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IN THIS ISSUE

Carnival!

Successful Suggesters

'•SweepinorTHeOe^rX

lnter-A(i)C^&frrav^^;.

Tol. 13, No. 7

February 1,1963
Robert J. Fleming, Jr., Governor-President

W. P. Leber, Lieutenant Governor

Frank A. Baldwin Panama Canal Information Officer

Official Panama Canal Publication

Published monthly at Balboa Heights, C.Z.

Printed at the Printing Plant, Mount Hope, C.Z.

Joseph Connor, Acting Press Officer

Publications Editors Robert D. Kerr and Julio E. Briceno

Editorial Assistants Eunice Richard, Tobi Bittel, and Tomas A. Cupas

On sale at all Panama Canal Service Centers. Retail Stores, and the Tivoli Guest House for 10 days after publication date at 5 cents each. Subscriptions, $1 a year; mail and back copies, 10 cents each.

Postal money orders made payable to the Panama Canal Company should be mailed to Box M, Balboa Heights. C.Z.

Editorial Offices are located in the Administration Building. Balboa Heights. C.Z.

i-'pl^^

Index

i4Jlto? . . . M^? . . .

OF COURSE I'm going to the Carnival. Isn't everyone?

Carnival merrymakers probably could get along

without me and my kind, but it wouldn't be the same.

We're the spirit and symbols of gaiety, music, song, and laughter, serpentine-wrapped and confetti-sprinkled.

Carnival, Mardi Gras, Saturnalia, Fasching, Fastnacht ... by whatever name such celebrations are known, they

date back to earliest history, are found in all civilizations,

all cultures. For centuries and centuries they've been

annual events to free mankind from cares of daily chores,

open avenues of mirth, mummery, dancing, singing.

Illusion becomes reality, dreams materialize, sorrow, and worries are forbidden. Through King Momo in Panama there reign 4 days dedicated to fuller enjoyment

of life, laughter, and, we're told, even some kisses.

The days of Carnival are historically for relief from

the workaday world's weights so all may return to normal duties with renewed vigor, refreshed hope, and

rebalanced perspective.

Carnival! 3

Javier Fair 4

"Sweeping" the Canal 5

Successful Suggesters 6

Honor for Professors 7

The Inter-American Highway 8

Promotions and Transfers 10

Canal History 12

Anniversaries 13

Canal Traffic, Transits, Trade 14

Shipping 16

ABOUT OUR FRONT COVER: It's water, he's perched on an outrigger, and he has a line—but that isn't a new

type lure on it. It's a gadget devised to double check on

sonar devices used to inspect the bottom of the Canal

channel, electronically, for "lumps" or obstructions.

Manning the line is John Flynn, member of the technical crew of the motor launch Shad of the Surveys Branch.

For more information on their work, see page 5.

February 1, 1963
c

R

R

n

IT'S CARNIVAL time in Panama once

again, and polleras and montunos, cos- tumes and floats are being readied for the festivities which this year start Saturday, February 23, and close at dawn Ash Wednesday, February 27. While the Carnival celebration is scheduled for the latter part of Februarv, the traditional music of Carnival

has been heard in Panama and in the Canal Zone since the first days of January. The first Carnival flag was

raised in Panama City on January 5 and

in the Canal Zone on January 9. The Canal Zone Atlantic side Carnival

flag raising took place January 26, in Margarita.

The Paraiso and Santa Cruz communities raised the 1963 Carnival flag

People, people, people . . . testimonial to measures of merriment. V

Januai-y 18, the first ceremony taking

place in Paraiso, followed by the Santa Cniz flag raising. In Rainbow City, the Carnival flag

went up on January 26. An unusual note was introduced in the Carnival flag raising ceremony at Palo Seco Leprosarium on January 18. The two queens who officiated are mother and daughter. The 1962 Palo Seco Carnival Queen, Angela Calderon,

is the mother of the 1963 Palo Seco

Carnival Queen, Zenaida Avila. Throughout January beautiful candidates for Carnival Queen competed

for the coveted crown to be worn by

the representative of each respective

community and each social center. Coronation Day for the Pacific Side

Colorfully bedecked floats bedecked with beauties, too.

n L

Canal Zone Carnival Queen will be

Februar)^ 15 and a Coronation Ball will be held at the Tivoli Guest House on February 21. The Atlantic side Carnival Queen will be crowned on Washington's Birthday,

Febraary 22, at the Breakers Club, and

the Coronation Ball will follow the ceremony.

Sattuday, February 23, will be a busy

day for the Panama City Queen, whose

coronation will take place in the Olympic Stadium, Panama City. During the

day, she will receive an official greeting

from Panama's Ministry of Foreign

Affairs and will be received in audience

bv the President of the Republic of Panama. The Pacific Side Canal Zone

Carnival Queen, the Queen of the Chinese colony in Panama, and other Queens will be received by Panama's

President at the same time. Immediately afterward, Panama City's

Mayor will present the Queens the "Keys to the City of Panama." The night will be filled with music

and gaiety, with dances in all the hotels, and social centers, in the open air dance

pavilions, and in clubs. Traditional Pollera Day will be

Sunday, Februaiy 24, M-hen the Pacific Side Carnival Queen, accompanied by

King Momo and all the court, will parade through the Canal Zone and

Panama, up to the Panama Golf Club,

where a dance will be held, attended

also by all the other Carnival Queens

and their courts. The Carnival Classic is scheduled to (See p. 4)
Carnival

{Contitwed from p. 3)

be held at the Remon Race Track in Panama City Sunday afternoon. All the Carnival Queens will be honored.

All during Sunday afternoon unofficial parades vvill be held on the

streets and roads of Panama City, with groups dressed in Panama's pollera and

montuno winding in and out in a gay

kaleidoscopic scene of color and gaiety. Pollera Day's events will close with a dance at the Panama Architects' and

Engineers' Center. Carnival Monday will be sprinkled

with confetti and looped with serpentine from the "battles" by Carnival

merrymakers up and down Central and other streets of Panama City.

The Canal Zone Queen on the Pacific Side will make a tour of her domain

that evening, visiting clubs, hotels, and

social centers, impartially spreading the music and color of Carnival through

civilian and military communities. She

also will attend the Carnival masquerade ball at the Panama Hilton Hotel,

where the Panama City Queen will receive visiting royalty. The Canal Zone

Pacific Side Queen will be joined there by the Chinese Colony Queen, and other reigning beauties of the 1963 Carnival. The climax of Carnival in Panama,

the most important day of all, is Carnival Tuesday, when the traditional parade of floats is held in the afternoon. Each Carnival Queen and her court

will ride on a gaily decorated float. The

Queens' bands of musicians and marching bands will fill the air with melody,

while the groups of masqueraders will compete for the prizes offered for the most original, gayest, and noisiest. The ascending note of gaiety reaches

a climax in the early hours of Ash Wednesday mom "when it's so late it almost seems early." The dance music changes

into a funeral march. Pallbearers carry

tinv coffins, in each of which lies a fish, at the head of a candlelighted parade

that winds through the city's streets. Now and then recalcitrant merrymakers

may burst into gaiety, but the majority,

bearing lighted candles, pretend to weep at the sad end of Carnival,

although certain that it will be reborn once again in another 11 months.

