^"^-AR/^CS-./^

Gift ofthe Panama Canal Museum ^^S^

Vol. 6, No. 7 BALBOA HEIGHTS, CANAL ZONE, FEBRUARY 3, 1956 5 cents Company Stockholder Visits Locks

SECRET.\RY OF THE ARMY Wilber M. Brucker learned what handles to turn and when to turn them while a ship is being locked through the Canal. Since he is Stockholder of the Panama Canal Company, his interest in the operation of Miraflores Locks where he is shown above was more than

that of acasual visitor. Left to right, above, are Edward Barlow, Control House Supervisor; Emmett

0. Kiernan, Control House Operator; Secretary Brucker; and Maj. David H. Smith, Military Assist- ant to the Governor. The Secretary's visit to the Locks was made while here to attend the meeting

of the Canal Company's Board of Directors. C. Z. Health Officials Encouraged;

Only Four Polio Cases Last Year

Although officials of the Health Bureau

are hesitant to draw any conclusions as

to the effectiveness of the Salk poliomyelitis vaccine based on local experience, the remarkably low number of cases of polio- myelitis reported in the Canal Zone during the past calendar year is encouraging. Not one case of poliomyelitis has oc- curred among Zonians who received the Salk vaccine, according to a report from

the Health Bureau. Diu-ing the entire calendar year of 1955 only four cases were reported among residents of the Canal Zone. The first of these occurred

in April and the last in November. The

patients ranged in age from 7 to 36. The total of four cases is the lowest in the Canal Zone in the past several years. The largest number of cases was reported

in 1950 when 24 cases occurred. The

smallest previous number was in 1951 when six cases were reported. Although the number—four for the past calendar year—is promising, "definite conclusions cannot as yet be made

concerning the efficacy of the vaccination program, as the incidence of poliomyelitis normally fluctuates from year to year,"

Col. C. 0. Bruce, Health Director, said

in his report. Vaccination with the Salk vaccine began in April but was halted when similar programs were suspended in the United States. In July the program was

resumed on a large scale with an increas- ing number of children becoming eligible as the availability of vaccine increased. A total of S,.394 children in the Canal Zone between the ages of six months and

15 years have participated in the vaccination program. Of this group, 4,451 were

civilians and 3,943 dependents of military

personnel. In addition, the vaccine has been administered to 123 expectant

mothers. No ill effects due to the vaccine were reported among those inoculated. Maximum protection against paralytic poliomyelitis is obtained only after the completion of the series of three

injections. The first and second inoculations are given two to six weeks apart and essentially all of the children who

participated in the mass vaccination pro- gram have received these. The third, a booster injection, is given not less than

seven months after the second. Parents of children who received the

first two inoculations should check the dates on the blue immunization card. If the seven-month period has elapsed, the

third injection may be obtained at the out-patient medical clinics or the first aid stations in the various communities.

OWNERS TO GET

AMPLE NOTICE

OF CONVERSION

All Canal Zone residents will be given more than three months' notice of the approximate date when their electrical appliances will be converted to 60 cycles. Individual written notices will be issued. The entire Atlantic area covered by the contract i-ecently awarded to the Sachse

Electrical Company has been surveyed and the frequency-sensitive equipment

inventoried. Residents there have been

cautioned to report any changes from the

lists furnished as a result of this survey,

since equipment not listed 90 days before

the conversion date will not be converted

at Company expense.

Individual notices will be issued two

weeks before the 90-day period reminding

residents to compare their lists of equip- ment and notify the Power Conversion

Project office of any changes. These notices will give the approximate date of the conversion. The contractor will be required to communicate with the individual owners of equipment at least 60 days in advance

of the actual conversion date to determine

if the owner elects to accept a cash settle- ment in lieu of conversion of any piece of equipment. In ca.ses of cash settlements, they will be paid at least 30 days prior

to the conversion date. A third notice to residents will be given by the contractor seven days in advance

of the e.xact conversion dates. Residents who plan to be absent from

their quarters during the 90-day period

prior to conversion date for their equip- ment will be requested to notify the contractor prior to their departure to arrange

for the conversion in their absence. It

will be necessarj- that some individual be appomted to represent the owner of the equipment who will be absent. In connection with the conversion of domestic equipment, special arrangement

will be required when (.S'« jiaiji 19)

The Atlantic Area Power Conversion

Project office is located in Building 51 15

at Mount Hope. The mailing address is Box 5087, Cristobal, and the telephone number is 3-1339. Notices of any changes in your electrical equipment should be submitted in writing and any inquiries concerning the conversion program should be made to

this office. The conversion contractor, Sachse

Electrical Company, has offices in Building 7019, Mount Hope. The telephone number is 3-2577. This office should be notified of your absence during the conversion period or

if you are moving from quarters in a 25-cycle area into an area which has

already been converted to 60 cycles.
THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW February 3, 1956 Dental Survey Program Starts

OPEN WIDE: Cecilia Meriwether, of Ancon School, does just that so Dr. L. E. Fontaine can ex- amine her t«eth while Delia Miller, Dental Assistant, watches. The examination was part of a pro- gram of similar cheeks for all Canal Zone school children.

Comptroller's Office

Reorganized To Effect

Coordinated Authority

A general reorganization of the Office

of the Comptroller to provide a more

effective and better coordinated line of authority and responsibility was an- nounced last month. For the convenience

of The Panam.\ Canal Review readers

the following directory of the new organizational set-up and chiefs of the various

units is furnished: Comptroller, Philip L. Steers, Jr. Assistant Comptroller, Position to be filled. Assistant Comptroller-Accounting

Arthur J. O'Leary

Accounting Division, John E. Fisher, Assistant Chief

Agents Accounts Branch, James R. Johnston

General Ledger and Processing Branch, Donald M. Luke

Payroll Branch, Howard E. Turner

Reports and Reconciliation Branch, J. Everett Heady

ASSIST.A.NT to Comptroller, J. Patrick Conley

Treasl-rer, Joseph C. Turner General Aiditor, Floyd H. Baldwin

Claims Branch, James L. Fulton

Internal Audit Branch, George E. Girard Chief of Budget .\nd R.\tes Division, Warren Pitman

Budget Branch, LeRoy B. Magnuson

Rates and Atialysis Branch, Russel J. Jones Chief of Accounting Policies akd

Procedures Staff, Thomas H. Scott Chief of Plant Im'ENTORY and Apprais.al St.^ff, Col. Edward B. Jen- nings Plant Accounting Branch, Albert M.

