, and $100,000 for the construction

of a modern theater at Rainbow City to replace the old movie theater at Camp

Bierd. An authorization is requested for the completion of the project to replace the

residence of the Governor, with $170,000

requested for the coming year. If the Governor's residence is not replaced by

a new structure, the existing house will be extensively renovated and modernized. Transportation and utility services $1 ,755,700 Projects listed include power conversion work; $219,000 for the purchase of motor equipment, including a replace- ment of the nine-year-old car used by the Company President which has been

driven almost 100,000 miles; replacement

of Miraflores substation switchgear; and

funds to continue the air conditioning of the telephone exchanges. Other service projects $1,031,300 The sum of $750,000 to modernize the

One-Time White House Steward

Is Now Seaman On Taboga Launch

AMADO DE LA PENA looks over souvenirs of the days when he was a steward at the White House.

When Amado de la Pena, a seaman

with the Navigation Division, refers to President and Mrs. Franklin Delano

Roosevelt as "Papa" and "Mama," he

is not being disrespectful. He is merely

using a term of affection which became

second nature to him during the 11 months he spent in and around the White

House, serving the Roosevelts and later the Trumans. That he has no pet names for President and Mrs. Truman does not mean that he

did not like them. On the contrary. They were "fine people," he says. He

was in Washington, however, only during

the first three months of the Truman

administration and never got to know

the Trumans as well as he did the Roosevelts. Mr. de la Pena's White House service was a completely unexpected highspot

in a Navy career which lasted almost

28 years. He had been reassigned from

the Canal Zone, where he had been

stationed for several years, to an area where Navy troops were being assembled for service in Guadalcanal. Suddenly his orders were changed and he found himself assigned to the Presi- dential yacht"Potomac"in Washington.

Throughout his service with the two

Presidents, he lived aboard the Potomac,

except when he accompanied President Roosevelt to Hyde Park, to the mountain camp in Maryland which the President

called "Shangri-la," or when the PresiAdministration Building is included in

this amount. In addition to air conditioning and the replacement of the elevator, the lighting system will be replaced and

the wiring system will be completely re- habilitated. Other projects requested are for the replacement of mowing, garbage, print- ing and duplicating, office, and Maintenance Division equipment. General corporate projects $175,000 This item is mainly to cover minor

capital additions and improvements, and

to cover the costs of retirement and re- moval of capital items from Company

plant.

dent made short trips on the yacht or went fishing. His duties on this presidential assign- ment were varied, he says. He was a

Chief Steward, but his work involved

serving, some cooking and, sometimes,

general kitchen chores. One of the first things he had to learn on that job was

discretion. One saw, one heard, but one

kept quiet, he says. Mr. de la Pena spent two weeks in Hyde Park with President Roosevelt

just before the President went to Hot

Springs, Ga., where he died a few days

later. The Navy men with whom the then Chief Steward worked were on their way to Washington from Hyde Park when they learned at a railroad station along the way, that the President had died. "He wasn't well when we went to Hyde Park," Mr. de la Pena says, "but

he seemed much stronger when he left for Washington and Georgia."

Despite the fact that news of the President's death was blazoned in every news- paper they saw during the train trip, the Navy men couldn't believe it. It was not

until they reached Washington, he recalls, and saw a flight of "hundreds of planes" over the capital that they realized the

reports were true. When the President's body was brought to Washington, Mr.

de la Pena was among the crowds of mourners who lined the streets. He and

the other Navy men went at once to the White House but could not make their way through the crowds surrounding the mansion. Three months after President Roosevelt's death, the Chief Steward asked for a reassignment to the Canal Zone to re- join his family who had remained here when he was sent to Washington. Mr. de la Pena was born in Capiz Capiz

in the Philippine Islands, a "good long boat trip from Manila." He grew up on

Corregidor and at 14 he went to work

for the Army in Manila as a kitchen

helper. In the next few years he learned

to cook, but spent his spare time fighting as a bantamweight in prizefights around

Manila. He saw little future in either, however, and one day a big poster along

a beach where he was working out spurred him to join the Navy. He still doesn't understand how he happened to pass a physical examination that particular day;

his eyes had been thoroughly blackened

in a fight the night before. In addition to his Navy service here and in Washington, he served aboard several of the largest U. S. warships of their day. Among these were the battleships Vermont, New York, and Pennsylvania, and the cruiser Memphis. On one of his tours on the Pennsylvania he was assigned

as personal steward to Secretary of War

Dwight F. Davis when the Secretary and

his two daughters traveled to Hawaii

aboard the big battleship. One of Mr.

de la Pena's most treasured possessions

is a letter of commendation from Secre- tary Davis. He joined the Panama Canal service

in 1949 as a launch seaman and is now

on duty aboard the Taboga launches, making one trip back and forth to Taboga every weekday and two trips on Saturday.
10 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW February 1, 1957 More, Bigger Ships Pose New Problems

In Deciding Future Capacity Of Canal

When some marine engineer a few years ago began to dream of a tanker big enough

to carry a veritable oil field in its hold, he started something which today has snowballed into one big headache for the operating personnel of the Panama Canal. A problem which didn't exist just ten

years ago and one which competent engi- neers didn't then foresee in this century

has come to take a leading place among

the many relating to increasing the ca- pacity of the Panama Canal. It is the problem of "clear-Cut" transits. This is a handy name given to those ships requiring daylight transit which are so big, or unwieldy, or loaded with such hazardous

cargo that they are not permitted to meet or pass oncoming ships in the eight- mile stretch of Gaillard Cut. This is by no means the only knotty

question that arises in considering the

big problem of providing a waterway with ample capabilities to transit all ships of

all sizes that could or would use a water- way between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans during the next few decades. The problem of the future capacity

of the Panama Canal is one of great national and international importance. The subject was one of the leading

topics on the agenda of the Board of Directors at the annual meeting on the Isthmus this week. Because of the heightening interest

in the subject and the fact that a big percentage of Canal employees entered

service since the Isthmian Canal Studies

of 1947 were completed, The Review will present in this and the next few issues a series of articles outlining some of the

principal phases of the "Isthmian Canal Problem" which dates back to the early sixteenth century when it was discovered

that a narrow strip of land divides the two oceans. In general these will be divided into the following five main categories:

THE ONLY SECTION of Gaillard Cut now 500

feet wide for any great length is Culebra Reach.

This project was completed last year. North of this section to Gamboa is mostly 300 feet wide.

1. Traffic and transit problems of the existing Canal.

2. Plans and routes for an Isthmian

canal.

3. Nicaragua and Atraio routes.

4. Modifications, including an ultra- modern Panama lock canal.

5. A sea-level waterway. Many books to which the student or engineer may turn for detailed information have been written on each of these

subjects. This series will touch only on some of the broader issues. In the main, the series will be a con- densation of the reports made by the

FUTURE PROJECTS [•'( IB improving the Gaillard Cut section of the Canal are illustrated above. Tho

rocky tip on the east bank, left, above, is scheduled to be taken off during the coming fiscal year. The

widening of this section. Paraiso Reach, to 500 feet bottom depth, is on the long-range program. The sec- tion to be removed in this work is indicated on the west bank in the picture above.

Special Engineering Division on the Isth- mian Canal Studies of 1947 which one

leading engineering authority- -who had

no connection with the studies— called the finest and most complete ever sub- mitted on a subject of that nature. The recommendation based on the 1947

Studies—for the conversion of the Pan- ama Canal to a sea-level waterway—is well known. What is not so well known

nor remembered is that the Canal administration was enjoined by the legislation authorizing the Studies to answer two

main questions: How best to meet the requirements of future interoeeanic commerce AND national defense? This enjoinder virtually eliminated a recommendation for a temporary solution. This series of articles will in no way

be concerned with the correctness of the recommendation for a sea-level canal, nor with arguments pro and con on the

feasibility and desirability of a complete

modernization of the existing Canal or a

canal elsewhere. The subject of increasing the capacity

of the Panama Canal is no new one. Indeed, it was considered while the Canal was under construction. It has been the

subject of intensive studies from time to time since, notably during the late 1920's when traffic was increasing at a tremen- dous pace, again after the close of World War II, and during the past few years. The Board has had it under continuing study for the past five years since the Canal operations were incorporated. Today, transit charts trace a rapidly climbing line while bigger and bigger

ships are being built. Too much emphasis on these two

factors leads to an unwarranted conclusion that the Panama Canal is out- moded and obsolete. Actually, its de- pendable capacity is greater today than

ever before and the amount of traffic

still leaves a comfortable margin under

its capacity even without further improvements.