When the rosy fingers of dawn sweep

back the curtains of night, the merry- makers abandon their masquerade,

dress once more in their everyday cos- tumes and once again appear as serious persons. The religious go to church, before

taking up their everyday affairs, and

another Panama Carnival becomes a page in history.

Governor Fleming chats with the Reverend Juan D. Iriarte, center, Director of Colegio

Javier, and the Reverend Jesus Hergueta, principal of the primary school, during last year's Javier Fair.

Javier Fair Feb. 2-10

APPROXIMATELY 50,000 persons are expected to visit the Javier Fair,

6th annual commercial, industrial, and

electrical exposition, to open at 7 p.m., Saturday, February 2, at the Colegio

Javier, Panama City. Panama's Minister of Agriculture,

Commerce, and Industry, Dr. Felipe Juan Escobar, will officially open the

Fair, which will continue through

Febnaary 10. A number of Zonians will be among

those attending and the Panama Canal

will participate officially, having re- served space in front of the swimming

pool and at the \'ery entrance to the

school building.

About 50 local industries and commercial concerns are taking part in this year's Fair, and Colegio Javier students

will have displays of their own crafts work and animals stuffed and mounted

by biology students. February 3 will be "Friendship Day"

at the Fair in honor of the Canal Zone. The Panama Canal exhibit stall will feature a Selectrovision display, pictures

of Canal operations and points of interest, models, and organ music by

Frank Azcarraga, a member of the Canal

Zone Guide Ser\'ice and well-known

Panamanian perfoiTner.

There will be a change of Fair

program every night. President Roberto

F. Chiari will declare the Fair closed on the final day and Canal Zone Governor Fleming i'j among the dignitaries invited to attend the exposition.

The Fair hours will be 4 p.m. until midnight daily. Admission is 15 cents, with a $1 ticket also available and valid

for all 9 days of the exposition. Fair da)'s themes are: February 2—Typical Motif Day,

honoring the Minister of Agriculture,

Commerce, and Industry of Panama.

February' 3—Friendship Day, honoring the Canal Zone. February 4—Panama City High

Schools' Da)-. February 5—Jewish Night.

February 6—Spanish Night.

February 7—Gala Night.

February 8—Chinese Night.

February 9—Carnival Junta's Night.

February 10—Fair Closing Night.

Entertainment will include Spanish

dances, folk dancing, Jewish dances,

and a horse show by Fort Kobbe riders. Colegio Javier is a Jesuit school for boys, kindergarten through high school,

with an enrollment near 1,000. The Fair

is being held to raise funds with which

to complete constiuction of a $200,000

gym and a 8150,000 church for the

school. Graduates from the school

recei\e diplomas as bachelor of science,

letters, and philosophy.

February 1, 1963
Before the Shad moves away from the dock

in Gamboa, an electronic "fish" is moved

out into place at the end of the outrigger.

A similar device is directly imdemeath the boat and a third one on an outrigger on

the other side of the boat. With outriggers

spread, the sonar devices "sweep" a 40-foot

path. AH three are 2 feet under the water

surface. The pointed object at bottom of picture is one of the submerged "fish."

All set, after only 5 minutes of preparation, and ready to go. The survey boat Shad prepares

to leave the dock in the early pre-dawn on its way to patrol the Canal channel bottom

between Gamboa and Pedro Miguel.

^Sweepin^ ' The Canal

Armando de Sedda, foreground, and Raymond Kielhofer, two of the trained cartog- raphers aboard the survey boat Shad, check

recorder charts showing depth of the Canal

bottom.

ANY MORNING at the crack of dawn,

early birds, worms, and any others in

tlie vicinity of Gaillard Cut are Hkely

to find the Panama Canal motor launch

Shad making a patrol of this narrow part

of the Canal. Festooned with red lights and decked

with red flags, the Shad moves up the channel like a bloodhound following a

trail. It sniffs cautiously along the channel centerline at about 8 knots, and

in sections where dredges have been at work during the night, the launch circles back, crosses the centerline, checks any

questionable area of the channel and moves on. A group of serious men bend over a battery of electronic machines as the

craft proceeds down the Cut from

Gamboa to Pedro Miguel. Two out- rigger devices extend from port and star- board, thus accurately co\'ering a width

of 40 feet, and a gasoline-operated generator, providing power for the delicate machines, chugs away at the stern. The men aboard the U.S.S. Shad are not out fishing—nor are they looking for gold. They are employees of the Hydrographic Section of the Panama Canal

Surveys Branch checking the bottom of Gaillard Cut for obstacles, "lumps," or any other obstructions which might be

a hazard for shipping.

The "lumps" may simply be small heaps of silt kicked up by deep draft

ships' propellor action. Or they could

be rock upheavals or drop-ins.

The dawn patrol is a daily operation

carried out by Canal engineers and

the Marine Bureau to provide the

safest possible conditions through the waterway for world shipping.

The morning investigation with elec- tronic devices was started early in the

I940's under supervision of the Chief

of the Hydrographic Section.

In former years, when few ships

passed through the Cut at night and

before extensive work of Cut widening

started, the task of checking the Canal

channel for obstructions was done with

a simple pipe drag at a known depth

if inspection of the banks indicated that there had been some movement during

the night.

With the beginning of Cut widening

and the marked drop in lake level because of increased ship traffic and

reduced water supply during the dry

season, the problem of obstructions in the Cut became more serious. The daily patrol now is conducted

with a launch fitted with three trans- ducers or sonar devices, called "fish," which extend 2 feet below the water

surface and send electronic signals on depth of the channel back to three recorders installed inside the launch. Each recorder is operated by a technician who watches it closely. Any

lumps rising above the safe depth of 42 feet below the surface are reported

immediately to the Dredging Division. Accuracy of the work requires close cycle control on power generation, controlled to not more that two tenths of a cycle variation from the 60 cycles

required.

One morning recently, when lake

level was slightly below 87 feet, the highest lump encountered was 45 feet below the water surface. When an area needing immediate

attention is discovered, an emergency

call is made to the Dredging Di\'ision, Port Captains at Cristobal and Balboa

are alerted, and reports made to the Marine Director and Director of Engineering and Construction.

