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Vol. 4, No. 9 BALBOA HEIGHTS, CANAL ZONE, APRIL 2, 1954 5 cents THE CANAL BUILDER

"The plare to see the Colonel at his best was from a certain chair in his private office at Culebra, after eight on Sunday morning. There, at a flat-topped desk, with a freshly-opened tin of cigarettes before him, he sat in most

informal state, and every man or woman who had a grievance could come and state it to the Man at the Top. From

his decision there was no appeal, except to the President of the United States."—Goethals: Genius of the

Panama Canal.

A man went down to Panama,

Where many a man had died, To slit the sliding mountain*

And lift the eternal tide: A man stood up in Panama,

And the mountains stood aside.

The Power that wrought the tide and peak

Wrought mightier the seer; And the One who made the Isthmus He made the engineer.

And the good God He made Goethals To cleave the hemisphere.

The reek of fevered ages rose From poisoned jungle and strand, Where the crumbling wrecks of failure Lay sunk in the torrid sand—

Derelicts of old desperate hopes

And venal contraband.

Tilla mind glowed white thru the yellow mist

" And purged the poison-mold,

And the wrecks rose up in labor, And the fever's knell was tolled, And the keen mind cut the world-divide Untarnished by world-gold.

For a poet wrought in Panama

With a continent for his theme,

And he wrote with flood and fire To forge a planet's dream,

And the derricks rang his dithyrambs

And his stanzas roared in steam.

But the poet's mind it is not his Alone, but a million men's: Far visions of lonely dreamers Meet there as in a lens, And lightnings, pent by stormy time, Leap through, with flame intense.

So through our age three giants loom To vouch man's venturous soul: Amundsen on his ice-peak,

And Peary from his Pole. And midway, where the oceans meet, Goethals—beside his goal.

Where old Balboa bent his gaze He leads the liners through.

And the Horn that tossed Magellan

Bellows afar halloo, For where the navies never sailed Steamed Goethals and his crew.

So nevermore the tropic routes Need Poleward warp and veer, But on through the Gates of Goethals The steady keels shall steer, Where the tribes of man are led toward peace By the prophet-engineer.

—Percy MacKaye
THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW April 2,1954

1858 • GEORGE W. GOETHALS • 1928

The following biographical summary

lists in chronological order the principal dates and events in the life of Colonel Goethals with particular emphasis on the Canal construction period:

1858 June 29 Born hi Brooklyn, V Y.. the son "I John and Marie Baron

( ioethals.

187.? 1876 Attended Citj College ol New

York.

187() June 12 Entered United States

Militai s V idemj on the appointment

by I . S. Represent itive Samuel S.

( ox 1880 June 12 Graduated No. 1 in hi- class from the Milieu \ Academy and

u.i- commissioned Second Lieutenant

in the Corps of Engineers.

JunetoOctober Assistant Instructor in Practical Astronomy at Milieu \ \e.elciu\ . 1880 1882 Student officer in the Engineer

School of Application at Willets Point

i nov Fori rotten), N. Y. 1882 June 15 Promoted to First Lieu- tenant. 1882 1884 Served as engineer officer to

the Department of Columbia during

which time he built his first bridge, a replacement over the Spokane River,

which he said 40 vears later was "the

hardest job I ever tackled." It was

during this service thai he attracted

the favorable attention of ('.en. William Tecumseh Sherman.

1884 September -Assigned to dun as assistant to Col. William E. Merrill, who was in charge of Ohio River improvements. This service gave him

excellent training for his later work on

the Panama Canal for Colonel Merrill was the country's recognized highest

authority on the construction ol locks and dams. December 3 -Married Miss Effie Rodman in New Bedford, Mass. 1885-1889 August, 1885—Assigned to duty ai West Point, serving first as

Instructor and later as Assistant Professor in Civil Engineering. 1886 March 4—The first son, Georgi

Rodman Goethals, was born at Wesl

Point. 1889 August—Assigned as assistant en- gineer for the design and construction

of locks and dams on the Cumberland

and Tennessee Ri\ ers. 1890 December 14 - - A second son, Thomas Rodman Goethals, was born

ai New Bedford. 1891-1894 January, 1891—Assigned Engineer in charge of Tennessee River im- provements. Designed and built the

26-foot lift Riverton Lock, the fust

high-lift luck in the United States. 1891 December 14—Promoted to Captain. 1894-1898 Assistant to the Chief of Engineers. Served under three successive chiefs. Reviewed and reported on

specifications for engineering works,

contracts, lake surveys, and monej

accountings for the Engineer Depart- ment at large 1898 May 9 Commissioned Lieutenant

Colonel nl Volunteers, U. S. Army.

Served undei Maj. Gen. John Ruttei Brooke a- Chiel Engineei "i the First Army Corps. Served at Camp George

II. 1 homas in t ieorgia .u\<\ later in

I 'uerto Rii 1 1. October 18—Raised the I nited States flag over the [ntendencia ol San

|uan, Puerto Rico. December 15—Appointed In tor in Practical Milieux Engineering

at West Point. December 31 —Honorably discharg- ed as Lieutenant Colonel of Volunteers. 1898-1900 Served as Instructor al Wesl

Point. 1900-1903 February 7, 1900—Promoted

ei Major. Served as Engineer Officer in charge

nl fortifications, river and harbor work

n Newport, R. I.

1903 -1907 Member of General Staff, Washington, I). C. Among other young

i members were Maj. David DuBose Gaillard, for whom Gaillard (in i- n. nurd, and Capt. John J. Pershing, later to serve as lirst Chair- man of the Goethals Memorial Commissii hi. 1904 January 6 Assigned to the permanent personnel of tin- War College. 1905 Appointed Secretary of National

( ii. i-i Defense Board. It was during

this service he came into intimate and

prolonged contact with Secretary ot War i'atl who was greatly impressed

with his abilit \ . June 30 Blanket order issued b) Secretary I aft for Major Goethals to serve with Isthmian Canal Commission

il his services requested.

July 5 Highly recommended by

Theodore I'. Shouts. Chairman of the

I. C. C. to John F. Stevens, Chief Engineer, for appointment as Assistant Engineer ol I. C. C. November 2 —Arrived in Colon on

the Cruiser Columbia with Secretary ol War Taft and party to inspect Canal

construction work. He later used the

-ingle word "chaotic" to describe conditions on the Isthmus then. 1907 February 18—Called to the White

House by President Theodore Roosevelt and told of his selection to be Chairman and Chief Engineer of the Isthmian Canal Commission to succeed John F. Stevens, who had submitted

his resignation. The interview, which

took place at night, was the first meeting of the two Canal greats. March 2—Promoted to Lieutenant

Colonel. March 4—Appointed member of the Isthmian Canal Commission.

March 14—Arrived in Colon aboard

the old Panama Railroad Company

steamer Panama. March 17—Made his famous maiden

speech to Canal workers at a smoker

given by the Corozal Club. It was an

unfriendly audience and most of the applause went to "Big Smoke" Stevens. March 30—Secretary of War Taft and party of consulting engineers

arrived oti the Isthmus to determine

suitability of rock for lock foundations. April 1 —Formally succeeded Mr.

Stevens as Chairman and Chief Engineer of the new and Third Isthmian Canal Commission.

April 3—Elected President of the Panama Railroad and Steamship Company. September 5—Received cablegram

of congratulations from President Roosevelt for new monthly record of excavation during August.

October 4 Experienced Inst seri- ous difficulties with landslides which

were to plague him and hinder construction for many years. Two steam

shovels and 1,000 feet of railroad track

in Cut were covered by 500,000 cubic yards of earth and rock. 1908 January 8—Placed in complete

charge of construction work and gov- ernment in the Canal Zone by Executive Order signed by President Roosevelt. "Now. I have both feet on the ground and I'll build the Canal," he

told the President. 1909 January 29—Secretary of War

Taft and commission of seven engineers

arrived in Cristobal to inspect Canal

work, especially Gatun Dam which had

Keen bitterly critized. March—The construction period

monthly record ol over 4,000,000 cubic yards of excavation was established. December 3—Promoted to Colonel. 1910 November 14- President Taft dis- embarked in Cristobal from U. S. S. Tennessee for a three-day visit. 1912 August 24—The Panama Canal Act providing for the permanent organization for the operation and maintenance

of the Panama Canal was approved by

President Wood row Wilson. It was a triumph of Colonel Goethals' long light for his idea- on a permanent organization.

January —Disastrous Cucuracha

slide occurred which all but filled the new channel. Inspecting the damage

with Colonel ( ..nllard, he made the now

famous remark: "Hell, dig it out

again." 1913 May 18—Waters of the Pacific ( >. ean were let into the new channel by the Mowing of the Corozal Dike. September 26—Watched with Col. Harry F. Hodges and Edward Schild- hauer, Electrical and Mechanical

Engineer, the flooding and operation of Gatun Locks. He staved ashore while

the tugboat Gatun was locked through.

October 10 -Watched the blowing

of Gamboa Dike by remote control from the White House in Washingtonby President Wilson. As in most of the

big events of the construction period, he took no prominent public part. 1914 January 14—The craneboat Alex LaValley made the first trip of a steam

propelled vessel through the Canal. January 27—President Wilson is- sued the Executive Order establishing

The Panama Canal. February 4—President Wilson ap- pointed Colonel Goethals the first Governor of The Panama Canal. March 3—Presented special medal

of National Geographic Society by

President Wilson on which was in- scribed: "The Cullum Geographical

Medal to Maj. Gen. George W.

Goethals, builder of the Panama Canal. He fulfilled the ancient dream ol Gomara of a highway between the

Atlantic and Pacific and thereby transformed forever the geographic

relations of the commercial world." April 1 —Became the first Governor

of The Panama Canal. The momentous occasion was not marked by any

special ceremony. August 3—The Panama Railroad steamer Cristobal made a trial run through the Canal with no passengers aboard. August 15—Watched from ashore

the historic trip of the S. S. Ancon

through the Canal to open the new

waterway to commercial traffic. October 14 —A disastrous slide closed the new Canal just north of Gold Hill. 1915 March 4 —Promoted to Major General and received the thanks of Congress for distinguished service in build- ing the Panama Canal. March 6—Said farewell to coworkers

at the annual dinner of the Society of the Chagres held at the Hotel Tivoli. 1916 September 25—Sailed from the Isthmus for the last time aboard the United Fruit Company steamer Pastores. October 8 Appointed Chairman of Board to investigate Adamson Eight- Hour Law for railroads. November 16—Retired from Army

at his own request. 1917 January 10 Resigned as Governor

of The Panama Canal. January —Established Consulting

Engineer firm at 43 Exchange Place, New York City.

March 29—Appointed State Highway Engineer for New Jersey. April to July—Served as General Manager of the Emergency Fleet Corporation.

December 18—Recalled to active duty and appointed Acting Quarter- master General of the Army.

1918 April—Appointed Chief of the Division ol Purchase, Storage, and Traffic, U. S. Army.

Appointed member of the War

Industries Board.

1919 March—Relieved from active duty

with the Army at own request. 1919-1928 President of engineering firm

of George W. Goethals and Company,

and advisor to the Port of New York

Authority. 1928 January 21—Died at 12 East 86th

St., New York City.
April 2, 1954 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW

GOETHALS MEMORIAL DEDICAT ION CEREMONY

The dedication ceremony of the Goethals Memorial in Balboa will open

at 5 o'clock Wednesday afternoon. The

formal program, which follows, will be preceded by a half-hour concert by the

joint bands of the Balboa and Cristobal High Schools.

"Stars and Stripes Forever"

Joint Balboa-Cristobal High School Band Invocation

Rev. Alexander H. Shaw, Pastor, Balboa Union Church Introductory Remarks

Brigadier General J. S. Seybold, Governor, Canal Zone;

President, Panama Canal Company

Presentation of Awards to Canal Zone

Schools Essay Contest Winners

Hon. Maurice H. Thatcher, Member, Isthmian Canal Commission "American Ode"

La Boca Alumni Glee Club, under direction of Miss Emily E. Butcher Presentation of Memorial Monument

Hon. Richard H. Whitehead, Member, Goethals Memorial Commission Unveiling of Memorial Monument

Colonel George R. Goethals and Dr. Thomas R. Goethals, sons of Major General Goethals Dedicatory Prayer

The Right Rev. Reginald Heber Gooden, Bishop of Diocese of Panama Canal Zone Address

Hon. Alexander Wiley, United States Senator, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Himno National de la Republica

de Panama

Joint Balboa-Cristobal High School Band National Anthem of the United States

of America

Joint Balboa-Cristobal High School Band Benediction

Rev. Joseph F. Konen, C. M.

