Gift ofthe Panama Canal Museum

'f'1'l-J97-{p

Vol. 4, No. 7 BALBOA HEIGHTS, CANAL ZONE, FEBRUARY 5, 1954 5 cents

GOETHALS MEMORIAL WILL BE DEDICATED APRIL 1

AS HIGHLIGHT OF CANAL'S FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY

But, Think Of The Budget! Board Authorizes

Special Ship Fares

For C.Z. Oldtimers

April 1, forty-seventh anniversary of the date on which

Maj. Gen. George W. Goethals

took charge of the building of

the Panama Canal, has been

selected as the date for the dedication of the 56-foot marble shaft erected to his memory at the foot of the Administration

Building steps in Balboa.

Selection of this date by the Goethals

Memorial Commission has been an- nounced by Gov. John S. Seybold, member of the Commission, who has been

requested by Ralph Budd, Chairman, to develop plans for the dedication. The date, April 1, has additional

significance in the history of the Canal

and the life of General Goethals. It is the 40th anniversary of the establishment

of the permanent organization for the operation of the waterway and Colonel Goethals taking office as the first Canal

governor. Plans for the dedication are still in the formative stage, but Governor Seybold

has announced that a program will be

arranged in keeping with the international

role the Panama Canal plays in world

affairs. Details of the dedicatory services

will be announced later. Special Round-Trip Rates Of special interest to the "oldtimers"

of the Canal organization is the invitation being extended to those of the "Goethals Era" to visit the Canal Zone and participate in the ceremonies. A special roundtrip rate of $120 for minimum accommodations from New York to the Zone on

the Panama Line has been authorized by

the Panama Canal Company's Board of Directors. This special rate will be

offered on a space available basis in order

of the receipt of formal valid applications

at the New York office of the Panama

Line on or after February 15, 1954. This

rate will apply only to annuitants with

service with the L C. C. or Canal between

April 1, 1907, and January 10, 1917,

inclusive, and to their wives or husbands

when accompanying the annuitants. The

special rate will be good on two sailings

southbound and two northbound to give

those attending the ceremonies additional time to visit old friends and scenes of

their labors of 40 years ago.

Sailing dates of the Panama Line

vessels southbound on which the special rate will be effective are (See page S)

THE TYPICAL ZOXIAN, by his own testimony, is not only skating close to the financial edge

he's already over it. According to the answers compiled in the Booz, .\llen and Hamilton survey, he has

3.8 members in his family—the dog doesn't count—spends $1,331 for food and $707 for taxes a yeai-. How Do Zonians Work And Play ?

This Is What They Have To Say

An interesting and illuminating picture

of what Panama Canal employees look

like when dissected and reassembled col- lectively has been presented in the now

locally-famous Booz, Allen, and Hamilton

report. Undoubtedly, to the average employee

and to many others, the composite picture

of how he works, lives, eats, plays, as well as what he spends and what he spends it

for, was surprising in many respects. The Canal employee, collectively speaking, likes the work he is doing but three- fourths of him would prefer to live in the United States and two-thirds of him

would be willing to work for less gross pay in the States than he is now getting.

These and many other illuminating

facts were revealed in the Booz, Allen,

and Hamilton report on its recent "Sur- vey of Extra Compensation." The survey

of the management consultant firm was made at the direction of Congress at its

first session in considering Canal appropriations for this fiscal year. The report was presented to the Panama Canal Company Board of Directors in December

and was then transmitted, with recom- mendations of the Board, to the appropriate Congressional Committees.

Both the report and recoimnendations

of the Board were made public by

Governor Seybold soon after they were

transmitted to Congress. No document

within the memory of Canal employees

has produced such widespread interest in the Canal Zone. One of the most significant facts devel- oped by the consultants, through questionnaires and personal interviews, was

the understandably patriotic desire of the average Zonian to go "back home" to the United States. "When he moves to the Zone," the re- port stated, "an employee cuts oflf himself,

his wife, and his children from day-to-day

contact with close relatives, from friends, from community life as he knew it in the

States, and from job opportunities.

"The Zone employee is, in fact, an

exile, and the typical Zone employee

definitely feels like one." How He Feels Some of the facts about himself which

emerged in the report, now familiarly

known to most Zonians as "Boo-Zallen," were undoubtedly a surprise to him

although he may have suspected that he felt—and that his friends {See page U)
THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW February 5, 1954

Councilmen Discuss

Local-Rate Housing,

Civic Improvements

The status of local-rate housing, its assignment, and its niaint'jnance, were

outlined by Gov. John S. S?ybold in the second regular meeting with representatives of the newly-form?d bcal-rate civic councils. Also highlighting the January canfer- ence was the discussion of a wide range of community-improvement measures being

accomplished as a result of subjects

presented at the previaus meeting.

In answer to questions submitted on

future developments in some of the local- rate towns, Governor Seybold informed

the conferees that at the present time no

further local-rate housing is contemplated. As for assignments to quarters, the Governor continued, the Panama Canal

Company has constructed quarters at a considerable expenditure and is expected

to utilize such quarters to the benefit of the employees and the Company. It must be recognized, he explained, that all other Canal Zone functions are secondary

to tho.se of moving ships from one side of the Isthmus to the other. Assignment

of permanent quarters, therefore, must be based first, upon the primary type of work in which the employee is engaged,

and, secondly, if there is a shortage of housing, seniority within those groups

doing primary type of work, the Governor

said. Employees whose jobs are directly

concerned with the operation of the Canal

itself, then those engaged in primary type

of work such as utilities —water, electricity -and other key positions necessarily have preference for housing assignment over those who may work elsewhere. Housing By Job

When the employing unit is transferred from one location to another its employees

will be given prior consideration for employment in the new location and prior consideration for housing, if the job is of primary importance. Such an employee,

however, cannot be guaranteed immediate

assignment to quarters in the new location. The individual's right to a job is not affected, but the right to housing

must be determined, if there is a shortage,

in accordance with the primary type of work of the employee. As far as maintenance of quarters is concerned, the Governor said, the newer

quarters will be maintained. There are no funds for continued maintenance on

the older quarters which are near the end

of their economical life and these quarters can be utilized only so long as the struc- tures are safe for the individual occupants.

This led to a question from Marcus

Grannum of the La Boca Civic Council

about quarters for those families being

evacuated from unsafe old houses. Wilson H. Crook, Acting Community Services

Director, said they would be offered quarters in Santa Cruz. Much of the conference was devoted to answers to questions submitted at the previous conference or before the January

meeting. Highlights of these, by communities, were: Paraiso : In answer to a Civic Council

request, a 20-mile speed limit will be set

for several streets and {See page v,)

Apprentice-Learner Committee

MEMBERS of the .\pprentice-Learnef Committee, who recommend policy to the administration

for this group, met last month at Balboa Heights.

In the usual order, seated, are: F. H. Lerchen, Maintenance Engineer; E. k. Doolan, Personnel

Director; Capt. Robert H. Emerick, USNR, Chief, Industrial Division, and Chairman of the Committee;

Sigurd E. Esser, .Schools Superintendent; and ]. Bartley Smith, P^lectrical Engineer. Standing are: Philip T. Green, Industrial Training Coordinator who is adviser to the Committee, and L. B. Biirnham, acting Training Officer and the Committee's secretary. Sole School Cafeteria Provides

Lunch For 450 Students Daily

'Teen-agers, Miss Sophie McLimans

says, are hungrier than anybody. She

should know. As Supervisor of the

Cristobal High School Cafeteria, the only

cafeteria in the Canal Zone School system,

she provides lunch five days a week to an

average of 4.50 students whose capacity never fails to amaze her. And frequently students take advantage of the 7 a. m.

opening to have breakfast. Although the entire 450 are served luncheon in 40 minutes, the speed with

which they consume the food does not mean that they do not have good meals. Each day's menu is studied with an eye

to calories and vitamins and is properly

balanced. There is always one hot meat dishchili and rice, for an instance—soup, a

choice of vegetables, hot or cold sandwiches, salad and fruit, pie or cake. Candy, ice cream, and sodas may also be

purchased. For 25 cents a student can have a hamburger sandwich, a glass of milk, and a piece of cake. For 45 cents he can have a very substantial luncheon

A cup of soup, chili and rice, milk, and

ice cream. The meals are all planned and the

supplies ordered under the supervision of Miss McLimans who has a degree in home economics from the University of Wyoming and studied dietetics at Oregon

State College. She has been cafeteria supervisor for the past 13 years. Miss McLimans has a paid staff of five who prepare the meals and a class of students in cafeteria management who

help with the planning and serving, and

are given credit toward graduation for so

doing.

Hours Staggered

The Cristobal High School cafeteria seats 235 lunchers at a time. Since 1949

the lunch hours have been staggered and now junior high school students lunch at

11 o'clock and senior high school pupils an hour later. Students from the ele- mentary school who do not go home for lunch ai'e served at 11:30 o'clock. This year, according to school officials, the large number of students using bus

transportation—and not going home at noon —is again crowding the cafeteria. On rainy days the cafeteria is almost

entirely filled during the junior high

school period and frequently during the

12 o'clock period senior high school students have to wait for a table. The cafeteria is a nonprofit organization

which sells food as near cost as possible.

It is not subsidized by the schools. During

the past school year the total volume of business was $15,912.

There has been no cafeteria in the school at Balboa for some time. Some

years ago a lunchroom was operated in the building which is now the Balboa

Junior High School. Pacific side stu- dents are now served luncheon at the Balboa Clubhouse, but this is not satis- factory during the rainy season and plans

are being considered for a cafeteria in one

of the school buildings.

Clubhouses To Be Renamed

Service Centers April First

In order to identify more appropriately

the Canal's Clubhouses, these units will be renamed Employee Service Centers. At the same time the Clubhouse Division

of the Community Services Bureau will become the Employee Service Division. The change will be made April 1. The change has been under consideration for some time and a suggestion for a name more properly descriptive of the

services offered by the clubhouse units was presented at the "Shirtsleeve Conference" last October. The name Employee Service Centers is also expected to eliminate confusion which

frequently arises between Canal "club- houses" and Armed Forces service units such as Officers Clubs and to be helpful in preventing misunderstanding among visi- tors and at Congressional hearings when

questions often have arisen concerning

the provision of "clubhouses" for Canal

employees.
February 5, 1954 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW

Three Main Points

Under Discussion

At U.S. Conference

The future of Pedro Miguel, ambulance

service in the Canal Zone, and financing

of recreation in the Zone were the three major topics discussed at length during

the January "Shirtsleeve Conference" for U. S.-Rate Civic Councils. The meeting

with the Civic Council representatives was conducted by Acting Governor H. 0. Paxson in the absence of Governor

Seybold who was in Washington.