In the month of December, a new

monthly record of 751 transits of ocean- going commercial ships was established,

a daily average of 24.2. Under the pres- ent schedule of 16 hours a day, this amount of traffic was handled with some

overtime. The capacity under present operating schedules, with no clear-Cut

ships, would average about 30 a day, a

figure unlikely to lie reached for several years, except during clays with peak

traffic. If a 24-hour operating schedule were

adopted, the Canal could accommodate

as many as 10 ships a day under optimum

conditions. With additional crews and

relay lockages, 50 ships could transit in 24 hours except during overhaul periods. No competent analyst has predicted such

a high level of traffic fur many decades. The 1917 report predicted an average of

Hi ships a day in the year 2000, with

daily peaks up to 09. These figures are all subject to drastic modification when the factor of clear-Cut

ships is brought into the picture. While

the delays incident to clear-Cut transits vary widely, the Canal's capacity may he cut to 18 to 25 transits a day with five clear-Cut ships. With 24-hour operation,
Febiuaty 1, 1957 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW 11

The amazing growth in the size of tankers using the Panama Canal during the past 30 years is graphically

illustrated below. The illustrations on the top row indicate the comparative average size in the three years. The

longer illustration below shows the relative size of the biggest tanker, t^e SS Esso Colombia, to use the Canal

to the annual overages. Panama Canal net tonnage

figures are shown.

SS Esso Colombia—1 7,782 Tons

this number of clear-Cut ships would di- minish capacity to about 30 transits a day, without giving consideration to fog, overhaul periods, or other limiting factors. These figures clearly indicate the import- ance of clear-Cut ships in traffic capacity. There are many limiting factors on

the traffic capacities of the Canal—the

size of the locks, depth and width of the channel, fog, available water supply, and others but that of clear-Cut

ships is an entirely new one which has become important in the past two or three years. The problem was succinctly stated in the 1956 Report of the Board of Directors to the Stockholder as follows: "With the increasing trend in the size of ships, the number of clear-Cut transits has been increasing at an alarming rate. Clear-Cut transits were a minor annoyance a few years ago but they now have

a real bearing on the transit capacity of the Canal." The problem was so minor that it was

considered inconsequential ten years ago when the Isthmian Canal Studies were

in progress. In a four-month period in 1946 there were only 58 clear-Cut transits, or two percent of the total ocean- going traffic. This figure was adopted for estimating

future traffic. "This percentage," the re- port stated, "is accepted as typical and

is the basis for assuming the transit of two clear-Cut ships on peak days of the

future, one transit in each direction." Using the two percent yardstick, there would have been only 165 clear- Cut transits in the past fiscal year. Compare this estimate with the actual

figure of 706 clear-Cut transits. In the

last six months of the calendar year

1956, there were 455 clear-Cut transits, more than the number estimated for the year 2000. Both the increasing tanker traffic through the Canal and the increasing

size of tankers have brought the clear- Cut problem to the forefront since the

close of the war. Of the 706 clear-Cut

transits in the past fiscal year, 180 were

tankers larger than the famous T-2 tankers of World War II period, which were

then judged to be near the maximum for economical construction and operation. Aside from ships requiring clear-Cut

handling, more and more commercial and

naval vessels are being built which are too large to go through the Canal. Five

years ago there were only two commercial

vessels too big for transit. Today there are about 150 tankers afloat or being

built which cannot be accommodated.

These are in addition to the U. S. Navy

aircraft carriers (including those with the new, canted flightdecks), some ore ships, and a few dry-cargo carriers fitted for tanker use.

It is to be remembered, however, that

a relatively small percentage of the super

tankers being built are for use on routes through the Panama Canal. Most commercial vessels too large to transit the Canal, including the big tankers, are

built for specialized service since there

are few harbors in the world deep enough

to accommodate them. Their use in time

of emergency cannot, of course, be pre- dicted. While much depends on the individual

ship's construction and its "handling"

qualities in determining its ability to

transit the Canal, a vessel of 45,000 dead- weight tons is considered, by rule of thumb, to be the maximum size. Up

until now, the largest cargo vessel to

transit was the SS Ore Prince (one of 3), of 45,000 d.w.t., and the largest tanker

the SS Esso Colombia, of 35,000 d.w.t. The super tankers are generally barred from transit by draft or beam, or both, while carriers are stopped at the Locks by the canted flightdecks. Therefore, even if Gaillard Cut could be widened and deepened enough to eliminate the

clear-Cut problem, the size of the Locks would still be a limiting factor for commercial as well as naval vessels. Thus it is with many of the problems

relating to dependable capacity of the Canal—solve one and two others arise to haunt you. Another example of this interrelation of problems is the fact that the number of lockages a day is the limiting factor in traffic capacity under present operating schedules, but

the limiting factor shifts to Gaillard Cut when there are five or more clear- Cut ships to be handled in one day. While the size of the Locks, lockage

capacity, and the width and depth of the channel are limiting factors in normal

operations, the dependable capacity (or

maximum under all conditions) is further

limited by the overhaul periods which

occur twice every five years. The Canal's capacity during overhaul

periods is being raised about 25 percent by modifications already accomplished at Gatun Locks and being made now at the

Pacific Locks in time for the overhaul

next year. These modifications constitute

the first part of a two-phase plan, ap- proved four years ago by the Board. Phase II of the plan includes further modifications to the Locks to increase the capacity during overhaul periods and to reduce the overhaul periods; provision of passing stations in Gaillard Cut to reduce

the time required in handling clear-Cut

ships; and installation of all-weather navigation equipment to permit uninterrupted operation during times of low visibil- ity in Gaillard Cut.

In addition to these aids in stepping up

the traffic capacity, a program of channel improvement has been charted which

will gradually increase the number of possible transits. If the Canal Company's

budget for the coming fiscal year is approved, work will be started next year on

improving the Paraiso Reach of Gaillard Cut just north of Pedro Miguel Locks. This will improve navigation at that

point by eliminating a rocky ledge which

juts into the Canal on the east side of the channel. Other projects on the long-range pro- gram include the widening of the entire Paraiso Reach to 500 feet; improving the channel alignment at Orchid Island just south of Gatun Locks; and widening and

improving the channel alignment of other

sections of Gaillard Cut—particularly Empire Reach—just north of Culebra

Reach. The latter is a one-and-a-half-mile

section—and the only one of considerable length—which now has a 500-foot bottom

width. The widening of Culebra Reach

was a long-range project begun over 20

years ago which was completed just last year in connection with the Contractors

Hill project. While the widening of the entire Gaillard Cut section to 500 feet would practically eliminate the present and most

immediate problem of clear-Cut ships, marine officials of the Canal and mariners who use the waterway constantly agree

that the whole problem (See page is)
12 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW February 1, 1957

April 15' s Drawing Near Again

But Early Birds Have Paid Taxes

CORDON R

is shown JACKSON, left, has, for several years, been the first Zonian to pay his income tax. Hewith Wendell L. Lindsey, Internal Revenue Service Representative in the Canal Zone. Some Zonians may be dilatory about

filing their income tax returns, but not Gordon R. Jackson. This year, as he has been for the past few years, he was first in line when the Internal Revenue Office at Balboa opened for business January 2. Mr. Jackson doesn't stop at simply

filing his tax returns on the first business day of the year. He also pays his entire tax and winds the business up for another year. Mr. Jackson, who lives at the Tivoli Guest House, is a former Canal employee. He retired as a railroad telegraph oper- ator about 1 1 and a half years ago. During the first 15 days of last month

business was slower at the local tax

offices than it ordinarily is during filing period. In the first two weeks of January, only 300 taxpayers had come to the offices for information or to file their final returns. And, during the same period, Wendell

L. Lindsay, Canal Zone Representative

of the Internal Revenue Service, and his temporary assistant, Morris Goldfarb, answered about 250 telephone inquiries from tax payers. The filing period began this year on January 2 and will continue through Monday, April 15. For Zonians, there is a major change over past procedure. They now file their returns with the In- ternational Operations Division of the

More, Bigger Ships Pose New Problems

(Continued from pag; It) of providing ample and safe transit capacity could only be met by a channel 600 feet wide

at the bottom, with the rocky bottom

50 feet under water instead of the present 42 feet. Even with all these improvements

completed, however, the Panama Canal

Locks will remain 110 feet wide, 12 feet deep, and 1,000 feet long. Those dimensions will continue to constitute a limiting factor until new locks are built or all locks are eliminated. And, either of these alternatives will cost a big hunk of money.