SENATOR ALEXANDER WILEY

Senator Alexander Wiley, principal

speaker at the dedication of the Goethals

Memorial, is well-known in the Canal Zone and the Republic of Panama, having

spent several days here in December 1949. He has served as Senator from his home State of Wisconsin continuously

since 1938. He now is Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee

and is the ranking Republican member

of the Judiciary Committee.

Recognized as one of the most forceful orators of the United States Senate, he

has been a leader for many years in the

nation's program of international cooperation. During the many years while the

late Senator Arthur Vandenberg was the

ranking Republican member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee,

Senator Wiley vigorously supported the

bipartisan foreign policy. Since succeeding to the Chairmanship

of the important Foreign Relations Committee, he has made notable contributions

to advancing further the cause of amity

between nations. He has made many

significant speeches on this area of American foreign policy and is regarded

as the outstanding leader in the promotion

of better international understanding.

The Senator refers to himself as a

"small town banker, businessman, lawyer,

and operator of a dairy farm for 31

years" in the biographical notes of the Congressional Directory. He was born

in Chippewa Falls, Wis., on May 26, 1884, the son of parents who came to the United States from Norway.

He was graduated from the University

of Wisconsin law school and began law

practice in his home town in 1907. He

had taken no leading part in national

politics until his election to the Senate on the Republican ticket 16 years ago. Since that time he has taken part in some of the most important national and

international conferences of the past

decade. Among these have been the Interparliamentary Union Conference in Oslo, Norway, in 1939; the British Empire

Parliamentary Conference in Bermuda

in 1946 and head of the U. S. delegation

to that conference in 1948; the Japanese Peace Conference in San Francisco in 1951 ; the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, France, in 1951; and the Interparliamentary Union (See page 7)

The monument of "heroic size" authorized by

Congress in August 1935 was completed just 18 years

later. It is located at the foot of the Administration

Building steps in Balboa facing the Prado. It was

designed by Shaw, Metz & Dolio, a Chicago archi- tectural and engineering firm, with the Panama

architectural firm of Mendez & Sander, as associate

architects. The monument was erected by Constructora Martinz, S. A., of Panama, and was completed

in August 1953. The monument is symbolic in its concept. The

56-foot high shaft of Vermont marble represents the

Continental Divide and the basins on either sids represent the Panama Canal Locks with water pouring from them to join, symbolically, the waters of Gatun Lake with the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The shaft rises from a circular reflecting pool 65

feet in diameter.
THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW April 2, 1954

Mrs. EFFIE RODMAN GOETHALS

Like the wife of many a famous man,

Mrs. Effie Rodman Goethals rarely shared the sp >tlight of public attention with her husband. Her home, her hus- band, and her children were her main

interests. However, she shared quietly with him

momentous occasions of his eventful life. < >f these, perhaps nunc was

thrilling than the night of February

is, 1907, whan Colonel Goethals (then

Major) received the unexpected call to the Whit.' House to be told of his selection

to head the Canal work. According to Bishop's Goetkds: Genius

of the Panama Canal, Maj. and Mrs. Goethals were entertaining Colonel Fieberger, an old West Point friend, when

the call came. Relating the incident and the surprise of all three, Bishop says: "At this point Mrs. Goethals probably

hurried him straight upstairs to put on

his full-dress uniform, though neither she nor Colonel Fieberger has the faintest

recollection as to whether or not he wore

it to the White House that night. All they can remember is the agony of impatience with which they awaited his return." Both Colonel and Mrs. Goethals

avoided, whenever possible, public attention. No project ever attracted greater attention than the Canal construction and thousands of pictures were taken of the work and the men in charge. Despite

this, there are few in existence in which

the man responsible for the Canal project appears and only one or two of Mrs.

M ! [S. i ii (ETHALS as she is remembered by many

oldtimers. This picture was taken about 1912.

Goethals in the Canal's extensive photographic files. She is well remembered by those who

lived on the Isthmus during that ten-year

period of her life, but principally for her

quiet devotion to her home and family.

Although she never sought social prominence, she probably entertained more public celebrities during her life on

the Isthmus than anyone, for there was a constant stream of visitors to see the "big ditch" being dug. Many of these

stayed or were entertained at the Goethals

home at Culebra. Mrs. Goethals was born April 4, 1858,

in New Bedford, Mass., the daughter of Capt. and Mrs. Thomas R. Rodman.

During her girlhood days she came to know well something of military life, for her father served during the Civil War

as a captain in the Union Army Infantry.

Much of her girlhood days were spent on

the island of Martha's Vineyard off the south shore of Cape Cod where she was

to live in later life. She was visiting her brother, Lt. Samuel Rodman, at Vancouver Barracks

in the Washington Territory, when she met her future husband. They were

married December 4, 1884, at the Grace

Episcopal Church in New Bedford.

Colonel Goethals became enthusiastic about Vineyard Haven as a homesite

when he went there with Mrs. Goethals

for the first time in the summer of 1889. Four years later he bought a lot there and

built a substantial New England type

frame house which still stands. They first occupied the house in 1894 and it continued to be their home during

the remainder of their lives. It was the only place where Colonel Goethals ever voted although he lived there a comparatively little time because of his Army

assignments and later his work in New

York.

Following his death, Mrs. Goethals

returned to make Vineyard Haven her home until her death at Wellesley, Mass., on December 31, 1941.

Grandsons Of Canal Builder Visit Zone

Among the most interested visitors ever

to come to the Canal Zone were four grandsons of Colonel Goethals who spent

several days here during the 1940's. George R. Goethals II, whose father was also one of the oldtimers of the Canal

construction era, and Thomas Goethals,

Jr., whose father is a doctor in Boston,

Mass., were here in July 1940. The other two grandsons, Henry and

Peter, both sons of Dr. Goethals, spent

several days here in July 1947. On both occasions the visitors were

THOMAS GOETHALS. Jr.. left, and George II. Goethals, II, posed in front of the disk used by their grandfather at Culebra during a visit to the Canal Zone in 19-iO. The desk is still in use in the office of the Executive Secretary.

given a royal welcome by employees who

had worked for their illustrious grandfather more than a quarter of a century

earlier. They were all four given a round

of visits to the many sites in the Canal Zone made famous during the Canal

construction. George and Thomas were students at

college at the time of their visit. They

were here while Maj. Gen. Glen E. Edgerton was Governor. General Edgerton was a classmate of George R. Goethals, son of the. Canal builder, at the Military

Academy and both were assigned to duty

with the Isthmian Canal Commission

soon after their graduation.

Given Royal Welcome

Aside from visiting all of the principal

sights in Panama and the Canal Zone,

George and Thomas were entertained by

the Sons and Daughters of Old Timers

Society which had been formed shortly before the 25th anniversary of the opening of the Canal. Both of the other grandsons were World War II veterans when they visited the Isthmus. Henrv, then 24, had served

as a Captain in the Army, and Peter, then 21, had served as an electrician's mate in the Navy. The elder of the two

had just completed his university training at Harvard while Peter was still a student there. They also were given an opportunity

to see the Canal from every angle. One

of the highlights of their visit was a trip

through the Canal. Another was a call

at the office of Gov. Joseph C. Mehaffey

where they were shown the architect's sketches of the proposed memorial to their grandfather which was then scheduled to be erected on the Cristobal mole. The oldest of the grandsons remembered their grandfather from boyhood

days when the family home was in Martha's Vineyard, Mass. It was a trip of a lifetime for them as none of the grandsons had ever had an opportunity

to visit the Canal and see the engineering

wonder which their grandfather built.

PETER R., left, and Henry W., sons of Dr. Thomas

Goethals, visited the Isthmus for several days in 1947. The portrait of Colonel Goethals was painted

by former ( lovernor Jay J. Morrow, is on permanent

display at the Administration Building.
April 2,1954 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW

"Young George" And "Tom" Are Oldtimers

Col. George R. Goethals, elder son of the Canal builder, and his brother, Dr. Thomas R. Goethals, of Boston, were

well known to thousands of oldtimers of the Canal construction period.

Of the two, Colonel Goethals who now

lives in Las Cruces, N. Mex., perhaps

is the better known by oldtimers because

of his service with the Isthmian Canal

Commission. Dr. Goethals was still a young boy |when his father iwas assigned

to the Canal work. He resided here during the construction period and accompanied him on the trip to the States when

he left the Isthmus for the last time in September 1916. Colonel Goethals, known on the Isth- mus as "Young George," was one of three young lieutenants of the Corps of Engineers assigned to the I. C. C. in 1908 soon

after graduation from the Military

Academy.

The other two were to become equally

well known for their connection with the Canal enterprise. They were Lt. Glen

E. Edgerton who later became Engineer

of Maintenance and Governor, and Lt. James G. Steese. The latter served several years during the construction period.

He returned in 1941 as a colonel in the Corps of Engineers and stayed until after the close of the war during which time

he served in several different top executive

positions.

Friendship And Canal Interests The three were close friends at the Military Academy and their friendship, as well as their great interest in the Canal, has continued to this day.

They were the first of several young

officers to be assigned to duty with the Isthmian Canal Commission during the construction period. The program was

initiated by Colonel Goethals after he became Chairman and Chief Engineer

with the objective of giving the young

officers a working knowledge of the

project for later reassignments in more

responsible positions. Generally, the young officers were assigned for brief periods on different phases of the work

such as the relocation of the Panama

Railroad, Gatun Dam, the locks construction, and Culebra Cut excavation. Young George served as a transitman

from 1908 until 1909. He returned to Isthmian service in 1910 as assistant engineer. He was made assistant engineer in charge of fortifications in 1912,

in which position he was directly responsible to his father, and served until 1914.

Visited Zone Three Times

He has revisited the Isthmus on three occasions since. He and General Steese

visited the Zone for a short time in 1915 and he returned again for a few days

in 1924. On his third visit he had the opportunity to see his old friends of West Point

and Canal construction days as General

Edgerton was then Governor, and General

Steese who, a short time before, had been

recalled to active duty and was then

assigned as Administrative Assistant to the Engineer of Maintenance.

Colonel Goethals also had just been

recalled to active duty and was then

serving as District Engineer in Buffalo, N. Y. During the first World War he served in France with the First and Third

Armies and later as commanding officer

THESE TWO REMARKABLE photographs of father and son were taken about 25 years apart. In the upper picture Colonel Goethals is shown at the Miraflores Dam Spillway just before it was completed. The lower picture of his son, Col. George R. Goethals, was taken during a visit here in 1941.

It was suggested by the late George W. Green, then Municipal Engineer, who remembered the picture

of the Canal builder as being one in the Canal's photographic files.

of the 316th Engineers and Division Engineer of the 91st Division. He retired from the Army in 1919 and became Vice

President of the George W. Goethals and

Company, construction engineers and

industrial managers, in New York City.

He has made his home in New Mexico

for the past several years. During his 1941 visit to the Canal Zone he had the opportunity of renewing

acquaintances with many old friends, revisiting the familiar spots, and seeing some of the big jobs, including the Third

Locks project, which were then in progress. Visited Culebra Ruins

He spent one entire day visiting the scenes familiar to him 25 years earlier. He was accompanied on his round of sight-seeing by Maj. Gen. (then Colonel)

W. D. Styer, Assistant Engineer of Maintenance, and two old friends of Canal construction days, the late George

W. Green, Municipal Engineer, and L. B. Moore, formerly Supply and Service

Director. Among the sites in which he showed most interest were the ruins of Culebra.