The Dredging Division goes into action first \\i\h a dredge to remove

(Seep. 11)

The Panama Canal Review
SUCCESSFUL

SUGGESTERS

SHARING top honors in the 1962

Panama Canal Incentive Awards Pro- gram were three Industrial Division

employees: Cyrus W. Field, Ray M.

Smith, and Owen J. Corrigan. They

received $260 each for devising a new

and more economical procedure for fabrication of 28-inch pontoon pipes,

adoption of the suggestion resulting in estimated average annual savings of $23,633.

Besides the savings, technical improvement and increase of productivity,

side effects were generated improving

Industrial Division shop efficiency and

thereby providing craftsmen for other requirements.

Other top 1962 suggesters were: Roy R. Burgener, Electrical Division,

with a $375 supplemental award for conversion of microwave impulse re- peaters for telephone circuits; Vincent Biava, Dredging Division,

$250, for a new method for reconditioning countershafts and bearings on

the dipper dredges;

Herman H. Keepers, Dredging Division, $225, for a way to remachine and

adapt acetylene gas sun switches to

electrical operation.

These three ideas, besides netting the suggesters extra folding money, represent an estimated total savings of $15,000 per year in Canal operations.

In all, there were 57 incentive award

winners in 1962. Their ideas on new and

improved methods, product betterment

and savings in manpower, material and

time, and reduction of safety hazards

brought them more than $3,200 and are

Annual recognition for the top award under the Panama Canal

Incentive Awards Program for 1962 brought gold watches to three men, supplementing cash awards. Gov. Robert J. Fleming, Jr.,

is shown presenting the watches to (left to right): Cyrus W. Field,

Owen J. Corrigan, and Ray M. Smith.

expected to improve the Canal operation's financial status by more than

$52,000 a year. Eishteen of the incentive awards

winners were Marine Bureau employees,

10 from the Engineering and Construction Bureau and 5 or more each from

the Ci\il Affairs Bureau, Supply and

Community Service Bureau, Health Bureau and staff units. "If each individual uses his imagination in a search for improvements, we

will draw on vast resources that will bring fresh water to the well of progress," declared President John F. Ken- nedy in a recent statement on vital values in suggestion systems.

"To maintain our forward pace," he

said, "it is imperative that we have a steady flow of constructive ideas di- rected at all of our problems, large and

small, ranging from those needing the

attention of scholars and experts to those needing the day-to-day knowledge of the man on the job."

Here, scholars, experts, and men and women on the job, were the other 1962

PanCanal incentive awards winners:

MARINE BUREAU

(Director's Office) Ethel W. Brown, $25, Weekly flier for dry

cleaning.

Navigation Division Richard A. McClean and William T. Lyons,

$25 each, Radio telephone handset

button guards.

John Chandler, Jr., $15, Messenger bags

for launches. Frank V. Kerley, $15, Thatcher Ferry

Bridge ceremony.

Russell A. Weade, $25, Lights on Las

Graces dock.Locks Division Frank R. Costanzo, $20, Uniform clothing

for Canal seaman and Locks Division

helpers. Paul Badonsky, $15, Handbag hooks on

cafeteria tables. John M. Klasovsky, $50, Gathodic Protection for miter gates. John M. Klasovsky and C. V. Scheidegg,

$15 each, Locks divers safety. Raymond L. Whitney, $15, Safety for

visitors at Miraflores Locks. Everett White, $15, Uniform headgear.

Carlos Melendez and Eliot J. Brathwaite,

$12.50 each. Fire e.xtinguishers on locks locomotives. Raymond J. Dixon, $15, Phone number

index. Industrial Division

Earl R. Boland, $25, Bulkhead sheathing.

Henry Heppenheimer and Richard F. Pennington, $40 each. Redesign of welder. Thomas V. Frost, $45, Improved balancing

machine.

Carl H. Starke, $125, 28-inch dredge pipe.

ENGINEERING AND CONSTRUCTION

BUREAU

(Director's Office)

Russell T. Wise, $25, Littering highways.

Contract and Inspection Division

Shirley Finlason, $125, Routine letters to contractors.

Electrical Division Delmas A. Swafford, $25, Littering high- ways. Maintenance Division Owen W. Smith and George P. FuUman,

$15 each. Safety switch. John W. Acker, $25, Abrasive wheels.

6 Februaby 1, 1963
Roderick N. Macdonald, $15, Nonskid

material for ladders. De Leon Tschumy and William I. Hollowell, $40 each, floculator drive chain and

sprocket.

CrVIL AFFAIRS BUREAU

Fire Division Calvin Shepherd, $20, Emergency light. Library-Museum

Evelyn H. Howell, $15, Pencil stubs.

Police Division

Russell E. Oberholtzer, $25, School bus

recognition.

Anthony Malagutti, $20, Traffic regulations. Morris E. Cherry, $15, Water. John Kozar, $25, Sanitary protection for policemen.

Postal Division Joseph L. Sestito, $20, Box rent cards. SUPPLY AND COMMUNITY

SERVICE BUREAU

Supply Division Cyrus A. Morris, $15 each, Improvement

of IBM room and substitution on form. Warren D. Marquard, $100, Stock control. Ashton D. Worrell, $15, Unloading ramp. Eugene A. Johnson, $15, Accident protection. George E. Shoemaker, $15, Self-checking numbers.HEALTH BUREAU

Gorgas Hospital

Margaret C. Yerkes, $25, Littering high- ways. Coco Solo Hospital Alfredo Archibald, $20, Glo-colored vest. Fred L. Workman, $25, Anti-panic lights

in elei'ators. Earl L. McClean, $15, Bags. Luis E. Wong, $25, Gamboa dispensary.

STAFF UNITS

Mabelle B. Walker, Administrative Branch,

$15, Decals of Canal Zone seal. Joyce H. Boatwright, E.xecutive Planning,

$15, Cafeteria conveniences. Maria Hernandez, Office of the Governor,

$15, Pictures of governors in rotunda.

Eloise Smith, Office of the Secretary, $15, Standard hole punching.

Henry M. Winter, Safety Branch, $15,

Soap tissues in first aid kits. TRANSPORTATION AND TERMINALS

BUREAU

Railroad Division Chris E. Haywood, $15, Gasoline station hours. Arthur B. Rigby, $15, Safety hazard at Miraflores bridge.

Terminals Division Joe R. Sanders, $25, Man overboard

ladders.PERONNEL BUREAU

(Director's Office) Nina J. Jenkins, $20, Handling of national emblem.