Internal Revenue Service in Washington,

instead of with the District office in Jacksonville, Fla. Tax returns, together with checks, bank drafts, or postal money orders are

to be mailed direct to the International Operations Division in Washington. They

are not to be filed with the local office. Special arrangements have been made

so that personal checks drawn on the

First National City Bank and Chase Manhattan Bank branches in the Canal Zone may be used to pay taxes. Such

checks, however, must be sent only to the International Operations Division and not to any other United States Revenue Office. The W-2 forms, which tell each Canal

Zone Adults Now Seeking

Anti-Polio Inoculations

Canal Zone adults are showing an in- creasing interest in having themselves

vaccinated against polio, according to re- ports reaching the Division of Preventive Medicine and Quarantine. The adult vaccination program, which was started just before the Christmas

holidays, got off to a slow start. Soon

after the New Year, however, grownups

began to appear in larger numbers at the

out-patient clinics at Gorgas and Coco

Solo hosp itals and at the various first-aid stations to request polio inoculations. In one week, late in January, 114

adults reported at the Gorgas Hospital

out-patient clinic for the first of their three Salk vaccine inoculations. The program for adults is separate from the free immunization program for expectant mothers and boys and girls under 20 years of age. The latter pro- gram was started in the Canal Zone about

18 months ago. Adults who take the Salk vaccine are charged a minimum fee for each of the

three inoculations in the series.

employee how much he earned during the past calendar year and how much was

withheld from his pay for income tax, were distributed the middle of January. New line-by-line instruction booklets

will accompany all Federal income tax forms 1040's through the mail. Additional instruction booklets and forms

are available at the local offices, for those who do not receive them by mail.

Offices of the Internal Revenue Service

in the Canal Zone are located at the Balboa Service Center and the Cristobal Post Office. At Balboa, office hours are 8:30 to 5 p. m., Monday through Friday. The Cristobal office is open 9 a. m. to 4 p. m. each Monday.

Zone Hospitals Soon To Begin

On-The-Job Training Program

The first group of hospital attendants

at the Canal Zone's two hospitals this month will begin a training program

to enable them to improve the quality and quantity of hospital patient care. The first group will consist of about 12

of the men and women whose duties at the hospitals bring them into daily contact with the patients. Other groups, of about the same size, will follow the first until all qualified personnel to be sel- ected through a screening test have

spent several months learning, and in the

case of oldtimers, improving their knowledge of, the principles of patient care. The classes will be conducted by Mrs. Ara S. Norris, of Balboa, a member of the Gorgas Hospital Staff. Mrs. Norris

is a graduate of Bradley University and

took her nurse's training at Baptist Memorial Hospital in Memphis, Tenn. She

served in the Army Nurse Corps during World War II and has had considerable experience in both supervisory and teaching work. She will follow a program planned by

a committee composed of Maj. Robert

Hughes, GorgasHospital Training Officer;

Miss Beatrice Simonis, Director of Nurses at Gorgas Hospital; Miss Florence Edbrooke, Director of Nurses at Coco

Solo Hospital; and William Brown, Assistant to the Health Director. The trainees will spend about 40 hours,

at the rate of four hours a week, in formal

class work. During the remainder of the calendar year they will be given on-the- ward training. Throughout the training period they

will be taught the "whys" as well as the "hows" of such duties as bed-making,

care of wards, pre- and post-operative

care, the care of seriously ill patients, and relations with patients and patients'

families. The training will not be specialized. One of its objectives is to have a corps

of trained personnel who can be shifted from one ward to another when the need

arises. While the hospital attendants will be taught to relieve registered nurses of non-technical duties, they will not be

qualified as either practical or registered

nurses. One of the major points to be

stressed is the limitations of a non-technical assistant.
February 1, 1957 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW 13

Students In Zone's Latin American Schools

Begin Long Dry-Season Vacation February 6

School books are being stowed away

and baseball gloves and roller skates are coming out of the closets this week. Approximately 4,000 boys and girls who

attend the Canal Zone's Latin American

schools are getting ready for their long vacation which starts next Wednesday

and lasts until May 6. At the two Latin American high schools

six students are putting final touches on

the commencement addresses they will give Wednesday night. The baccalaureate services on Sunday and the graduation exercises on Wednesday will be the

final events of the year for trie high school students. Paraiso High School seniors, 1 12 strong,

will attend baccalaureate services at 3

p. m. Sunday at the Paraiso Theater. The Rev. John Kennedy, CM., will be

the speaker. The Rainbow City baccalaureate service will be held in the school gymnasium, beginning at 5 p. m. The

Rev. Samuel Walden of the Ebenezer

Methodist Church will be the Atlantic

side speaker.

184 To Graduate

This year, 184 students will be grad- uated from the two high schools, 22 more

than the total of last year's graduating

classes. Paraiso High School seniors will receive their diplomas at the Paraiso Theater during exercises which will start at 8 p. m. This group started their school year at La Boca, but transferred to th 1 new Paraiso High School in June. Commencement exercises for the 72 Rainbow City High School seniors will begin at 8 p. m. Wednesday and will be

held in the school gymnasium. Three

seniors will deliver the commencement

speeches at each high school. Wednesday marks the conclusion of the second year of all-Spanish teaching

in the Latin American schools. A major

event of the year was the exhaustive

evaluation of the Latin American schools, conducted by three prominent Panamanian educators. While there were no major changes in curriculum or teaching methods during

the school year, there were a number of physical improvements, with more being planned for the coming year. School Improvements

During the past year, Rainbow City High School was completely repainted,

inside and out. The exterior of the high

school shop was repainted and a special unit for junior high school classes added

to the building. The old wooden annex

which was used by the Rainbow City

Junior High School was demolished.

Porte-cocheres were built at the Rainbow

City elementary school, the gymnasium

at Rainbow City and the Santa Cruz

School. A former storage building at Paraiso was converted into an attractive school

building, at a cost of $125,000. The Paraiso Junior High School was repainted and an annex, containing dressing room

and showers, was constructed at the Paraiso gymnasium. The La Boca elementary school was moved into the former

high school building. During the coming year, a new music room is to be added to the Paraiso High

School and two classrooms and a woodshop will be built at the Santa Cruz School -making shop facilities available for the

first time at this school. Protective sprinkler systems are being added at Santa Cruz, and at the Rainbow City elementary and

high school buildings. The playing field area at Paraiso is being enlarged. For the first time in many years, the Division of Schools will not conduct a Summer Institute for its Latin American

teachers during the long vacation period. Instead, the teachers have been urged to attend the summer term at the University

of Panama.

While the teachers are in classes at the University, the students will have an

opportunity to take part in an extensive vacation athletic program. The program

starts February 11 and continues through May 1 at the four major Latin American

towns. It will include Softball, tennis, swimming, archery, table tennis, volleyball, and weight lifting, all supervised by

the Physical Education and Athletics Branch of the Schools Division. Swimming classes for elementary school child- ren will be given at the Rainbow Citv

Pool.

Zone-Owned Motor Vehicles

Now Undergoing Inspection

( rver one-third of the motor vehicles owned by Company-Government personnel had undergone their annual examination at Motor Transportation Division garages during the first three weeks of

last month. At the close of business January IS, about 1,500 of the approxi- mately 4,000 vehicles subject to inspection had been checked.

Vehicles in which defects were dis- covered, such as improperly operating

brakes, non-functioning horns or lights, or defective steering gear, were refused

the inspection certificate until these defects had been repaired. This year the percentage of cars rejected on the first inspection was lower than last year. Canal Zone traffic regulations require that all motor vehicles owned in the Canal Zone must be inspected each year. Cars entitled to Post passes are inspected by the Armed Forces. Inspection hours, at the Motor Transportation Division garages at Ancon and

Cristobal, are: 9 to 11 a. m., and noon

to 6 p. m., Mondays through Fridays.

Half-Buried Relics

LONG FORGOTTEN" RELICS of the French construction days were discovered in the jungle near Gamboa recently by J. D. Tate, Assistant Chief of the Aids to Navigation Section, who is shown at the

right examining two wheels from an old French dump car. The wheels, which evidently came off a dump car similar to the four seen above, had been

discarded and forgotten so long ago that trees have grown partially around them. The cars and the wheels were found by Mr. Tate north of the former

construction town of Bas Obispo, in a location which

is now between the Gamboa highway and the Canal but which was at one time a spoil area for the Bas

Obispo excavation work. Apparently the cars had

been shoved down a spur track, which still exists, and forgotten. The track rails are intact although

the wooden ties have long since rotted away. Frcm

markings on the wheels, the cars were manufactured

in 1884 and 1887. With the exception of one side, which probably was constructed of wood and has

disappeared, the cars are in a remarkably good state

of preservation.
14 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW February 1, 1957

FEBRUARY SAILINGS

December 75 through January 75

Employees who were promoted or transferred between December 15 and January

15 are listed below. Within-grade promotions are not reported. ADMINISTRATIVE BRANCH

John B. Coffey, from Head. Composing

Section, to Group Chief, Printing Press, Printing Plant. Gloria A. Shelton, from Interpreter (Sten- ography), Internal Security Office, to Translator (File Clerk). Records Section. CIVIL AFFAIRS BUREAU

Thomas J. Egger, from Customs Guard

to Customs Inspector. Customs Division. Donald D. Austin, Alfred J. Benton, Ralph Dugan, Jr., D. Robert La Porta, from Policeman to Policeman and Motorcycle Officer. Mrs. Sylvia S. Kietzman, from Substitute Teacher to Elementary School Teacher,

Division of Schools. Joaquin E. Cruz, from Translator (Typing), Administrative Branch, to Window

Clerk. Postal Division. OFFICE OF THE COMPTROLLER

Mrs. Hilda E. Wickens, from Cash Ac- counting Clerk, Commissary Division, to Accounting Clerk, Agents Accounts Branch. ENGINEERING AND CONSTRUCTION BUREAU

Mrs. Lucille M. Fulop, from Clerk-Sten- ographer to Clerk (Stenography), Office of Director. Mrs. Kathryn S. Gregory, from Clerk- Typist to Dictating Machine Transcriber, Engineering Division. Allen K. Miller, from Electrical Engineer

to Electrical Engineer ( Distribution System). Engineering Division. Robert E. L. Brown, from Supervisory

Electrical Engineer to Supervisory Electrical Engineer (Generation and Transmission)

Engineering Division.