It was during that day when the picture

of him on this page was taken at Miraflores Spillway where his father had been

photographed more than 25 years earlier. One of the high spots of that visit was an informal party given in his honor

by Canal officials and oldtimers of the construction period, most of whom were

still in service. Approximately 100 guests

attended the party and the extensive change which has taken place in the personnel of the Canal organization in the 13 years which have elapsed is evidenced by the fact that only four of those attending are now in active service. As this edition of The Canal Review

went to press, it was expected that both

"Young George" and "Tom" would be

present to unveil the monument to their father and to participate in the weeklong program attending the dedication ceremonies. On this visit, they will again have an

opportunity to revisit the scenes so fa- miliar to them and to renew acquaintance

with employees of the Canal Construction

era attending the ceremonies. Again a very warm welcome is being planned for their return by those few who are left who remember them as a young boy and

as a young lieutenant of the Corps of Engineers.
THE PANAMA.CANAL REVIEW April 2, 1954

Plans For Memorial 25 Years In Making

More than quarter century of effort on the part of several thousands of indi- viduals of low and high rank made

possible the 56-foot shaft of marble in Balboa which honors one of America's

great men. The many years which elapsed between

making and fulfillment of plans are not

indicative of lack of enthusiasm or dis- senting voices. Circumstances of a world

nature -the disastrous depression of the

early 1930's and World War II—were the

principal delaying factors.

It is a significant eulogy to Colonel

( toethals that the monument to perpetuate his memory at the site of his great

work is largely the result of efforts of the men and women with whom he was

associated in building the Panama Canal. Their efforts, however, were greatly

assisted by many who did not participate

in the Canal work, and others never

closely associated with the Canal builder who also recognized his great contribution

to world progress. Movement Started In 1928 The movement to erect a memorial in the Canal Zone to Colonel Goethals was

formally inaugurated in May 1928, at the annual meetings of the various Panama

Canal Societies in the United States. Since then the project has lain dormant

for long periods for one reason or another

but it was never permitted to die. It is noteworthy that all ten Panama

Canal Governors since Colonel Goethals

actively participated in the promotion of

plans. To this distinguished list can be added the names of many American

leaders. Heading such a list might well be Chief Justice William Howard Taft

under whose administration as Secretary

of War and later President the Canal

project was begun and largely completed.

Other names include all four Presidents

of the United States who have served

since 1928, members of both Houses of Congress, all surviving members of the Isthmian Canal Commission, and Canal

construction employees of all ranks. Memorial Committee Took Lead

Throughout most of the 25 years in the planning stage, the Goethals Memorial Committee formed by the Canal

Societies in 1928 took the leading role. Membership in the original committee was

almost completely changed as the years

rolled by and today there are only a few

still living to see the completed memorial.

Two of these, Gen. Robert E. Wood and

R. H. Whitehead, are members of the Goethals Memorial Commission, ap- pointed by the President to build the memorial.

The Goethals Memorial Committee was

not composed entirely of former Canal

workers. Among the nationally-known names listed were Chief Justice Taft,

Gerald Swope, Kermit Roosevelt, Daniel

and Harry F. Guggenheim, William Loeb,

Adolph S. Ochs, William Randolph

Hearst, Generals John J. Pershing,

Douglas MacArthur, Peyton C. March,

Edgar Jadwin, and James G. Harbord,

George W. Wickersham, Congressman

Swagar Sherley, John J. Fitzgerald, and

Col. John Callan O'Laughlin.

Famous Canal names on the list included former Governors, Chester Harding and Jay J. Morrow, Adm. H. H.

Rousseau, Sidney B. (Sse page u>

Ten Goethals Memorial Commission Members

Were Actively Connected With Panama Canal

GEN. JOHN J. PERSHING

First Chairman of the Memorial Commission

RALPH BUDD

Chairman of the Commission

IMCIIVKD H. WHITEHEAD Brigadier General ROBERT E. W OOD (Ret.)

fjyf the 15 men who have served as members of the Goethals Memorial

Commission since it was first appointed

in June 1936, 10 have been actively

connected with the Canal enterprise. In addition to the six Canal Governors,

four members served during the construction period. They were Ralph Budd, now Chairman of the Commission, Gen. Robert E. Wood, Richard H. Whitehead, and W. K. Jackson. The other five members were Gen. John J. Pershing, first Chairman; former

Senators Morris Sheppard of Texas, and

Chan Gurney of South Dakota; former U. S. Representative Swagar Sherley of Kentucky, and Col. John Callan O'Laughlin. Of these, only Mr. Gurney, now a member of the Civil Aeronautics Board,

is presently a member.

Of the men who have served on the Goethals Memorial Commission none

took a more prominent part in working

for a memorial to Colonel Goethals than

Colonel O'Laughlin, who was never con- nected with the Canal project. His

interest, aside from the desire to see the work of a great American properly

commemorated, was largely personal.

He was for many years editor and

publisher of the Army and Navy Journal.

His association with Colonel Goethals

began during the first World War when

he served as aide to Colonel (MajorGeneral) Goethals when the latter was

acting Quartermaster General. Colonel O'Laughlin was one of the first members of the Goethals Memorial

Committee, formed by the Panama Canal

Societies in 1929, to plan a suitable memorial. He later succeeded former Gov. Jay J. Morrow as Chairman of that Committee and continued to serve in that

position until his death. When the first Memorial Commission was appointed in 1936 by President

Roosevelt, he was made Vice Chairman.

Because of the long illness of General

Pershing, he was the nominal head of the Commission for several years. Only two members of the Commission,

Generals Wood and Schley, have served

continuously since 1936.

All four of the Canal "oldtimers" who

have served on the Commission became

nationally prominent in the business world after their return to the United

States. Mr. Budd, the present Chairman, is one

of the leading railway executives of the country. He served three years, 1906

to 1909, as Chief Engineer of (See page !S>
April 2,1954 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW

,UeL

Official Panama Canal Company Publication

Published Monthly at BALBOA HEIGHTS, CANAL ZONE

I. C. C. Member Here To Attend Dedication

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.

MAURICE H. THATCHER

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

Canal Review, Balboa Heights, C. Z.

Attending the Goethals Memorial Dedication ceremonies this week is one of the

central figures of the Canal construction

period and one of the most enthusiastic "alumni" of the Canal organization.

He is Maurice H. Thatcher, member

of the Isthmian Canal Commission from

1910 to 1913 and head of the Civil Administration in the Canal Zone during

that period. Mr. Thatcher is as well known and

famous in Panama as in the Canal Zone

as Thatcher Highway and Ferry, the

link to the Interior of the Republic, is named in his honor. He was author of the legislation authorizing the highway

and ferry. He has followed news of the Isthmus

with intense interest since leaving the Canal Zone over 40 years ago to return

to his native State of Kentucky and

become United States Representative from

the Fifth Congressional District. His

lively interest in Isthmian affairs was

recently demonstrated when he participated in the formal opening of the "Fifty Years of Friendship" exhibit in the Library of Congress. Mr. Thatcher, the only living member

of the Isthmian Canal Commission, has made his home in Washington, D. C, for many years. He is a poet of note and

has written many poems relating to the Panama Canal and the men and women

who work for it.

Goelhals Memorial Dedication Ceremony

(Continued from page 3) Conference in Bern,

Switzerland, in 1952. Senator Wiley was appointed a member

of the United States delegation to the seventh session of the United Nations

Assembly by President Truman. His

appointment was a continuation of two

major U. S. policies—bipartisanship in foreign policy, and Congressional repre- sentation at international conferences. Among the many international projects

which have received Senator Wiley's support, both on the Senate floor and in public address, have been the Point Four

Program, Reciprocal Trade Agreements,

the North Atlantic Treaty, the Marshall

Plan, and the Mutual Security Act pro- viding military and economic aid to countries opposing Communism.

Isthmian Canal Commission At Culebra In 1910

THIS PICTURE IS one of the last ever taken of the Isthmian Canal Commission. It was taken at Culebra in August 1910. Left to right are: Lt. Col. W. L. Sibert, Joseph Bucklin Bishop, Secretary, Maurice H. Thatcher, Rear Adm. H. H. Rousseau, Colonel Goethals, Lt. Col. David D. Gaillard, Lt. Col. Harry F. Hodges, and Col. William C. Gorgas. There was only one other change in the Commission after this picture was

taken. Mr. Thatcher, the only living member of the I. C. C, resigned in August 1913 and Richard L. Metcalfe was appointed to succeed him. Both Mr. Thatcher and Colonel Hodges were appointees to the Commission after

the third I. C. C. took office April 1, 1907, with Colonel Goethals as Chairman.

Colonel Hodges succeeded Jackson Smith in September 1908, and Mr. Thatcher was appointed in April 1910 to replace Jo. C. S. Blackburn. The last meeting of the Isthmian Canal Commission was held March 27,

1914, just four days before the permanent Canal organization came into being.

It was attended by all members with the exception of Colonel Gorgas. The

principal business of the meeting, the 165th, was the reading of the Executive Order for the permanent organization, after which the Commission adjourned

sine die.
THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW April 2,1954

Oldtimers Well Remember The Yellow Peril

The last time that Samuel Grier and

Prince George Green saw Colonel Goethals on the Isthmus was a sunny day in September 1916. As tnotorman and flag- man, respectively, of the Colonel's motorcar, the famed "Yellow Peril," they had

taken him from Balboa Heights to Cristobal to sail aboard the United Fruit liner Pastores. The "Old Man," as they both still call him, shook hands with them and said goodbye before he went aboard the ship.

As the Pastores pulled away from its pier, Mr. Crier gave three short blasts on the Yellow Peril's whistle. From the deck,

the Old Man waved and then disappeared.

A few minutes later the Yellow Peril was

answered—three short blasts from the

whistle of the Pastores. As the crew of the Yellow Peril for several years, the two men knew the Colonel as well, probably, as anyone of

his official family. They had ridden with

him day after day from one side of the Canal Zone to the other; they had seen

the Old Man in good humor and bad; they had heard him express his rather frank opinion of people and things—"too many figureheads around here," he said one day; and they had a great respect for him. Today, almost 40 years later, they

still think him about the finest gentleman

either of them ever knew and both use

the word "wonderful" to describe him.

"Yellow Peril" Chanties

Americans made jokes about the Yellow

Peril and West Indians sang chanties about it, but everyone kept a weather

eye cocked for it and its passenger. Bought in 1908 from the Stover Motor

Car Company of Freeport, 111., at a cost

of $4,S00, the Yellow Peril was the fourth

of the Canal's motorcars. Despite its assignment to the Canal's No. 1 man, it bore the designation of No. 4 for many

years. The Yellow Peril was an affectionate nickname soon attached to the motorcar when it became the official inspection car.

Its original color was a pumpkin yelloworange, same as the railroad passenger

coaches of the construction days. It still

THE "YELLOW PERIL" and its Number One passenger. The motorcar still bore No. 4 when this picture was taken in the Panama Railroad yards in 1913 during a visit of Secretary of War and Mrs.

Lindley Garrison. Samuel Grier, motorman of the "Yellow Peril," is at the far left. Colonel Goethals

is standing between Secretary and Mrs. Garrison. Others in the picture were visitors from Washington who accompanied the Secretary of War on his trip to the Canal Zone.

wore its yellow coat when it was retired although other cars were a much less interesting dull grey-green. White linen slipcovers protected the upholstery, which

in 1914 was blue broadcloth. Mr. Grier, who has been retired for almost nine years, but who is here visiting

his son, recalls that it was he who sug- gested to the Colonel that the car be

renumbered and made No. 1, as befitting the car of the Canal's head man. The

suggestion was adopted and the car was

No. 1 until it was honorably retired from

service in 1935, but Mr. Crier still ruefully remembers the mess of red tape in which he became entangled because of the change. Unwittingly, he had failed, it seems, to consult the "property people." Colonel Goethals' first motorman for the Yellow Peril was W. P. Smallwood,

who bore the high-sounding designation,

as Mr. Grier did later, of Inspector of Motor Cars.

SAMUEL GRIER. formerly Superintendent of the Motor Transportation Division, stands beside a relic of the "Yellow Peril" now in the Canal Zone Museum.