Carlos M. Garcia de Paredes, $15, Index to new book titles. OFFICE OF THE COMPTROLLER

(Accounting Division)

Helen T. Kat, $20, Labor distribution.

Faculty members of the Canal Zone Junior College pictured above are, front row, left to

right: Subert TurbyfiU, Mrs. Mary Joumeay, Dr. Dorothy Moody, Miss Margaret Gately,

and Kenneth Vinton; second row: Shephard Clark, Morris Finkelstein, Charles R. Bowen,

DeWitt Myers, Dr. Kenneth Lake, and Donald Musselman; back row: Dr. James Johnson,

Dr. Charles L. Latimer, Jr., Dean of the College, and Clarence Vosburgh. (Photo by

Scott Wellman.)

FOR JUNIOR COLLEGE FACULTY:

More Recognition

THE CANAL ZONE Junior College

has a distinction shared by only a handful of colleges and universities: Every full-time instructor has been

accepted for membership in the American Association of University Professors. Few institutions share this distinction, as requirements for AAUP

membership demand at least a master's degree plus 3 years of teaching

experience at the college level. The 100 percent acceptance is unique

evidence of the training of the faculty

members and also is recognition of the high standards of selection for teachers

in the Canal Zone Junior College.

C.Z.J.C. has been accepted by the American Association of Junior Colleges

since shortly after its establishment

almost 30 years ago. It was fully accredited by the Middle States Association

of Colleges and Secondary Schools more

than 20 years ago. This latest honors

listing with the American Association of University Professors stands as a third type of recognition.

The association, a national ethical and

professional organization for teachers in

higher education, corresponds to the American Medical Association for doctors and to the American Bar Association for lawyers. It is the recognized

national profesional organization for college teachers. For some years a few of the faculty

members of the junior college have

been accepted as members of the AAUP. Last March a Canal Zone

Chapter of the association was officially launched when Lt. Gov. W. P. Leber

presented the charter from the national organization. Officers of the Canal Zone

Chapter are: Mr. TurbyfiU, president; Mr. Bowen, vice president; and Miss

Gately, secretary. The national association has headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is a constituent member of the American

Council on Education and member of the International Association of University Professors and Lecturers. Independently and in cooperation with other

organizations, it has sought the formulation, recognition, and observances of principles and practices necessary to the

free quest for knowledge.

The Panama Canal Review
^CIPICO

Motorists entering Panama find a paved highway and beautiful new bridges from the Paso de Canoa frontier point to the town of Concepcion and on beyond the city of David in Chiriqui Province. In the Puerto Escondido area, paving is under way, but traffic moves

daily. East of this vehicles must swing out to the scenic coast road which will be by-passed

when the shorter, official route is finished. At Santiago, concrete starts again, stretches

all the way to the Canal.

A Profile:

EVERY MONTH the Inter-American

Highway from Texas to the Canal moves

a notch nearer the goal; a hard-topped,

two-lane 3,142-mOe road all the way

through Middle America.

Last fall, the U.S. Congress allocated $32 million to be matched with $16

million pledged by Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama for completing some sections and paving others

to provide an all-weather road. Year-round access already is an accomplished fact. Some links are rough

and unpaved. Others are subject to

slides. Along some stretches vehicles

travel by roads that will not be the route of the finished highway.

The U.S. Bureau of Public Roads has

provided technical guidance for the

entire Inter-American project.

One of the most troublesome links put through in recent years was that in Costa Rica near the Panama border.

It required 44 modern bridges, includ- ing many with steel-truss spans. As late as last May, motorists had to ford 19

rivers. Now all streams are bridged,

either temporarily or permanently. But

an incomplete approach to one bridge

still requires a shallow ford. Cars from Mexico, Canada, and Call- MllR-AMiRKAH HIGHWAY

Travelers pause under the fresh-cut scaffolding providing temporary support for one of the big new concrete-piered bridges in Costa Rica. fornia-to-Vermont have been rolling into Panama from Costa Rica. They visit tourist sites in the Interior and the terminal cities, and on the Canal

Zone. Some motorists head straight for Miraflores Locks on arrival. Many Canal people already have

driven over all of the road or parts of

it, and others plan to do so. Since 1937, when the "Road to the

States" became a committed project.

Canal employees have been among the highway's pioneers at road-rut level, and enthusiastic boosters in the United

States and elsewhere. The Canal itself has lent encourage- ment and informal aid to the venture. Another Zone-based agency has contributed steadily to the physical layout

of the highway. This is the Inter- American Geodetic Survey, which has

headquarters at Fort Clayton. It is attached to the U.S. Army Caribbean.

lAGS has made its mapping skills available when called on to provide

terrain data often useful in the selection

8 February 1, 1963
of detailed routes, for bridges or road

grades. Here's a profile on what the highway

is like today:

Of Panama's 321-mile stretch from

the capital cit)' to Costa Rica, some 205

miles are paved with concrete. The

paved links on the eastern end are from

Panama City to Santiago, and on the western end from the Costa Rican

border to a point in the Puerto Escondido area (see map). This leaves, in the central provinces, somewhat more

than 100 miles of rough-surfaced road

requiring slow vehicle speeds. Part of the jiggly and often dusty

going follows the route of eventual

paving, but most of it lies along the winding coastal route of the old National

Highway. This sector now has some

dramatically beautiful lookout points

touard mountains and sea. It will become a secondary road when the new

and shorter route is built. Some 28 miles of the new alinement

are neither under construction nor contract. The United States commitment

made last fall included 87.2 million in matching funds for building this, and

for paving another 35 miles now partially constructed, but not open to

traffic, between Santiago and El Pajal.

The basic United States agreement

with the Central American countries and

Panama was to provide two-thirds of the cost of a hard-surfaced (blacktopped) road.

In Costa Rica, surfacing with asphalt

will be done on more than 150 miles of the that country's 410-mile link. About

206 miles already are paved. On the 17-mile section that rises to cross the 12,000-foot pass between San Isidro General and Cartago, widening and

realinement are necessary, also removal

of slide areas, and stabilization of roadbed. The United States allotment for

this work is $13.8 million. In Nicaragua, only a final 28-mile

section remains to be paved of the total 238 miles. United States funds of $1 million are earmarked.

In Honduras, the entire 97-mile link

is paved. The same is true of El

Salvador's 126 miles of highway.

In Guatemala, some 88.2 million of the United States allocation will be

spent for 170 miles of roadwork. Most

of this will go into the 95 miles between

the Mexican border and San Cristobal. In the past, this sector often has been

closed by slides. Work will involve

removing these, building revetments,

base construction, widening, and

e\'entual paving. Currently some 158

miles of Guatemala's 313-mile road are paved.