I. Franklin Mcllhenny, Macon W. Foscue, from Supervisory Electrical Engineer

to Supervisory Electrical Engineer (General), Engineering Division. Mrs. Evella C. Wright, from Clerk-Typist

to Clerk (Typing), Surveys Branch.

Charles W. Brown, from Supervisory

Storekeeper (General), Atlantic Locks, to Administrative Assistant (Typing), Power

Conversion Project. Frederick B. Hill, Jr., from "Telephone

Installer-Maintainer to Automatic Tele- phone Communication Equipment Maintained Electrical Division. George V. Kirkland, from Pumping Plant

Operator, Maintenance Division, to Construction Inspector (General), Contract and

Inspection Division. OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR-PRESIDENT

Mrs. Virginia D. Cunningham, from Clerk

(Typing), Administrative Branch, to Statistical Clerk, Exe utive Planning Staff. HEALTH BUREAU

Mrs. Kathrine T. Purdy, Clerk Stenographer, from Wage and Classification Division [o ( torgas I [ospital. Wilma Hidalgo, from Stenographer, Administrative Branch, to Clerk-Stenographer, Gorga I [ospital.

\1 VRINE BUREAU

Merrel E. Sinclair, from Guard, Locks

Securitj Branch, to Towing Locomotive

i Operator, Pacific Locks. Robert Webb, from Sto kman I oreman, Commissai Divi ion, to I iuard, Locks Se- curity Branch. John H. Caldwell, from Marine Mainte- nam e Foi eman, I M V to Signalman, Navigat ion Division. Franklin W. Allie, Edgar S. Carlson, from Towboat Master, to Pilot-in-Training, \a\ igation I >r ision. Christopher C. Bennett, from In pei toi

II in Inspector I, Elevators and ('rants. Industrial I >i vision. Walter G. Brown, from Inspector II to

ind < hi Meters. Industrial Divi Ernest A. Angermuller, from Tank Tester

II to! ank : n< pector I. Industrial I >i\ ision. John R. Bruland, from lank Tester II to Boilermaker, Industrial Division. Mrs. Melba M. Heintz, from ( a h V

counting Clerk, Commissary Division, to Accounting Clerk, Industrial Division. Kyle C. Andress, from Shipwright. Industrial Division, to Towing Locomotive Operator, Pacific Locks.

Burris J. Rice, from Window Clerk. Postal Division, to Supervisory Storekeeper

(General), Atlantic Locks. Roscoe C. Crump, Howard L. Clarke, Jr., from Rigger and Diver to Locomotive Crane

Rigger Operator and Diver, Industrial Division. Edward B. Frampton, Roy L. Rinehart, from Rigger to Locomotive Crane-Rigger

Operator, Industrial Division. PERSONNEL BUREAU

Mrs. Manuelita 0. O'Sullivan, from

Clerk-Stenographer to Disability Relief

Officer, Employment and Utilization Division. Jo Ann A. Fischer, from Clerk-Stenog- rapher to Secretary (Stenography). Office

of the Director. Mrs. Carolyn J. Henry, from Clerk-Typist to Clerk (Typing), Office of the Director. OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

Francis F. Sulley, from Attorney, Office

of the General Counsel, to Assistant Secretary and Attorney, Office of the Secretary, Panama Canal Company. SUPPLY AND EMPLOYEE SERVICE BUREAU

Mary N. Orr, from Secretary (Steno- graphy) to Clerical Assistant (Stenography).

Office of the Director. Cuthbert C. Rowe, from Manager, Camp

Bierd Service Center, Service Center Division, to District Commissary Assistant, Commissary Division. Sylvester D. Callender, from Manager,

Pacific Service Center, Service Center Division, to District Commissary Assistant, Commissary Division. Gaspar G. de Paredes, Stockman Fore- man, from Commissary Division to Division

of Storehouses. Joseph L. H. Demers, from Supply Cataloging Supervisor (General) to Supen isory Storage Office, Division of Storehouses. Edwin F. Rigby, from Supervisory Stor- age Officer to Supervisory Storage Officer (General), Division of Storehouses. James O. DesLondes, from Supervisory Supply Officer (General), to Supply Cataloging Supervisor, Division of Storehouses. TRANSPORTATION AND TERMINALS BUREAU

John H. Allen, Cliff Sanders, Roscoe S. Burgess, Ross E. Pase, Daulton C. Cypert, George H. Egger, from Inspector I to In- spector Carman Wood antl Steel, Railroad

Division. Donald A. Hause, from Docks Mechanic

II to Docks Mechanic III, Terminals Division. Norman E. J. Demers, from Administrative Officer to Assistant to Transport, it ion and Terminals Director, Office of Director. RETIREMENTS

Retirement certificates were presented

the end of January to the following employees who are listed alphabetically, toge1 1 in with their birthplai es, positions, length

ol Canal service, and future homes. Mrs. Lillian F. Farr, New Jetsey; Commissary Supervisor, Commissary Division;

it) years, 6 months, 25 days; College Station, Tex. Manuel Lopez, New York ; I i m It Driver, Motor Transportation Division; 20 years, 10 months. 7 days; Panama

Paul T. Roth, New York; Housing Management Aid, Housing and (.rounds Division; 9 years, I month, 12 days; Tampa,

Fla.Edward Scott, South Wales; Shipwright, Dredging Division; 15 years, II months, 11 days; Florida Harold D. Sutherland, Michigan; type

writet Repairman, Industrial Division; 25 months, 10 days; Chappaqua, N.Y.

From Cristobal

Cristobal February 6 Ancon February 16

Cristobal __ February 23 From New York

Ancon February 8

Cristobal. _. February 15 Ancon .. February 26

Southbound ships which leave New York Fridays

are in Haiti the following Tuesday. Those wlu'eh leave New York Tuesdays are in Haiti on Saturday. Northbound the ships are in Haiti two days after clearing Cristobal; Monday lor those which sailed Saturday, and Friday for those which cleared Cris- tobal Wednesday. ANNIVERSARIES

To the "Old Sarge," as Homer Vincent Crooks is known in police circles on both

sides of the Isthmus, went the honor of being January's senior employee. He is senior in service by one day to John H. Ward of Gatun Locks and by 23 days to Walter E. Benny, of the Electrical Division, January's other two 35-year men. Born in Island City in the western part

of Oregon, Sergeant Crooks grew up in the farming section of Nebraska —which may

account for the green finger with which he

raises some really fancy roses at his Gavilan Road headquarters in Balboa. He is one of the few Zonians who have

both Army and Navy sen ice. Durinp World War I, he was a corporal in the 2d Coast

Artillery- in the Philippines. During the

early 1920's he was in the Navy; he served aboard the USS Milwaukee as a steam engineer. During the latter part of 1927 he came to the Canal Zone where two brothers —Michael and George —had preceded him, and got a temporary job as a helper in the Mechanical Division.

In January, 28 years ago last month, he

transferred to the Police and Fite Division and has been a member of the Zone's Finest ever since. During his police career he has

served at Ancon, Cocoli, Cristobal, Gamboa, the Gamboa Penitentiary, and now at Balboa where he is a desk officer with occasional duty as a roundsman.

His friends say that he is well-known for one other quality besides his ability to grow

fancy roses. He is completely poker-faced when cracking outrageous jokes or making

horrible puns. They consider him one of the funniest men they know.

All of John H. Ward's service has been

with the Locks Division. Born in Southport. Conn., he came to the Canal Zone in March 1923, as a towing locomotive operator. He has served as control house operator, supervisor, and lockmaster, and has been electrical supervisor, now known as General Electrical Foreman, since September 1953. He is stationed at Gatun, Walter E. Benny, who was born in Brooklyn, worked as a helper in the Mechanical

Division during summer vacations when he was a boy. After he completed his apprenticeship as a machinist, he worked with the Mechanical Division until 1936 when he

transferred for about two years to the Locks

Division, lie lias been with the Electrical Division since 1938 and is now Mechanical

Supervisor in the Power Branch.