Jenkins

Plant Appraisal Branch, Frank A. Baldwin

Work Will Start Soon

On Shoe Section Move

Work will be started at an early date on modifications to the former oil and

paint storehouse on Balboa Road at Roosevelt Avenue for its use as a wholesale and retail shoe store of the Commissary Division. Funds for this work, which will include

the provision of a parking area adjacent

to the buildings, were approved for expenditure by the Board of Directors at the January meeting. The moving of the wholesale shoe section of the Commissary Division to Bal- boa and combining its operation with the

retail sales outlet now in Balboa Commissary will facilitate the handling of shoe

sales and permit economies in operations

since about two-thirds of shoe sales are now made at Pacific side outlets. The building to be converted is a masonry structure, 60 by 190 feet, facing Balboa Road with the long side along Roosevelt Avenue. The area between the

building and Roosevelt Avenue will be converted into a parking area with an en- trance for cars from the street intersection and the e.xit on Roosevelt Avenue. This work will require the removal of a small masonry building in the area. Layout Planned

Comparatively little structural work

will be required to alter the building for

its use as a Commissary unit. The front section will be partitioned off for use as a retail outlet, and the central part of the building will be equipped with shelves for storage. Also to be provided in the central section will be a warehous? office, and partitioned areas for receiving, for- warding, and marking. The retail store will be furnished with

the necessary display counters and other

features of a modern shoe store, with in- dividual sales areas for women and girls shoes, men and boys, and children and

Malaria Incidence

Near Ail-Time Low

During Past Year

The incidence of malaria among employees in the Canal organization was at the second lowest rate in the history of the Canal Zone during the past calendar

year, according to year-end statistics an- nounced by the Health Bureau. The rate during 195.5 was 1.3 cases for every 1,000 employees; this was only

slightly higher than the all-time low inci- dent rate of 1.1 established in 19.50. The

rates for the three preceding years were

3.5 in 19.54; 2.8 in 1953; and 3.2 in 1952. In discussing the low-incident rate of malaria during the past .year. Col. Charles

0. Bruce, Health Director, attributed the

fine record in a large degree to the constant efforts of the Division of Sanitation. Also a major factor, he said, is the close cooperation among the various health agencies in the Canal Zone and in the Republic of Panama.

"Malaria control," Colonel Bruce said, "requires the constant and vigilant work

of those in charge of this phase of our

public health program. It also requires

the full cooperation of the public in maintaining a high degree of sanitation in all parts of our community to pre\'ent the breeding of malaria-bearing mosquitoes. Cannot Relax "While we are highly pleased with the low incidence rate of the past year, this cannot be a signal to relax the control methods. Malaria is an ever-constant

threat in this area and any lack of vigi- lance could and would bring a much

higher rate." The number of cases of malaria, including recurrent cases, among Canal employees last year was only 19, as compared

with 54 in the preceding year. The record low incidence rate established in 1950 was attributed largely to the intensive mosquito control program

which was initiated on an Isthmian-wide

basis soon after several cases of jungle yellow fever were reported in Panama. The incidence rate has been low for the past ten years, never rising to as much

as four per thousand. These compare fav- orably with the rate of 12.5 which was

reported just ten years ago in the calen- dar year 1946.

infants. The entrance to this section will be from stairs to be built to the covered

porch. The removal of the retail shoe sales from the Balboa Commissary annex will provide considerable additional space in that building. It is planned to convert

this building for use primarily as an apparel store for men and boys. As a part

of this plan, most of the hou.sewares still in the frame annex building will be moved

across the street and consolidated with

other houseware sales outlets in the larger masonry building. While no fixed date has been set for the transfer of the wholesale shoe section,

it is expected that the necessary altera- tions to the building can be completed

for the change to be made within the next two or three months. The consolidation of the two units will result in the abolishment of seven local-rate positions.
February 3, 1956 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW Canal Company's Board Of Directors

Meets In Canal Zone For Fifth Time

A reaffirmation of action taken a year ago recommending the discontinuance of the use of Albrook Air Force Base for regular aircraft flights was approved by

the Company's Board of Directors at the meeting held last month at Balboa Heights. The meeting last month was attended by all 13 members of the Board. The members reviewed the resolution on Al- brook adopted at the January meeting a year ago and discussed the situation with

Secretary of the Army \\'ill.)er M. Brucker, Stockholder of the Company. The Board

reaffirmed its previous position and di- rected that the matter be again called to the urgent attention of the proper United

States Government authorities. New Statement To Be Sent As a result of the unanimous action by

the Directors, a formal statement will be forwarded urging that the necessary steps be taken promptly to eliminate the danger

caused by aircraft using the Albrook

flight line which passes directly over

Balboa's schools and residential area. Most of the Board's attention at the meeting last month was directed to fiscal policies and general operations of the Company. The evaluation report on the U. S. Government's investment in the Company was presented and a committee was appointed to examine the report and present its findings and recommendations at a later date. Other Board actions included the ap- proval of the Company's annual report

for the fiscal year 1955 and approval of the basic assumptions for the preparation

of the 1958 budget. Most of the Board members spent several days on the Isthmus, giving them

time for individual and group inspection

of various installations and operations. Early steps in the overhaul of Gatun

Locks, which began last month and which

will be completed early in May, were watched by members of the Board during their stay on the Isthmus.

In the Canal Zone at the time of the Board meeting were representatives of the St. Lawrence Seaway who were on

an inspection trip of the Panama Canal.

M ^^ -ka^^^^ A. ^

SE\'ERAL MEMBERS of the Board of Directors arrived by Panama Line and came to the Pacific side by Panama Railroad motor car. They and their wives are shown soon after arriving at the Balboa

Heights station.

BOARD MEMBERS lunched and talked shop with visiting representati\'es of the St. Lawrenct

.ALL MEMBERS of the Panami Canal Company Board of Du-ectors and the General Officers of the Company are shown above at the Jan- uary meeting held in the Board Room at Balboa Heights. Seated, left to

right, are; .John H. Blaffer; Governor J. S. Seybold, President of the Company; Assistant Secretary of the Army George H. Roderick, Chair- man of the Board; Secretary of the Army Wilber ^L Brucker, Stockholder;

Robert P. Burroughs; and Ralph H. Cake. Standing, left to right, are; Philip L. Steers, Jr.. Comptroller; W. ^L Whitman, Secretary of the Company; Charles S. Reed; Howard C. Petersen; Theodore H. Maenner; Major General Julian L. Schley; Major General Glen E. Edgerton; John W. Martyn; and Lieutenant Governor H. W. ScbuU, Jr., \'ice President

of the Company.
THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW February 3, 1956 Canal Library's 150 Isthmian Maps

Important Part Of Panama Collection

One day a Panama Canal pilot who is an authority on the history of Panama,

went to the Canal Zone Library and

found a reproduction of a valuable 1790 map, the original of which is in a New

York Museum. To him the map was particularly inter- esting, not only because it had been made

for Espeleta, eighteenth century Spanish

colonial governor, and is an excellent detailed drawing of the Isthmus of Panama, but because it showed a Panama

village which had not been included in any other map of that period. The pilot bought a photostated copy

of the map at a nominal cost and went away quite happy.

Originals In Vault

This incident was not too unusual for Mrs. Eleanor Burnham, Librarian-Curator, who is an ardent collector of old maps on the Isthmus of Panama and

since 1951 has made them an important

part of the Library's well-known and

comprehensive Panama collection. Almost every day visitors with various

research problems on their minds ask to see the map collection and are shown the complete file of photostated copies kept

in the Library reference room. The

originals, many of them yellow and crack- ing with age, are kept wrapped in rag

paper in the Library vault. The visitors include cartographers and map collectors from many countries,

archeologists, high school and college students, Boy Scouts, and Armed Forces

personnel who are interested in the old

trails which have criss-crossed the Isth- mus from the time of Columbus.