The Panama Canal Review 9

^^^^•^SSSe ^v^-

Spanning the Rio Chiriqui \ iejo ii this new 4-span structure which is one of the first bridges crossed by tourists who enter Panama from Costa Rica.

Mexico has buMt all of her road

without foreign aid. Only some 60 miles

of the total 1,.587-mile stretch between

Guatemala and Laredo, Tex., are not black-topped or concrete.

Hotels, pensiones, or motels are ade- quate or better throughout Mexico

and in capital cities along the route. Motorists are cautioned not to try to make the trip too fast. And regardless

of maps, it is wise to check on local conditions with the tourist commission

in each country visited—before any trip. To the east of the Canal lies the last uncut area dividing the road systems of North and South America. This is the Darien Gap in eastern Panama and

western Colombia, through which no

traffic can pass. The United States has appropriated

$2 million of the $3 million cost of a detailed engineering survey on which

the route most desirable for such a road

may be based, and to determine cost es- timates. Preliminary studies reportedly

are to start this year. No funds have been appropriated to build roadwa)'s to span this approximately 450-mile gap through mountains

and river-slashed jungles. At rough pre- liminary estimate, $100 million would

be required to do so. To underline the usability of the Inter-American Highway from the Canal to the continental United States,

it is planned to assemble a bus motor- cade in Panama in mid-AprO to trans- port officials, businessmen, and others along the road as far as Mexico City.

From there, the group is expected to travel by plane to Detroit, New York,

and other centers before going to Washington for the ninth Pan American Road

Congress.

In good weather the Rio Corredo, in Costa Rica not far from the Panama border, is shallow enough to be forded. But a year-round all weather crossing for the Inter-American Highway

required a steel-truss structure on foundations sturdy enough to withstand the freshets that sweep down from the Talamanca Range.

^^-^
PROMOTIONS AND TRANSFERS

EMPLOYEES promoted or transferred between December 5 and January 5 are

listed here. Within-grade promotions

and job reclassifications are not listed.

ADMINISTRATIVE BRANCH

Mercedes T. Palomeras, Clerk-Stenographer, from Balboa Bridge Project.

Stephen W. Thome, Title Printer to Leader

(Printing).

CrVIL AFFAIRS BUREAU

Police Division Henry C. DeRaps, Police Sergeant, Class 3, to Police Sergeant, Class 4. Emmett A. Collins, Police Private to Police Sergeant, Class 3. Division of Schools

Lucile G. Feeney, Substitute Teacher to Elementary and Secondary School

Teacher. Wilfred G. Earle, Leader Heavy Laborer

to Leader Maintenanceman.

Stanley M. Hawkins, Roy Fleming, Leader

Laborer Cleaner to Lead Foreman

Laborer Cleaner. Nicolas Barria, Utility Worker, Supply

Division, to Laborer Cleaner. ENGINEERING AND CONSTRUCTION

BUREAU

Electrical Division John B. Corliss, Jr., Electrician to Test Operator-Foreman (Electrical Power

System). Jose Dixon, Utility Worker, Supply Division, to Helper Electrician. Dredging Division

Scott J. McKay, Chief Engineer, Towboat

or Ferry, Navigation Division, to Chief

Engineer, Towboat.

Jesse De W. Tate, General Foreman Electrician to Chief Foreman (Electrical Navigation Aids). Howard Green, Leader Navigational Aid

Maintenanceman to Leader Maintenance- man (Distribution Systems).

LeRoy A. Cooper, Edmond C. Elliot, Clerk- Typist to Supervisory Timekeeper.

Anderson G. Dow, Clerk to Procurement

Clerk. Oscar S. Green, Clerk to Property Record

Clerk. Sidney A. Richards, Harold G. Walkes,

Clerk-Typist to Timekeeper. Everton R. Archbold, Bertram M. Ramsey,

Homer E. Welsh, Clerk to Timekeeper.

Rudolph A. Richards, Clerk to Launch

Dispatcher. Luis G. Fields, Leader (General) to Leader

Maintenanceman (Distribution Systems). Victoriano Carrion, Navigational Aid

Worker to Maintenanceman Distribution Systems.

Maintenance Division Agustin Carrera, Cement Finisher (Limited), Locks Ehvision, to Cement Finisher. Aureliano Bejarano, Heavy Laborer to Pipelayer. Dionisio Navas, Laborer Cleaner to Heavy

Laborer.

HEALTH BUREAU

Dr. Edward W. Healey, Hospital Resident

(2d Year), Gorgas Hospital, to Medical

OflBcer (General Medicine and Surgery), Coco Solo Hospital. Elizabeth M. Hayden, Staff Nurse (Medicine and Surgery), Gorgas Hospital, to Head Nurse (Psychiatry), Corozal Hospital. Edward T. A. Sterrett, Laborer Cleaner,

Electrical Division, to Nursing Assistant (Leprosy), Palo Seco Leprosarium. Andres Barria, Laborer (Heavy-Pest Control), Division of Sanitation, to Animal

Caretaker, Division of Veterinary Medicine. Jorge Torres, Hospital Attendant to Ward

Service Aid, Gorgas Hospital.

MARINE BUREAU

Navigation Division Andrew Stohrer, Pilot to Senior Assistant Captain of the Port. Kenneth S. Roscoe, Richard C. Sergeant,

Pilot to Assistant Captain of the Port. Preston M. Trim, Jr., Marine Traffic Controller to Supervisory Marine Traffic Controller. Carlos L. Irumluig, Seaman, from Dredging Division. Dixie P. Bender, Towing Locomotive Operator to Lock Operator (Iron WorkerWelder).

George N. Stone, Machinist to Lock Operator (Machinist).

Bernardino Berrio, Andres Bonilla, Luis A. De Lo Rios, Melanio Moreno, Painter (Maintenance) to Painter. Carlos Ortega, Asphalt or Cement Worker

to Cement Finisher (Limited).

Humberto B. Stelle, Laborer Cleaner, Division of Schools, to Line Handler. Vincent A. Williams, Utility Worker,

Supply Division, to Line Handler.

Industrial Division Nathaniel A. Daley, Foundry Chipper to Melter. Alfred Braithwaite, Laborer Cleaner to Laborer. OFFICE OF THE COMPTROLLER

Diamantina E. Davis, Office Machine Operator to Bookkeeping Machine Operator,

Accounting Division. SUPPLY AND COMMUNITY

SERVICE BUREAU

Supply Division Clarence W. Kilbey, Service Center Assist- ant Superintendent to Service Center

Superintendent.