Pedro Miguel, Colonel Paxson told the conference, will continue as a Canal Zone community until about March 31, 1955, as present plans stand. By that date adequate housing for the Pacific side will be available through completion of construction in New Corozal, Diablo Heights,

and Balboa Flats. After March 31 of next year, the housing in Pedro Miguel is to be demolished and will not be replaced, although a few of the permanent buildings, such as the police and fire stations, may continue in use for a while at least. The decision on Pedro Miguel was

attributed to two factors: The high

maintenance costs on the old housing in the town and the ever-present possibility of action to increase the capacity of the Canal. Should such plans call for a "Terminal Lake" above Miraflores Locks,

the site of Pedro Miguel would be

inundated.

Meanwhile, Colonel Paxson said, resi- dents of Pedro Miguel will be permitted

to move from one apartment to another

in the same building, instead of being "frozen" as they are at present. He told the conferees that seniority would govern any moves within the town of Pedro

Miguel and all moves would be at employees' expense. Ambulance Service Charles F. Hammond, of the Pedro

Miguel Council, introduced the matter of ambulance service when he reported in some detail on several cases when an ambulance had reported to emergency

calls without a doctor although medical

attention had been requested in each case

or when, so he said, a doctor refused to answer the call. Colonel Paxson asked what the conferees wanted done but warned them

that because of the shortage of doctors it would be impossible to have a doctor on

all ambulance calls. \\Tien C. W. Chase,

of the Pacific Council, pointed out that

interns make such calls in the States, E. A. Doolan, Personnel Director, said that there were not enough interns here

for such service. Gorgas Hospital is limited by a nationally-set quota in the number it can employ.

Jack Rice, of the Cristobal-Margarita

Council, asked if anything could be done

about Atlantic siders having to call the Medical Center at Gorgas Hospital for an ambulance; in such cases the call is relayed to the Atlantic side and an ambulance dispatched from Colon Hospital. After considerable round table discussion. Colonel Paxson told the conference

that he would immediately look into the

following matters: That of having the

civilian equivalent of a hospital medical

New Ambassador Arrives

V. S. ,\MBASyAlJUH Seldcn C'hapin and Governor Seybold meet on shipboard as the Ambassador

arrives to take over his new duties here as representative of the United States Government to the Repubhc of Panama.

corpsman accompany the ambulance;

simplification of procedure in calls from

the Atlantic side for an ambulance, and

assignment of a Gorgas doctor to quarters

in Pedro Miguel.

Recreation Facilities The question of recreation was pre- sented as a byproduct of a series of questions on clubhouse financing pre- sented by Mr. Chase. These questions, Colonel Paxson said, were still being

studied and would be answered later after a personal conference with Mr.

Chase. The Acting Governor commented that

recreational activities are now conducted

under the sponsorship of the Schools

Division and are financed through funds

appropriated by Congress for the Canal Zone Government and subsequently paid

back by the Panama Canal Company.

He asked the council representatives to give further thought to the possibility of having all community recreation activities transferred to the clubhouse division and become part of the overall Company

program. This is related to Mr. Chase's

proposal.

Some legislative steps would probably

have to be taken before such a transfer could be efltected, he said.

Action Taken

During the meeting. Colonel Paxson

reported on actions taken by the administration on previously submitted matters. Asphalt tile floors will be laid in all type 336 and 339 (two-family, two-story concrete) quarters except in closets, storage, and maids' rooms. The change will be made by Company {See page 15)

Goethals Memorial Will Be Dedicated April 1

(Cimtinu'd from page I) March 16 and 23. Return bookings may be made for ships

sailing from Cristobal to New York on

April 2 or 9. The dedication of the Goethals Memorial will be one of the principal functions which will take place in 1954 which marks

the 50th anniversary of the beginning of the Panama Canal work as a United

States Government enterprise . The 50th

anniversary date is next May 4. It was

on that date in 1904 when the historic transfer of the French Canal Company's

rights and properties occured in Panama.

50th Anniversary Of Canal

In connection with the observance of the Republic of Panama's 50th anniver- sary of independence and the 50th

anniversary of the beginning of the Canal

work, it is planned to place on display

locally the "Fifty Years of Friendship"

exhibit recently shown at the Library of Congress. The exhibit will be placed on

display next month and will be open to the public until after the date of the Goethals Memorial dedication. The "Fifty Years of Friendship"

exhibit, prepared by the United States Information Service, consists of a large group of photographs illustrating the close

ties of friendship and cooperation which

have existed between the United States and

Panama during the 50 years of the latter's existence as an independent nation. The exhibition, consisting of more than

130 photographs mounted on aluminum

panels, has been on display during the past month in the Library of Congress.
THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW February 5, 1954

FOR YOUR INTEREST AND

I w

GUIDANCE

LJ. PREVENTION

WORKING DAZE

"•^1

^'..^

"Well, the boss said to drop

everything!"

National Safefy Council

Safety Shoes

The problem to get the man in the field to wear safety shoes has always been a

difficult one for both management and

the safety engineer. The problem is not one entirely among our local-rate employees, but it has been just as difficult to persuade the U. S.-rate employees to

realize that a toe is worth more than the

price of a pair of safety shoes. Any shoe, in this climate to be comfortable, must be light and cool. An old oxford dress shoe, which has stretched to the shape of the foot, is all of this. Furthermore, it appears to be more economical to get a few more months wear out of

it around the job, but-IT DOES NOT

HONOR ROLL

Bureau Award For BEST RECORD

DECEMBER

CIVIL AFFAIRS BUREAU

AWARDS THIS CALENDAR YEAR

Civil Affairs 5 Health 4 Community Services 2 Engineering and Construction 2 Marine

Transportation and Terminals

Supply and Service

Division Award For NO DISABLING INJURIES

DECEMBER

ELECTRICAL DIVISION

DIVISION OF SANITATION

AWARDS THIS CALENDAR YEAR

Sanitation 11 Electrical 8 Industrial 7 Motor Transportation 7 Dredging f> Grounds Maintenance 5 Hospitalization and Clinics 5 Railroad 5 Clubhouse 4 Maintenance 4 Storehouses 3 Navigation 1 Locks *• Commissary

Terminals "

CANAL ZONE GOVERNMENT-PANAMA

CANAL COMPANY SAFETY BOARD

The Canal Zone Government-Panama Canal Company Safety Board is now

composed of the following members:

G. 0. Kellar, Chairman, Safety Branch

H. L. Anderson, Recorder, representing Executive Secretary

E. L. Farlovv, representing Civil Affairs Director

E. Zemer, representing Community Services Director

R. H. Greene, representing Comptroller

M. F. Millard, representing Engineering and Construction Director

J. P. Smith, representing Health* Director

L. W. Chambers, representing Marine Director

L. B. Burnham, representing Personnel Director

E. E. Trout, representing Supply and Service Director

W. F. Russon, representing Transportation and Terminals Director

PROTECT THE FOOT FROM IN- JURY.

The usual objections heard against the wearing of safety shoes by the U. S.-rate employees have been the price and style. Among the local-rate employees price has been the main consideration, because many need the money for food more than

for clothing.

Well—let us say that most of these

objections are being eliminated. A new

safety shoe, soon to be on sale at the commissaries, is lighter in weight, neater

looking, and will be more comparable in price to the ordinary work shoe. It is hoped that the lower price will appeal to the local-rate employees. Then for those employees whose fancy requires a sportier

shoe, these are also available in styles and

prices that compare favorably to any

good dress or sport oxford.

This problem of getting all workers in

field and shop to wear safety shoes should now be easier with the price nearer to every employee's pocketbook and with

styles to appeal to his ego, whichever he

feels is the most important. In those jobs where injury to the feet

is a possible hazard, the importance of wearing safety shoes cannot be too

strongly emphasized and every means

should be taken to persuade the employees

to buy and wear these safety shoes.

THE PAYROLL DEDUCTION PLAN

The Payroll Deduction Plan for purchase

of eyeglasses, recently approved by the

Office of the Comptroller, has been

amended to include repairs to eyeglasses,

where the amount is in excess of four

dollars.

DECEMBER 1953

Civil Affairs Bureau

Supply and Service Bureau

Health Bureau

C. Z. Govt.—Panama Canal Co ( Best Year)

Marine Bureau

Community Services Bureau

C. Z. Govt.—Panama Canal Co. ( This Month)

Engineering and Construction Bureau

Transportation and Terminals Bureau

Disabling Injuries per 1,000,000 Man-Hours Worked

( Frequency Rale)

h\

1 1

-.

_..j W 1 w-^

n HH^H

17 HHHL:-, j. . ._. .'.*.".".'."Xm

1? fffflffM

14

'''y.'Sy.^

Is tl

wfcr;^<?A 3

IC £C 3C 40

Number of DisaWing Injuries _ 34 Man-Hours Worked 2,490,822 LEGEND

I I .Amount Better Than Canal Zone Government—Panama Canal Company Best Year

I I Amount Worse Than Canal Zone Government—Panama Canal Company Best Year

['.'/.'.•y^}^ Accumiiliitive Fref|ni'nry Tiate This Year
February 5, 1954 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW

THESE GATE LEAVES of the guard gates at Gatun Locks are to be lifted off then pintl, i, lur lli., first and last time early next week. They are to be replaced by a permanent vehicular crossmg. The

four bridge spans will be swung with existing machinery which moves the gates. This picture was taken

during the last overhaul of Gatun Locks and shows men scaling the gates preparatory to repainting.

Gatun Sea Gates To Be Replaced By Swing-Span Bridge

Fast work and clock-like schedules will be required for the accomplishment of a

series of unusual operations involved in the replacement of the lower guard, or sea

gates, at Gatun Locks by a swing-span

bridge.

The existing sea gates which have been

used as a vehicular crossing at Gatun for many years will be removed and replaced

by four structural steel spans to swing on

the existing gate pintles. The spans will be moved by the machinery now used for swinging the gate leaves. The work is to be done by Maintenance

Division forces in coordination with the Locks and Dredging Divisions. Work on

the project, other than design and engineering, has been in progress for the past

few weeks and the assembly of the struc- tural steel framework and the steel grid

decking for the four spans has been

completed.

These are at the site and are ready to be lifted into place as soon as the sea gates

are removed and the necessary work is completed for hinging the new span.

Installed for Dams

The replacement of the guard gates by

a permanent type vehicular crossing has been under consideration for several years. Like a cannon never fired in wartime, the guard gates have never been used for the purpose for which they were built. They

are mitered toward the sea and were

installed primarily for use as dams when

the lock chambers are unwatered for overhaul. However, suitable pumping equipment for emptying the locks was not

obtained until after 1940 and floating caissons have always been used as dams

during overhaul periods. Actual work of the installation will begin next Sunday when the craneboat

Atlas is moved to Gatun Locks to transfer three towing locomotives from the center

to the sidewall. This is being done to expedite shipping while one side of the locks is closed to traffic. The schedule

calls for the stoppage of traffic in one lane

for two 6-day periods during which time

the lock chambers will be partially

unwatered.