Sometimes, Mrs. Burnham says, she

detects a treasure hunter but such indi- viduals are not usually inclined to talk and

she has yet to see a bonafide treasure map.

Better Than Books The maps have come in handy for more

practical uses too. The trails used by

the U. S. Army group in following the route of Balboa through the Darien region

last year and for their mor'e recent march

across the Isthmus over the old Gold

Road, were charted with the aid of some

of the maps in the Canal Zone Library map collection. Maps from the collec- tion wer-e also used more recently when

the U. S. Army Caribbean set about

restoring the old Spanish fort at San

Lorenzo. The Library has several maps

of Fort San Lorenzo and environs. One of them, dated 1740, is an exact draft of the

fort and the village across the Chagres. To historians and experts, old maps

are better than several books written about a particular region. From a

THE MOUTH of the Chagres River, with Fort San Lorenzo and the village of Chagres on the bluff on the right and the old Customs House and the "Fort at the Point" on the other river bank, appears on this old map which is one of those in the Canal Zone Library's collection. It is dated 1741).

representative group of maps, the history and development of the country can sometimes be traced with greater accuracy than from descriptions or even pictures. Unlike an art collection, a good map

collection need not be made up of original drawings and charts. In fact ther-e are few originals in most collections, as the

old map makers had their original work

engraved and then copied. The Library collection, which recently

received the compliments of Gen. Sanchez Lamego, Director of Cartogr-aphy for the Mexican government, was started by

Mrs. Burnham w^hen she purchased in the United States some copper--plate engravings of this ar-ea made in the days of the Spanish explorers. Since then the collection has grown by

leaps and bounds with the addition of maps of the early French Canal and with drawmgs of the Isthmian Canal Commission days from the Panama Canal

blue print vault, by gifts from interested

per-sons and, when the price was right, by the purchase of old maps and col- lections. Purchases and Gifts One of the most interesting collections was bought locally from the Garcia family, a collection which included many old maps and copies of old maps. Among

them was a rough chart of the world made in 1417, the original of which is in the Cathedral in Rheims, France; several maps made by Pieter Mortier, 18th century map maker; a 1650 map of New

Spain printed in Amsterdam by Jan

Jansson, which had apparently been used

to settle boundary disputes; and a chart

of Panama made in 1685 by William Dampier, well known world traveler. One of the most recent gifts to the Library collection was presented by

Richard H. Whitehead, author and Panama Canal construction day official, who displays a keen interest in the Canal Zone and has presented other gifts of books and valuable papers to the Library

.

The maps sent by Mr. Whitehead

include photostats of maps collected by

the late Ralph Z. Kir-kpatrick, former Panama Canal Meteorologist - Hydrogr-apher who was an author-ity on Isthmian

history and loiv. 150 Maps In Collection At present the Library collection in- cludes a total of about 150 maps which

date back to the days of Columbus and

the Spanish explorer's and prcigre.ss through the past live hundred year's up

to the present day. The more r-ecent maps are copies of Army and Panama

Canal official maps.

Mrs. Bui'nham, who is now making a

detailed bibliogr'aphy of the map collection, says that the skill of the old map

makers never fails to amaze her. She

gave as an example a chart of the coast

of Panama made only a few years after Columbus.

It gives a remarkable idea of the ter- rain and, considering the difference in eciuipment, represents a level of skill and

painstaking effort which is just about on

a par with those of twentieth century

cartographers using the latest instru- ments science can provide.
Febiuary 3, 1956 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW

ONE OF Balboa's handsomest private buildings is this which houses the Canal Zone Credit Union.

Canal Zone Credit Union Worth $2 Million

And It's Only 20 Years Old This Month

One night last month around 200 members of the Canal Zone Credit Union met in the Diablo Heights Service Center

and, after a buffet supper, voted a 4.2 percent dividend, agreed to invest some

of their surplus funds in high grade securities, and elected officers for the .year. The meeting was a far cry from one

held on a February night in 1936 when

a handful of Zonians got together to see what could be done to finance vacations

or emergencies which required unexpected financial output, as well as to pro- vide some sort of reasonably safe place

to invest their savings. The idea was not new but the need had become ui'gent when the Canal administration ceased to advance vacation pay; up to 1936 an employee had been able

to collect his leave pay in advance to the extent that he had earned it, or would,

during the time he would be on leave. A couple of weeks after the February

meeting, 19 men met at the Balboa Clubhouse and organized the Canal Zone

Credit Union. Of this group of 19 only

one, Gregor Gramlich of the Dredging

Division, is still in the Canal sei'vice and

still eligible for membership. After the meeting they had aimounced that they had formed a credit union whose purpose was "to take care of their own short-term

credits for financing vacations and other provident purposes." Rapid Growth By June when the group met again to

elect officers and approve bylaws, the membership had grown to 7.5, and has grown steadily ever since. Today—or to be e.xact, on December 31, 1955—the Credit Union has 2,779 members and is capitalized at $2,000,000, of which over

half is invested in United States Govern- ment bonds. The membership is only a

bit below the all-time high of 2,810 of three years ago when the Canal force was considerably larger than it is today. For the first seven years the Credit Union had no home. Its headquarters were under someone's quarters, usually the treasurer's or secretary's, and in the

earliest days before this scheme was

adopted, oldtimers say that the office was

in the "pocket of the secretary." Today the Credit Union owns a hand- some two-story $48,000 building on Bal- boa Road, has an Atlantic side office in the Cristobal Masonic Temple, and a paid

staff of 11, three of whom devote their

full time to Credit Union business. Membership is restricted to United

States citizen employees of the Canal or- ganization. Each member is a share- holder in the credit union and each share

is valued at $10. A member owning one

share has the same voting rights as one who holds the maximum of 250 shares. Chartered In Delaware

For some time the officers of the Credit Union attempted to affiliate with the Federal Credit Unions of the United States, but the act of Congress establishing these unions did not then include the Canal

Zone. The bylaws of the Credit Union

are patterned after those of Federal

Credit Unions but the Union itself is in- corporated under the State of Delaware. When representatives of the Federal

Credit Unions visit the Canal Zone, thev

CLOSE TO 200 Credit Union members turned out for the annual buffet supper and business meeting in January. pay courtesy calls on the Canal Zone

Credit Union; Canal Zone Credit Union

officers, on the other hand, have assisted and advised local-rate employees in the formation and administration of their own

credit unions which are now under Federal supervision. The growth of the Credit Union has been steady and consistent. Originally

capitalized at $100,000, the capitalization was increased to $250,000 in 1939, to $1,000,000 in 1940, and to $2,000,000 in 1953. Approximately $20,000 in shares

are being purchased in the Credit Union

each month. Outstanding loans average

a steady $750,000; on these the borrower

pays three quarters of one percent interest on the unpaid balance, monthly. For the first few years of its existence

the Credit Union limited its activities to a sort of savings and emergency loan business. In 1937 one of its officers reported

that a "few of the piu-poses for which

loans have been made are vacations, hospital bills for families in the States, to clean up small debts at lower rates of in- terest, education of children, college tui- tion in the States, payment of mortgages, and purchase of real estate." In 1938, when the membership was

650 and the assets and paid-in capital

close to $90,000, the Credit Union began

to finance the purchase of automobiles by

its members, and this is still a good part

of the Credit Union's loan business. To- day the Credit Union members, with

proper collateral or guarantees (shares on

deposit may be used as collateral) can borrow money for almost any purpose, have a depository for their savings at a good rate of interest, can buy insurance

of many types, can rent safety deposit boxes in the Credit Union building, and

can purchase checks on United States banks to facilitate payment of States bills. In addition the Credit Union acts as inter- mediary between the Company-Govern- ment and the underwriters of hospitalization insurance. The men and women who have worked

with the Credit Union over a period of years feel a personal interest in their cus- tomers. During the war years when the Canal force was swelling day by day, they frequently advanced small loans to

tide some of the new employees over

until their first payday. And not infre- quently the personal loan of a baby crib, some pots and pans, and even a chair or two was made by the Credit Union's staff to the newcomers.