It is the old bell from the French dredge Alexandre

LaValley, which was mounted on Motor Car Xo. 1 when it was being used by Colonel Goethals. Mr.

Grier retired in 1945 and has since made his home

in Florida.

PRINCE GEORGE GREEX is believed to he the only person still in service whose work during the Canal construction brought him in almost daily contact with Colonel Goethals. He was flagman for several years on the famous "Yellow Peril." He is now

employed as maintenance man at the Balboa Roundhouse. This picture was posed on the steps of one

"f the later and more modern motorcars.

A classic memorandum in the files with

the Smallwood signature, says: "I have to report that Motorcar No. 1 struck a horse on the afternoon of the 29th inst. [this was in September 1911] while running between Las Cascadas and

Empire. The damage to the car was

practically nil." The damage to the

horse was not mentioned.

Lived On The Job

Mr. Grier who had been a machinist at Gorgona Shops and who had done autotive machine work in the States before he came to the Isthmus in 1906, became

the Yellow Peril's motorman in 1912. Between them they have many memories of their days on the Yellow Peril, They "lived on the job," they say, although the work was usually confined

to daytimes except for an occasional nighttime emergency call. The Goethals

had little social life calling for the Yellow

Peril at night. Just about every morning, before the Canal was finished, they would have the motorcar waiting at the Culebra railroad

station. The Old Man would be aboard

in time for them to get going ahead of the

regular morning passenger train. On a

typical morning, they might head for Pedro Miguel. There the Colonel would

leave the Yellow Peril, and, umbrella in hand, walk along the construction line to Corozal. Walked Length Of Cut

The motorman and flagman would

follow in the motorcar, trying to keep the Old Man in sight and anticipate where he might want to be picked up. Other

mornings he might ride as far as Pedro

Miguel and then head north, walking the length of the Cut to Gamboa.

Familiar as they became with his thinking, they were not always able to interpret some of his wishes. Once, Mr.

Grier remembers, the Colonel said he would be going to Margarita after lunch. The motorman didn't know where Margarita was nor that the Colonel was going
April 2, 1954 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW

there by train, so he failed to be where he was supposed to when he was supposed to.

"I was waiting at Culebra," he recalls, "when one of the motor car operators came running out of the station to tell me that the Old Man called and wanted

to know where his car was. When told

I was at Culebra waiting for him, he sounded like he was awfully mad and

said to tell me to get over to Colon as soon as I could. When I reached the Colon station, I expected to find the Colonel boiling over, but he wasn't. He said: 'Well, don't let it worry you.

It was my own fault. I should have

been more explicit. Forget it.' "

Used Goethals' Raincoat

One of the flagman's most vivid recol- lections is of one day when they were

caught in a sudden downpour. He had

no raincoat, but the Old Man did and

insisted that the flagman use it. Even

after the rain stopped, he had to keep

the coat on because the Colonel said, "I told you to put that thing on. Do

you want to get sick?" He also remembers that he fell between two motor cars once as they were moving

at 45 miles an hour on the track. He

landed between the rails and the cars passed safely over him, but one ankle was

broken. Ordered into the hospital, he

appealed to the Colonel who let him go home to recuperate, an almost unheard-of

thing in those days.

Reprimands In Private

If the Old Man was going to "bawl

somebody out," they say, "he took him

to one side and really let him have it. But nobody else heard what either of them had to say."

"He was a real judge" his old flagman

added. "He scarcely ever gave anyone

any wrong." And Mr. Grier, on his

part, said: "In the closing days of the construction, men were being laid off in large numbers.

The Colonel said to me: 'It just breaks my heart to have to lay off so many good men. I don't believe there ever was a job as big as the Panama Canal with so many loyal and hard-working men as we have here.' "

After the end of the construction

period, the motorcars were brought to Balboa. The Governor retained his car, by then permanently No. 1, and others were used for track inspection or for the "Toonerville Trolley" run between Paraiso and Panama.

Mr. Grier became first a foreman and

then a general foreman in what was then known as the Animal and Motor Transportation Division. He was made its Superintendent in 1935. He has been

retired since 1945, and now makes his home in Florida, where he tinkers with

old clocks and has made three grandfather's clocks, one for each of his children. Mr. Green is still working. From the

old motorcars he moved to the Balboa

Roundhouse where he is a maintenance man, spending his working hours in and

out and under and on top of the railroad's motorcars, locomotives, and track bicycles. After work he reads, mostly mysteries,

and thinks about the old days and the Old Man.

Pictorial History Of Canal Construction

Is Told In Art By Pennell And Van Ingen

ONE OF THE famous Van Ingen murals in the rotunda of the Administration Building. This panel shows the construction of the locks gates.

Some form of pictorial presentation of the work of building a canal to link two

oceans was a special interest of Colonel

Goethals. In at least one case he had to carry his arguments to the Secretary

of War. Today the work of two outstanding

artists supplements the thousands of photographs taken during the construction of the Panama Canal. And it is typical of "the Colonel" that he himself appears in only a handful of the many

photographs taken and in none of the drawings.

The two artists who benefitted from

Colonel Goethal's sponsorship—and whose

works today benefit those who see them—

were W. B. Van Ingen, a muralist, and

Joseph Pennell, whose medium was

etching and lithography.

Van Ingen 's murals of the Canal Construction decorate the rotunda of the Administration Building at Balboa

Heights; copies of the Pennell lithographs

hang in the Board Room of the Building,

in the Governor's office, and in various other rooms at Balboa Heights.

Murals Cost $25,000

The Van Ingen murals—four panels

and a frieze—cover about 950 square feet and cost approximately $25,000. Secre- tary of War Lindley M. Garrison ques- tioned the advisability of spending so much money for the murals and pointed

out:"As everything else on the Isthmus is secondary to the operation of the Canal

as an instrument of commerce, it might seem contradictory for us to spend so

large a sum of money in a mere matter of decoration," he wrote. Colonel Goethals pointed out that the

site for the Administration Building,

where the murals were to be placed, and

the general plans of the building had been

submitted to the Commission of Fine

Arts and that the Administration Building could be considered as the Capitol of the Canal Zone.

He was successful in his arguments and

in March 1914, Van Ingen who had done

murals in the Congressional Library in Washington and the Philadelphia Mint

was given the commission for the Canal

paintings. Most of the work was repro- duced from sketches made by Van Ingen

during the construction period. The

paintings were done in the United States and brought here for mounting.

Four Panels And Frieze The four panels show Gaillard Cut at Gold Hill; the construction of Gatun

Spillway; construction of a lock gate; and

work on one of the Miraflores lock chambers. The frieze is a panorama of operations in the Cut. Pennell came to the Canal Zone during

the 1912 dry season. His drawings were

to be used in Century Magazine and The

Illustrated London News.

His visit was arranged through Joseph

Bucklin Bishop, Secretary of the Isth- mian Canal Commission, and his book is dedicated to Bishop. Colonel Goethals was not in the Canal Zone at the time and Pennell's failure to meet "the genius who controlled the

organization, who governed as despot,

who was loved, feared, and respected by

everyone on the Isthmus," was his one

regret, according to Mrs. Pennell's biography of her husband.

Pennell Drawings Available

Copies of his book, Pictures of the Panama Canal, are in the Canal Zone

Library. The book contains 28 drawings,

which cover Canal construction and Canal

scenes of that day, from Atlantic to

Pacific. EDITOR'S NOTE: Photographic reproductions of the Pennell lithographs may be

ordered through the Library of Congress.

Prints, 1 6 by 20 inches, on mat paper, cost $2 each if the negatives are available, or $3.25 if a negative must be made. Orders,

by numbers obtained from the book,

"Pictures of the Panama Canal," may be

addressed to the Library of Congress,

Washington, D. C.
MONUMENTS

There is but a single monument in the Canal Zone which bears the name of Colonel George Washington Goethals. There are many monuments in the

ten-mile wide strip of land and water

across the Isthmus of Panama which bear not his name but his indelible imprint as an engineering and administrative genius.

Some of these are visible. Others are intangible. Nevertheless,

these are monuments to one of America's

THIS VIEW of the Cut shows the deepest exca- vated section between Gold and Contractors Hills

in June 1913. The railway tracks and steam shovels were removed soon after this picture was taken and

the new channel was inundated by the waters penned up by the Gamboa dike.

great men. Of these, none is greater

than the Canal organization. Nowhere

in the world is there an organization of

its size with its complexities of operations.

Despite this, there are none, great or

small, which can boast a prouder record

of achievement in years of peace and war. The esprit de corps which was instilled into the men and women who worked

under Colonel Goethals in building the Canal—the spirit which, like the job

itself, was one of the wonders of its day

has lived long since "the Colonel" left. Intangible also are the monuments of love and respect in the hearts of the

THE CANAL was nearly ready to open in 1913 when disastrous slides began. This shows dredges working at the toe of the big slide from both sides

late in October after water was let into the Cut. An attempt to blast some of the material out with dynamite was a failure.

tens of thousands of men and women of many nationalities. They caught a vision

of the grandeur of their handiwork under

his leadership.

Intangible also are the benefits of Goethals' genius to mankind by the

joining of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Measured in commercial terms alone, these add up to more than 250,000

ships and more than 850,000,000 tons of cargo which have moved through the Canal since the old Panama Railroad

steamship Ancon, itself a veteran of the construction period, opened the way for

this colossal flood of maritime commerce

THIS HOPELESS looking maze of steel and concrete was turned into the smoothly operating set of locks at Gatun within about a year. This view of the upper locks was taken July 2, 1912. They were

given their test run on September 26, 1913, when

the tug Gatun was locked through.

by its historic trip on August 15, 1914. On these two pages are pictured a few

of the impressive monuments to Colonel Goethals—as they looked when they were

being built and as they look today. They

are among the many which might have

been selected, all of which tell the same

story of a great leader and an inspired

organization.

THE CUT : Known then as Culebra, today as Gaillard, for Colonel David

DuBose Gaillard, who had charge of the work there and who died while it was

in progress. Here was the eight-mile strip where a thousand dirt trains whistled daily to

CONSTRUCTION OF the massive Gatun dam

and spillway was at its height when this picture was

taken in August 1912. A force of approximately

2,000 men was engaged on this phase of the Canal work and some 100 trainloads of earth and rock were dumped daily for the earth dam.
TO GREATNESS

help create a bedlam of sound from drill rigs and steam shovels, of shouted com- mands and dynamite blasts. It was an

awe-inspiring sight which thrilled thou- sands of visitors to the Isthmus while the Canal was being built. It was an

unforgettable experience for them whether

they rode the rubber-neck trains or in the "Yellow Peril" with Colonel Goethals.

It was in this short stretch where more

than 100,000,000 cubic yards of earth ONE OF the most majestic sights on the Isthmus

is the transit of one of the powerful United States

aircraft carriers. One of the larger carriers practically fills the locks and is not dwarfed in the Cut. This is a view of the Philippine Sea in the Cut

during a recent transit.

and rock were blasted out and hauled

away to build Balboa and Fort Amador.

It was in this few miles where the most

heart-breaking part of the whole task had

to be done—where the great slides occurred, pouring some 25,000,000 cubic yards of material back into the newlydug channel.

It is a majestic sight today when

hundreds of ships pass monthly between

Gold and Contractors Hill. GATUN DAM: The vital key to

th e high-level lock canal. It was one of the most controversial phases of the Canal

construction. It was then the largest

THE FINEST of modern luxury liners today look natural in the Canal Locks. Here is the Swedish

liner Kungsholm on a winter cruise en route through

the Canal earlier this year. In the west chamber of Pedro Miguel Locks are the mother shrimp boat

Pacific Reefer and the banana boat Adriana.

earth dam ever constructed and many

capable engineers doubted the stability of such a structure. The 23,000,000

cubic yards of material which went into

its building blend so perfectly with the natural terrain that it is scarcely recognizable as a man-made piece of work.