Traffic through the west chamber will be stopped next Sunday and it is planned

to have this set of locks back in service the following Saturday. The lock chambers on the east side will be closed the next day and norm.al ship traffic will be resumed six days later. Ferry Service

Vehicular traffic over the guard gates

will be interrupted beginning Sunday for a period of five weeks. The schedule

provides for the new vehicular crossing to be ready for use by about March 17. During this time a limited ferry service

will be provided by two LCM's shuttling

between the public dock near Gatun

Railroad Station and a point on the west Gatun Dam near the abandoned Army

pier. This service will be provided seven days a week on an hourly basis from

7 o'clock in the morning until 4:30 o'clock

in the afternoon. This ferry service is being provided

primarily for residents and others con- ducting business west of the Canal. Only

cars licensed in the Republic of Panama

will be permitted to use the service with- out special authorization. The removal of the sea gates at Gatun

will be accomplished in a manner never

before attempted. When the Canal

Lock gates are removed during overhaul

periods, the gate leaves, weighing as much

as 730 tons, are lifted by big hydraulic

jacks. The guard gates, weighing nearly 400 tons, have never been removed.

They will be partially floated off their

pintles. After their removal the gate

leaves will be towed into the lock chambers, tipped over on their flat sides, and

towed to an anchorage in Gatun Lake. No final decision has been reached on

their ultimate disposition. Leaves Tipped

The floating of the gate leaves will be done by first lowering the water in the

lock chambers and sealing the port holes which are used for automatic ballasting

of all lock gates. After this is done the water in the chambers will be gradually

raised to float the gate leaves. After

being removed from the pintles the inner compartments can be filled or emptied of water to tip the leaves over on their sides. The plan, in some respects, is similar

to that used several years ago in tipping the big floating docks on their sides for transit of the Canal. This was done by means of flooding one side of a floating

dry dock until the bottom was vertical. This unusual operation was necessary

since the docks were too wide to go through the Locks right side up. After the gate leaves have been

removed, the existing pintles will be over- hauled. The girder spans will be hinged

by cups which will fit over manganese

pintles at the bottom and by the steel yokes at the top which now hold the guard gates in place.

Four-Span Crossing

The new vehicular crossing will consist

of four spans. Each of these will be a

steel grid deck supported by a triangularshaped, open, structural steel frame in- stead of the usual pier which would

support a steel girder bridge. The frame

and deck of each span will weigh only 30

tons, but the big floating crane will be

required to lift them because of the clearances required.

When the spans are in place they will be operated by the existing gate machinery and will fold back into the gate

recesses when the crossing is not in use. The bridge spans will be operated from

the lock control tower. The work to be done by the Maintenance Division will also include some

improvement in the alignment to the

existing approaches to the guard gate

crossing. "Traffic signal lights will be

used for vehicular traffic control. The new vehicular crossing will not be

mitered, but will cross the lock chambers

at right angles. The bridge will have a

nine-foot roadway, sufliciently wide only

for one-way traffic. A pedestrian walk- way on the sea side of the bridge will also be provided similar to the one now in use. Ten Years Ago

In January

Because of the decreasing civilian population, plans were being made to close the Canal Zone commissaries during the middle of the day. The practice of closing the commissaries during the noon hour

had been in effect for many years, but was discontinued three years before due

to public demand.

The road from Tivoli Crossing in Ancon

to Corozo Street Crossing in JSalhoa was

completed and designated Roosevelt Avenue. Work was also started by the Pxihlic Roads

Administration on the Madden Dam

By-Pass.

The Air Terminal building, which is now the Civil Affairs Building, was being

completed at Albrook Field where most

of the commercial airlines were then

based. The new terminal was one of the

first air conditioned buildings on the Isthmus.

The Canal Zone started a campaign to raise $2,000,000 locally as part of the Fourth War Bond Loan. Dances and carnivals were held and there icere noon-time shows held in the Balboa Shops.
THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW February 5, 1954

Canal's Builder Was Partner In Shipping

Firm Which Later Became Boyd Brothers

When Gen. George W. Goethals was

building the Panama Canal he probably

had little idea that someday he would be connected with a firm engaged in the

business of representing ships using that Canal. His name did appear several years

later, however, as one of the members of the board of the Isthmian Service Corporation which later became Goethals,

Wilford and Boyd, Inc., the parent

company of Boyd Brothers, Inc., well known local shipping agents.

Boyd Brothers, which now does a

thriving business handling ships which

transit the Canal as well as promoting a growing tourist office, an insurance business, and the representation in Panama of a number of United States business firms,

is at present headed by Robert J. Boyd,

the surviving brother of the original

partnership. In addition to General Goethals, who

by 1919 had retired from the Army and was living in New York, members of the company were Hugh R. Wilford, onetime

General Agent for the United Fruit Company in Cristobal, and William Y. Boyd, a New York businessman engaged

in import trade in Puerto Rico. Boyd Brothers

The General had little to do with the business after 1922 and by 1925 the two Boyd Brothers, who had been in business together before the war, formed another

partnership with headquarters on the Isthmus.

William, the elder brother, was well known on the Isthmus and was considered an authority on free ports. During World

War I, he served with distinction as a Lieutenant Commander in the United

States Navy and was made a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor by France. He also received two decorations from Italy and was at one time Naval Attache at the United States Embassy in Rio de Janeiro. After World War I he went to Europe on

BIC'iGEST commercial ship ev?r to transit the Panama Canal was the North German Lloyd liner Bremer, shomi above in Pecb'o Miguel locks. She was handled here by Boyd Brothers.

a special mission for the Panama govern- ment in connection with the question of

free ports and bonded warehouses.

Robert Boyd, who has been president

of the company since the death of his brother in 1932, also is a veteran of World War I. He served as a First Lieutenant in the U. S. Army and was

one of the survivors of the S. S. Carolina which was torpedoed by a German sub- marine in June 1918. A graduate of Syracuse University he has lived in Panama for the past 32 years.

Offices Opened

The new agency opened offices in Panama City, Balboa, and Cristobal and was soon handling approximately 50 ships per month. Boyd Brothers were agents

for the Hamburg-Amerika Line, the United American Lines, the Quaker Line, the Dollar Line, and the Osaka Shosen

ROBERT J. BOYD, President of Boyd Brothers, confers with two other officers of the company,

William Y. Boyd II, General Manager, and Mrs. Berta Luthy de Nunez Chavez, Secretary and Treasurer.

Kaisha Line, one of the largest of the growing Japanese shipping firms, as well

as a number of other shipping companies

whose vessels transited regularly.

During this time the large German

merchant fleet was one of the Canal's best customers and Boyd Brothers remained

agents in Balboa and Panama for the Hamburg-Amerika Line even after that company reorganized and opened its own

offices in Cristobal.

In addition to a number of freighters

running from Hamburg to the west coast

of the United States, Chile, and Guatemala, several famous German trans- Atlantic luxury liners made cruises to the Isthmus. Best known of these was the North German Lloyd Vmer Bremeti which

made the Canal transit south in 1939 en route from New York on a round- South America cruise. The Bremen had a gross tonnage of 52,896 tons and was the

largest commercial vessel trj transit the Canal. This record still stands. Murder and Mayhem

Most shipping agents at the Canal

have had their share of murder and mayhem on the high seas but Boyd Brothers

feel they hold a record of some sort with

a double murder and attempt?d suicide which took place one evening in 1937 aboard the S. S. President Lincoln when

she was a few hours out of Balboa en

route to the Orient. Boyd Brothers got District Court ofli- cials out of bed when the ship returned to Balboa in the wee hours of the morning;

a hearing was held, the bodies removed

and the murderer taken to the hospital

wh?re he later recovered and was sent to Gamboa Penitentiary. The ship siiled from Balboa the second time only 12 hours behind schedule. Boyd Brothers represented the Dollar Lin? from 1932 to 1940 when it became

American President Line, and during that time handled an average of six of their pass?nger ships each month. The biggest

job during those years, Mr. Boyd recalls, was the booking of 300 or more Chinese

passengers on each of the Dollar liners en

route to the Orient. The Chinese, who

arrived on the Isthmus from iSie page U)
February 5, 1954 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW

CANAL

_UgU jSud^i^

Official Panama Canal Company Publication

Published Monthly at BALBOA HEIGHTS, CANAL ZONE

Printed by the Printing Plant Mount Hope, Canal Zone

John S. Seybold, Governor-President H. 0. Paxson, Lieutenant Governor

William G. Arey, Jr. Director of Public Relations

J. RuFUS Hardy, Editor

Eleanor H. McIlhenny

Editorial Assistant

SUBSCRIPTION—$1.00 a year SINGLE COPIES -5 cents each On sale at all Panama Canal Clubhouses. Commissaries, and Hotels for 10 days after publication date. SINGLE COPIES BY MAIL—10 cents each BACK COPIES~10 cents each On sale when available, from the Vault

Clerk, Third Floor, .Administration Building, Balboa Heights.

Postal money orders should be made payable to the Treasurer, Panama Canal Company, and mailed to Editor, The Pan.wia

Canal Review, Balboa Heights, C. Z.

Administrative Branch Chief

Retires After Long Service

PETER F. SHRAPNEL

Peter F. Shrapnel, who retired January

.31 as Chief of the Administrative Branch,

is the Man Who Came to Dinner.

He came to the Canal Zone in 1915 to

visit his wife's parents, Mr. and Mrs.

Gerald Bliss, At the time he was manager

of a feed mill in the little New York town

of Sherman, and hfe had every intention

of going back there. _ He is still here. His first Canal Zone job was as a clerk with the then Recei\;ing and Forwarding

Agency.- In 1916 he ti'ansferred to the Record Bureau and has stayed with it, through all its changes, first to the Cor- respondence and Record Division and more recently the Administrative Branch. Mr. and Mrs. Shrapnel expect to make

their future home in California.

OF CURRENT INTEREST

Art Al Fresco

an informal APPRO.^CH to art is demonstrated by a group of third grade studeuts who

study the design being drawn by their art teacher, Mrs. .Jean Anderson Karch, while they sit in the patio

of the Balboa elementary school. Four visiting teachers from Santiago de \'eraguas watch the proceedings with interest.

Flooded streets, damp garages, and

stalled cars in the Balboa Flats area may become a thing of the past after the installation this year of the 6 by 4 foot culvert at the foot of Ancon Hill. The culvert, designed to take flood waters out of the Flats, will run from a point near the Goethals Memorial

around the foot of the hill below the

Administration Building and under the

Panama Railroad tracks to join the

huge 11 by 20 foot Curundu culvert which runs under one end of Albrook

Field runway. The new culvert will intercept Balboa Heights drainage

which now runs down Barnebey and

Carr -Streets and floods the lower end

of Balboa Flats during heavy rains and

high tides. BiJs for the construction of the culvert, which will be 1,600 feet, or one

quarter of a mile long, are now being

advertised and will be opened March 3. The job will take about five or six months to complete.

Ihree Police substations were closed, one was redesignated the Canal Zone Prison for Women and Juveniles, and one was changed

into a hike patrol post on February 1. The substations closed were at Madden

Dam, Gamboa, and Margarita. The Pedro

Miguel Police substation officially became

a prison for women and juveniles, and the Gatun substation is now a lake patrol post. The substation at Madden Dam was

closed entirely, but desk space is being

retained in the building at Margarita for use

of radio and motorcycle patrols working out

of the Cristobal Central Police Station. Police activities in Gamboa now have

headquarters in the Gamboa Clubhouse in space formerly occupied by the Mutual

Benefit .Association.

on the basis of recommendations made

by the Committee which is composed

of the Marine Director as Chairman,

the Engineering and Construction

Director, Executive Secretary, and Superintendent of Schools. The Director

of Secondary Education serves ex

officio as Secretary of the Committee.