.to YEARS

Alva H. Cooke, first, alphabetically, ol January's 30-yeat employees, has been in s.ilcu «ork lor the last 12 years. He is now

SafetJ [nspei lor in the Office of the Engineering and Construction Director. Born

in Hampton, Va., he came to the Canal Zone to join the stall of the former Bureau

of Clubs and Playgrounds and at tine time was manager of Gamboa Clubhouse,

Both ol the other 30-year men are for- mer Panama Canal apprentices. A native New Yorker, Walter G. Laurie, General Foreman in the Marine Bunkering end of the Terminals Division, worked as a boj with the Commissary Division during sum-
February 1, 1957 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW 15

mer vacations, lie has been in oil-handling work since 1934. Anthony C. Maggiori, who also passed his 30-year anniversary in January, was born

in Panama. He serveil an apprenticeship

as a shiplitter and u.is with the Mechanical

Division until 1950. He is now an Iron- worker-Welder .it Gatun Locks.

25 YEARS

Silver anniversaries were celebrated last month l>y one woman and four men in the (anal organization. Two ol them, James

A. Brooks and Elmer F. Forbes, Jr., have unbroken Canal service. Mr. Brooks, who is Supervisory Cargo

Officer in the Terminals Division, was born

in Syracuse, N. V. Mr. Forbes, who comes

from Coatesville, Pa., is a Motion Picture

Projectionist ; his sole local employer has been the Service Center Division. The other three 25-year employees are, alphabetically: John C. DeYoung, former Canal Zone

policeman and now Gas Plant Foreman for the Industrial Division; Carleton F. Hallett, who has split his career between the Motion

Picture Service and the Fire Division and

is now a F'ire Lieutenant in charge of Gatun

station; and Florence M. Peterson, Time.

Leave, and Payroll Clerk with the Payroll Branch —while her service is not continuous,

it has all been with some phase of the financial part of the Canal job.

20 YEARS

Four of the seven employees who completed 20 years of government service in January are not only native Zonians, but were all born in what is now Gorgas Hospital.In this categorv come: Howard L. Clarke,

Jr., Locomotive Crane Rigger Operator and

Diver, Industrial Division —his Canal ser- vice is unbroken; Rose A. McGuigan, Clerk

in the Accounting Policies and Procedures

Staff—all of her service has been in accounting work; Edward H. Neville, Jr., a one-time

apprentice, now Hydraulic Engineer for the Meteorological and Hydrographic Branch; and David C. Rose, Superintendent of the Finance Branch of the Postal Division. January's other 20-year employees are: William M. Martin, Control House Operator at Miraflores Locks —his service with

the Canal is unbroken; Paul W. Morgan,

General Supervisory Medical X-Ray technician who in 1954 won the first Outstanding rating ever given to a Canal employee; and Elmer B. Stevens, Chief of the Structural Branch of the Engineering Division.

Nine of the 22 employees who had their 15th anniversaries in January have un- broken service in the Canal organization. They are: Russell H. Brubaker, Supervisory Baker

Specialist, Commissary Division; Elwood G.

Bissett, Assistant SupplyOfficer ( Drygoods), Commissary Di\ision; Mrs. Margaret L. Canavaggio, Cargo Control Clerk, Terminals Division; George C. Graffman, Pass- enger Traffic Clerk, Administrative Branch; George S. McCullough, Building and Equip- ment Foreman, Service Center Division; Harry T. Lacy, Towboat Master, Navigation Division; Leroy P. Marsh, Marine

Bunkering Steam Engineer, Terminals Division; and Tomas A. Molleda, Engineering Draftsman. Engineering Division. Other 15-vear employees are: Lester S. Beetle, Diesel Operator-Machinist, Electrical Division; Mrs. Thelma

H. Bull, Statistical Clerk, Executive Plan- ning Staff; Samuel Dubin, Storekeeper, Division of Storehouses; John Fettler, Police Sergeant, Cristobal District; John M.

Graves, Machinist, Gatun Locks; A. B. Hendricks, Rates Analyst, Budget and

Rates Division; Simon B. Jones, Wireman,

Electrical Division; Mrs. Elizabeth A. Jor- gensen, Clerk-Typist, Gorgas Hospital; Frank Koenig, Distribution Clerk, Balboa

Post Office; Edward J. Lucas, Auditor, General Audit Division; Preston E. Minton, Auto Repair Machinist, Motor Transportation Division; Robert J. Roy, Machinist.

Miraflores Locks; Mrs. Adelaide M. Seldon, Accounting Clerk, Fiscal Division; and James R. Shirley, Housing Management

Aid, Housing and Grounds Division.

The School Children Remembered M

CANAL ZONE school children contributed their pennies to build this monument to a truck driver who gave his life 37 years ago to save the lives of three small children and a woman bound for Sunday

School. The accident occurred February 8, 1920. The brakes on an ice truck which Richard T. Perrott was driving that day gave way on the steep

hill of San Pablo Street in Balboa and the truck plunged downhill, headed' directly for the woman

and children. The driver chose to head into a curb rather than run them down. The monument stands at the corner of Balboa Road and San Pablo Street where the accident

occurred. It is decorated each Memorial Day. Brighter Outlook Is Planned

For Gorgas Hospital Patients

A plan to brighten the outlook of patients is being initiated this week at Gorgas Hospital by the use of lighter and more pleasing wall paints. Coco Solo Hospital wards and rooms are already

painted in pastel tones. Four rooms, two each in the men's and women's wards, at Gorgas are being

painted in soft, easy-to-look-at colors to

select, on a practical basis, a color scheme

for all wards and rooms.

Different color combinations are being used in each of the rooms with light tans, greens, and blues, as the test colors. The

same color, but in different shades, will be used in each room. The dark shades will be used on the

ceiling and on the walls behind the beds. The other three walls will be painted in light shades. Furniture Refinished As a further step, all ward and room

furniture is to be refinished in French

gray. This will blend with any of the shades of wall paint being used, and fur- niture of uniform color can be moved

from room to room without disturbing the color harmony.

Aside from presenting a more pleasing appearance for patients, the new paint

colors have been selected from a medical

viewpoint. None of the colors selected

will influence the natural color of the

patients, since some shades of paint can make a well person look ghastly. An extensive repainting program is also planned for the hospital wards and, for

this, an endeavor will be made to get the popular reaction to various color schemes. Four models are being built for display

at various public buildings on the Pacific

side. Each will be painted in a different color combination proposed for adoption. These will be on display some time this month; Health Bureau officials, particularly those at Gorgas Hospital, will wel- come constructive criticism and suggestions. As a further step in improving the mental attitude of patients, the walls of the various wards are to be decorated with large colorful prints and drawings. The redecoration of the hospital has been given considerable attention by

health officials and Governor Potter has

evinced great interest in plans to improve

its appearance.

Alien Cash Relief Check

Distribution Is Changed

Residents of the Atlantic side who re- ceive Alien Cash Relief checks may now

obtain them on paydays from the former

Treasurer's Office in the Cristobal Administration Building. This office will be open on paydays only; its hours will be

8 to 11:30 a. m., and 1 to 4 p. m. Those who do not collect their checks on paydays may obtain them from the

Cristobal Labor Office during regular

office hours. On the Pacific side, the Alien Relief checks will be issued through the post

offices. Those who formerly received

their checks through the Ancon Post

Office will now call for them at Balboa.
16 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW February 1, 1957

Domestic Equipment

Conversion At Gamboa

Will Begin This Month

Work on the conversion of domestic equipment in the town of Gamboa will probably get underway about the middle

of this month, according to present plans

of L. R. Sommer, who holds the contract

for the Central Area Conversion. With the initiation of the work in Gamboa, the conversion of all domestic and industrial frequency-s?nsitive equip- ment in the Canal Zone from 25- to 60-

cycle current moves one more step toward completion. Meanwhile on the Atlantic side, where

the first actual work in the conversion

project took place, conversion of domestic equipment in Rainbow City and of

Employees who are transferred from areas where the conversion of privately-owned frequency-sensitive equipment has been completed, to areas where 25-cycle current is still in use, are requested to discuss with

the Housing Manager in either Bal- boa or Cristobal the availability of 25-cycle equipment, which will be

loaned temporarily, pending conversion of the area in which their new

quarters are located. Employees

transferred from a 60-cycle area to a 25-cycle area at their own request

are required to make their own ar- rangements for the 25-cycle equip- ment.

frequency-sensitive equipment at Coco

Solo Hospital was started last month.