Officers of the Credit {See page 13)
THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW Febiuary 3, 1956

FOR YOUR INTEREST AND GUIDANCE

iZML // IN^ACCIDENT PREVENTION

CAUGHT IN THE MIDDLE

Did you ever think how we most often change the shape of anything? If we want

to change the shape of a piece of paper, we pinch it between two blades of scissors.

If we want to change the shape of a heay\^

wire, we pinch it between two jaws of a

pair of pliers. If a blacksmith wants to change the shape of iron, he pounds it between a hammer and an anvil. We do

the same thing in a power press. People sometimes get their shapes changed the same way—by getting caught between things in motion. And

the way their shapes get changed never makes them look or feel better. There are a whale of a lot of serious accidents that we could call "getting caught in the middle." Most machineaccidents are of this type. But let's talk about a few non-machine accidents that can crush you like a bar of iron between

the blacksmith's sledge and the anvil. Number one is the kind of accident

that can pin you between a moving load and some fixed object, like a post or wall

or machine. We'll say some workers are pushing trucks or carrying heavy stuff when you come by. Maybe it looks like there's room between the load and the HONOR ROLL

Bureau Award For BEST RECORD

DECEMBER

HEALTH BUREAU AWARDS THIS CALENDAR YEAR

Community Services 6 Health 5 Engineering and Construction 4 Supply 4 Civil Affairs 3 Transportation and Terminals 1 Marine

Division Award For NO DISABLING INJURIES DECEMBER

HOSPITALIZATION AND CLINICS DREDGING DIVISION INDUSTRIAL DIVISION ELECTRICAL DIVISION GROUNDS MAINTENANCE DIVISION MOTOR TRANSPORTATION DIVISION STOREHOUSES DIVISION HOUSING DIVISION AIDS TO NAVIGATION

SANITATION DIV ISION AWARDS THIS CALENDAR YEAR

Aids to Navigation 11 Housing II San itation 11 Electrical 9 Grounds Maintenance 9 Industrial 9 Motor Transportation 9 Maintenance 8 Storehouses 8 Service Center 7 Dredging 6 Railroad 6 Hospitalization and Clinics 5 Commissary 4 Locks 2 Terminals 1 Navigation I

post and you decide to squeeze past them.

That's always foolish, for now and then

a truck will swerve, or a load will swing, and you'll be in the middle between heavy

stuff moving fast and something hard that won't give way. When that happens, the chances are that what will give way is your flesh and

bone. So for your own sake, always give the fellow with a moving load plenty of room. Number two is the kind of accident

that happens to people handling or pushing heavy loads. They grip the load or truck in a position which puts their hands

right in the middle, waiting for a crushing smash against a wall or floor or other obstruction. There's a safe handhold for every load and every truck. Learn it and use it. Those hands of yours will come in mighty

handy if you don't smash them.

Finally, there's type number three—

the killer type. That's the type that puts you between something really heavy and

something hard. In type three are the accidents that happen when a craneload spills on a man

;

the kind of accidents that make it a must

to live by the rule, never walk under any

load carried by a crane or hoist. In type three are the accidents that come from carelessness around box cars, trucks, and parking lots, where the short- cut between standing equipment is often only a shortcut to horrible death when

the standing ef|uipnient starts to move. Remember, this e(|uipm('nt was made to move, so give it plenty of room. And in type three are all materials- handling accidents that involve workers

getting their hands between the load, the

floor, or pile or wall and the accidents

from falls of badly-piled material. The ways of preventing these are obvious, but you'll have to remember to use those ways. Don't you get caught in the middle in any type of accidi-nt. You won't like the way it changes youi shape! ROUND PEGS IN SQUARE HOLES

DIDJA ever see a trafl^c cop using a trombone instead of a whistle? Or a

carpenter driving nails with a shoe? Or

a painter painting a house with a tooth- brush?

There's a right tool for every job, and

the situations above point up the fact that when the wrong tool is used, the re- sults can be pretty silly. On some jobs the use of the wrong tool, however, could be worse than silly—it could be plenty

serious. A bad injury or even death could

result. Before you start a job, make sure you

have the right tool for that job and that

the tool is in good condition. DID YOU EVER

Try to tie you shoe laces with one arm

out of commission? Try to see straight and clearly after an

eye injury? Try to sleep with an infected hand as a

bed-fellow? Try to lift a heavy object with a sprained back? Try to walk any distance with an injured

foot? Try to button your shirt with burned

fingers? Tiy to eat a meal with a fractured jaw? Try to ride in a car with a stiff knee? THEN YOU KNOW WHY SAFETY

PAYS!

DECEMBER

Health Bureau

Engineering and Conslruclion Bureau

Supply Bureau

Community Services Bureau

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

C. Z. Govt.-Panama Canal Co. ( Last 3-Year Av.)

Marine Bureau

Transportation and Termmals Bureau

Civil Affairs Bureau

Number of Disabling Injuries 19

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

I Frequency Rale)

Man-Hours Worked 2,298,364

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

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

Accumulative Frequency Rate This Y'ear
February 3, 1956 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW

Official Panama Canal Company Publication Published Monthly at BAI.BOA HEIGHTS, CANAL ZONE

Printed bj/ the Printing Plant Mount Hope, Canal Zone

John S. Seybold, Governor-President H. W. ScHULL, Jr. Lieutenant Governor William G. Arey, Jr. Public Information Officer

J. RuFUS Hardy, Editor Eleanor H. McIlhenny

Assistant Editor

SUBSCRIPTION—$1.00 a year SINGLE COPIES—5 cents each On sale at all Panama Canal Service Centers, Commissaries, and Hotels for 10 days

after publication date. SINGLE COPIES BY MAIL-10 cents each BACK COPIES—10 cents each On sale, when available, from the Vault

Clerk, Third Floor, Administration Building, Balboa Heights.

Postal money orders should be made pa>'- able to the Treasurer, Panama Canal Company, and mailed to Editor, The Panama

Canal Review, Balboa Heights, C. Z. ENDS LONG SERVICE

CHARLES F. MAGEE, far better known as "Muggsy," retired last month after almost 35 years

of Canal service. He came here in 1917 as a "right- hand riveter" for the Mechanical Division, has been

with the Dredging Division in various capacities

since 1926, except for a period last year when he was assigned to the Contractors Hill job. At the time of his retirement he was mat* on the dredge Mindi. An ardent baseball fan, he was once an

umpire, but has been called the "power behind the throne" in Zone baseball. He is presently manager

of the Fastlich Teen Age I^eague. He will stay here

until aft«r the ball season closes. After that he will probably live in Massachusetts.