The nomination of a principal and

three alternate candidates from the Canal Zone to the United States Naval

Academy at Annapolis will be made

sometime this month bv Governor

John S. Seybold.

Preliminary physical examinations

have already been given to nine appli- cants and written examinations will be

held soon. The candidates include four students

from Balboa high school and four from

Cristobal high school. One application has been received from a Canal

Zone resident presently in school in the United States. The eligible candidates who passed

the qualifying mental and physical

examinations will be interviewed by

the (Committee on Admissions to the

Military and Naval Academies. The

Governor's nominations will be made

!K snack bar where employees working in the Cristobal pier area can buy coffee, cold

drinks, sandwiches, and a few other similar food items, has been opened in a small

building opposite Pier 8 in Cristobal. The snack bar, operated by the Clubhouse

Division, is open seven days a week. Food

sold at the snack bar comes from the

Cristobal Clubhouse. The new installation provides a place where dock workers, especially those who

report early for "check-in" and who do not

leave the pier area until their work is finished, can purchase small food items. The installation of the snack bar was

requested by representatives of Local 900, CIO. as a coiivenience to the large number

of employees working in or near the Cristobal

piers. The first of a Security poster series entitled "Security Guards Freedom's

Door," are being displayed throughout

the Canal Zone. The series is a part of the current Company-Government security education program sponsored by the Internal Security Branch of the Canal Zone

Government. The series will be completed in July, terminating with a

special Independence Day display.

During this period, the Canal Zone

Libraries will display the entire series of posters together with books and

various documents promoting the anti- Communist compaign.

If present plans for conducting a chest X-ray survey are carried out, Canal Zone

Health Bureau officials expect that it will be a continuous operation—like a revolving

belt. The survey, during which all Panama

Canal Company and Canal Zone Govern- ment employees and their dependents will receive regular free chest X-ray examinations, started last month and will continue

indefinitely. Because of the thousands of persons

included in this public health program, and

because the examinations are to be made

regularly, it is expected that bv' the time the

last person has been examined, it will be

time to start all over again.

.At present employees and their dependents are being divided into groups of SO

each, the number which can be X-rayed

each day.
THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW February 5, 1954

YOUR TOWN

l'i:i)l;(l .Mir,['KL lies between a band of hills and the Locks, which appear in this ai'iial

t;raph near the top of the picture. In the cleared space in the center, where the ball dianmnd

located, Chinese merchants had their shops during construction days.

phot,,-

is nuw

Peter Magill it has been for many

years and Peter Magill it will probably

continue to be as long as there is a Pedro

Miguel and Americans here to mispro- nounce its name. It is even spelled "Peter Magill" in some official records. The origin of Pedro Miguel's name is a matter of argument among its residents. Adrien Bouche, who has lived there for many years, grew up on the story that Pedro Miguel was the name of a railroad s?ction foreman. There wasn't m-uch of a town in early railroad days so the stop was known as Pedro Miguel's cabin. Others believe that the town's name is properly San Pedro Miguel—St. Peter Michael—which was the Spanish name

for the river. Certainly an 1867 history

of the raih-oad refers to the San Pedro

Miguel River, "a narrow tidewater tribu- tary of the Rio Grande," which the rail- road crossed on an iron bridge.

Pedro Miguel was off the beaten path

of trans-Isthmian travellers of the Spanish

colonial days. There was probably a fair sized settlement in the general area; during canal construction days ruins of a

large old Spanish church were found not

far from Pedro Miguel. Indian artifacts discovered in Pedro Miguel's hills prove even earlier habitation. French There In 1888 French canal forces started work at Pedro Miguel on January 15, 1888. In May of that year the site, where one lock was to be built, was one-third excavated. Later the New French Canal Company

modified the plans and decided that two

locks would be built at the Pedro Miguel

location. There could not have been much of a sattloment at Pedro Miguel, however, for when the Isthmian Canal Commission

began to take stock in 1904-5 of property

taken over from the French Company it found at Pedro Miguel nine usable

!)uildings and three in such bad condition they were destroyed.

One of the old French buildings became

a police station, another a commissary,

and others were used as quarters. Mr.

Bouche says that one of these old quarters

is still standing on Miraflores Street near

the Boy Scout Shack. He identifies it from its brick underpinnings.

Early in 1905 Chief Engineer John F. Wallace wrote Governor George W. Davis:

"Pedro Miguel is the point, you know,

where the principal line from the east side

of the south end of Culebra Cut joins the main line of the Panama Railroad and I desire to establish here the headquarters

of the men employed in the transportation

and excavating work in this general

vicinity." (The present road to the Cucaracha signal station is a part of the

old railroad bed.)

Kitchens, a messhall, a "hotel," a post

office, and bachelor barracks began to

rise, all west of the present railroad line. The work was considered so urgent that

later that year Governor Davis asked

that "work on Corozal quarters be sus- pended and Pedro Miguel pushed forward.

'

Railroad Center

Although the ICC selected Pedro

Miguel as the site of one set of locks, after a lock-type canal was decided on in 1906,

Pedro Miguel remained primarily a rail- road center. A nine-track railroad yard, a coaling plant and a repair shop were

built that year, and at Pedro Miguel

President Theodore Roosevelt made his

first stop when he toured the construction

line in November 1906. It is pretty

certain that all of Pedro Miguel's 754 resi- dents, 79 of them Americans, turned out

to welcome him.

Most of the construction force lived at

Corozal, if they were Americans, Mr.

Bouche recalls, or at "40-mile Camp"

which was practically part of Pedro

Miguel or at one or another of the nearby

"silver" construction camps if they were

non-Americans. In 1908, however, the Pedro Miguel mess for European laborers was enlarged to accommodate 450 men; it was the largest in the Canal Zone at the

time. In 1912 John 0. Collins described

Pedro Miguel: "Here is an engine house

where as many as 80 locomotives tie up

for the night. One of the most interesting

sights on the Canal is watching these locomotives leave the engine house for

their work in the morning. The first one

leaves about 6:30 a. m. and the last is clear of the yards 10 minutes later." Pedro Miguel was even then becoming

modern. It had had electricity since 1907. In 1908 there were 491 pupils in the Pedro Miguel school; the lone high school student had to travel to Empire for his

classes. A commissary, which served all employees, was approximately where a

large storehouse now stands on the road

to the Boat Club. A volunteer fire company protected the town and a Commission truck garden supplied fresh vegetables. In 1909 there was some excite- ment when a slide in the locks excavation

swallowed up a chicken house and trees belonging to one of the cottages. The

house, left only four feet from the slide, was moved hurriedly.

Firsthand Report

For a description of Pedro Miguel life in the late construction days. The Review

turned to Mrs. Eula J. Ewing, who lived

in Pedro Miguel from 1911 until her

retirement in 1952. For many years she wrote a column of Pedro Miguel events

for the Star & Herald. From her present

home in Romney, W. Va., she wrote: "There was no legitimate Clubhouse in Pedro Miguel before the one from

Gorgona was brought there in 1914, but we did have a social hall which was over

the old messhall. This stood on the old road near what is now the junction of Gaillard Highway and Rio Grande Street. "There our Sunday School was held,

also church services whenever we could

secure a minister which was once every

three or four months. Once or twice a year, a Lyceum Company which was

brought down from the States by the old

SUT. tIEUUGl:; L. C.'U.X, I'olice Commander
February 5, 1954 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW

F^EDRO MIGUBI

MISS DORA ANTILL, School Principal

ICC gave a program here, and here we

also held our dances. "The first Christmas program in Pedro

Miguel was presented here in 1911. Miss

Mildred Greene, sister of J. Wendell Greene (who retired as Treasurer of the Panama Canal Company in 1952), and I trained the children. We trimmed a small orange tree with popcorn strings and

paper chains, lighted it with old-fashioned wax candles and called it our Christmas

tree. "Incinerator Point— it was called that because the incinerator for the disposal of garbage was located on the point of land which jutted out into the water—was down where the SIP quarters on Frog

Alley now stand, facing the lake. "Old Man Campbell, as we used to call him—I believe his name was John—had a chicken farm there and beyond it a nar- row swinging bridge crossed the Pedro

Miguel River to the native huts which

were grouped on the other side. There

dances were held in the evenings to the music of tom-toms. "The area where the Lodge Hall now

stands and the land immediately below it was once a native village, with thatched

roof huts; I remember it was a pleasant

sight in the evening to see the light of

their fires and to hear their voices raised

in plaintive songs. Christmas On Stilts "On Christmas morning, dressed in grotesque costumes, they would stalk through the town on stilts. Some of the

stilts were so tall the people on them could look into upstairs apartments. Later in the day, they drove or led a giant tapir

MKS. JANET BIEN'Z, Restaurant Manager

up to their village where it was killed and

roasted over an open fire and a great

fiesta was held. "The present Boat Club grew out of the old El Kego Club, which met in a thatched roof shed which stood near the present location of the Boat Club. The men selected this spot, isolated as it was,

so that their noise would not annoy resi- dents of the town. Here they enjoyed

their keg of beer and passed the hat to dsfray the cost. Its fame spread until the Boat Club was organized to take care

of the crowd. "Al Meigs was one of the organizers

and perhaps did more for the club than any other man. He was ably assisted by

Jack Reinig, J. C. Ewing, S. B. Bubb,

Adam Mallett, Adam Dorn, Harry Groschup, and many others. "The old police station, which was

brought from Gorgona, stood on the left of Front Street, as you walked from the

railroad station to the clubhouse. In the

early days, a stable for the horses stood

in the rear of the building. The concrete base and the steps leading to the station are all that remain today. "In the early days we made our own

entertainment. We used to put on plays,

give programs, hold dances. There was

the Ladies' Aid Society and the Woman's

Club. We often attended dances at Gorgona and Empire in a labor car hitched to an engine. Some engineer

would volunteer to run the engine there but wouldn't guarantee to bring it back. Perhaps another one who had celebrated

less would make the return trip with us."

After Construction Days

Pedro Miguel Locks were the second

to be started. Concreting there began in September 1909, a week after pouring had

started at Gatun. A little over three years later, Pedro Miguel Lock gates were closed and opened for the first time. The Canal Record reports that gates in the east chamber were first operated

November 16, 1912; they were set in motion by the little son—unnamed—of Congressman John J. Fitzgerald, an

Isthmian visitor. The first lockage, however, was not made until October 24, 1913. As construction ended, plans were made

for the future of Pedro Miguel. In June

1912, a committee appointed to choose

sites for permanent townsites recom- mended that the operating force of the

Pacific Locks should be housed in one

settlement, and chose a location on the

east side of Pedro Miguel Locks. As it was then planned, the town was to house

62 American and 162 alien workers and

their families. Eventually, but only after considerable heated correspondence between the land- scape architect and townsite engineers, a new Pedro Miguel began to take form. The commissary, police station, and club- house were transferred from Gorgona; the

csnter of population shifted from the west

side of the railroad to the east. An old barracks building was converted to quarters for "lady bachelors," because, the Pedro Miguel quartermaster said, "it appears that there will always be at least seven or eight lady bachelors in Pedro

Miguel."