All domestic equipment in Margarita

has now been converted to 60 cycles ex- cept for what engineers call "odds and

ends," for which the contractor does not

yet have parts. Conversion of equipment

in the Commissary-Service Center unit had not been started when this issue of The Review went to press. In the industrial conversion, the contractor, Sachse International Corp., is still at work in the Industrial Division. Mindi Dairy equipment, which includes milking machines, has been converted and this entire area, including Agua

Clara, Fort Davis, and Gatun Radio, is now operating on 60 cycles. Other developments in the Power Conversion project included the award last month to W. A. Rogers for a contract to furnish and install new pumps and switch- gear and rewiring in the Mount Hope pump plant. The bid on this contract was $247,250; work will be started upon

receipt of materials, probably next summer.Last week, bids were opened for a

12,000-volt tie-line between the Cocoli

Diesel station and the Miraflores substation. When this line is completed the

full capacity of the Cocoli Diesel station

will become available to the power sys- tem. Upon completion of the conversion

of the power system to 60 cycles, this station will become the main standby

station for the Zone, and the Miraflores

Diesel st ii: ;n >\ill be retired from se,'- i.-.-.

PAGES FROM THE

KVS HIST

THIS MONTH

50 Years Ago

The Canal Zone was in a complete state of turmoil in February 1907. As the month began, the Isthmus was seething with reports of the resignation of Theodore P. Shonts as Chairman of the Isth- mian Canal Commission. As the month

ended, Zonians were further shaken by

these headlines in the Star & Herald: "President Rejects All Canal Bids; No New Tenders Wanted. Stevens Tenders His Resignation. Report Neither Denied or Confirmed. May be Suceeded by Army Engineer." The brief cable story under this bank of headlines reported that Chief Engineer John

F. Stevens icould be succeeded by a "Major

Geothals" of the Engineer Corps of the United States Army. (Goethals was so

little known that the "Star & Herald" consistently misspelled his name for the next two weeks.) The newspaper went to the Chief Engineer for confirmation but got no word except a suggestion that the reporter ask Washington. While news of Stevens' resignation was

disquieting, and incomprehensible in view

of his appointment that month as Chair- man of the Commission, the report that

the Canal would not be built by contract came as a considerable relief to the Canal

forces. Earlier in the month the Star &

Herald had reported that a meeting be- tween Mr. Shonts and the joint low bidders, Oliver and Bangs, "apparently

broke up in a row."

This was followed by a report of a break- up in the partnership and that, in turn, by another that Oliver was incorporating

with a number of engineers and contractors under the name of the Panama Canal Company. Its president was John B. McDonald

who had built a New York subway; Oliver was vice president. While all of this was going on in Washington, work on the Isthmus was not

standing still. On February 2, there were

100 trains at work in Culebra Cut, 72 of them hauling dirt. Grading was started

for a track to the dump which would be

"the first practical work" on the Sosa Dam. The big mess tent in Gatun dis- appeared and "Tent Street" went out of being as its residents moved into bachelor or married quarters. 25 Years Ago

The Canal Zone began to feel the cold hand of the great depression, 25 years ago this month. Canal traffic was still decreasing. In February, transits totaled only 358 ocean-going vessels, lowest of the fiscal year. By net tonnage, tanker

traffic was down 32 percent from the pre- vious month; cargo tonnage, 19.3 percent. Employees of tin- Storehouse Division learned that they would have to take <\ l'>- day furlough without pay between February ami tin- end of the fiscal year as a moneysaving measure, and a id percent salary- cut agreed to by railroad workers in the United States u-ax applied to operating fur- sonnet of the Panama Railroad. Local

railroaders began an appeal to Secretary of

War Pat Hurley. Canal officials announced that the Mechanical Division would build a crane- boat to replace the historic old La Valley. This would keep about 150 men busy for a full year and relieve the threat of a

force reduction in that Division. Engineers did some figuring and came up

with this information: The lake which would back up behind Madden Dam, then under construction, would cover approximately 17 square miles, have an 189-mile

perimeter, and contain about 22 million cubic feet of water. The Panama Railroad announced a

special round-trip rate of $30 a $10 re- duction —for transportation of automobiles by rail across the Isthmus. The new rates applied both to employees and

non-employees.

Paving of the Thatcher Highway was well ahead of schedule. In mid-February over half of the highway paving was completed. A new code of laws for the Canal Zone was occupying the attention of Congress.

It would replace the existing code which Governor Harry Burgess described as a "hodge-podge." Four efficiency experts from the Bureau

of Efficiency in Washington arrived February 24 to make a six-month general survey

of Canal departments and divisions. Their

chief, Herbert D. Brown, was due in March for a shorter stay. 10 Years Ago

The Board of Consultants for the Isthmian Canal Studies, composed of eminent engineers in several different

fields, met for a week at Diablo Heights, going over the work progress to date. Among the reports they heard was one from a party of 19 who had spent 17 days

in the Darien jungle, making surveys along

the proposed Caledonia route. Soon after the meeting two Zonians, James E. Reeves

of the Special Engineering Division, and

Capt David M. McLaren, Pacific side pilot, were appointed to go and see how the Suez Canal worked. The SS Cristobal, again under the Pan- ama Line flag, made her first trip to the Isthmus after the war. She had been in the Army Transport Service. A small outbreak of murine typhus in Panama City, believed to have been intro- duced in a shipment of oats from South America, led to a ruling that all grain and

cereal ships must be fumigated before they could be unloaded at Balboa or Cristobal. Liberalized sick and leave regulations

for "Silver" employees became effective February 1. Tourist trips were resumed through Gaillard Cut for the first time since the war. The first party was a group of Standard Oil Company executives. One Year Ago

A unified payroll for the Canal organization became a reality when the first paychecks under the new system were

delivered. Previously, employees on the U. S. rolls were paid one week, local-rate employees the next.
Febiuary 1, 1957 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW 17 STATISTICS ON CANAL TRAFFIC

For the purpose of comparison between pre-war and post-war traffic through the Panama Canal, statistics for the fiscal year 1938 are used in this section, as being more nearly normal for peace time than those for 1939. RECENT UPSWING FAILS TO BRING CANAL TRAFFIC

TO MARK SET DURING FIRST SIX MONTHS LAST YEAR

More Paid In Tolls

Than In Fiscal 1956

Despite Fewer Ships

Despite the fact that all previous rec- ords for the numb?r of large ocean-going commercial vessels were broken during

the month of December, the total number

of transits for the first six months of the current fiscal year was slightly lower than

the comparable period in fiscal year 1956. The difference of 11 in the total for the six-month period can be attributed

to the low traffic of the first quarter of the fiscal year. Traffic began an upward

swing in October, when 53 more ships

transited the Canal than during the pre- vious month; dropped again in November, and then rose sharply in December

when 751 commercial vessels of 300 tons

or over went from ocean to ocean via the Panama Canal. As a result of this sharp

increase, the transits for the second quarter of 1957 were 10 more than for the second quarter of the preceding fiscal year. Tolls Higher Than 1956 Although the number of ocean-going commercial transits was less during the

first six months of 1957 than during the

first six months of 1956, tolls collected

in the first two quarters of the current year exceeded those for the first six months of fiscal 1956 by almost $200,000. Round figures for the two six-month per- iods were: Julv through December, fiscal 1957: $18,182,000; July through December, fiscal 1956, $17,995,000. The increase in tolls was attributed to the increase in size of the ships using the Panama Canal, particularly tankers. In the Atlantic to Pacific trade, mineral

oils retained the top spot in the tonnage

of commodities. Coal and coke shipments were again in second place; shipments of this commodity, however, totaled over

300,000 tons more for the second quarter

of this fiscal year than for the second

quarter of fiscal 1956. This was due to increased shipments of coal and coke from the U. S. east coast to the Far East,

particularly Japan. Scrap Metal The most marked change in commodity

shipments was seen in comparative figures

for scrap metal. During the second quarter of the present fiscal year a total of 404,163 long tons of scrap went through

the Canal from Atlantic to Pacific, compared with only 74,302 tons during the comparative period of fiscal 1956. In the Pacific to Atlantic trade, ores again occupied top position on the list of 15 leading commodities. Wheat ship- ments, however, moved into second place, for the second quarter this year, from

fifth place during the second quarter of the last fiscal year. There was a drop in the amount of

MONTHLY COMMERCIAL TRAFFIC AND TOLLS

Vessels of 300 tons net or over By fiscal years

Month Transits

Tolls

(In thousands of dollars)

July

1957669

653 646

699

054

1956

727 676 686

70')