THE LOCKS: In construction

or in operation, no part of the Panama

Canal has the fascination to spectators of Gatun, Pedro Miguel, or Miraflores Locks. They were of a proportion never before conceived. Their design and construction were among the masterpieces of the

big job. For nearly 40 years they have

CONTRAST THE picture at the right with the view of Gatun Locks taken in 1912 on the opposite

page. The operation of the locks is a commonplace

event for the average Isthmian resident but it is an

impressive sight for thousands of tourists every

year.

operated smoothly and efficiently with no material modification of the essential features shown on the original blueprints.

THE BUILDING: One of the

best known structures in the Canal Zone

which stands as a monument to Colonel Goethals is the Administration Building.

It stands on a spur of Ancon Hill on the

site selected by him. He was cognizant of every detail of its design and construction. The view shown on this page shows

it much as it looked when it was completed and first occupied 40 years ago

except for the landscaping and more

modern touch of many cars clustered around it.

A RECENT aerial view of the Administration

Building. The site, once known as Lone Tree Hill, was selected by Colonel Goethals. Most persons mistake this as the front of the building because it

is the entrance most used. The front faces Balboa Prado and the new Goethals Memorial.
12 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW April 2, 1954

urt Of Low, Middle, And High Justice

(Editor's Note: Without doubt one

of the most remarkable facets of the

Panama Canal construction story was

the Sunday morning "court" at Culebra when Colonel Goethals gave every employee an opportunity to air griev- ances or views. Most astute observers

attribute to this a great part of the

success of the undertaking. Many

legendary stories are told of these Sunday morning conferences, some of which have undoubtedly grown greatly

with retelling. Because of the importance and intensely human aspect of the Culebra "court" the following

descriptive article is quoted in full. It was written by Arthur Bullard, one

of the topflight writers of his day, who

wrote under the pen name Albert Edwards. He visited the Canal Zone

during the height of the construction

work and wrote many articles of the work. The one below first appeared

in THE OUTLOOK magazine. It was

later republished in the book, "Pana- ma, The Canal, The Country, and the

People.")

The most remarkable part of Colonel

Goethal's routine is his Sunday Court of Low, Middle, and High Justice. Even as the Caliphs of Bagdad sat in the city

gate to hear the plaints of their people,

so, in his very modern setting—principally maps and blue prints—the Colonel

holds sessions every Sunday morning.

I had the good fortune to be admitted

one Sunday morning to the audience

chamber.

The first callers were a negro couple

from Jamaica. They had a difference

of opinion as to the ownership of 35

dollars which the wife had earned by

washing. Colonel Goethals listened gravely until the fact was established that she had earned it, then ordered the man to return it. He started to protest

something about a husband's property

rights under the English law. "All

right," the Colonel said, decisively. "Say

the word, and I'll depart you. You can

get all the English law you want in Jamaica." The husband decided to pay and stay. Spanish Laborer Claim Adjusted

Then came a Spanish laborer who had

been maimed in an accident, The

Colonel called in his chief clerk and told him to help the unfortunate man prepare

his claim, "See that the papers are drawn

correctly and have them pushed through."

A man came in who had just bean

thrown out of the service for brutality to the men under him. This action was

the result of an investigation before a

special committee. The man sought

reinstatement. The Colonel read over

the papers in the case, and when he spoke his language was vigorous: "If you

have any new evidence, I will instruct the committee to reopen your case. But

as long as this report stands against you, you will get no mercy from this office. If the men had broken your head with a

crowbar, I would have stood for them.

We don't need slave-drivers on this job."

Then a committee from the Machinists' Union wanted an interpretation on some new shop rules. A nurse wanted a longer vacation than the regulations

allow. A man and his wife were dis- satisfied with their quarters. A superof steam-shovels who had two or "high records for monthly exca-

\ons" t > h credit came in to ask

idvice about applying for another job

under the Panama Government, The

end of the Canal work is approaching, and

the far-sighted man was beginning to look into the future. "Of course I can't advise you," the Colonel said. "You

know I would hate to see you go. But

if you decide that it is wise, come in and

see me. I may be able to give you some

introductions which will help you." (There

is another man who will want to vote for Goethals for President in 1916!) Then a man came in to see if he could get some

informal information on a contract which

is soon to be let. His exit was hurried. No Higher Appeal

An American negro introduced some

humor. He was convinced that his services were of more value than his foreman felt they were. The Colonel

preferred to accept the foreman's judgment in the matter. The dissatisfied one pompously announced that he was the

best blacksmith's helper on the Isthmus

and he intended to appeal from this decision. The Colonel's eyes twinkled. "To whom are you going to appeal?"

he asked. For the fact is that the verdicts rendered in these summary Sunday

sessions will not be revised before the Day of Judgment.

The procession kept up till noon

pathos, patience-trying foolishness, occasional humor. "Once in a while," the Colonel said, "something turns up which

is really important for me to know. And,

anyway, they feel better after they have

seen me, even if I cannot help them.

They feel that they got a fair chance to

state their troubles. They are less likely to be breeding discontent in the quarters.

But it is a strain."

One sees the Colonel at his best in these Sunday morning hours. You see the immensely varied nature of the things

and issues which are his concern. Engineering in the technical sense seems almost

the least of them. There is the great

human problem of keeping this working

force in good order, of caring for the welfare and contentment of this community

of exiles—exiled to what was once the most unhealthy jungle in the world. And he sits there, week after week, the paternal authority to which all may come

with their unofficial troubles. English,

French, American negroes, Spanish and

Italian peasants, coolies from India, with

all the complications which come from

their varied languages and customs

Mrs. Blank, whose husband drinks too much; diamond-drill operator No. 10, who has an abscess of the liver and wants

a word of encouragement before he goes

to Ancon Hospital for the operation. It

is as remarkable a sight as I have ever

seen to watch him at it. He is a good

listener until he is quite sure he has got

to the nubbin of the matter, and then,

like a flash, the decision is made and given.

And I think there are very few indeed

who go away thinking that they have

been denied justice. But, as he said,

it must be a strain. This routine of Colonel Goethals is followed week by week, year after year.

It is broken only by occasional trips to Washington. And every one knows that

the political end of the job is more wearing than the regular grind. He has not had a real vacation since he took up this job of ours. The Two Bosses At Culebra

PRESIDENT WILLIAM H. TAFT and Colonel Goethals on the steps at the Culebra residence in November 1910. This was the second visit of a United States President to see progress of the Canal work.
April 2, 1954 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW 13

Ten Goethals Memorial Commission Members Were Actively Connected With Canal New York Bridge Named For Colonel Goethals

(Continued from page 6) the Panama

Railroad. It was one of the busiest and

most critical periods of the railroad's history because of its almost complete

relocation and the tremendous amount

of traffic during the Canal construction. General Wood served most of the construction period and was named Chief

Quartermaster in May 1913. His extensive experience in running the Commissary Division proved valuable in later years when he rose to be president and

then Chairman of the Board of Sears Roebuck and Company. His Canal

service dated from April 1905, until May 1915. Mr. Whitehead is one of the Canal

oldtimers who has never lost his interest

in the Isthmus. He is the author of the book, Our Faith Moved Mountains. He

was employed as a testing engineer in August 1912, when the locks were being

built. He was appointed as Assistant Superintendent and later Superintendent

of the Pacific Locks after the Canal was

completed. He left the service in 1916 and later became President of the New

Haven Clock Company.

Mr. Jackson, who was appointed to the Memorial Commission in 1947, was an

attorney and served during the construction period as Assistant Attorney of the Isthmian Canal Commission. After leav- ing the Isthmus he became General

Counsel for the United Fruit Company

and was serving in that capacity when

appointed to the Commission.

I

ONE OF AMERICA'S important industrial waterways, the Arthur Kill between New Jersey and

Staten Island, is spanned by a bridge named in honor of the famous Canal builder. The Goethals Bridge, which was opened to traffic in June 1928, was named in honor of Colonel Goethals by a resolution passed unanimously by the Port of New York Authority Commission less than three months after his death and only a short time before the bridge was completed.

Colonel Goethals served for about nine years as advisor and the first consulting engineer of the Port

of New York Authority when he returned to civilian life after the end of the first World War. The Goethals Bridge, pictured above, furnishes a highway span over the Arthur Kill between Eliza- beth, N. J., and Howland Hook on Staten Island. It clears the busy Arthur Kill by 135 feet, affording uninterrupted passage to more than 2,000 ships a year using the waterway. The bridge also is a busy traffic artery and last year more than 2,S00,000 vehicles used it as a convenient

outlet for through traffic between Brooklyn and New Jersey.

It is a cantilever structure, similar in design to the Outerbridge Crossing which also spans the Arthur

Kill. It was built at a cost of seven million dollars and is more than a mile and a half long. The bridge

is 55 feet wide and provides a 42-foot highway.

Visitors Inspect Gamboa Dike Before 1913 Blast

ONE OF THE biggest events of the entire construction period was the blowing up of the Gamboa dike on October 10, 1913. It attracted international attention for it marked the beginning of the end of the construction period. The picture above is one of the rare photographs in the Canal files taken

shortly before the event. It shows the dike shortly before the big blast was

set off by President Woodrow Wilson from the White House through a complicated telegraph and cable relay to the Isthmus. This view is rare because it is one of the very few pictures showing Mrs.

Goethals while on the Isthmus. It also shows Nicholas Longworth, veteran Ohio Congressman, and his wife, Alice Roosevelt Longworth, whose father, the famous "Teddy" Roosevelt, was largely responsible for the building of the Canal. Mrs. Goethals is third from the left in the picture and the Longwortlis

are standing next to Colonel Goethals at the extreme right. The others in the picture are not identified.

The Ohio legislator served in Congress from 1903 until 1913 and again from 1915 until his death in 1931. He was speaker of the House for the last

six of those years. At the time this picture was taken he was not in Congress, having lost his seat in the national Democratic victory in 1912 w-hen President Wilson was elected. He and Mrs. Longworth were personal friends of the Goethals family. The Gamboa dike was blown by a heavy charge of dynamite sunk in 400 four-inch holes drilled into the dam across the Chagres River. Drill rigs were still working when this picture was taken and the galvanized iron pipes

into which the dynamite was loaded may be seen along the dike. The actual blast failed to be as spectacular as w'as expected and a half hour after the dam was broken a cayuco went through the opening. Hundreds

of spectators lined the banks to watch the blast, among them being Colonel

Goethals. He declined, however, to have his picture taken that day by

a States news photographer who had been assigned to cover the big event.
14 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW April 2, 1954

Plans For Memorial 25 Years In Making Independence Day- CHstobal -1911

.Continuedfrom pag:<: Williamson, Joseph

Rucklin Bishop, Judge Frank Fueille,

Thomas II. Rossbottom, A. L. Flint. Admirals Hugh Hodman and Hutch 1. Conr, Hartley Roue, George M. Wells,

and many others. Morrow Headed Committee

The Executive Committee, of which

( reneral Morrow was Chairman, was composed of men who had been closely associated with Colonel Goethals and the Panama Canal. Thev were: Admiral

Rousseau and Mr. Williamson, I. C. C. members; Judge Fueille, former Counsel

of the I. C. C; Admiral Cone, formerly

Marine Superintendent; Mr. Wickersham, former Attorney General of the United States; Congressman Fitzgerald,

former Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee; Mr. Wells, Superintendent of Building Construction during

the ci instruction period; Mr. Flint, then

Chief of the Washington Office; and

Wilbur N. Winters, construction era employee, who served as Secretary.

The first legislation for a memorial

to Colonel Goethals was introduced in Congress in December 1928 at the invita- tion of the Memorial Committee. The

legislative history thereafter was long

and involved. Statue First Proposed

The first bills to be introduced differed from the final legislation passed and

approved by the President on August 24, 1935. The original legislation proposed

a "suitable statue of heroic size" and

authorized an expenditure of $100,000.

It also provided that the design and

location of the statue be submitted to the Fine Arts Commission for advisory

assistance. No action was taken that year and the

legislation was reintroduced the following year in the 71st Congress. However, the monumental business crash had occurred and the authorized expenditure was cut

to $50,000. This passed the Senate but

the House failed to act on the bill. It was introduced again in the 72d Congress

hut no action was taken because of the

depression.