ROYALTY IS NO stranger at Canal control towers and these young ladies, ore of whom will be a Queen, were no exception. The finalists for the contest sponsored by the Pacific Branch of the Canal Zone Police Association are shown here in a recent visit to Miraflores Locks. Left to right, with

Control House Operator D. P. Hutchinson, they are: Diana Staples, .Jo Ann Sorrell, Patricia Foster, Beverly Crawford, and .\ngela ^'alentine. Work on the installation of the Canal

Zone's first push-button type traffic light to be located on Balboa Road near the Bal- boa Commissary Annex, is scheduled to be

started at the end of February. The light should be in operation within a week or ten days after work starts. Although the contract for the installation

of the traffic light was awarded to Louis R. Sommer several months ago, the work was

held up by the manufacturer's delay in shipping parts. The first of its kind to be installed in the Canal Zone, the traffic signal will make it possible for a pedestrian to push an auto- matic button control which will turn on a "stop" signal for traffc and a "walk" signal

for pedestrians. The lights will be controlled in such a manner that the red traffic light and the pedestrian "walk" light can be actuated only at certain intervals, after which the right-of-way is returned to vehicular traffic for a minimum period.

soms which later turn purple. The tree produces a nut somewhat the size of a cannon ball filled with smaller nuts similar

in taste and size to the northern butternut. Always popular with the tourists, amateur

gardeners, and interested local residents, the tours will be continued until the end

of the dry season.

The Panama Canal will have the stellar role in a Paramount \'ista\'ision picture filmed on the Isthmus during the past two

weeks by Ruseel T. Ervin and Edgar H.

Fa\'. The special will be one of a new series

nl \'ista\'ision in color to be released by

i'lramount Pictures Corporation. The picture being filmed by Mr. Ervin

anil Mr. Fay will cover a wide range of

.iriivities in Panama and the Canal Zone

111 .iddition to the transiting of vessels. This is Mr. Ervin's second visit to the

( anal Zone to make a motion picture short

Icature. He was here during the late 1930's

Hi make the Grantland Rice Sportlight feaiiire of the Red, White, and Blue Troupe

riiached by Henry J, Grieser. who is now

retired anrl li\ing in Ireland.

Canal Zone drivers' licenses which were

issued three years ago are now being re- newed by the License Section in the Civil

Affairs Building. The renewal started in January with the licenses of those born during that month. All license holders born

during the month of February are now being urged to get a renewal before the expiration

(late shown on the face of each license. Drivers' licenses in the Canal Zone are

valid for three years from the date of issu- ance and expire on the birthdate of the li- cense holder. The plan was adopted in 1953 when most Canal Zone drivers' licenses were

renewed: this is the first renewal period

since the plan became effective. Renewals can be made as early as one month in advance of the expiration date. .\pplications are available at the License

.Section in Ancon or at the License E.xaminer's Office in Cristobal. They should be accompanied by two license-sized photo- graphs and a fee of $1.

The rare flowering trees and bushes of both native and imported varieties as well

as the large number of unusual plants cul- tivated at the Summit Experiment Gardens

will be identified and explained during the regular conducted dry-season tours which were started again this year the last Satur- day in January.

Starting at g a. m. from the Summit

Gardens office, the tours are conducted

each Saturday morning by Roy Sharp, of the Grounds Maintenance Division, who

takes visitors on a two-and-one-half hour

inspection of the major points of interest.

"This month some of the most interesting trees in bloom are the sapucaya nut tree, the Brownea or orange pom-pom tree, and

the yellow poro-poro tree. The sapucaya

nut tree, also known as a tropical butternut,

is now covered with fragrant white blosThe 50th anniversary of the foundation

of the Canal Zone Fire Department will be

celebrated by Canal Zone Fireman at the annual Firemen's Ball scheduled for the

night of February 10 in the patio of the Hotel El Panama.

Guests of honor at the gala affair will be

officials of the Panama and Colon Fire Departments headed by Commandante Raul

Arango, Chief of the Panama Fire Depart- ment, and Luis Ducruet, Chief of the Colon

Fire Department. Officials of the Panama

Canal Company-Canal Zone Government

also have been invited to attend. In addition to a five-act floor show, one

of the major attractions of the affair will be

the awarding of a 21 -inch RCA television set to the holder of the ticket winning the

first door prize. Other prizes will be a S75 and a $50 credit with the Mercurio Jewelry

store in Panama, and an all-expense paid weekend for two at the Hotel El Panama.

Tickets can be purchased at $1 each at any Canal Zone Fire Station or from any member of the Canal Zone Fire Division. Table reservations can be made by tele- phoning 2-2393. Fred A. Mohl, of the Balboa Fire Station,

is Chairman of the conmiittee in charge of arrangements.
THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW February 3, 1956

BEFORE Ai\D AFTER; The top picture shows the evpeiimental fire laboiatory at Pedio Miguel

as it was; below it is consumed by flames after it served to demonstrate how fires should be fought

in buildings and ships.

They Burned It Up; And Then —They Burned It Down ! A 50-year-old building in Pedro Miguel went up last month in flames, flames which were set deliberately to train the Canal's 68 firemen so that they could keep other houses from burning. But before it was given the final coup

de grace, the old house had been through

the most amazing and unprecedented metamorphoses of any Canal Zone structure, past or present. Built in 1907 to house construction-day families, the four- family house was abandoned last year when Pedi'o Miguel ceased to be a town. Last October the old building became

a Fire Division laboratory. For a few weeks it continued to be a house, suffer- ing all the burning ailments any house

can be victim to. Then, almost overnight

it became a ship—the SS Experience. Though it stood on dry land, seven miles from the sea, it was full of hatches and

cargo holds and ladders and companionways. Last month, after some dozen

heated weeks, the Fire Division's training program ended and the old house was

Dermitted to burn to the ground. Arsonist at Work

During the first weeks of the three- month training program—when the house was still a house—Capt. W. E. Jones of the Balboa Fire District, and his chief

aide, Lt. Perc F. Graham, set over 50

fires in dry closets, stoves, wiring, mattresses, and in the shallow stuffy attic. After some weeks of this. Lieutenant Graham considered himself an accomplished arsonist until one day when Lt. iiov. H. W. Schull, Jr., dropped by to watch the training. That day, he set an

end room on fire four times and each time

the fire went out of its own accord when

the door was closed. Graham finally transferred hi^ activities to a dry closet

in a center room; his efforts were so successful that it looked for a few minutes

as if all training were going to come to a premature end. The procedure for the first phase of the

training was the same for each group of three to five firemen, each of which was commanded by an officer or acting officer. They were teniixirarily detailed to the Pedro Miguel station, into which a special telephone line—to prevent interference with legitimate alarms—had been run. Once a fire was underway in the laboratory, an alarm was turned in on the special line. No special instructions were

given for handling the fire; it was up to the training company to get it out as exjeditiously as possible. Company Rated