627

1938

457

505 444

461 435

1957 SU154

2,888

2,861

3,083

2,876

1956

S3, 247

2,980

3,053

5,065

2,706

1938

$2,030,

2,195

1,936

1,981

1,893

September

November

December . _ _ 751 658

664

681

712

439 444

436

3,420 1. 'Ml

2,844

3,008

1 ,845

1,838

1,787

January

March.. 506 3,068 2,016

April.. 692 487 3,021 1,961 May 1 703 674

465 445

3,210 1,887

3,008 1,801 Totals for first 6 months

of fiscal vear. 4.072 4,083 2.741 $18,182 $17,995 $11,880

8,209 5,524 $36,154 $23,170 CANAL TRANSITS — COMMERCIAL AND U. S. GOVERNMENT

Second Onarter, Fiscal Years

1957 1956 1>J3S Atlantic

to

Pacific

Pacific to Atlantic Total Total

1.994

Total

Commercial Vessels: Ocean-going . 1,080 1,024 2,104 1,335

123 102 225 188 236

Total commercial 1,203

3443

1,126

17

74

2,329

51

117

2,497

2,182

63

1,571 **U. S. Government vessels, ocean-

*Small . . .... . 87

2,332 Total commercial and l". £. 1,280 1,217 *Vessels under 300 net tons or 500 displacement tons. "Vessels on which tolls are credited. Prior to July 1, 1951, Government-operated

ships transited free.

mineral oils shipped from Pacific to Atlantic; decreases were also shown in the amount of lumber, canned food products, bananas, and coffee moving in this di- rection. In addition to the sharp increase in wheat shipments, other commodities

showing an increased flow included sugar,

nitrates, refrigerated food products, metals, pulpwood, and copra. The United States flag continued to

fly over more vessels using the Panama

Canal than any other national emblem,

although the number of U. S. -registered ships was down to 452 during the second

quarter of the present fiscal year from 528

during the second quarter of fiscal 1956. British ships, which customarily occupy

the number two position on the list of ships by nationalities, totaled 322 for the second quarter this fiscal year, 28 more

than for the comparable quarter in 1956. The most marked increase by registry was in Liberian flag vessels; 172 for the second quarter this fiscal year against 93

for the similar period in fiscal 1956. Other nationalities showing an increase included: Chile, China, Costa Rica, Finland, Germany, Greece, Honduras, Italy, Japan, and the Netherlands. Fewer Colombian, Danish, Ecuadorean, French, Nicaraguan, Norwegian, and Panamanian flags were seen this past quarter than

during the second quarter of 1956, al- though in no case was the decrease a large one.
18 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW February 1, 1957 New President Liner,

Ex-"Panama," Saluted

During Canal Transit

With the insignia of the American Pres- ident Lines beginning to take shape on

her newly blue-painted stack, but still bearing her old name on her bow, the former SS Panama went through the Canal last month as her former colleagues

in the Panama Canal service whistled

salutes. The transit of the former Panama

Liner on her commercial trip through

the Canal was marked by a constant

series of whistled greetings from all of the Canal's floating equipment. The

noise as she came into Balboa harbor, where she tied up briefly for minor repairs, was almost deafening for a short

time. The Panama was sold recently to the American President Lines and will run under the name of the President Hoover. She will supplement the other APL ships on the trans-Pacific run out of San Francisco. As the Panama, the ship ran from 1939

to 1941 for the Panama Railroad. In

1941 she was transferred to the Army

Transport Service, under the name of Panama until she was reconverted for use

as a transport and renamed the James

Parker in honor of Brig. Gen. James

Parker, a graduate of West Point with

the Class of 1876. During the first part of World War II she called frequently at Cristobal and in

Zone's Arbor Day

OVER 4,000 TREES and shrubs have been set out throughout the Canal Zone as part cf an overall re- beautifieation program. Above, John W. Purvis of the Housing and Grounds Division, directs a planting.

March 1942, went through the Canal to Australia and New Zealand ports. After one round-trip in this service she returned

to Charleston where she was assigned to the south Atlantic run. Some of her wartime trips took her as far as South Africa. Later she tan between the United States and the Atlantic theater. In the early part of 1946 she was converted for carrying military dependents,

and made several runs in this service. She was returned to the Panama Railroad

in May 1946.

Improvement, Efficiency Program

Is Started For Panama Railroad

Canal Commercial Traffic by Nationality of Vessels

(Continued from page 1) next year, a

completion of the track coding system

begun several years ago, replacement of motor-car engines, and the purchase of 60 box cars in the future years. The track coding of the Panama Rail- road is being done under a system de- veloped several years ago by Robert S. Wood, Signal Supervisor. In "track

coding," the rails are used in operation

of the signal system, rather than the more expensive cable system. The extent to which economies can be

effected by personnel reductions, train schedule changes, and other suggestions

is now being determined by studies being conducted jointly by the Transportation and Terminals Director, the Office of the Comptroller, and the Executive Planning

Staff. This study will also include means

of increasing railroad volume, rate changes, and related subjects. The general revitalization program for the Panama Railroad, which has been

showing steadily climbing losses for the past three years, will be complicated by

changes which are required under the 1955 Treaty. Commitments under the Treaty provide for the withdrawal of rail- road service from the terminal cities of Panama and Colon and the transfer of those properties to the Republic of Panama.. When this is done, new passenger and freight-handling facilities will be re- quired in the Canal Zone. These terminal facilities will include passenger sheds near the boundary line

in Ancon and in Cristobal, and a freight house in Ancon. It is tentatively planned

to convert the Tivoli Commissary, closed

last month, for use as a freight depot.
February 1, 1957 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW 19

Locks At Miraflores

Now Being Altered

To Increase Capacity

Maintenance Division forces are nearing completion of a project to increase the capacity of Miraflores Locks during

overhaul periods similar to the work done two years ago at Gatun Locks.

After they finish at Miraflores, the

construction forces will be moved to Pedro Miguel Locks to complete the work there in time for the five-year over- haul of the Pacific Locks, scheduled for the dry season in 1958. No date has been

scheduled for beginning the job at Pedro

Miguel, although it probably will be

scheduled some time in April. The work consists of alterations to the

locks which will permit the center wall

culverts to be emptied and overhauled

with both chambers in service, and the use of double culverts when one set of lock chambers is under overhaul. In the

past, the center wall culverts were emptied throughout the overhaul when either set of chambers was unwatered. Part Of Plan The plan is known as Phase 1 of a plan

to increase the dependable capacity of the Canal. It was given a thorough test

last year when the Gatun Locks were

overhauled; it was estimated that the lockage capacity there was increased by more than 25 percent during the overhaul

period. The work at Miraflores consists of re- moving the chain fender machinery at the two intermediate gates on the upper

chamber; sinking three elevator shafts and two pump shafts through the concrete center wall; and installing three ele- vators and pumps required to empty the

big 18-foot culvert. The shafts at Miraflores are 68 feet deep; about 20 feet at the bottom is through reinforced concrete. About two weeks ago it became neces- sary to unwater the center wall culvert

prior to the break-through of the shafts into the culvert. Since that time, Miraflores Locks has been on single culvert operation and that will continue for about three or four more weeks until this phase of the work is completed. Bottom Openings Sealed Meanwhile, work has been in progress on sealing the openings at the bottom of each of the lock chambers at Miraflores. These openings were formerly used to re- move the cylindrical valve parts during

overhaul. They will no longer be needed

as all valves and parts will be removed

through the new shafts sunk from the top

of the lock walls. The Locks Division placed bulkheads

over the bottom openings and they are now being sealed off by concrete. After these two phases of the work

have been completed, Miraflores Locks

will resume regular operations and the Maintenance Division will finish the other work, such as placing the grillwork in the

shafts. The entire job is scheduled for completion about the end of March. Coordinated Work

In accomplishing the work at Miraflores, the coordinated efforts of the Maintenance, Dredging, and Locks DivTRAFFIC MOVEMENT OVER MAIN TRADE ROUTES

The following table shows the number of transits of large, commercial vessels (300 net tons or over) segregated into eight main trade routes:

United States Intercoastal Kast Coast ol I . S. and South \merica.