Legislation was again introduced in Congress in 1935 identical to the original

bills. Later that session a new bill was

introduced in which the amount of money

authorized was cut to $75,000. This was

passed but in the final draft the section requiring the submission of plans to the Fine Arts Commission was eliminated,

and provision was made for a monument

instead of a statue. It authorized the President to appoint a Commission to proceed with plans for the Memorial. No

appropriation, however, was made by

Congress.

F. D. R. Showed Great Interest Later that year when President Roosevelt visited the Canal Zone he evinced

great interest in the Memorial and asked Governor Schley to recommend possible

sites. Th" litter suggested the Cristobal mole and the spur of Sosa Hill, known as Low Sosa.

It was not until June of the following year that President Roosevelt appointed

the Goethals Memorial Commission with

( ieneral Pershing as Chairman. Members

were Colonel O'Laughlin, Vice Chairman,

Senator Morris Sheppard, U. S. Representatives Si iuyler Otis Bland and

Swager Sherley, Governor Schley, and

General Wood. Of these, only General

"I HAVE SAID that in this new era of American progress, the workers on the Panama Canal are the advance guard. They hold that position because of the world-wide importance of their task, and

because of the region in which they are carrying it to its successful completion. They are cutting a highway of commerce through what was a plague spot of the world, and, in doing so, they are showing

the world how to rid itself of all plague spots."—Colonel Goethals in an Independence Day address, 1911,

at Cristobal.

Schley and General Wood are still members. At the suggestion of General Pershing,

the Philadelphia architect, Dr. Paul P.

Cret, was selected to submit designs.

He spent three weeks on the Isthmus

early in 1937 examining sites and doing

other investigations. He recommended

the Cristobal mole for the location and

one of his sketches for the memorial was

later approved by the Commission and

President Roosevelt. More Money Requested

After much consideration, however, the Commission decided that a memorial of the type and size desired could not be

built for $75,000 and recommended the authorized expenditure be increased to $160,000.

The final design was not approved,

however, until early in 1939 and an appropriation of the full amount was not passed

until May of that year. Later that year, because of the outbreak of World War II, the Memorial Commission's recommendation that the project be suspended until peace returned was accepted.

The project was revived in 1947 and

in response to a request by Colonel O'Laughlin as Vice Chairman. President

Truman appointed Senator Chan Gurney,

then Chairman of the Senate Armed

Forces Committee, and W. K. Jackson,

formerly Assistant Attorney of the Isthmian Canal Commission, to fill the vacancies caused by the deaths of Senator Sheppard and Congressman Sherley.

The Cret plans for a shaft on the

Cristobal mole were then reviewed in

detail by the Commission and it was

determined that the original appropriation would not be sufficient to cover the

cost of the memorial as planned. Subse- quently Senator Gurney and Congress- man Bland, then Chairman of the House

Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee, introduced legislation to increase the appropriation to $300,000, but the

increase was never voted. More Changes Of Commission

The next three years saw further changes in the Commission and additional

delays as a result of post war conditions. Former Governor Joseph C. Mehaffey was appointed a member of the Commission in March 1948 and took an active

interest in pushing the plans to completion until the end of his term the following

May.

In August 1951, President Truman

appointed Gov. F. K. Newcomer to the Commission to succeed General Mehaffey.

Ralph Budd, Chief Engineer of the Panama Railroad during the construction

period, and Mr. Whitehead, formerly

Superintendent of the Pacific Locks, were

appointed at the same time to fill vacancies caused by the deaths of General

Pershing and Colonel O'Laughlin. Mr. Budd was unanimously elected Chairman of the Commission at a meeting

held in October 1951. The project gained new life during the

following months and at a meeting of the Commission in Washington on February 4, 1952, plans and former actions were reviewed. Mr. Budd presented at that meeting the drawing of a tentative design for a memorial prepared by Alfred Shaw, of the Chicago architectural firm

of Shaw, Metz, and Dolio, for a reinforced concrete shaft 150 feet high and 40 by 10

feet. The Commission unanimously ap- proved a motion for the Chairman to proceed with the Shaw design and to work

with Governor Newcomer on a final design and contract.

Architect Visits Zone

Mr. Shaw visited the Canal Zone early

in March of last year at which time

serious consideration was given, for the

first time, to the location of the Memorial

on the Prado in Balboa. Mr Shaw then presented a report and

tentative design for a monument to be

placed in the circle in front of Balboa

F^lementary School. This was approved

by the Commission at a meeting on

April 4, 1952. The plans were then pre- sented to President Truman a few days

later by General Schley and Mr. Gurney,

and the President gave his approval. Governor Seybold was appointed a member of the Commission iSee page IB)
ApriP2,1954 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW 15

Monniche Recalls First Emergency Dam Tests

TOLLEF B. MONNICHE, now SO, on a

Pedro Miguel Locks

recent visit to the emergency dam at which he designed.

Tollef B. Monniche, whose name

engineers speak with considerable respect,

still believes there were two high points

in the years when he helped to build the Panama Canal. One was in May 1913, when the first of the great emergency dams which he had designed and whose construction he had supervised was closed for the first time. He was pretty sure that the

great dam, two and a half times heavier than any drawbridge ever built before to swing on a single pivot, would work, but

it was with considerable relief that he saw the dam swing out over the end of the east chamber at Gatun Locks. The other high moment was not long

before the Canal was opened for traffic. The dam at the east side of Gatun Locks was swung into place and tested against a full head of water. It was as near as

final test as could be made of the dams,

which were designed to stop the flow of water through the lock chambers should one of the gates fail. The dam was swung into a closed

position, the emergency gates lowered and

wedged, the intermediate gates of the upper chamber were closed and water was admitted to the full upper section to the level of the gate. The upper guard

and operating gates were then opened

and the chamber was emptied through

the culvert. It made a head of water of 45 feet on the upstream side of the dam.

The dam, of course, held. Never Used For Emergency

The six emergency dams, which cost over $2,250,000, required 12,000 tons of material and took over four years to design and erect, have never had to be

used for such an emergency as that for which they were designed, but they have

been used from time to time as spillways.

Although Mr. Monniche worked under

the supervision of Col. Harry F. Hodges,

he frequently saw and worked with

Colonel Goethals. "He was a wonderful executive," the

bridge designer says today. "Under him

the esprit de corps was something which

had to be seen to be believed. Probably

one of the best things about the Colonel was that he gave a man a job and undi- vided responsibility to do it. If he made

good, fine, he got credit for it; if he

didn't, well—there was a boat out

every . . . week."

Norwegian-born, Mr. Monniche was

educated in Norway and in Germany.

He had worked for the American Bridge

Company, among others, before he joined

the designing staff of the Isthmian Canal

Commission in 1908. For a while he was

in Washington but came to the Canal Zone when the entire group of designing

engineers was transferred to the Canal

Zone. Helped Build Cristobal Piers After the Canal was completed, Mr. Monniche worked under Adm. Harry

Rousseau on the Cristobal docks. He

helped to complete Cristobal's Piers 8,

9, and 10, and then designed and began

work on Piers 6 and 7. He is just about as proud of his work

on the piers as he is of his emergency

dams, but not quite. Mrs. Monniche

ruefully comments that the dams were

and are—his first love. Since he left the Canal organization

in 1917, the Monniches have been living

in Boquete where they have a 365- hectare coffee finca. Some of his engineering genius has gone into the design of machinery and equipment for coffee picking, which has made the work a lot easier and faster. Now almost 80, he is still a master of design. After a recent visit to the locks and a technical conversation with him, one present-day Canal engineer put it this way: "He has something there. I'm not sure I followed it all, but he knows

what he's talking about."

President Roosevelt Visits Zone

MORE THAN FORTY-FIVE years ago, a President of the United States took the unprecedented

step of leaving the country. The visit was to the Canal Zone. Rain drenched the presidential party

for three days but President Theodore Roosevelt covered the Canal Zone from end to end, stopping at every town "along the line" and at every major project to see how things were going. "It is without precedent for a President to leave the United States, but this is a work without precedent," President Theodore Roosevelt told the men who were building the Panama Canal. "You are doing

the biggest thing of this kind that has ever been done."

Plans for the President's visit in November 1906 began as early as June of that year, as soon as it was definite that the visit would be made. All during the summer, Isthmian Canal officials conferred among themselves and with representatives of the new Republic of Panama, and, by mid-September, had a tentative schedule mapped out. A major problem was a place of lodging for the Presidential party. The Tivoli Hotel was under

construction, with its completion date well beyond the week in November when the President was expected.

Finally it was determined that at least one wing "could be furnished and otherwise fitted up in such a manner to afford appropriate and adequate facilities for the party's comfort and welfare." and the alter- nate offer of an official house for the Roosevelt party was declined.
16 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW April 2, 1954

"ew Canal Construction Veterans Left

Within the next few years there will not be a single employee on the active

rolls who can say "I helped build the Panama Canal." Must numerous of those still in service who came to the Isthmus before the

S. S. Ancon made its historic trip through

the Canal on August 15, 1914, are the remnants of the many thousands of employees from the West Indies. No

accurate statistics were ever compiled on

the total number employed during the Canal construction period but over

30,000 were hired under contract from

the West Indian islands. Concurrently with the bringing of this large labor supply under contract, there was a big immigration from the West

Indies and a continuous movement of population back and forth to the Canal Zone throughout the construction era.

It is estimated that as many came to the Isthmus voluntarily seeking work as were hired by contract. Many Veteran Employees Retire

Up until the start of World War II, when the Canal force was greatly ex- panded, these construction-day employees formed the main body of the local- rate force. The percentage has rapidly decreased over the past 15 years and the number of oldtimers has been greatly

reduced during the past few months by

the accelerated retirement of all those 65 years of age or older. The problem of obtaining a sufficient number of men for the Canal construction work was one which plagued all three Chief Engineers of the Isthmian Canal

Commission. Even as late as 1909, two

years after Colonel Goethals became

Chairman and Chief Engineer, it was

necessary to import that year over 3,500

employees under contract. During the first two years of construction practically all of the unskilled labor

force was imported from the West Indies. The recruitment of laborers in Europe

began in 1906 after 500 Spanish laborers employed on railroad work in Cuba were

brought to the Isthmus. Following this,

more than 11,000 were employed by

recruiting agents in Spain, Italy, and

Greece.Recruitment In West Indies

Special recruiting agents were sta- tioned in the West Indies from 1904 to 1908, but all had been withdrawn from

permanent assignments by 1909. However, it was necessary during later years

of the construction period to send agents on recruiting trips to the Islands for additional men needed. Throughout the time Colonel Goethals was in charge of the work and while he was Governor of The Panama Canal he gave particular attention to the welfare and happiness of the employees. He

provided means for all employees from

the highest to the lowest to voice any

complaint which they might have with

the assurance of having them adjusted

promptly.

He listened personally to thousands of complaints and no one was more patient

in such matters. He usually set aside

his Sunday mornings for employees to have a personal interview with him if they felt aggrieved over something or wished to adjust even personal differences. No matter whether these complaints came

from his top supervisors or pick-andshovel men, they were patiently heard. When complaints appeared justified they were thoroughly investigated and the necessary steps taken for adjustment.

Fair And Equal Treatment

This quality of fair and equal treatment

for all won for Colonel Goethals a place of

lasting endearment in the hearts of those who worked for him. This was true

alike of the American employee and the man who came from the West Indies. Of the many high tributes to "The

Colonel" none is more revealing than a

letter in the Canal files to him expressing

the gratitude and best wishes of West

Indian employees. It was written in June 1915, when there were insistent rumors that Colonel Goethals was soon

to leave the Isthmus. Because of the unique tribute to a

A FAMILIAR SCENE during much of the Canal construction period was the mustering of laborers

after the arrival of a ship with contract workers from the West Indies. This shows a scene at Gorgona

where the men are being, what is now termed as "processed," before being assigned to their jobs. Most

of the employees hired by contract in the West Indies came from Barbados.

great man, the letter is reprinted here

in full. It was signed by James Leonard,

Preston Boyer, William Rice, John

Tomlinson, S. R. Forde, Benjamin

Blackman, John Peters, and M. G.