The big house formerly occupied by

W. G. Comber, Superintendent of Dredging at Paraiso, was moved to a site uphill

PAUL KARST, Postmaster

LT. CHARLES F. STEVENS, Fire Station Commander

E. B. \'ERNER, Conamissary Manager

DK. DAVID SENZER, District Physician
10 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW February 5, 1954

from the clubhouse. Its most recent occupant was Truman Hoenke, Pacific Locks Superintendent. Previous occu- pants were the Roy Stockhams, J. C. Myricks, and John G. Claybourns.

New quarters were built along the newly-mado streets; nine houses .were moved to Pedro Miguel from Las Cascadas. A restaurant was opened in the

building which now houses the postoffice, clubhouse luncheonette, and barber shop.

Some years later a dozen cottages and

four two-family houses were brought from

Gaillard and Empire and rebuilt in the swampy area near the lake; it is known to

all old Pedro Miguelites as Frog Alley.

The present fire station was not built until 1932, and the police station, now officially the Canal Zone Prison for Women and

Juveniles, in 1934. Plans For New Town

In 1938 the Pedro Miguel Civic Council, an active group which is just now planning the third annual town fair and is, incidentally, the only council with junior

members, asked for a relocation of the

entire town. For two years they argued

their case and finally, in April 1941, the Governor approved a plan to develop an

area on the west bank of the Pedro

Miguel river. This would involve replacement of 127 pre-1915 quarters.

A few quarters were built to house

people working on Special Improvement

Projects for the locks, but Pearl Harbor

canceled out all plans for a new town. Pedro Miguel took on the look of an armed camp. Barrage ballons flew above

the locks. An anti-dive bomber net

stretched across the canal between the

hills. Its effectiveness was tragically

proved when a low-flying U. S. plane

tangled in the dangling cables and crashed

to the canal bank. Baffles of corrugated

metal enclosed the locks. Smokepots

burned from time to time along the main

streets, too often, housewives complained, on laundry days. r

Air-raid shelters were built in the hills behind the town, one of them near a

neglected old cemetery which, Mrs. Ewing says "did a flourishing business during construction days." Its graves and their markers are again overgrown

with grass. A USO unit was set up in the basement of the Union Church; the women of Pedro Miguel took pride in learning their service friends' birthdays.

There was always a birthday cake for each one and the women saw to it that he was there to enjoy it, even if it meant

going to his colonel to get him a pass. Today Pedro Miguel's future is limited. Present plans call for its discontinuance

as a Canal Zone community by the end of March of next year. The old quarters

there will be torn down and only a few of the permanent buildings such as the police

and fire stations will remain. Eventually

people may say: "There Pedro Miguel

used to hi." Pedro Miguel diehards still like their town, rundown at the heels as it is; of course, -'they would like more modern

housing. A little over a year ago 110

families—out. of 184 employees—petitioned that Pedro Miguel be retained and

rebuilt in its present location. Possibly, Mrs. Ewing expresses what

many of them feel: "I have always loved the town and

have gone over its streets, its homes, and

all they contained again and again in my

memories since I left there."

Leave For Washington

TWO COMPANY-GOVERNMENT employees left last week for Washington where they will attend the V . S. Civil Service Commission's five-month Career Development Program for Administrative

Officers. The present course is the third to be given. .; They are Robert A. Stevens, Salary and Wage Analyst in the Personnel Bureau, left, and Norman

Davison. Supervisory Accountant in the Commissary Division at Mo\mt Hope. Chosen from 10 Canal employees selected to compete for the course, they are the only persons from

outside the continental United States in the current program. A majority of the persons tailing the

course are from Washington, D. C.

VALENTINE'S DAY is just a hop and a

skip around the corner. Gentlemen who want

to stay in favor with their ladies and girls who'd like to delight their boys, come a week

from Sunday, will find just what they ore looking for at the Panama Canal Commissaries.

Old-fashioned girls —and what giil isn't old-fashioned when it comes to Valentine's

Day'i' —should be delighted if her beau

and we do mean beau —presents her with an

old-time valentine, all padded satin or lace,

hearts, and flowers and even sachet. Big as a page from an ordinary-sized book, they come in pretty, plain white boxes,- $1 each. There ore some "For My Sweetheart, " and

others —for the girls who are married to their boys —which say "To My Darling Wife "

LESS EXPENSIVE valentines are also avail- able; they cost five cents and up. There are some for Father, Mother, Sister, Brother, and

other members of the family, as well as the more traditional day's greetings to a best- loved girl or boy. For those who MUST have

them, there are even the so-called humorous and slam valentines. This mention does not

constitute this column's approval for such.

Valentine donors who want something a

bit more substantial than hearts and flowers and a sentimental verse might look at taffetized-cotton tiered petticoats for wear

under bouffant dresses. In black or while, with o perky ribbon bow, they come in small, medium and large; around $4.95 each. MULTI-COLORED golf umbrellas are another idea for a Valentine gift. They are made of cotton, hove eight ribs, a polished

wood handle and a metal tip. Gay and

giddy, they'd do just as well to shade a lady on the beach as well as on a golf course. They sell for $5.15.

Fishing tackle would make a grand Valentine gift for a favorite male, whether he's a

novice or an expert. The Commissaries have

an assortment of rods, reels, and lines in an

assortment of prices. Penn "Senator" reels,

lor tunc, tarpon, sailfish, and marlin, sell for $14 to $23.50. All models have harness

lugs and rod clomps; the manufacturer says the drags, mode from automobile broke

lining, can t burn up. Louis Schmidt of Bal- boa used a Penn "Senator" reel when he boated a 1,000-pound marlin in Panama

Bay, Penn brags.

FISHING LINES, to go on the reels, come in green Primo cuttyhunk, 100 to 500 yards to a tube; in natural color linen cuttyhunk, six 50-yard spools, connected, in a plastic container; or in nylon, four connected spools of 50 yards each. Green Primo cuttyhunk is 90 cents for a 30-pound test, 100-yard spool, up to $19.75 for a 500-yard spool of 150- pound test. Linen cuttyhunk ranges in price from 85 cents to $1 .60 a spool, depending

on the test weight. Nylon line sells from

$1 .1 5 to $1 .40 a spool, again depending on

the test weight.

^ Rods, for use from fishing boats, are $8 to $12.25 each. This last is the ""Kingfish" model, a casting rod for heavy spoon baits. Packed in a handy canvas bog, it has double

cork grips, stainless steel guides, a stainless

steel guarded tip, and a chrome-plated reel

seat. A budding Isaak Walton might get

quite a boot—or even a fish —with a plain, ordinary bamboo pole, |ust the thing for a

string with a hooked worm on the end; 18 to 35 cents each. CLEVER WOMEN who make their own

clothes will like Signature Fabrics, a new line of washable sanforized cotton prints, each

design the creation of on American artist. "Hook and Ladder" for instance shows a

gallant helmeted fireman, a woman perched

atop o burning building, and a hook-andladder, of course. Other prints have such

intriguing names and equally intriguing designs as "Bird in a Box," "Staff of Life," and "On the Hook." They ore 99 cents a

yard, and a yard wide.

Also new in the clothes line, but reodymades this time, is Socony's latest line. For well-tailored v/omen who have worn

Socony's Palm Beach suits, Sacony is now

turning out what it calls ""Pin money poplin

separates, " brilliant-colored, wearable shorts, pedal pushers, halters, and

skirts. They come in standard regulation

sizes, which the Commissary people say is important to know, and run from $3.25 for the short shorts to $4.95 for the skirts. A

new lot of well-designed and colorful straw

or woven gross handbags, some'bvg enough

to hold beach gear, about 50 cents to $1.60

each. BLONDES AND REDHEADS, who swear by Noxzema cream it takes the burn out of sunburn will be interested in Noxiemo's new

greaseless suntan oil, 25 cents a bottle, or

lotion at 49 cents. Noxzema also has two new products for men; A brushless cream shaving lather, 33 cents a jar or 45

cents a tube, and an instant-shaving lather

in a pressurized can. It comes out like animated whipped cream but is much better than whipped cream for removing five o-clock shadow; 63 cents for a tin which holds 6'^

ounces.
February 5, 1954 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW 11

Canal's Builder Was Partner In Shipping Firm Which Later Became Boyd Brothers

{Continued from pag; 6) West Indian

and South American ports, were taking

advantage of the inexpensive Dollar Line

steerage fares to visit their homes in China.

Japanese Comeback

Up to 1940 Boyd Brothers acted as general agents for the Osaka Shosen

Kaisha or OSK Line. They became repre- sentatives for this fu-m again in 1951. Since the war OSK has built approximately 40 fast freight ships now running from

the Far East to New York, Europe, and

the east coast of South America.

Most of these ships are built to carry a few passengers but those operating

betwean Japan and Brazil have been

designed to accommodate as many as 500

persons steerage class. This space is being

used for the transportation of Japanese

farmers and artisans to Brazil. Like most other steamship agents Boyd

Brothers were kept on the hop during the war years. In addition to handling most

of their regular ships as agents for the War Shipping Administration the firm took charge of a fleet of Bernuth Lembcke

tankers which were based in Balboa and

which operated out of here to the South

Pacific with fuel for the U. S. Navy.

Purchase of stores and the hiring of crews were problems but the real headache was

repairs to damaged vessels. They now represent such well known

United States steamship companies as the States Steamship Company, the Pacific- Far East Line, the Coastwise Line, the

Pacific Transport Line, Bernuth Lembcke

Line, Quaker Lme, and the Pacific- Atlantic Steamship Company.

In addition to the OSK Line, their foreign companies include the Mamenic

Line, a Nicaraguan shippmg company

which runs a freighter fleet through the Canal from west coast Central American

ports to New York, Gulf Ports, and

Europe, and the Willy Bruns Steamship

Company, a new German line running

ships to Ecuador from Hamburg.

StaflE Members

William Y. Boyd II, elder son of the

president of the company, became asso- ciated with his father in business in 1950 and now takes charge of boarding operations and other legwork connected with

shipping. He is a veteran of World War

ri having served IS months in Europe as a combat infantryman with the Rainbow

Division. He is a graduate of Yale

University.

He is assisted by two other young men

who are well known locally. They are Ross Newland, son of Kenneth Newland,

former Executive Assistant to the General Manager of the Railroad and Terminals

Division, and Hector Gonzalez, son of Governor Jose Maria Gonzalez of Colon. Mr. Newland is connected with the

Cristobal office while Mr. Gonzalez is head of the Boyd Brothers office in Balboa.