After each test, supervisory officers rated the training company. The grading covered the manner in which the man

who answered the alarm had extracted

the necessary information about the fire and its location—this is important so that firemen can be readying their equipment

while the truck is enroute to the fire, and

should be kept in mind by housi'holdcrs who should give as many details as possible, tersely, when reporting a fire; how

the fire was sized up when the company

airived; what "layout" the commander

ordered; how much time was taken to put it out and how much water was used,

if the fire recjuired water; what information was passed on to the police to be

relayed to the fire station and other agencies; and how the public was handled at the scene of the fire. Continual critiques were held for offi- ARSO.MSTS Lt. Perc Graham and Capt. W. E. .Jones look over some of their handi«(jrk at the

fire-fighting school.
February 3, 1956 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW

CONFINED SPACE is a fire-fighting hazard; here a fireman learns how to maneuver in closely

restricted areas.

cers and men. Each officer or acting

officer was told how he had been rated and in some cases a proljlem was repeated

in order to correct a doubtful procedure.

All of the 35 men from Pacific side fire stations took part in this phase of the

training program. A similar program will be started soon for the Atlantic siders with a house in Rainbow City serving as the Atlantic side laboratory. During the protracted training period the firemen were watched by a number of

visitors, including Gov. J. S. Seybold, Lt. Gov. Schull, and H. L. Donovan, Civil

Affairs Director. The entire persomiel of the Fire Division from both sides of the Isthmus took part in the second phase of the program, for which the old house was

converted into a ship. Ship Afire

All its doors and windows were boarded up in that section which had a basement and was, therefore, a three-story structure Ladders were installed and the compart- ments were blocked with various types of obstructions. Cargo was represented by

boxes and other materials. Fire pots generated heat and smoke bombs put out

billowing clouds of choking, blinding smoke. Visibilitj^ was seldom more than

a foot or so, and masks had to be worn

whenever a fireman ventured inside the "burning" SS Experience. For this part of the training the men

worked in pairs. Before each paii- entered

the "ship" they were given the same in- formation they would get in the report

of a real ship fire, /. e., that a smoldermg

fire had been found in No. 3 hold where

a cargo of baled cotton was stored, for an

instance. They were given specific in- structions as to how to reach the scene

of the fire—such as "two holds down, and through a passageway, from the No.

2 hatch." An officer was stationed in each compartment to help the trainees out if their masks failed or if they got into any sort

of trouble. The average time for a round

trip into and out of a hold of the Experience was 22 minutes. The "fire" was not actually extinguished

for this phase of the ti-aining. Instead, when the firemen emerged again into the open air, they reported what they had

found, how se\'ere the "fire" seemed to

be, and what they proposed to do about it. Captain Jones and Lieutenant Graham

were particularly proud that during the over thi-ee months that the training was

going on, firemen in training sustained only three minor injuries. These were a

blistered finger, a cinder in a fireman's

eye, and a wrenched back muscle—when

a truck di'iver slammed the vehicle's brakes on too hard.

Scoutcapades To Be Held

Feb. 18 At Balboa Stadium

Date for the Second Annual Scoutca- pades to be presented in the Balboa Sta- dium has been fixed for Saturday evening, P'ebruary 18, starting at 7:15 p. m.

Practically the entire membenship of Canal Zone Council 801, Boy Scouts of America— slightly over 1,200 Scouts and

adult leaders will take part in the 19.56 Scoutcapades. The presentation will in- clude 10 episodes which will tell the "Scouting Story." One episode which, in early rehearsal gave promise of being exceptionally spec- tacular is entitled "Onward for God and My Country."

Chaplain (Col.) H. F. Donovan, Rabbi Nathan Witkin, Chaplain (Lt. Col.j Roy

A. Morden, Dean Malcolm McDonald,

and Father John D. Rutledge are collab- orating in this phase of the presentation.

It will feature special music written and

arranged by Victor Herr and played by

his 45-piece all-Boy-Scout Band.

L. B. Haberstick is Director General

for the Scoutcapades. The Scout Executive is Franklin Chase. Members of the

Steering Committee are Leonard Brock- man, Col. John Obendorf, Comdr. S. S.

Ivnight, Will G. Arey, Jr., Lt. Col. James

Lane, and B. I. Everson. Teachers In Canal Zone Schools

Received Training In 38 States

Like Canal employees as a body, the 220 men and women who teach in the Canal Zone's United States Schools come

from all over the United States. And

their places of midergraduate training are as widely diversified, geographically, as

their places of origin, according to a recent survey by the Division of Schools. The survey showed that the 220 teachers took their undergraduate training in 148 different colleges, universities, and

other institutions located in 39 different States and in the District of Columbia. Over a thii-d of them—38 percentreceived their education in what the United States Census Bureau calls the East and West North Central States: Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Miimesota, Iowa, Missouri, North and South Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas. The Middle AtlanticStates—NewYork, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania—provided

the alma maters for another 24 percent

of the teachers. The same percentage at- tended colleges or universities in the South Atlantic States: Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North and

South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. Seventeen percent of the 220 teachers tramed at institutions of higher learning

in the eight East and West South Central

States: Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama,

Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, Okla- homa, and Texas. Of the remaining teachers, nine percent attended colleges or universities in the Moimtain States—Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and Nevada; eight percent took

their undergraduate work in the Pacific States—Washington, Oregon, and California; and the remaining three percent attended schools in New England. By States, the teacher training for the Canal Zone's 220 teachers breaks down

like this: Minnesota, 19; New York, 18;

Illinois, 14; Ohio, Texas, North Carolina,

12 each; Wisconsin, Colorado, California, 10 each; Florida and Alabama, 8 each; Oklahoma, 7; Michigan, Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri, Mississippi, 5 each; Massachusetts, Iowa, Washington, North

Dakota, New Mexico, 4 each; Pennsylvania, Georgia, Oregon, Arizona, Teimessee, and Virginia, 3 each; Connecticut, Idaho, Maryland, and West Virginia, 2 each; and Kentucky, Arkansas, Indiana, Wyoming, Louisiana, South Carolina, Utah, New Jersey, 1 each. Of the 148 colleges and universities attended by the 220 teachers, the University of Minnesota heads the list with seven of its graduates teaching in the Canal Zone schools. Colorado State College is represented by five teachers. Minnesota 'Teachers College at St. Cloud, Minn., New York University, Texas State Teachers College at Denton, Tex., the University of North Carolina, the University of California at Los Angeles, and

the University of Nebraska, are repre- sented by four teachers each. And Bradley Polytechnic Institute, North Carolina Teachers College, Wisconsin Teachers College, Colorado State Teachers College, the University of California at Berkeley, the University of Florida, Florida State College for Women,

the University of Alabama, the University of Oklahoma, Mississippi Teachers

College, North Dakota Teachers College, and the University of New Mexico each

trained three Canal Zone teachers. Other

educational institutions represented here by 02ie or more Canal Zone teachers in- clude such outstanding colleges or universities as Chicago, Northwestern, Columbia, Wellesley, Hamilton, Hunter, Syracuse, Cornell, Western Reserve, Miami