Blackett, "in behalf of all the colored employees of The Panama Canal." The

letter follows: "Having heard that it is your intention

to relinquish your position as Governor

of The Panama Canal, we, the undersigned on behalf of the colored employees of The Panama Canal, take the liberty to express our appreciation and gratitude

for all you have done for us collectively,

and also to let you know how sincerely we regret your expected departure.

"Those of us who have been on the work practically from the beginning of your administration as Chairman and

Chief Engineer, recall with gratitude the

interest you have always evinced in your

colored employees; how you have persisted in giving us employment despite the severe criticism that has confronted you; how you have given us a hearing on

all questions, and adjusted our troubles when necessary (this alone speaks vol- umes), for there is nothing so valuable

to man as 'free speech' and this we have

received at the hand of your able administration. "These facts have caused us to arrive at the conclusion that you believe in the 'brotherhood of man.' Be assured that every rung you took hold of in your

climb to the top, we were always wishing

you to take hold of the next higher, knowing that the higher you went so much

higher would we have a sympathizer and

friend, if we be permitted to term you. "Again we express our regret, wishing

you and yours continued prosperity.

Governor Goethals, we (as aliens) will surely miss you, but we hope that your

successor will follow your footsteps."

Plans For Memorial 25 Years In Making

(Continued from page 14) on June 3 of 1952 and he was later appointed contracting officer. The Panama firm of Mendez and Sander was employed as Associate Architects in June and formal

contracts for the work were awarded in August 1952 to Constructora Martinz,

S. A., of Panama, and the Vermont

Marble Co. Memorial Site Changed

Since that time there was one further change in the plans for the Goethals

Memorial. Because of the hazard to low

flying aircraft, the location of the Memorial was changed to the plot of ground

immediately in front of the Administration

Building steps. Delivery of the marble was made early

in January 1953 and the work was initi- ated a few weeks later. The Memorial was completed, except for final landscaping, last August. The final inspection was made and the Memorial was formally accepted last September at a brief ceremony. Participating were Col. Craig

Smyser, Panama Canal Engineering and

Construction Director, representing Governor Seybold; James C. Wright, repre- senting the contracting firm of Constructora Martinz, S. A., and Harold W. Sander,

member of the associate architectural

firm.
April 2, 1954 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW 17

The Panama Canal Honor Roll

Of the many grave problems faced in the building of the Panama Canal none was of greater importance than that of obtaining and keeping a force to do the

job. Into this were woven a hundred

complexities, of which climate, food,

housing, recreation, and health conditions were among the most important.

All three Chief Engineers of the Isth- mian Canal Commission devoted much

of their attention to the important problem of assembling and keeping the tens of thousands of workers in many varied

fields of endeavor upon which success of the great venture would stand or fall. Their efforts in recruiting employees

from the United States were greatly

hampered by unfavorable publicity during the early part of the construction

period when "yellow jack," malaria, and

other tropical diseases were rampant.

This bad publicity had a lasting effect although it was greatly offset during the

latter part of the construction period.

Many Added Inducements

Many added inducements were made to attract men of the highest type to the Isthmus from the United States and to keep them here after they arrived. Despite these inducements the rate of turnover in the force was exceptionally

high during most of the construction

period.

The total number of employments and

reemployments during the Canal construction was approximately 40,000, al- though the force at no time exceeded

7,000. Soon after Colonel Goethals became

Vincent G. Raymond Florence E. Williams

Charles P. Morgan Adrien M. Bouche

George H. Cassell Gregor Gramlicb

Chairman and Chief Engineer he recom- mended that a special medal be designed

and presented to all American employees

who completed two years of continuous

service. The suggestion followed a state- ment made by President Theodore Roosevelt on his trip to the Isthmus in 1906

that he would favor the issuance of such

a medal.

It was a fortuitous suggestion and

proved to be one of the inducements

which led many an old timer to resist a sudden impulse to tell his boss abruptly

"I quit," a common occurrence in those

days.Letter From "Teddy" Roosevelt

In the Panama Canal files today there

is enclosed a yellowing letter dated December 23, 1907, written on White

House stationery from President Roosevelt to Colonel Goethals, which reads: "In accordance with your suggestion

I direct that the Commission prepare

orders for giving medals to all citizens of the United States who have served on the Isthmus for two years and who have

rendered satisfactory service. When you

have perfected the details of the scheme

please submit it to me, so that I may

get a thoroughly good artist to design the medals." Employees who completed two years

of additional service were given bars to go with the medals. According to the

record, there were issued 7,391 Roosevelt

medals; 3,883 first bars indicating four years of continuous service; 1,865 second

bars, six years; 636 third bars, eight

years; and 41 fourth bars, ten years. Of the more than 7,000 employees to receive the highly prized Roosevelt

medals, only 12, whose pictures appear

on this page, were in service on March

31, the 40th anniversary of the date when

the Isthmian Canal Commission ceased

to exist.

1906

*Vincent G. Raymond—December 16 1907

*Florence E. Williams—March 1 1908

*Charles P. Morgan—October 26 1909

*Adrien M. Bouche—July 2 1910

*George H. Cassell—January 20

*Raymond B. Ward—June 13 *Raymond A. Koperski—June 27

1911 *Lea K. Dugan—June 6 *GEORGE N. ENGELKE—September 5 *Bernard W. Mclntyre—September 28

*Gregor Gramlich—October 14 1912 Samuel J. Deavours—March 1 Thomas J. Breheny—November 1 *Edward W. Schnake—November 26

George C. Orr—December 5 ARTHUR MORGAN—December 16 1913

Bernard J. McDaid—February 19 David W. Ellis—June 11 Edward P. Walsh—July 1 EMMETT ZEMER—July 10 William V. Brugge—December 17 1914 Clarendon Sealy—March 6

The publication of the Canal's Honor

Roll of men and women who began their Canal careers under the Isthmian Canal

Commission was initiated in the first issue of the Canal Review in May 1950. The rapid decrease of the list is indicated

in th • fact that the first in 1950 contained

106 names.Honor Roll Is Depleted

Two of those whose names are contained on this year's list, Vincent G. Raymond and George H. Cassell, were

retired at the end of March, and several others will reach retirement age during

the coming year. Publication of the Honor Roll is normally made in the May issue of the Review in commemoration of the date of May 4, 1904, when the Canal properties

and rights were transferred to the United

States. Its publication this year was moved forward one month to coincide with the dedication of the Goethals

Memorial and the 40th anniversary of the date when Colonel Goethals became

the first Governor of The Panama Canal. The obs?rvance of the 50th anniversary

of the famous ceremony in which the transfer was made will occur on May 4 of this year. There are no longer any employees

who came to the Isthmus from the United States in that first year of the

construction period in active service although there are a few who still reside on the Isthmus and in the United States.

In the accompanying list the names

of the Roosevelt Medal holders are indi- cated by the asterisk. The three names

in capital letters indicate continuous

service with the Canal.

mm

Raymond A. Koperski Lea K. Dugan

George N. Engelke Bernard W. Mclntyre

l

Raymond B. Ward Edward W. Schnake
18 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW April 2, 1954

FOR YOUR INTEREST AND GUIDANCE IN ACCIDENT PREVENTION

* Of It iS/r — EMPLOYEE SAFETY INDOCTRINATION

An article in the National Safety

Council's News Letter says: "There is no

such thing as good shop or job operation,

if it is accomplished with an unsatisfactory

it. i\ record. This holds true no matter what the production quantity and quality

figures may be." Industry has found out that one weak

spot is in the indoctrination of the new

employee. This is where we all are apt

tu be somewhat remiss. Every job should have a workable procedure established for teaching every new employe?

his job and how to do it safely. It should

also have a program in safety indoctrination of present employees who have been

transferred or promoted to new jobs.

From those companies which have been

HONOR ROLL

Bureau Award For BEST RECORD

FEBRUARY

HEALTH BUREAU

AWARDS THIS CALENDAR YEAR

Community Services 1 Health 1 Engineering and Construction

Civil Affairs Marine

Supply and Service Transportation and Terminals

Division Award For NO DISABLING INJURIES

FEBRUARY

HOSPITALIZATION AND CLINICS

CLUBHOUSE DIVISION

ELECTRICAL DIVISION

RAILROAD DIVISION

AIDS TO NAVIGATION

DIVISION OF SANITATION

successful in conducting employee safety indoctrination procedures, there have

been selected certain fundamental steps

which seem particularly effective, and

which may be of interest to our supervisory and safety personnel.

1. Operating instructions specific to the

individual bureaus and division should be

established with safety emphasized. The

solicitation of safety suggestions will be found helpful in developing safe working

procedures.

2. The new employee, at the time of

hiring, should be given a brief background

of the Company's interest in safe operations and its intention to carry through

all safety plans.

3. He should be impressed with the

fact that his close cooperation is essential

in order to achieve a safe working place

for himself and his fellow workers. He

should also be told that any deliberate

infraction of safety rules or repeated

disregard of common-sense safe practices on his part will not be tolerated.

4. The employee should be personally

introduced to his foreman and fellow workers by those directly in charge of operations.

5. The employee's immediate supervisor should review the operation in necessary preliminary detail, carefully

discussing the various safe operating

requirements. He should also show the employee how his safe operation ties in with the other units as a whole, in order

to round out the employee's understanding that his observance of safe practices

is essential to the safe operation of the

whole.

6. In the course of job instruction th3

safety procedures should be covered not

as a separate and distinct theme, but as an integral part of the job instruction.

7. In giving instructions to the begin- ner everything must make sense to the employee. He should not only be told and shown what to do, but also why it should be done in the specified way.

8. It is the supervisor's responsibility

to see that the new employee is outfitted with the personal protective items required

for the job and that he receives instruc- tions on their use, cleaning, and care.

9. Sometime later, after the employee

has begun to see things more clearly, he

should be introduced to the unit's safety

organization and accident prevention program. It should be explained how the

safety organization functions and how he

is to report an accident in case he has one. He should understand his responsibility

in promoting safety and his rights if he

does get into an accident.

10. A follow-up is important to see if the new employee has learned everything

taught him, and that he has not developed

dangerous short cuts, and invented

dangerous procedures.

11. A supervisor must never condone

an unsafe practice on the part of any of

his employees. Accidents occur because

a supervisor permits unsafe acts again

and again until the unsafe practice

becomes a habit, and wins favor because

of supervisory indifference. Repetition

finally meets with special circumstances

which result in an accident.

12. New supervisors should start out by observing all safety rules; by looking

for unsafe conditions which should be

corrected at once, or proposals made for corrections as soon as possible. They

should always practice safety themselves.

WVARDS THIS CALENDAR YEAR

FEBRUARY 1954

Health Bureau

Community Services Bureau

Civil Affairs Bureau

C. Z. Govt.-Pan. Can. Co ( Last 3-Year Aver.)

Engineering and Construction Bureau

Supply and Service Bureau

Marine Bureau

C. Z. Govt.-Pan. Can. Co. ( This Month)

Transportation and Terminals Bureau

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

( Frequency Rate)

Aids to Navigation 2 Clubhouse 2 Sanitation 2

Electrical 1 Grounds Maintenance 1 Hospitalization and Clinics 1 Motor Transports tion 1 Railroad 1 Storehouses 1 Commissary..- Number of Disabling Injuries 47 Dredging

Industrial Locks

Maintenance

Navigation ^___^

Terminals f:

: :-:v.yfl Accumulative Frequency Rate This Year

: : : ::: , ':':':'::-': x-:--.- :

: x:••• ::-;:,: •\

'*•:: :•:••:•: :TT:-:v

r-'-y. ;<:<: ^SZW

Man-Hours Worked 2,205,108 LEGEND

I Amount Better Than Canal Zone Government—Panama Canal Company Last 3-Year Average

I Amount Worse Than Canal Zone Government—Panama Canal Company Last 3-Year Average
April 2, 1954 THE PANAMA CANAL'REVIEW 19

PROMOTIONS AND TRANSFERS RETIREMENTS IN MARCH

February 15 through March 15

Employees who were promoted or trans- ferred between February 15 and March 15 are listed below. Regradings and within- grade promotions are not listed. CIVIL AFFAIRS BUREAU

Walter Oliver, from High School Teacher

to Academic Department Head, Division of Schools. Roger E. Hamor, from Fireman to Fire Sergeant, Fireff)ivision. Kenneth T. Daly, from Fire Sergeant to Fire Lieutenant. Henry E. Sellner, from Cash Accounting

Clerk, Commissary Division, to Fireman,

Fire Division. Mrs. Elvera S. Juilfs, from Substitute Teacher to Clerk-Stenographer, Division of Schools. Fred E. Perra, Henry C. DeRaps, from

Policeman and Detective to Police Sergeant.