Henry J. Chase, Administrative OfiBcer to Service Center Assistant Superintendent. Rutherford P. Rivet, Jr., Guard, Locks Division, to Service Center Supervisor.

George A. Mercier, Restaurant Manager

(Caterer), to Graduate Intern (Business

Administration). Francisco A. Bravo, Clerk to Accounting

Clerk. Gertrude M. Patten, Clerk-Typist to Clerk.

Clifton O. Bailey, Messenger to Timekeeper. Frederick D. Simmons, Utility Worker to Cash Clerk. George M. Weeks, Heavy Laborer to Clerk. Robert C. Husband, Heavy Laborer to Messenger.

Stanford M. Clement, Stanley W. Simmons,

Heavy Laborer to Warehouseman.

Ralph E. Holder, High Lift Truck Operator

to Heavy Leader Laborer. McVin L. Gibbs, Utility Worker to Truck

Driver.

Phil E. Rowland, Utihty Worker to Messenger. Alvin Girdwood Utility Worker to Counter- man.

Harold C. Blackman, Utility Worker to Sales Clerk. Beryl Wright, Counterwoman to Food

Service Sales Checker. Thelma F. Ward, Counterwoman to Sales Clerk. Carlton Dawkins, Waiter to Heavy Laborer. Byron Dixon, Waiter to Counterman.

CliEord A. Hinds, Bus Boy to Utility Worker.

Community Services Division Concepcion Barrios, Albert E. Watson,

Lead Foreman (Grounds Maintenance

Equipment Operator) to Lead Foreman

(Grounds).

Darrington A. Moss, Heavy Laborer to Lead Foreman (Grounds).

Remigio Sanjur, Grounds Maintenance

Equipment Operator to Animal Caretaker. Florentino Duarte, Gregorio Sanchez,

Laborer to Animal Caretaker. TRANSPORTATION AND TERMINALS

DFVISION

Terminals Division Glendora A. Dorsey, Cargo Claims Clerk

to Cargo Claims Assistant. Theodore L. Kaufer, Liquid Fuels Gager

to Leader Liquid Fuels Wharfman.

Joseph F. De Costa, Stevedore to Leader

Dock Stevedore. Teodomiro Erique, Water Service Man to Leader Line Handler. Leonard Baldonado, Line Handler to Carpenter (Maintenance). Oscar Aguilar, Luis C. Mark, Line Handler

to Stevedore. Alfonso S. Aribo, Ernest L. Reid, Line Handler to Water Serviceman. Aubrey O. Hall, Vincent J. Hall, Julio Valverde, Dock Worker to Stevedore. Celestino Ramirez, Dock Worker to Line

Handler. Leonard Richard, Utility Worker, Supply

Division, to Cargo Marker. Napoleon B. Ashby, Service Station Attendant, Supply Division, to Cargo Marker. Motor Transportation Division Cleveland H. James, Motor Vehicle Dis- patcher to Supervisory Motor Vehicle

Dispatcher.

Antonio Flores, Helper Tire Rebuilder to Truck Driver. OTHER PROMOTIONS which did not

involve changes of title; W. Allen Sanders, Whitney E. Smith, General Attorney, Office of General Counsel. Lawrence Barca, Jr., General Engineer, Locks Division. Robert L. Rankiii, Marine Traffic Controller, Navigation Division.

10 February 1, 1963
Ethel W. Brown, Statistical Clerk (Stenography), Office of the Director, Marine

Bureau.

Doris J. Clendenon, Time, Leave, and Payroll Clerk, Accounting Division. Dudley G. Jones, Gardener (Management),

Community Services Division. Elaine E. Heyd, Clerk-Typist, Coco Solo

Hospital.

Ruby C. Smart, Clerk-Typist, Division of Schools. Calvin Thompson, Clerk-Typist, Terminals

Division. Virginia A. Peterson, Clerk-Typist, Communit>' Ser\'ices Division. Stephanie Gordon, Clerk-Typist, Supply

Division. Cynthia Forbes, Clerk-Typist, General Manager's Office, Supply Division. Ernesto M. Stewart, Clerk-T>-pist, Dredging Division. Reno G. Patrick, Lifeguard, Division of Schools. Alejandro Gerald, Hector F. H. McCarthy, Haten C. Springer, Timekeeper, Locks

Division. Alvin L. Cameron, Edwin P. Carson, Carl DaCosta, Alberto H. Dogue, Cecil J. Dutton, Herman G. Edwards, William H. Foster, Aurelio J. Llorach, Pablo E. Ramos, Randolph F. Simmons, Timekeeper, Terminals Division. Facundo Villarreal, Sur\'eying Aid, Engineering Division.

Two members of the survey boat crew lower a 9-foot pipe drag used to test the nature of any obstruction found. Devices are on board to procure samples of bottom if necessary.

HOW TO DEVELOP

THAT GOOD IDEA

1. Don't try too hard. Don't overreach, tr)'ing to develop ideas in areas with which you're unfamiliar.

2. Concentrate on small suggestions. Big ideas are fine, but there

just aren't as many of them. And

smaller awards can count up fast.

3. Don't assume that someone else has already thought of your idea. Someone has to be first. Whv not you?

4. Jot down half thought-out ideas, even if only sketchy notes. Otherwise you may forget. You can work

out details later.

5. Check out your suggestion

thoroughly, especially if it involves more than your area. There may be

problems you aren't aware of.

6. Supervisors can help develop

ideas fully. You may have only an

inkling of the scope. Your supervisor can point out all possibilities.

7. Let your imagination go when

developing ideas.

8. Don't be afraid to turn in ideas

that come out of informal group

discussions. You can share the award,

but turn in the idea!

Sweeping ihz Canal

(Continued from p. 5)

the lump. Meanwhile, the obstacle is reported to pilots guiding ships through

the Canal, and, if necessary, it is marked

with a buoy.

During rainy season, when the level of Gatun Lake remains high, the morning

patrol from Gamboa to Pedro Miguel

on the centerline usually is sufficient. In the dry season, when the lake level

is lower, there may be as many as three

or four trips during the day or night

covering the sailing lines on each side of the channel as well as the area under

the centerline.

Information obtained is telephoned to the Marine Bureau before shipping

enters the locks, usually at 7 a.m. In order that the Shad crew can be sure

the recorders report the correct information, they are checked out at regular

intervals by means of a strange looking

crow's foot device (see page 1). This

flat metal instrument was developed to determine the accurate depth recorded

by the transducers. It is lowered to approximate bottom at a known depth.

If there is a discrepancy, an adjustment

is made.