(Ohio), Texas, Rice, Duke, Wisconsin, Michigan, William and Mary, Virginia, and Iowa State.
10 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW February 3, 1956 Ships Sailed Its Waters For Centuries

But Port Of Balboa Is Only 55 Years Old

Although Panama Bay has been the scene of ocean-going traffic for nearly 450

years, the Port of Balboa, as it is today

called, celebrated its 55th birthday only

last month. The declaration of the official opening

of the port on January I, 1901, was of great significance to commerce of the

Pacific Ocean. Its 1,000-foot pier, and a

di'edged channel to it, was the only place

in the 2,000-mile voyage between Salina Cruz, Mexico, and Callao, Peru, where

deep draught vessels could dock to unload

their cargo. In those days, a 3,000-ton

vessel was listed in the category of a "deep draught vessel." Prior to that time, vessels which put

into Panama Bay stood offshore about a mile and a half and cargo and passengers were lightered in to piers near Panama

City's public market. This lack of deep

water for port facilities was true back to the time in the early 1500's when Francisco Pizarro outfitted his expeditions at Taboga for the conquest of Peru.

Until the latter part of the nineteenth

century, Taboga was frequented by ocean

going ships since there were no docking

facilities on the mainland. One of the

island's claims to fame was as the headquarters for the whaling industry which

established at Taboga a large station for

flensing and rendering blubber. From Meager Start .... From its meager beginnings, the Port

of Balboa has grown into one of the well- known ports of the world, principally be- cause of the enormous amount of traffic which flows through the Panama Canal. The port has never been as fully develop- ed as was planned when the present port

facilities were under construction at about

the time the Canal was opened. Old

sketches show that five piers the size of Pier 18 were planned, with the "inner harbor" being about twice its present size. It was then expected that a tremendous amount of trade would flow into the Canal's Pacific terminal; this would be

in addition to ships transiting the Canal. To accommodate this expected trade, a

BALBOA HAKBOK would have looked like this map shows if original plans had been followed.

It was expected during the construction period that several large piers would be needed for vessels using the harbor but this trade never developed. The proposed piers would have extended almost

to the present Diablo Heights limits. row of modern piers was plaimed, stretch- ing all the way up to the present site of Diablo Heights. WhOe this trade development never took place, Balboa harbor has ample

docking and cargo handling facilities for ships of all classes which use the port. In

addition, it has almost unlimited anchor- age facilities. The Port of Balboa is an elongated

stretch of water about six miles in length from the north limits of the inner harbor

to the outer anchorage basin. It covers roughly 7,000 acres in area. Most of this

is in the big anchorage immediately southeast and east of the Fortified Islands and

COLL.APSE of a Balboa wharf in 1912 .sank the Pacific Mail Company's SS Newport which was

tied up at the pier. Here the salvage vessel Salvor begins operations to raise the sunken ship. There

were no casualties.

San Jose Rock. The shoal water extends

out for a considerable distance and pro- vides safe anchorage for hundreds of ships without overcrowding. The principal areas of the port which

are dredged or partially marked for ship movement and anchorage outside the Canal channel cover nearly 700 acres, most of which is in the "explosives anchorage," south of the Canal entrance, and

in the inner harbor. Balboa inner harbor, which the average

person thinks of as the Port of Balboa,

covers a relatively small area. It is here that the principal port facilities are located. Those for commercial \-essels are centered primarily in Pier 18 and the long

piers fronting the Industrial Division

shops. In all, the port has more than a

mile and a half of berthing space, most

of which can accommodate ocean-going

vessels. Three Names

Despite its relative youth as world

ports go, the Port of Balboa has operated under three different names. It was first named La Boca, or The Mouth, being at the mouth of the Rio Grapdc. This name

was changed to the Port of Ancon by

President Theodore Roosevelt scon after the United States undertook construction

of the Canal. The Spanish word ancon means, in maritime parlance, an open

roadstead. The name Ancon for that section of Panama Bay is undoubtedly older than La Boca. Histories of Old Panama speak

of vessels putting into Ancon, some two

leagues fnmi that city. The name Ancon never seemed to stick. While the first Isthmian Canal Commission report in December 1904 described

its boundaries and took note of its naming, it continued to be popularly known

as La Boca and in later years the name
February 3, 1956 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW 11

was generally usetl in i)flicial documents

and reports. The name Balboa, in honor of the dis- coverer of the Pacific, became official in April 1909, aft?r it had been suggested

to American authorities by the Peruvian

Minister to Panama. The Port of Balboa was a long time

aborning. Its history goes back to 1864 when the Panama Railroad Company, in a revision of its concession with the Col- ombian Government, agreed to extend its tracks to the present-day Fortified Islands

or "other places in the bay where there may exist a permanent depth of water

for large vessels." The years dragged on and perhaps be- cause of the amount of money involved

the Railroad did not comply with its contract. In ISSO the Company entered

into another contract with Colombia in which it agreed to pay $10,000 a year

for a period of 30 years in lieu of an ex- tension of time or until the tracks could

be built to deep water in the bay. During all these years— from 1855 when the Panama Railroad was completed—the Railroad Company used what was known as the American Wharf in Panama City, opposite the present Balboa

Brewery, lightering cargo and passengers from ships about a mile and a half away. Harbor Begins To eliminate the $10,000-a-year pay- ment under its contract with the Colombian Government—as well as the expense and inconvenience of lighterage—the Panama Railroad in 1896 contracted for the construction by the second French Canal Company of a pier at La Boca.

In his annua! report for 1898 the president

of the Railroad Company reported as fol- lows on this work which was the actual begiiming of Balboa Harbor: "Continued progress was made during

the year in completing the new terminal

port and pier at La Boca, in the Bay of Panama, which, as now almost finished, consists of a magnificent pier, 1,000 feet long, 50 feet wide, constructed of 24 solid cement piers founded on bedrock, shedded

its entire length, with five large steamhoisting cranes and one 15-ton derrick- crane, with which to discharge or load

three large ships at one time. "Basins have been excavated alongside

the pier of sufficient size to allow a free movement of vessels of 3,000-ton capacity, and to allow such vessels to be safely berthed there at all stages of a tide, which

has an average rise and fall of 21 feet." This pier, a part of which still stands and is the oldest known structure in use

in the Canal Zone today, is Pier 6, better known to old timers as the French Pier.

It was first used in 1899 and that same

year the harbor was charted and the

Railroad's terminal facilities were greatly expanded. The Colombian Government

accepted the work as the fulfillment of the Railroad's agreement first reached 35

years previously. The Railroad Company

then assumed charge of the excavation of the basin, leasing a machine shop and

various other equipment from the French Canal Company.