Beverly C. Y. Chan, from Library

Assistant to Librarian, Library. Mrs. Jacqueline M. Conn, from Substitute Teacher to Kindergarten Assistant, Division of Schools. Mrs. Mercedes A. Smith, from Substitute Teacher to High School Teacher,

Division of Schools. Mrs. Marjorie M. French, from

Substitute Teacher to Elementarj Teacher, Division of Schools. Linda C. Appin, Clerk-Stenographer, from Division of Schools to Police Division. Hollis Griffon, Virgil G. Camby, from

Policeman to Policeman and Detective,

Police Division. COMMUNITY SERVICES BUREAU

George J. Marceau, from Clubhouse Manager, Margarita, to Supervisor, Northern District and Clubhouse Manager,

Margarita. OFFICE OF COMPTROLLER

Malcolm R. Wheeler, from Accountant,

Cost Accounts Branch, to Auditor, Internal Audit Staff. John R. DeGrummond, Jr., from Accountant to Fiscal Accountant, Agents Accounts Branch. William F. Browne, from Transportation Rate Auditing Clerk to Accountant, Agents Accounts Branch. Mrs. Esther T. McKinney, from ClerkTypist, Costs Accounts Branch, to Accounting Clerk, Agents Accounts Branch. Mrs. Anna Jackson, Mrs. Catherine

B. Moehle, Card Punch Operator, from

Accounting Division to Payroll Branch. ENGINEERING AND CONSTRUCTION

BUREAU

John E. Short, from Senior Powerhouse

Operator to Powerhouse Operator Dispatcher, Electrical Division. Donald E. MacLean, from Powerhouse

Operator to Senior Powerhouse Operator,

Electrical Division. Fred L. Watson, from Batching Plant Foreman to Repair Shop Foreman, Maintenance Division. Winters A. Hope, from Hydrographic

Engineer (Dredging) to Hydrographic Engineer, Engineering Division. Manuel Quintero R., fr0m Civil Engineering Draftsman, Engineering Division, to General Construction Inspector, Contract and Inspection Division. Mirt Bender, from Special Combination

Welder, Maintenance Division, to Pumping

Plant Operator, Water and Laboratories Branch. Ralph E. Waugh, from Wireman to Electronics Mechanic, Electrical Division. Donald B. Tribe, from Chemist (Compliance Analysis) to Chemist, Water and

Laboratories Branch. Macon W. Foscue, from Electrical Engineer to Supervisory Electrical Engineer, Electrical Division. Richard J. Mahoney, from General Construction Inspector to Supervisory

Construction Inspector, Contract and In- spection Division. Anthony J. Catanzaro, from Machinist to Motorboat Maintenance Mechanic.

Dredging Division. William C. Jordan, from Motorboat

Maintenance Mechanic to Air Compressor

Operator, Barge, Dredging Division. Robert F. Dunn, from Air Compressor

Operator, Barge, to Steam Engineer,

Locomotive Crane, Dredging Division.

HEALTH BUREAU

Dr. Eric R. Osterberg, from Medical

Officer. Hospitalization and Clinics, to Medical Officer, Panama and Colon. MARINE BUREAU

Charles D. Cheek, from Electric Weld.

er, Industrial Division, to Towing Loco- motive Operator, Atlantic Locks. Gilbert F. Lee, Kenneth G. Taylor, from Guard to Towing Locomotive Operator, Atlantic Locks. Daniel A. Marsicano, from Pump Operator, Dredging Division, to Towing Loco- motive Operator, Pacific Locks. William J. Baldwin, from Policeman,

Police Division, to Towing Locomotive

Operator, Atlantic Lucks. Roger H. Swain, from Probationarv to Qualified Pilot, Navigation Division. Kenneth L. Bivin, from Pilot-in- Train- ing to Probationarv Pilot, Navigation

Division. Oscar M. Sogandares, from Signalman.

Navigation Division, to Ferry Ramps

Maintenance Repairman, Ferrv Service. Frederick C. Rose, from Ferry Ramps

Maintenance Repairman to Chief Towboat

Engineer, Navigation Division. PERSONNEL BUREAU

Mrs. Marguerite Y. Budreau, from Appointment Clerk to Supervisory Appoint- ment Clerk, Personnel Records Division. Mrs. Betty O. Boyer, from ClerkTypist, Employment and Utilization I >iv i- sion, to Clerk-Stenographer, Personnel Records Division. SUPPLY BUREAU

John F. Manning, from Superintendent, Abattoir and Cold Storage Plant to Wholesale Groceries Manager, Commissary Division.TRANSPORTATION AND TERMINALS

BUREAU

Mrs. Shirley C. Jones, from Clerk- Typist to Storekeeper (General), Motor

Transportation Division. Frank P. McLaughlin, Jr., from Gauger

and Cribtender Foreman to Cribtender Foreman and Steam Engineer, Terminals

Division. Mrs. Frances B. Orvis, from Superv isorv Accounting Clerk, Printing Plant, to ClerkI ypist. Motor Transportation Division. Harold L. Conrad, from Signalman.

Navigation Division, to Gauger and Crib- tender Foreman, Terminals Division. ANNIVERSARIES

Employees who observed important anniversaries during the month of March 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 (*).

40 YEARS

Thomas E. Bougan, Chief, Retail Stores Branch, Commissary Division.

35 YEARS

Martin Nickel, Pipefitter and Sheet- metal Worker, Leadingman Special, Industrial Division. *Mal T. Pappendick, Abattoir Fore- man, Commissary Division.

30 YEARS

Walter T. McClure, Mailing Foreman,

Postal, Customs, and Immigration Division.

25 YEARS

*Arzie N. Beauchamp, Mechanical

Engineer, Engineering Division. *William R. Calcutt, Pilot, Navigation

Division. *Harold E. Chambers, Locomotive

Engineer, Railroad Division. Katharine I. Clark, High School Teacher, Division of Schools. Roscoe M. Collins, Dock Foreman,

Navigation Division. William H. Rinke, Lock Operator, Machinist Leader, Locks Division. *Otis W. Ryan, Commissary Manager,

Commissary Division. Albert H. Shockey, Mechanical SuperRetirement certificates were presented

the end of March to the following employees

who are listed alphabetically, together with

their birth places, titles, length of service, and future addresses. Herman H. Burkle, West Virginia; Riveter and Tank 'Tester, Industrial Division; 23 years, 6 months, 22 days; Sacra- mento, Calif. George H. Cassell, New York; Assist- ant Chief, Housing Division, and Manager,

Balboa Housing Office; 41 years, 8 months,

26 days; California. George H. Byrne, New Jersey; Wire- man, Electrical Division; 37 years, 9 months, 19 days; East Orange, N. J. Matthew Dey, New Jersey. Cable

Splicer, Electrical Division; 12 years,

1 month, 10 days; address uncertain Bessie M. Dugan, Head Nurse, Gorgas

Hospital; 19 years, 11 months, 28 days; address uncertain. Robert W. Erickson, Wisconsin, Assist- ant to Superintendent, Northern District. Motor Transportation Division; 34 years,

5 months, 24da\s; Hudson, Wis. Catharine W. Fisher, California; Tele- phone Operator, Communications Branch;

6 years, 1 month, 11 days; Panama. Bernard J. McDaid, New York; Materials Inspector, Division of Storehouses; 27

years, 6 months, 2 days; Colon for present. James C. MacAulay, Scotland; Blacksmith, Industrial Division; 13 years, 3 months, 12 days; Canal Zone for present. Alice W. Patten, Maine; Accountant,

Cost Accounts Branch; 111 years, 6 months,

18 days; Ellsworth, Me. Vincent G. Raymond, New York;

Machinist Leadingman Special, Industrial Division; 34 years. 5 months, 22 days; address uncertain. Earl E. Trout, Indiana, Safety Inspector, Office of Director, Supply Bureau;

27 years, 1 month, 27 days; address uncertain. John W. Whittredge, Texas; Steam

Locomotive Crane Operator; Dredging

Division; 17 years, 2 months, 12 days;

Fayetteville, Ark. Robert M. Wilford, Kentucky; Assist- ant to Master of Transportation, Railroad

Division; 26 years, 6 months, 6 days; address uncertain.

v isor, Locks 1 Jivision.

20 YEARS

Ethel G. Cooper, Property and Supplv

Clerk, Dredging Division. Roger L. Deakins, Electrician and Operator Foreman, Electrical Division. *Bessie M. Dugan, Head Nurse, Gorgas

Hospital.

William C. Grimes, Auditor, Office of the Comptroller.

Frank D. Harris, Chief, Aids to Navigation Section, Marine Bureau. Joseph J. Lukacs, Filtration Plant

Operator, Maintenance Division. Gustave A. Moller, Hcav v Special Truck

Driver, Motor 'Transportation Division. Albert F. Pate, Control House Operator, Locks Division. *Otis M. Ramey, Yard Foreman, Rail- road Division. Glenn W. Redmond, Shipfitter, Industrial Division.

15 YEARS

*John T. Barrett, Jr., Pilot, Navigat ii mi Division. Carlton S. Bell, Policeman, Police Division.Robert C. Calvitt, Plumber, Maintenance Divi-n hi. * Alfred N. Hval, Diesel OperatorMachinist, Electrical Division. •James J. Latimer, Policeman, Police

I livision. Florence E. Mallett, Time, Leave, and

Payroll Clerk, Payroll Branch. *Salvatore F. Mauro, Wireman, Industrial Division. *Fred Muller, Pipefitter, Industrial

I division. *Ralph H. Otten, General Architect,

Engineering Division. John S. Pettingill, General Department

Head, Physical Education and Recreation Branch. *Edward K. Wilburn, Towboat Master, Dredging Division.
20 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW April 2, 1954

UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA

ISTHMIAN CANAL

COMMISSION

CHAIRMEN & CHIEF ENGINEERS

3 1262 08545 6456

ADM. JOHN G. WALKER-CHAIRMAN

FEBRUARY 29.1904 - MARCH 3C, I905

THEODORE P. SHONTS-CHAIRMAN

APRIL I,I905 - MARCH 3, C907 <3&

CHESTER HARDING

JANUARY II, I9I7 - MARCH 27.I92I

JOHN F WALLACE-CHIEF ENGINEER

JUNE I, I904 — JUNE 28.P90S

JOHN F. STEVENS

CHIEF ENGINEER -JUL.I.I905 -MAR 3t, 1907 CHAIRMAN MAR, 4,1907 -APR 1.1907 *9

GEORGE W. GOETHAL5

CHAIRMAN AND CH1E F ENGINEER - APRIL 1 . 1907 MARCH3I.I9M

GOVERNOR. THE PANAMA CANAL- APRIL I. 1914 JANUARY 10.1917 PANAMA CANAL

GOVERNORS JAY J. MORROW

MARCH 26, 1921 -OCTOBER 15.1924

M. L. WALKER

OCTOBER 16,1924 -OCTOBER 13,1928 HARRY BURGESSOCTOBER 16, 1926 -OCTOBER 20,1952 JULIAN L. SCHLEY

OCTOBER 21. 1932 -OCTOBER 26.1936

C. S.RIDLEY

AUGUST 27.1936 - JULY 10,1940

GLEN E. EDGERTON

JULY II, 1940 — MAY 15.1944 JOSEPH C MEHAFFEY

MAY It, 1944 — MAY 19,1946

F. K. NEWCOMER

MAY 20,1946 — MAY 26,1952 JOHN S. SEYBOLD

MAY 27, 1952