After the regular daily sun'ey is completed, the men aboard the Shad have

by no means completed their day's

work. They return to the Survey Branch

headquarters at Pedro Miguel and carry on other routine duties. The survey boat with its battery of electronic instruments also is used on

a standby basis when there is blasting

in the Cut or when it is necessary to measure the depth of the bottom of the channel in any other part of the Canal. Not long ago, the equipment-laden

Shad was taken to Balboa Harbor to help determine the position of a sand

barge which sank after a collision with

an oil tanker. The work being done by the Shad is so important that another Dredging

Division launch is being fitted with

similar equipment and will be used

during busy times as a spare or in conjunction with the Shad.

The Panama Canal Review 11
CANAL

HISTORY

50 yiearJ c4^o

EXCAVATION FOR THE Atlantic approach to the Gatun Locks disclosed,

at about 150 feet beyond the lower end

of the locks proper, a sharp dip in the rock on which the center guide wall was

to rest. It was decided to build the wall 200 feet shorter than was proposed in the original plans. Rail traffic problems were of concern

as work progressed on excavation at the site of Miraflores spillway. In spite of new trackage, there remained 1,050

feet of single track from the south end

of Miraflores tunnel to Corozal. Scheduling became a problem, with

approximately 175 trains to pass over

RETIREMENTS

RETIREMENT certificates were pre- sented at the end of December to the employees listed below, with their positions at the time of retirement and vears

of Canal service: Eduardo Blandon, Stevedore, Terminals

Division; 3 years, 20 days.

Joseph M. Cooke, Supervisory General Engineer, Engineering Division; 7 years, 8 months, 9 days.

Felipe M. Davila, Painter, Maintenance

Division; 32 years, 10 months, 16 days.

Ralph Dugan, Jr., Police Private, Police

Division; 16 years, 6 months, 18 days. Burnett Garero, Heavy Truck Driver, Maintenance, Division; 22 years, 10 months,

2 days. Alfred R. Graham, Staff Nurse, Medicine

and Surgen.', Gorgas Hospital; 18 years, 6 months, 25 days. Gerald J. Jerome, Leader, Heavy Labor,

Dredging Division; 46 years, 2 months,

11 days. Jose Johnson, Washman, Ancon Laundry; 22 years, 18 days.

Harold Palmer, Clerk Checker, Railroad

Division; 33 years, 2 months, 11 days. Albert L. Pope, Inspector, Carman, Wood,

and Steel, Railroad Division; 17 years,

1 month, 23 days.

Rudolph W. Rubelli, Pilot, Navigation Division; 22 years, 6 months, 18 days.

Anthony M. Smith, Extractor and Tumblerman, Ancon Laundry; 25 years, 4 months,

12 days. Paul S. Stewart, Police Private, Police Division; 25 years, 7 months, 6 days.

Joseph C. Stokes, Carman, Wood and Steel, Railroad Division; 9 years, 1 month,

25 days.

Jasper Wilmoth, Helper Marine Machinist,

Dredging Division; 21 years, 8 months,

10 davs.

the single track in 10 hours, a rate of

1 in less than 4 minutes. About 80 of these were dirt trains, the rest passenger and freight trains. A train 940 feet long, traveling at 10 miles an hour, took not less than

48 seconds to pass clear of the single track span, and successive trains in the same direction could not pass over, with

safe headway, faster than one a minute.

25 y^eari cAg.o

CANAL ZONE and Panama residents —2,000 strong—crowded the hangar line

at Albrook Field to witness the histor\'-

making arrival of six new U.S. Army Air Force B-17 bombers known as "Flying

Fortresses." Under the command of

Lt. Col. Robert Olds, the bombers

were on the last lap of a goodwill flight to South America which had taken them

to Buenos Aires, Chile, and Peru. They

had made the flight from Lima to Pan- ama in only 9 hours. The planes re- mained here 2 days for inspection and

then continued their flight to the U.S. west coast.

In Washington, D.C., Adm. William

DuBose, Chief of the Bureau of Naval

Construction, stated that the Panama

Canal could accommodate battleships

up to 60,000 tons, 980 feet in length and

108 feet in beam. He indicated that a United States fleet powerful enough to repel simultaneous attacks against both

coasts may be achieved in 7 or 8 years.

Bills providing for widows' annuities and for 30-year optional retirement for Panama Canal employees were intro- duced into the House of Representatives.

In Panama, the Fourth Central American and Caribbean Olympic Games

were held in the newly constructed Olympic Stadium.

/O^-ears fffO PRICE REDUCTIONS on approximately 100 food and household items, to represent an aggregate savings of $200,000 for customers of the Canal

commissaries during 6 months, were

announced. Egg prices were to be 3 and

4 cents lower per dozen and beef and

sausage products were 1 to 5 cents a pound lower. A merger of the Office of the Comptroller and the Finance Bureau of the Canal organization, with two divisions and four staff groups, was announced.

Port-au-Prince, Haiti, was made a regular port of call for Panama Line

ships. No change was made on days of

arrival and departure from Cristobal,

but the ships left New York a day earlier southbound and arri\'ed there a day

later on northbound trips. One y[ear a4g.o

An appeal was made to residents of the Canal Zone to conserve electrical energy because of the unusually dry

weather and increasingly heavy de- mands for water for lockages and power

generation. Water levels of Gatun and

Madden Lakes were dropping much

faster than desireable because of dry

weather in the upper river areas

supplying the basin. The first six new Japanese-built locks towing locomotives were delivered to Gatun Locks for tests. More than twice

as powerful as the old locomotives, they

also are faster, an important factor in increasing the number of lockages

possible in a day.

Work on construction of 30 family

units, the first of 119 family quarters

scheduled for Canal Zone Pacific side communities, was started in Los Rios

and Corozal. Be Careful --Not a Statistic

.ACCIDENTS.