> Robert J. Boyd, Jr., the younger of the two Boyd sons, is now in service with the Air Force at Albrook Field and was

formerly a University of Pennsylvania

student. He will join the organization

upon completion of his enlistment. Secretary and Treasurer of the firm, which now requires the services of nearly 50 employees to run its varied activities,

is Mrs. Berta Luthy de Nunez Chaves.

She has been with the company for the past 20 years.

Long-Time Employee Considers

Passage Money Was Well-Spent

\ JOSEPH EDWIN

Joseph Edwin thinks that the $15 he

spent almost 47 years ago was to good

purpose. That $15 was the cost of his passage aboard the SS Solent from

Grenada to the Canal Zone; for it he got

a place to sleep on the Solent's deck and

meals for seven days.

Now Joseph Edwin is going back to Grenada. After working for almost 47

years in the Canal Zone he will leave with

his wife about February 15 to return to Grenada, a picturesque and mountainous

little island which lies 90 miles north of Trinidad and is the southernmost of the Windward Islands. The Edwins this time

are not paying their own way; they are being repatriated as he has requested.

He does not know how he will find things in the island or whether he will

like living there. But he believes that he

Former Officer Recalls Long

Years In Canal Organization

The knowledge which he gained in 43

years of experience with the Canal organization will always be available to the Panama Canal Company, W. R. Pfizer wrote Governor J. S. Seybold recently. Mr.

Pfizer retired the end of December; at the time of his retirement, he was a Company

vice president and one of its directors. Mr. Pfizer wrote the Governor in answer to a letter of appreciation for his services. He said: "Your gracious letter of December 9, 1953, was presented to me at the testi- monial luncheon given to me by the employees of the New York Office on

board the SS "Cristobal" on the eve of my retirement. I thank you most sin- cerely for your thoughtful expression of appreciation of my services. I do look back on that record with pride and I carry forward many pleasant recollections

of happy associations formed in the course

of my long service. Although I shall keenly miss the personal contact, I am

consoled by the knowledge that I have

acquired many enduring friendships. "I shall always retain my interest in the 'Canal' and its affairs and if the knowledge gained over my long experience

would make my counsel of any value in the future you have only to call on me. "Mrs. Pfizer and I appreciate your good wishes which are most cordially

reciprocated to you, Mrs. Seybold, and

the Panama Canal Company-Canal Zone Government Organization."

should return to his native island. Reminiscing, he told The Panama

Canal Review he would like to say goodbye and thanks. "I'm thankful for my days here," he

said. "I'm thankful for the bosses I worked with. I'm thankful that I'm

going home without scratches." He was working in Grenada with his father, a pipefitter, when he learned of the Panama Canal construction. Work- men were not being recruited in Grenada

at that time, but he thought that the

opportunities in the Canal Zone might be worth the $15 he would have to pay for passage. And $15 was a lot more money

in 1907 that it is today. At Gatun Dam

En route to the Canal Zone, the Solent picked up 300 contract workers from

Barbados and 700 from Martinique. The

day after they arrived here, he had a job on the Gatun spillway, where he was to work for the next five years. He remembers Col. W. L. Sibert, who was in charge

of the Gatun work, and Maj. George M.

Hoffman, his more immediate boss, but

Col. George Goethals was someone whom

he saw only occasionally, "running from

one end to the other." From the spillway he went to work

laying electrical lines along the railroad and then he was transferred to the Cattle Industry, where he built fences and

cleared pastures near Mandinga and Las

Cascadas. He remembers one time when

cattle were being brought through the Canal on barges. Two of them jumped

overboard and swam for shore. For all he knows, their descendents may still be

living there. In 1918 he left the Panama Canal

service to work for the Army on a rock

crusher near Empire. His boss on that

job was Nelson Magner, now Chief of the Maintenance Division's Northern District. Seven years later he returned to the Canal oi-ganization; he has worked

with the Maintenance Division, or its predecessor, the Municipal Engineering

Division, ever since. Logs And Alligators

When Madden Dam was being built, he was a foreman for a gang clearing the area as far as San Juan Viejo, and the

saddles near the dam itself. One of the Americans working at the dam was "that same man Lerchen" who now heads the Maintenance Division. One incident there, Joseph Edwin

remembers well. He had to blast a goodsized log out of the Chilibre River. Wading in, he tied dynamite under it, retreated to the shore and set off the

blast. When the log blew up, so did an

outsize alligator which must have been

lurking near the log all the time. Most of his work for the past 27 years, however, had been at Sosa Hill Quarry.

The shape of the hill had changed a great

deal since he went to work there. Blasting has so eaten it away that even he finds it hard to believe that 27 years ago the side

of the hill was very close to the main

quarry buildings.

He is proud that he is leaving something

of himself behind at the quarry. The

stone and concrete ramp, at the foot of the Sosa Hill rise, is his work. People will remember it, he like to think, as "Joe's

wall." And they probably will.
15 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW February 5, 1954

ANNIVERSARIES

Employees who observed important amiiversarie= during the month of January are

listed alphabetically below. The number of years includes all Government service, with

the Canal or other agencies. Those with continuous service with the Canal are indicated with (*).42 YEARS

Gregor Gramlich, Master, Dipper

Dredge, Dredging Division.

35 YEARS

Dr. Wayne Gilder, Supcrintende^it, Colon Hospital.

30 YEARS

Samuel L. Brown, .\ssistant Port Captain, Cristobal. George D. Suddaby, Master, Pipe Line

Suction Dredge, Dredging Division.

25 YEARS

Charles W. Balser, .Accounting Clerk, Comptroller's Office. Lawrence Barca, Machi;iist, Commissarv Division. Henry R. Chenevart, Fleet Machi.iist, Navigation Division. *Efrain Escalona, Pharmacist, Gorgas

Hospital.

Beverly C. Halliday, Supervisory Pro- curement Officer, Commissary Division. James Marshall, Chief. Postal, Cus- toms and Immigratio)! Division. Jack C. Randall, Housing Manager,

Cristobal. Emil A. Weltz, Molder, Industrial

Division.

20 YEARS

Henry J. Chase, Supply .Assistant, Clubhouse Division. Burton E. Davis, Chief Design Engineer, Industrial Di\ision.

Edward A. Eckhoff, Planner and Esti- mator, Industrial Di\ision.

Dalvin S. Heilman, Motorcycle Officer, Police Di\ision.

Ralph J. Neville, Fireman, Fire Division. John E. Schmidt, Control House Operator, Pacific Locks.

15 YEARS

Louis A. Austin, Timekeeper, Motor

Transportation Di\ision.

'Robert J. Byrne, Commissary Manager, Commissary Division. Fred E. Campbell, Car Inspector, Rail- road Division. Emile R. Carufel, Lock Operator,

Atlantic Locks. *John J. Connard, Pilot, Navigation

I )i\ ision. Ralph L. Edwards, Fireman, Fire Di\ ision. Clifford M. Glenn, Public Works Fore- man, Maintenance Division. Clifford B. Jones, General Foreman,

Maintenance Division. John F. Larue, Painter Foreman, Maintenance Division. Edmund R. MacVittie, Assistant Superintendent, Storehouse Division. Wilfred Morris, Construction Inspector, MaiiUenaTice Division. Thomas H. Murphy, Pipefitter, Dredging Division. Maurice A. Nichols, Policeman, Police

Di\"isit)n. John E. Ridge, Jr., Foreman, Maintenance Division. Louis E. Rocher, Towboat Master, Navigation Division.

FEBRUARY SAILINGS

From Cristobal Ancon February .5 Panama February 12

Cristobal February 19 Ancon February 26 From New York

Panama February 2

Cristobal February 9 Ancon February 16 Panama 'February 25

•Leaves New York Thursday because of February

22nd holiday. (Northbound the ships are in Haiti from 7 a. m. to noon Sunday; southbound, the Haiti Stop is Saturday, from 7 a. m. to 4 p. m.)

PROMOTIONS AND TRANSFERS

December 15 through January 15

Employees who were promoted or trans- ferred between December 15 and Januar\

15 are listed below. Regradings and within- grade promotions are not listed. CIVIL AFFAIRS BUREAU

Mrs. Norma C. Belland, Mrs. Margaret W. Collins, Mrs. Harriet E. Whitaker, from Substitute Teacher to Elementary School Teacher. Galeon M. Jarvis, from Elementary to High School Teacher. Mrs. Gladys S. Lee, from Substitute Teacher to Junior High School Teacher. George L. Cooper, Henry C. DeRaps,

Freddie S. Southerland, Patrick F. McDonnell, Fred E. Perra, from Police- man to Policeman and Detecti\e.

Walter H. Alves, from Police Sergeant

to Police Sergeant and Motorcycle Sergeant. OFFICE OF COMPTROLLER

Howard M. Fuller, from Budget Specialist to Budget .Analyst. Robert Lessiack, from Business .Analyst to Budget .Analyst. Mrs. Frances L. Journey, from Time,

Leave, and Pa\Toll Clerk, Payroll Branch,

to .Accounting Clerk, .Agents .Accounts Branch. Frank A. Baldwin, from Construction Cost .Analyst to Superxisory .Accountant, Plant Inventory and .Appraisal Staff. ENGINEERING AND CONSTRUCTION

BUREAU

Mirt Bender, from Foreman, Pipeline Suction Dredge, Dredging Division, to Special Combination Welder, Maintenance

Division. Claude W. Parris, from Mattressmaker Foreman to Supervisory Upholsterer, Maintenance Division. Mrs. Florence W. LaCIair, from Cash

.Accounting Clerk to .Accounting Clerk, Maintenance Division. Kenneth W. Anderson, from Clerk to .Accounting Clerk, Maintenance Division. Mrs. Theresa G. Wright, from Clerk- Stenographer, Executive Planning Staff, to Secretary, Office of Engineering and Construction Director. Mrs. Betsy R. Hoenke, from Clerk- Stenographer, Electrical Division, to Clerk, Maintenance Division. OFFICE OF GENERAL COUNSEL

Mrs. Clara E. Neville, from ClerkStenographer to Law Clerk (Stenographer). OFFICE OF GOVERNOR-PRESIDENT

Mrs. Bernardine C. Lally, from Supervisory Clerk-Stenographer, Board of Health

Laboratory, to Clerk-Stenographer, Executive Planning Staff. William N. Gersten, from .Auditor, Internal Audit Staff, to Organization and

Methods Examiner, Executive Planning

Staff. MARINE BUREAU

Robert W. McAllister, from Pilot-in- Irainiiig to Probationary Pilot. Henry E. Lewis, from Painter to Painter Leadingman, Industrial Divisio.i. E. Guy Huldtquist, from Pipeline Suction Dredge Engineer, Dredging Division, to Chief Towboat Engineer, Navigation Division. TRANSPORTATION AND TERMINALS

BUREAU

Mrs. Margaret L. Canavaggio, from

Traffic Clerk to Clerk, Terminals Division. Randolph M. Wikingstad, from Steve- dore Foreman to Head Stevedore Foreman,

Terminals Division. Lynn T. Hormady, from Clerk-Typist, License Section, to Property and Supply

Clerk, Terminals Division.