East Coast of ('. S. and Central America

East Coast of U. S. and Far East

I'. S.-Canada East Coast and Australasia Europe and West Coast of U. S.-Canada. Europe and South America Europe and Australasia

All other routes -

Total Traffic

Second Quarter, Fiscal Years

1957 1956

138 165

521 525 80 136 369 301 47 38

217 186 213 177

119 100 400 366

1938

311 124

3 13942

252

14238

284

Principal commodities shipped through the Canal

(All figures in long tons) ATLANTIC TO PACIFIC

Commodity

Mineral oils Coal and coke Manufactures of iron and steel Scrap metal Phosphates Soy Beans

Metals, various Rice Paper and paper products Cotton

Sulphur Machinery

Ores, various Sugar

Bauxite

All othersTotal

Second Quarter, Fiscal Years

1957

1,144,271 981,576

625,501 404,163

322,068

236,887

161,535 147,698

114,648 90,189

84,908

81,511

81,401 80,197

75,860

1,333,872

5,966,285

1956

1,029,210 670,042 548,070

74,302 343,172

265,073

30,078

97,739

115,671 44,528

132,137

76,151

11,241 196,424 66,853

1,453,840

5,154,531

1938

287,537

37,108

479,661

126,267

71,763 307

118,833

1,759 94,572

18,155 101,599 40,773

23,125 971

883,970

2,286,400

PACIFIC TO ATLANTIC

Commodity

Ores, various Wheat

Lumber

Sugar Canned food products

Nitrate

Metals, various Mineral oils Bananas

Refrigerated food products (except fresh fruit) Barley Copra

Cotton

Pulp

Coffee

All othersTotal

Second Quarter, Fiscal Years

1957

1,562,168 791,600

706,532 346,545 339,139

286,947

260,621 218,234

197,992

193,671 122,042

88,901 71,997 69,158

67,868 939,303

1956

1,353,674 284,240

779,287 237,237

353,191 274,284

199,605 468,503

227,245

168,019 193,528

74,329

70,689

57,692

76,457 823,530

6,262,718 5,641,510 4,384,841

1938

524,191 217,658

671,973

302,617 303,166

306,890

179,591 665,884

4,911 64,079

57,310

33,454

32,369

108,884 33,884 877,980

isions have been necessary to expedite

the work and avoid interference with normal transit operations. The Dredging Division has furnished

the 250-ton floating crane Hercules for the heavy lifts, and much of the Locks

Division equipment is being used, in addition to the bulkheading being done by

the Locks personnel. Most of the work

has been scheduled during the late shifts to eliminate interference with shipping. The Maintenance Division has been

using the Miraflores Bridge for handling equipment and materials. This is ex- pected to result in considerable savings. Concrete for the caissons being sunk in the shafts and broken concrete, earth, and other debris are being handled from

the center wall to the bridge. This work

is being done during the late hours at

night when ships are not in transit and when vehicular traffic on the bridge is at a minimum.

Three similar shafts are to be sunk at Pedro Miguel Locks, two of which will be used for culvert pumps and the third

for an elevator. One of these will be the chain well fender at the intermediate

gates. These fenders were rarely used and the chain fenders were removed several years ago. When the work at Pedro Miguel Locks

is completed, everything will be in readiness for the use of the Phase 1 plan during the 1958 overhaul. The metal plugs used to seal off the center wall lateral culverts at Gatun last year will be moved

to the Pacific side during the coming

overhaul, since they are interchangeable

for all three sets of locks.
20 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW February 1, 1957 SHIPS and SHIPPING

A NEW CUSTOMER for the Panama Canal last month was the Italian Line's Allesandro Yalta, above. She is the first of three fast new ships to go on the service between the Mediterranean and U. S. West

Coast ports. TRANSITS BY OCEAN-GOING AGENCY OFFICERS

VESSELS IN DECEMBER A reshuffle of the management person- 1956 1955 nei f the Panama Agencies Company

Commercial. . 751 658 was completed during January affecting U. S. Government.. 10 8 the offices on both sides of the Isthmus.

R. L. Rinder, who has been Manager of Total.. 761 666 the Panama Agencies in Cristobal for the TOLLS* past few years, was appointed Assistant Commercial $3,424,592 $2,947,237 Vice President of the Grace Line in New

U. S. Government. 46,718 26,997 York. He was succeeded by F. X. Zei- metz, formerly Assistant Manager in Total... $3,471,310 $2,974,234 Panama. P. J. Secaras, formerly Assist-

* Includes tolls on all vessels, ocean-going and small. ant Manager of Panama Agencies in Cris- = tobal, was appointed Assistant Manager The MS Allesandro Volta, first of the of the Grace Line office in Santiago, Chile. Italian Line's three new fast ships being Roger R. Dougherty, formerly with the placed on the direct Pacific Coast-Med- Grace Line Office in New York, arrived iterranean service, arrived in Cristobal in on the Isthmus to take up his new duties January on her maiden voyage and was as Assistant Manager of the Panama

greeted by shipping men and Canal em- Agencies in Cristobal succeeding Mr. Se- ployees who were invited on board for caras, and John Reynolds, another eman inspection trip. The ship docked in ployee from the New York office, arrived Cristobal to unload cargo and made the during the month to take over the ac- Canal transit shortly after en route to counting duties in the Panama City San Francisco. office. Derek Langman, formerly with The Allesandro Volta will be followed C. B. Fenton and Company in Cristobal, by the MS Antonio Paeinotti due in Cris- has transferred to the Cristobal office of tobal the end of February, and the MS Panama Agencies.

Galileo Ferraris, due here early in April, prominent VISITORS

The three vessels formerly under French prominent visitors to the Isthmus this registry were built in 19o3-54 and were kend wi)1 be Ear, and Countess

fitbd out recently m Genoa shipyards for J(witt who are arrjvi ag a rs their new service. Each has a gross ton- aboard ^ Pacific ^ tfavi jj on ^f/,°

f 'innn°

nSVa fTi SP /

Company's Reina del Mar from Liver- 16K knots 50,000 cub.c feet of space for refrigerated cargo, and 68,00(1 cubic feet

(/ fhe ^ ^ dock [n ^^ §&tarte morning, make the Canal tranof tank space for liquid bulk cargoes ^ ^^[n g^ R wi]] ^ Sun_ Accommodations are available for 12 d for Wpst Coagt of South Ami, rican passengers. I he itinerary of the vessels no«to

will include regular calls at 23 ports in P

T

' . T

... . . , , the Mediterranean, Central America, and ^ord Jow.tt is a prominent barn iter the Pacific Coast of the United States and has held a number of important posts and Canada British Government. He was The Italian Line introduced the first successively Solitor General, Paymaster

direct service from Pacific Coast to Med- ?

enera1

,- ^^ *I

.lnls

T

t f*lth '' U

,

t

1

1l

' ,rtfo1 "' iterranean ports via ths Panama Canal durl

ng ^"rld ^ar

J

1 :. UJ

ht' d thl ' l" )st in 1925. Prior to World War II, the Line ° f *«* J**a*"

B

(* National ^f1106 had five fast combination passenger-cargo

fr° m 1°44 *? 1M5 and was Lord Chanvessels built especially for this trade, f^

J

rom lfl4?. to mi- £ *?d ^dy

After the loss of three 'vessels during the Jow,tt are

Jmakin|

a s

.°V thf Ammc' an

war, the Italian Line has maintained the crulsc aboard the Reina del Mar- service since 1948 with Liberty ships NEW STATENDAM

purchased from the U. S. Government. The Holland America Line's new StatZonians To Find Old Friends

On Panama Line's Two Ships

Well before they leave on their vacations in the United States, most employees begin to inquire as to the principal

officers on the Panama Line ship on which they are to travel. Some go so far as to change their vacation plans slightly to travel on a partic- ular ship because of past friendships with crew members developed on the six-day sea voyages. Employees planning a trip soon will be

pleased to know that they will encounter

old friends and veteran officers of the SS Ancon and SS Cristobal. Relatively few changes in top personnel have been made as a result of the sale of the SS

Panama. The principal officers of the Cristobal now are: Captain William J. Steffens, Master; N. A. Nielsen, Chief Officer; William Schwamm, Chief Steward; and

William Westfall, Chief Purser. Master of the Ancon is Captain F. S. Gorman, and serving with him are Charles L. Foley, First Officer and for- merly Master of the Panama; Malcolm

Gatheral, Chief Engineer; George McKnight, Chief Steward; and Stanley

Bain, Chief Purser. Russell T. Downs, Purser on Panama

Line ships for many years, made his last voyage to the Isthmus late last month

aboard the Ancon. He was to leave the

service upon the ship's return to New

York, with Mr. Bain succeeding him.

endam, the fourth to carry the famous name since 1898, will arrive in Cristobal March 3 on her maiden cruise. Built re- cently in Holland, the Stalendam is of approximately 23,000 gross tons and has

a cruising speed of 19 knots. She is air conditioned throughout. Tentative plans have been made for the

vessel to make a three-month world cruise next year from New York to Brazil, South and East Africa, Ceylon, Malaya, Saigon, Indonesia and the Philippires, Hong

Kong, Japan, Hawaii, and San Francisco, returning to New York via the Panama

Canal. Local agents are the Pacific Steam

Navigation Company. NEW NYK SHIPS

The Nippon Yusen Kaisha Line which now maintains a weekly service through

the Panama Canal from Japan, Pacific Coast, and New York, will shortly add two new fast flag cargo liners to this run. The two ships are the Suruga Maru, due

here in March, and the Settsu Main, due

shortly after. Named after medieval Japanese provinces, the vessels arc 9,400

gross tons, have accommodations for 12 passengers, and a top speed of approxi- mately 20 knots. They are handled here by Norton Lilly. GOING PLACES

The Makora, a 19-ton British yawl, made the Canal transit last week en route from Falmouth, to Auckland, New Zealand. Manned by a crew of two men and two women, the little vessel made the trip across the Atlantic in 45 days, visiting the Canary Islands, the West Indies, and Curacao. She was locked through Miraflores together with the cruise ship Lcilani.