FOR
ANNIVERSARIES

(On the basis of total Federal Service)

CIVIL AFFAIRS BUREAU

Carl W. Hoffmeyer

Clerk, Mail Handling

Unit

ENGINEERING AND

CONSTRUCTION BUREAU

Hubert C. A.^tA

Painter Alfredo C. Ci PaverMARINE B

Noble A. Phillips Planner and Estimatoi

Christian S. Ski Towing Loi Charles H. Ari Guard

OFFICE OF THE

COMPTROLLER

George T. Damall, Jr. Valuation Engineer, General Wilmer L. Downing

Payroll Systems Officer Richard W. Fuller General Claims

OMMUNITY

AU

[Warren D. MirqJard

ommissa^ Sjpre Manager

iner

th-ville Garment Presser

TRANSPORTATION AND

TERMINALS BUREAU

Donald O. Zobel Truck Driver

CIVIL AFFAIRS BUREAU

Fitz A. Barnes

Photographic Laboratory

Technician

Crispin S. Mayers

Detention Guard

John H. West

Senior High Teacher, Latin American Schools Daniel Pineda Laborer Cleaner

ENGINEERING AND

CONSTRUCTION BUREAU

LesUe O. Anderson

Supervisory Construction

Representative (General)

Marguerite Runck

Clerical Assistant, Typing

Robert H. Elliott Launch Operator Laureano Hidalgo Boatman

Ernesto Pomare

Boiler Tender

Tomas Velasquez

Seaman

HEALTH BUREAU

Amy McFarlane

Formula Room Attendant Emilio Rodriguez

Nursing Assistant, Medicine

and Surgery

Syble M. Taitt Pantry Worker, Special Diets Edna C. Tullis Nursing Assistant, Medicine

and Surgery

Marquesa H. Francis Cook

MARINE BUREAU

Everett White

Guard

Bernardino Berrio Maintenance Painter Joseph Butcher Helper Lock Operator

Thomas Carr

Deckliand Vernon A. Charles Helper Machinist Manuel Cobo

Boatman

Granville E. Downer

Deckhand Boatswain

Calixto Goliz

glper Lock

oh C.

Helper Lock Operator

Jose M. Ozuna

Helper Lock Operator Andres Payan

Deckhand

Virgilio Portillo Helper Lock Operator

Stanley Price Deckhand

Leofanor Renterias Launch Seaman

Jorge Urriola

Painter Paul H. Zimmerman

Lead Foreman, Marine

Machinist

SUPPLY AND COMMUNITY

SERVICE BUREAU

Luis E. Ceballos

Service Center Supervisor Martindale Coombs

Utility Worker

Doris I. Corbin

Baker Maria D. Gil Garment Presser Hildred G. Gooden

Utility Worker

Enid E. Herbert

Utility Worker

Hubert G. Hunter

Laborer Cleaner

Clover Jamieson

Shirt Presser Mary L. John

Counterwoman

Emily R. Malcolm

Retail Store Sales Checker

Ella Jean Maynard

Sales Section Head

Lucille McLeod

Counterwoman

Myrtle E. Monrose

Stock Control Clerk Manuel T. Mosquera

Garbage Collector Angela L. Price

Sales Clerk

Alberto Torres Laborer Cleaner

Victor Valdes Garbage Collector TRANSPORTATION AND

TERMINALS BUREAU

Herbert W. Rose

Engineer, Locomotive Yard

Alejandro Blanco Truck Driver Edgar C. Erskine Cargo Checker

The Panama Canal Review 13
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:

United States intercoastal East coast of United States and South AmericaEast coast of United States and Central America

East coast of United States and Far East United States/Canada east coast and Australasia Europe and west coast of United States/Canada

Europe and South America

Europe and Australasia

All other routes

Total traffic

Second Quarter, Fiscal Year 1963
Automated Freighters

TWO OF THE world's most automated

cargo liners are making regular trips

through the Canal these days on speedv

voyages between Japan, the U.S. west

coast and New York. They are the Kinkasan Mant and the Kasugasan

Marii, sister ships of the Mitsui Line. The Kinkasan Main was built last year as the world's first automated cargo

liner of her size. The Ka.stiga.ian Mant. which returned through the Canal in December on the second leg of her maiden voyage, has automation facilities which have been developed on a far wider scale. The ship has full automative

facilities at all three major systems;

deck, engine, and electric, making it possible to operate \\ ith a cre\\' of fewer

than 35 men.

Both ships have been chopping time

off the run bet^\-een Japan and Nev\'

York and ha\e broken a few records for

this vo)age. The United Fruit Co.. which handles ships of this line, savs

that they stop here for bunkers and

sometimes for cargo.

Liners To Be Converted

THE PASSENGER liners Himalaya and

Orcades of the P & O-Orient Lines will be converted this year into one-class

vessels, according to reports from shipping circles. The Himalaya will make

her first voyage after conversion in No\ember 1963 and the Orcades earl)' in 1964. Both passenger liners make

occasional trips through the Canal on

round-the-world vovages.

TRANSITS BY OCEAN-GOING

VESSELS IN DECEMBER

1962 1961 Commercial 947 938

U.S. Government 40 8 Free 9

"

Total 996 953

TOLLS °

Commercial.... S4,984,677 $4,871,708

U.S. Government 194,245 28,487

Total $5,178,922.54,900,195

CARGO""

Commercial.... 5,422,391 5,901,604

U.S. Government 78,760 20,914

Free 39,354 49,576

Total 5,540,505 5,972,094

•Includes tolls on all vessels, ocean-going and small.

•' Cargo figures are in long tons.

CANAL TRANSITS - COMMERCIAL AND U.S. GOVERNMENT
SHIPPING

Tolls: Biggest, Littlest

Super tanker Orion Hunter transited early

in January 1962, en route to California. The 860-foot ship has a beam of 104 feet and displacement during transit was 60,300

tons. Toll was a record high $30,446.10.

Swimmer Albert H. Oshiver transited from Catun Locks to Gamboa December 29-30,

1962. The 42-year-old Washington, D.C., oceanographer was listed for 5-fect-5 inch

length, 1-foot 3-inch beam, 1-foot depth

and displacement of approximately onetenth of a ton. Toll was 45 cents, smallest ever collected by the Canal, on a minimum

1 net ton charge, with half of the 90-cent

fee rebated because he didn't go through any locks. Admeasuring Mr. Oshiver, above,

is Chief Admeasurer Robert E. Medinger.

PANAMA CANAL records for calendar

year 1962 show it was notable in other ways besides recording of the largest

and smallest tolls ( see pictures ) . The

largest commercial cargo was listed for October 13 when the Ore Meteor transited, 44,900 long tons, with iron ore en

route from Chile to Baltimore.

Tolls for this amounted to only

$10,836, however, contrasted with the record $30,000-plus for the Orion

Hunter, because the Canal tolls fonnula

is based on ships' earning capacity, with no charge for such space as the large

ballast area around a heavy, compact

ore load. The year also saw introduction of super bulk carriers, designed to carry

coal one way, to Japan, and iron or grain from the west coast on the return

trip. Two such ships are the Nini and

Sonic, each of which transited with 40

to 45 thousand tons of coal, more than

double most earlier large coal cargoes. The surplus of shipping in the wake

of the Suez crisis is evident in the load

factor of ships transiting the Canal being

the lowest since 1936. During the first 6 months of fiscal year 1963 traffic and

tolls were up approximately 4 percent

in spite of a drop in cargo of nearly

6 percent.

Before the Orion Hunter's transit, the top toll for a commercial ship was



n;»tp Due
P 187

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UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA

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