JANUARY RETIREMENTS

Retirement certificates were presented

the end of January to the following employees who are listed alphabetically, together with their birth places, titles, length of service and future addresses. Carl O. Baldwin, Colorado; Deputy

Warden, Gamboa Penitentiary; 31 years,

1 month, 19 da\s: Panama, for present. Dr. Wayne Gilder, .Alabama; Superintendent, Colon Hospital; ii years, 5 months,

22 days; New Orleans, La. Joseph C. Hannigan, Massachusetts: Lockmaster, Gatun Locks; 34 years, 6 months, 6 da\s; plans uncertain. Peter F. Shrapnel, New York; Chief,

.\dministralive Branch; 38 years, 1 month,

17 da\s; probably California. Emil Weltz, Pennsylvania; Molder,

Industrial Division; 23 years, 7 months,

21 davs; California. Music Thafs Different

THIS LITTLE GEKMAN B.\ND is a recent addition to lift- at Balboa High School. .\ brainchild

of \'ictor Herr, BUS Music Supervisor, it was organized several months ai;o to play for school athletic events. The musicians play the traditional "umpha-umpha," concert music, or Dixieland jazz. High

School students favor the jazz, especially when played by a quintet clad in Lederhosen.

Lrfl to right are: Steve Park, whose band name is Fritz Schnitzlebaum; Mr. Herr (Aloysius Hammerschlagj; Charles Garden (Anton Schroeder); .Jim Reece (Heinrich Schnirklefritz); and David Otten

(Josef liuntsiger).
February 5, 1954 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW 13

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.

DECREASED NUMBER OF GOVERNMENT VESSELS CAUSES

DROP IN CANAL TRAFFIC FOR 1954 SECOND QUARTER

Panama Canal traffic for the second

quarter of this fiscal year showed an overall decline from that of the preceding

quarter, with a slight gain in ocean-going

commercial traffic, and a major drop in the number of U. S. Government vessels. A total of 1,979 ocean-going commercial

vessels used the Canal during October,

November, and December, as compared

with 1,890 in the preceding quarter. The

comparative figures on ocean-going Government ships were: 208 for the second

quarter and 359 for the first quarter,

making a net drop of 62 transits. The traffic of ocean-going shipping for the past quarter was approximately the same as the comparable period in the

fiscal year 1953, with commercial shipping being heavier and the number of Government vessels being 50 less.

Tolls for the past quarter on commercial

shipping amounted to $8,364,000, nearly

$160,000 more than the total for the second quarter of the previous fiscal year. Major increases were shown last quarter over the comparable period of the previous fiscal year on trade routes through the Canal between the east coast

of the United States and South America;

east coast of the United States and the Far East; and Europe and South America.

Decreases were shown on three of the main trade routes. There were 36 fewer

ocean-going commercial transits on the United States intercoastal trade route, 16 less on the route between the east coast of the United States and Central America, and 34 less on the trade route between Europe and the west coast of the United States and Canada.

Significant changes in the statistics on commodity movements last quarter from

the comparable period in the previous

fiscal year was an increase of nearly

600,000 tons in ores shipped from the

Pacific to the Atlantic, and decreases of over 375,000 tons of wheat and over

80,000 tons of nitrate. Decreased ton- nage was also shown in shipments of canned food products, lumber, bananas,

metals, and mineral oils. Increases were shown in shipments of sugar, refrigerated food products, and coffee in the Pacific to Atlantic trade. Mmeral oil shipments from the Atlantic

to the Pacific in the past quarter were

128,000 tons under those in the comparable three months of the previous fiscal year. Major losses were also shown in the shipments of barley, sugar, and rice. The tonnage of several commodities

moving from the Atlantic to the Pacific during October, November, and December

was considerably over that of the second

quarter of the previous fiscal year. Those

showing major gains were manufactures of iron and steel, soy beans, phosphates,

sulphur, cement, corn, wheat, coal, and

coke.

MONTHLY COMMERCIAL TRAFFIC AND TOLLS

Vessels of 300 tons net or over By fiscal years

Month

Transits

Tolls

(In thousands of dollars)

1954 1953 1938 1954 1953 1938

July 638 529 457 $2,817 $2,343 $2,0,S0

Augu^^i -_ 640 533 505 2,778 2.288 2,195

612 615 444 2,591 2,636 1,936

654 673 461 2,755 2,910 1,981

636 620 435 2,668 2,611 1,893

689 626 439 2,961 2,679 1,845

632 444 2,690 1,838

616 436 2,597 1,787

March - - - 678 506 2,884 2,016

April - - 628 487 2,733 1,961

Mav - 650 465 2,861 1,887

610 445 2,686 1,801

Totals for first 6 months

of fiscal vear 3.869 3,596 2.741 $16,570 $15,467 $11,880

TRAFFIC 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:

Second Q uarter. Fiscal Year

1954 1953 1938

146 182 311

495 443 124

121 137 3

354 287 139

55 57 42

152 186 252

131 103 142

Europe and \ii'^trala'^ia - -- 75 74 38

All other routes _ _ __ 450 450 284

Total Traffic - — 1,979 1,919 1,335

CANAL TRANSITS—COMMERCIAL AND U, S. GOVERNMENT

Second Q larter, Fiscal Years

1954 1953 1938

Atlantic

to

Pacific

Pacific to Atlantic

Total Total Total

Commercial Vessels:

Orean-croine' - 1.017 962 1,979 1,919 1.335

*Small 168 162 330 270 236

Total commercial 1,185 1,124 2,309 2.190 1,571

**U. S. Government X'essels: 111 97 208 ,258

Small 28 71 99 95

Total commercial and U. S. Government. 139 168 307 2,543

Vessels under 300 net tons or 500 displacement tons. **YesseIs on which tolls are credited. Prior to July 1, 1951, Govcriiment-operated

ships transited free.
14 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW February 5, 1954

COUNCILMEN DISCUSS

LOCAL-RATE HOUSING

(Continued from page S) others will be made one-way thoroughfares. A large box

culvert near the school area is scheduled

for about two years hence; in the meantime other corrective drainage measures

will be taken. Louvres were omitted

from some windows in the new houses

because of cost; hea\^' wire mesh could be

installed as burglar proofing if necessary. A 125-foot guard rail is being installed

off Palo Alto Street near the Canal.

Chiriqui Street, now a dead-end, will not

be extended to join Gaillard Highway

because such an intersection would be

dangerous. Paraiso residents will be pro- vided with medical attention should the Pedro Miguel medical clinic be closed. La Boca : Two new bus stops will be

built near house 921 on La Boca Road.

Principals of the two schools are working

on a plan for school safety patrols at

street crossings near the schools. A street

light will be placed in a dark spot on

Trinidad Street and nearby trees cut down or trimmed. The clubhouse will indicate the suitability for various age groups of films shown at all movies. The

clubhouses are now advertising a daily program as has been done for some time

with U. S.-rate theaters. Santa Cruz: More frequent foot

patrols will be made by police in areas where public gambling is going on. Space

for youth activities is available in an unused billard room in the clubhouse;

this space is available on a three-day a week basis rent free, by arrangement with

the manager. Public transportation buses running to Santa Cruz are being over- hauled; safety handles and latches will be replaced or installed. The administration will investigate the possibility of teaching handicraft to juvenile prisoners

at Pedro Miguel.

Rainbow City: Sidewalks in certain

locations are being raised for better drainage. A bus stop on Bolivar Highway

near Camp Bierd Commissary is not

feasible since electric ducts and cables would have to be removed; persons wishing to reach such a stop would have

to skirt a fence and cross railroad tracks. An alternate plan was presented whereby

buses would be routed around the commissary. A covered passageway to protect bus passengers in the school area has been budgeted. Consideration is being given to a plan to convert three family quarters to bachelor rooms; no

decision has been reached and both the

Civic Council and the residents of the quarters will be notified well in advance

if this becomes final. Closing the conference, the Governor

and E. A. Doolan, Personnel Director,

complimented the council representatives on the condition on which grounds

around the newer quarters are being

maintained.

Those attending the conference were: The Governor, Mr. Doolan, Mr. Crook,

and Norman Johnson, Employee and

Labor Relations Officer, for the Administration. For the Councils; Harold W. Williams,

Rainbow City General Committee; Ernest

Williams, Paraiso General Committee;

Arthur W. Crooks, La Boca General Committee; Zachariah Williams, Chagres

General Committee; Mrs. Hilda Butcher, Santa Cruz General Committee; Mrs.

Louis Walker, Richard Burns, Santa Cruz;

Canal commercial traffic by nationality of vessels

Second Quarter, Fiscal Year

1954 1953 1938

Nationality Number of transits Tons of cargo

Number of transits Tons of cargo

Number of transits Tons of cargo

2 342

138

446

3838

50

2699

1237

81

4,270

1,985,014

80,322

57,113

34,871

20,162

192,353

26,174

153,249

55,900

238.848 1U.777

8,2,«) 178,416

496,489

British., Chilean. 324

17

559

146928

3785

31

81

1 63

102

450

2

2.093.489

95.712 33.675

71.668

94.911 237,046

22,335

136,514

171 ,856 249,679

127,834

7,972 317.262 593.888

11.657 351,623

2,577

297

1 1,447,720

6.127

Danish 56 220,973

French German

Greek

Honduran

Irish

28

83

19

•

163,965

384,808

82,437

869

Italian 1372 46,192

Japanese 418,523

33

5

2 30

5 229

112

75

198,441

15,643

10.837 144.044 2.338 825.438

583,123

14,668 24.263

Netherland Nicaraguan

Norwegian

I'ananianian Peruvian

Philippine

35

7 199 166

4

8

172,269

6,103

658,653

935,645

6.482 47.835

74 205,439

15139

1

795.486 94.155

1.148

2 4,990

Spanish ._. Swedish

1549

4 520

75.866 211,340

35,600 3.036.724

1149

3 584

16

33,471

170,340

25,687 3.422.199

20.074

27 180,032

I'nited States 464 2,583,090

4 21,052

Total 1,979 9,806,215 1,920 9,183,754 1,335 6,670,241

Principal commodities shipped through the Canal

(All figures in thousands of long tons)

ATLANTIC TO PACIFIC

Commoditv

Coal and Coke

Mineral oils. Manufacturers of iron and steeL Soy beans

Phosphates. _ —

Barley .

.

—

Whea't -- Sulphur - - - - Paper and paper products

Machinery

Sugar

Rice CenicnU- - —

Corn

.•Xutomobiles and parts

All others Total. -.-.

Second Quarter—Fiscal Year

1954

997,326

987 , 650 501,170

233,274

200,012

103,366

102,,U6

99,008

91,730

86 , 594 84,443

79.428

72.103

68 , 898 58,523

1,1 11. .592 4,877,463

1953

6 79.,596 .155.677 405.089

143,026

100,529

193,830

46,845

72,283

88,629

81.764

177.715

112.055

46 . 596 976

64 . 879 961.852

4,331.141

1938

37,108

287,537

479,661

307 71,763

447

1, 101,,576

,.S99 94,572

40,773

971

5 , 358 37,256

922 81,751

1.044,799

2.286,400

PACIFIC TO ATLANTIC

Commodity

Ores, various ^ Lumber

Wheat

Canned food products

Sugar —

Nitrate Bananas

Metals, various

Refrigerated food products (except fresh fruit) CofTee Mineral oils Copra . Wood pulp Cotton

Dried fruit

'

All others Total

Second Quarter—Fiscal Year

1954

,472 831 416

302 280 248

183 180

13464

62

54

53

4140

563

,137

,403

,372

,667

.287

,131

,711

,8.S0 ,2)8

,170

.387

.441 .000

.332

.321 ,305

1953

4,928,752

883.220

864.238

792.428

340.142

179.513

,530,603 220,649

195,835

126,844

35,107

86,715

63,065

28,344

48,714

49,481 587.715 4,852,613

1938

524.191 671,973

217,658

303,166

.502.617 306.890

4,911

179.591 64,079

33,884

665,884

33,454

60,885

34.063

120.664 859,931

4,383,841

Marcus Grannum, Cleveland Roberts,

La Boca; Ellis L. Fawcett, Cyril Atherly,

Paraiso; and Jefferson Joseph, Rainbow

City.
February 5, 1954 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW 15

How Do Zonians Work And Play?

{Continu'.d from page 1) felt—jUSt the way the consultants found that he—and

they—did. Two out of three of him felt that Zone

housing lacks privacy and convenience, is in bad condition and hard to maintain,

compared with housing in the States. Two out of three of him said that

recreational facilities in the Canal Zone

do not measure up to States standards. (The real contrast, the survey said, is in quality rather than availability of recreation. It stems from the Zone's

isolation, they add, commenting that 80

percent of the employees are conscious of "their real lack of topflight entertainment,

spectator sports, and cultural events.")

Five out of eight thought medical and

hospital services in the Zone are not as good as those in the United States; costs

of medical and surgical care, at the time

the survey was made last September, were as satisfactory as those in the States, but about two out of three felt that the

quality of these left much to be desired. Schools, on the other hand, got a pat on the back. About eight out of nine thought that Canal Zone education compares favorably with that in the United

States. The matter of the cost of higher

education, of necessity in the United

States, was something else. Five out of

six held that such costs were more satis- factory in the States. How He Lives As far as his personal life was concerned,

the survey again revealed a lot of what

the employee might suspect, but might

not be certain of. An average of 100 family budgets made

by the consultants showed a lower family

income, $5,403, than appeared elsewhere

in the survey where the average income was reported at $6,869, before taxes. The average employee, the budgets

show, is in debt. He says that in the year which ended last June 30, he spent

$303 more than he earned and paid $26

interest on his indebtedness. His biggest expenditure was for food. Every two weeks he and his family spent

about $51.20, or $1,331 a year, to stay

alive. On this sum he did not starve; neither did he eat many three-inch steaks

or Baked Alaskas. Next to food the biggest chunk of his income, $707, went

for taxes. He paid $492 during the year for rent, or $15 and a few cents each pay period.

At the going rate this means that he must be living in a one-bedroom, four- family Type 215 house—or that a good

many single persons living in 12-family

apartments were included in the 100 whose budgets were averaged. The aver- age rent, the report showed, is $735 a year and ranges from $420 to $1,638.

He spent $275 a year for clothing for himself and his family, or $10..50 a pay

period. This is about the cost of a good

pair of shoes for himself, or a pair of slacks

for a man or boy plus material for a dress

for the distaff side of the family.

During the year he and his family paid

domestic help $225. As prices are today

that would mean a woman-by-the-day

twice weekly, or a one-day laundress plus an occasional baby-sitter, at 25 to 35

cents an hour b. m., before midnight.

Another $192 went for medical, dental,

and hospital care, and he paid, or set

aside, $120 for his children's education.

Utilities for his quarters cost him $147

Three Main Points Discussed At Conference

(Continued from page 3) forces in quarters

already constructed and in quarters pres- ently under construction the asphalt tiling will be placed by the contractor.

Plastic window handles for type 337

houses will not be reordered; defective or broken handles of this type will be

replaced, without cost to the occupant,

until the present stock is exhausted.

Increased police patrols, to cut down

petty thievery in Gamboa, have been

ordered. The number of such cases has

already dropped —from 1 1 in December to

one, to date, in January.

Funds for a swimming pool at Margarita will be requested in the budget for

fiscal year 19.56. The matter of the Corozal swimming pool is still under study

a year. This could be accounted for by

the $1.30 per month he would pay for rental on the three-burner electric range

furnished Type 215 houses, plus approximately $10.95 per month for electric current.

Furnishings And Car

He spent $174 for household furnishing,

roughly half the cost of a 9-cubic foot

refrigerator; or possibly he bought a table model radio, plus a rug and material for new curtains. He has a car; during the year he spent

$392 for its operation, maintenance, and

for insurance on it. Into this $392, he

figured depreciation. By his own account

he carries other insurance, probably

personal, and during the year this cost him $173. For entertainment and recreationmagazines, books, movies, an occasional dinner out—he spent $231 or about $8.80

a pay period, and he spent $483 for vacation. Two round-trip full fares and two

half fares— he must have paid something

for that 0.8 person in his family—on the Panama Line would cost him $240 aside from tips and other travel expenses. To

have taken a vacation for this sum, he must have visited relatives fairly near New York City or have taken local leave. Possibly this .$483 represented one year's savings toward a later vacation. He belonged to a club or a union and

paid $42 a year in dues; another $97 of

his money went to charity which could

include such things as Community Chest,

Red Cross, Cancer, and Polio Fund

drives. Church contributions were not

individually listed and these may have

been included in the charity or miscel- laneous expenses. Despite being in debt, he saved or invested $161 during the year; this could have been eight .$25 government bonds,

or $25 deposited every other month in the Credit Union. He also had $315

deducted from his pay during the year

for the retirement fund. Miscellaneous

expenditures accounted for the remaining

$130 he spent during the year. Summing up the employee's situation, the report said: "In answer to questionnaires, 73 percent of Zone employees stated that, apart from consideration of job and

compensation, they would rather live in the States than in the Zone. In inter- views, employees universally made it clear that their sights were set on one goal—to get 'back home' to the States when their time in the Zone had been served

"

and work on filling up this pool has been halted. Zone medical authorities consider night

use of the Pedro Miguel swimming pool a

health hazard because of malaria endemic

to the surrounding areas. The proposal

of night use is not favorably cansidered. The grating over the pool drain has been replaced.

Sunday afternoon movies have already

been started at Pedro Miguel and a request for a better supply of staples at

the commissary will be favorably acted upon. Hours at the main Canal Zone library on Gaillard Highway are to be changed,

effective February 15. The new hours

will be 9:30 a. m. to 12:30 p. m., and

2:30 to 8 p. m., weekdays, and 9:30 a. m.

to 12:30 p. m. Saturdays.

Construction of a high school in Margarita will depend on the future of New Cristobal. A site in Margarita has been reserved but the present building

will be used as long as New Cristobal is occupied. A withdrawal of the Panama

Canal Company from the area is not imminent.

Plans are being worked out for a coffee shop at the Tivoli Guest House where

Tivoli-pre pared food will be served at clubhouse prices. Sandwiches and such

short-order items will be available. A

date for the opening of the coffee shop was not announced but it will be in operation by the time the Ancon Clubhouse is closed on March 1. The cofl^ee shop will not be run on a cafeteria basis. Attending the January conference were: The Acting Governor; Mr. Doolan,

Personnel Dii-ector; and Norman Johnson,

Employee and Labor Relations Officer, for the administration; and, for the

Councils: Sam Roe, Jr., and Elmer

Powell, General Committee of Civic

Councils; Mr. Chase and Car! Hoff'meyer,

Pacific; Mr. Hammond and Fred W.

Whitney, Pedro Miguel; James D. MacLean and P. B. Hutchings, Gamboa;

Mrs. Thomas Gibson, Carl Nix and G. G. Thomas from Gatun; Mr. Rice and Mrs. Andrew Bleakley of Cristobal-Margarita.

Forty Years Ago

In January

The permanent organization of The

Panama Canal was beginning to take

shape.

On January 27, 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed an Executive Act

putting into effect the Panama Canal Act

of August 24, 1912. Effective April 1, 1914, it abolished the Isthmian Canal

Commission and provided that the "Presi- dent thereafter was authorized to complete, govern, and operate the Panama

Canal, and govern the Canal Zone, or cause them to be completed, governed,

and operated through a Governor of the Panama Canal."

Three weeks earlier President Wilson

had proclaimed rules for the measurement

of vessels for the Panama Canal. The rides

stated what should be included in the gross tonnage of ships; what should be considered permanently closed and covered space; what spaces, such as bridge houses, should

be exempted from measurement and gross tonnage; and other matters concerned with

the basis on which tolls uxmld be charged

once the Canal opened to traffic.
16 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW February 5, 1954

Balboa Flats Be^in To Take On New Look

The face-lifting of Balboa Flats has been started. In another two or three years the few flat acres of land there will be transformed into one of the Zone's most attractive residential areas. The map above gives a general idea of the new street layout and location of the new houses to be built in the first part of the Flats to be rebuilt. It also shows the

location of three play areas being provided, one of which will be located adjacent to the Balboa elementary school. Most of the old four-familv frame

houses in the area to be rebuilt first have

already been demolished. Maintenance

Division forces also moved into the area

last month to begin grading and street work preparatory to work by the contractor for the quarters construction. Five bids were received for the construction of the 63 houses to be built under this fiscal year's program. Bids were opened at the end of January with

Framorco, Inc., of Panama, being awarded

the contract on a lump sum bid of $1,361,000. The contract will also provide

for extensive street work, grading and

isntallation of facilities. The Balboa Flats work is the largest

single building project to be let under

contract this fiscal year. Other quarters

projects are the construction of 33 twostory masanry duple.xes at Diablo Heights,

awarded last October to Isthmian Constructors, Inc., and the construction of 17 type 337 houses in the Ridge Road

area, for which bids are now being

advertised. Several different types of houses are tD be built in Balboa Flats this year. Seventeen type 336's and 12 type 339's are to be built. These are the two-story

masonry duplexes of the same floor plans

as those built in Corozal. The 336's have

three bedrooms and the 339's have four bedrooms, and both types have the entire

first floor of each apartment devoted to

living space. Other types listed for the Flats include

15 type 333's which are masonry cottages with three bedrooms; nine 43rs, a composite single house with three bedrooms

and basement; four hillside masonry

cottages with three bedrooms, type 431-C; and six composite duple.xes with three bedrooms, type 433. The map shows the location of these various types of houses. It also shows

the future street alignment in the first section of the Flats to be rebuilt. The

heavily-shaded parts indicate the streets which are to be repaved or relocated. Two of the principal changes will be the realignment of Las Cruces Street which

will be the principal thoroughfare of the

residential area which will join Barnebey

Street and ultimately Balboa Road; and

the realignment of Morgan Avenue at the north end.