Opened In 1901 The port was declared officially open

on January 1, 1901. The Railroad Company then entered a contract with the French Canal Company for the use of La Boca as a terminal until 1966, and

for various dredges and equipment re- quired to keep the port open. The buccaneer days of big business

were still e\ ident then and the Panama

Railroad Company soon established a vir- tual monopoly of the port. This was done by contracts giving the sole rights to the

Pacific Mail Steamship Company for the

issue of through bills of lading for all cargo moving north and to the Pacific iSteam Navigation Company and the Cia. Sud

Americana de Vapores for all trade south. These contracts were examined by

Secretary of War William II. Taft on his

visit to the Isthmus in December 1904, and they were subsequently canceled the

following June. Both the ports of Ancon

and Cristobal were declared open to the commerce of the world in an Executive Order issued June 24, 1904. Taft Agreement Many other matters of great import- ance to the two ports attracted Taft's attention during his visit which resulted

in the now-famous "Taft Agreement" es- tablishing the modus operandi of the 1903

Treaty. Most important of these were

the delineation of the two harbors and

the handling of customs and immigration

in the ports.

It is interesting to note today that Secretary Taft came to the Isthmus with

the thought in mind that terminal ports

for the Panama Canal might not be necessary. In his report to President Roosevelt concerning his visit and the agree- ments reached, he said of the two ports:

"I was at first inclined to think that we might give up the ports, but an examination of the situation made it perfectly

clear to me that the existence of Canal

ports, one at each end of the Canal, was

absolutely necessary in the construction, maintenance, and protection of the Canal, and if there was a complete interchange

of facilities between the ports of the Republic and the ports of the Canal, this is all that we could afford to concede." Construction Period Except for Canal construction activities the Port of Ancon was never a busy place. The port facilities were somewhat ex- panded and improved during the early construction period, but little ship trade was attracted. Although the trade monopoly was broken, the three lines holding

the privileges continued to furnish most

of the ship traffic into the harbor until the Canal was opened. A summary of traffic for the four-year period of June 1904 to July 1908 showed

that about 590 vessels entered and cleared the port. These brought less than .50,000 tons of cargo and took out about 1,500

tons. The passenger trade was slightly heavier, with about 23,000 arriving and

20,000 departing. There {See page w)

F. H. SHEIBLEY, retired Clerk of the United States District Court, points to one of the concrete abutments which supported the old American Wharf in Panama. Mr. Sheibley was employed

there in the late lS90's when it was operated by the Panama Railroad Company. He is one of the oldest American residents of the Isthmus. The pier was located near the present-day fruit market in the area known as .Javillo Fill. The lower picture shows the Panama waterfront as it looked almost 50 years ago. This picture was taken about 190S.
12 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW February 3, 1956 Civil Service Enactment In 1883

Important Today To Many Here

THIS BOARD of Civil Service Examiners administers Civil Service matters in the Canal Zone.

In the usual order they are: E. A. Doolan, Chairman; Mrs. Zelda Glassburn, whose title is Civil Service

Clerk; 0. W. Helmerichs, and Dr. I. R. Berger. Standing are James A. Yat«s, Secretary, and F. G. Dunsmoor. Not present when the photograph was taken was the other member, George F. Welsh.

An anniversary of considerable import- ance to more than 1,200 men and women

in the Canal Zone—the 73d anniversary

of the signing of the United States Civil Service Act of 1883—occurred last month.

Although it was observed with little local fanfare, the fact that there is a

Civil Service system is in the best inter- ests of every citizen of the United States.

It provides everyone with the right to compete on a fair and impartial basis with other applicants for employment in the Federal service; and, following ap- pointment, protects them, particularly in certain types of positions, against the

hiring and firing whims of political pres- sure groups. The Civil Service system, according to a statement made by Commission officials on the occasion of the anniversary in January, was born of the martyrdom of a President. The assassination of James

A. Garfield in 1881, by a disgruntled jobseeker, stin-ed the American people to end

the spoils system under which public jobs were awarded on the basis of politics rather than merit and fitness. On January 16, 1883, the present Civil Service Act—also known as the Pendleton Act—was signed into law by President Chester A. Arthur. It laid the ground- work for a competitive civil service which

today embraces a career force of more

than 2,000,000 Federal employees. Began Here In 1904

Civil Service in the Canal Zone is al- most as old as the Zone itself. On November 15, 1904, six months after the United States undertook to build a Pan- ama Canal, President Thcodcirc Roosevelt

signed an Executi\e Order which made

all employments in the Canal Zone, ex- cept those of workers classed as laborers, subject to the laws and rules of the United

States Civil Service. This meant that any engineer, dredge

operator, locomotive engineer, doctor, nurse—or any other individual working

for the Isthmian Canal Commission or

the Panama Railroad— had to meet the

qualifications of Civil Service and have a

Civil Service status. Because of the difficult conditions under which the Canal was being built,

this comprehensive order was more than

a bit cumbersome. The Isthmus of Pan- ama was thousands of miles from the nearest Civil Service office; the exchange

of papers took weeks. Well-qualified men

who came to the Canal Zone on their own

were blocked from employment because

they did not have Civil Service status. So, in 1906, the order was amended to exempt all Canal Zone employment from

Civil Service, except those for clerks, bookkeepers, stenographers, "typewriters"—as typists were known in those days — surgeons, physicians, internes, trained nurses, and draftsmen. Fifty years later, most of these positions still are under Civil Service and those who

occupy them must qualify under Civil Service regulations. Regulation Established The next step came in January 1908, with a joint circular signed by Col. George W. Goethals, as Chairman of the Isth- mian Canal Commission, and John C. Black, President of the Civil Service Commission in Washington. The circular established regulations governing examinations, appointments, transfers, and pro- motions "on the Isthmus of Panama,"

and established the first local Board of United States Civil Service Examiners. For the first time locally, "competitive

positions" those attained through competitive examinations were defined and

other confusmg perplexities ironed out. This began a system which, with suit- able modifications for changing times,

still remains in effect. Today, Civil Service in the Canal Zone is administered by

a five-man board which conducts examinations when it is necessary to establish a "register" from which qualified persons

are selected for "competitive" positions. The board rules on Civil Service status, retention rights, veterans' preference, promotions, and similar questions. It serves not only for the Canal organization but also for the Armed Services and other government agencies in the Canal Zone. This local board, appointment to which

is recommended by the Governor and made by the Civil Service Commission,

is subject administi'atively to the Bureau

of Departmental Operations of the Commission's central office in Washington. For several years, the Canal Zone was

considered a part of the Tenth Civil Service Region in New Orleans; its regional

director, the late A. J. Leach, made several trips to the Canal Zone on official business during this period. In 1953 the New Orleans office was closed and Civil Service in the Canal Zone was again placed under the jurisdiction of the Fourth U. S. Civil Service Region, and shortly after under the central office in Washington. Board and Panels The present Board of Civil Service Examiners is headed by Edward A. Doolan, Personnel Director. James A.

Yates, Chief of the Utilization Branch of the Pei'sonnel Bureau, is its secretary; he has held this position since 1949. The

other members are Forrest G. Dunsmoor,

Administrative Assistant to the Governor-President; George F. Welsh, Chief of the Employment and Utilization Division

of the Personnel Bureau; and Otto W.

He'merichs, Chief of the Employment

Branch of the Personnel Bureau. Dr. I. R. Berger is the medical member. The board is assisted by two panels, one composed of doctors and the other

of nurses. (If necessary the board can, with the Commission's approval, establish panels to cover any competitive position category in the Canal Zone.)

]\Ieml)ers of the doctors' panel are: Col. William W. Nichol, Dr. David Senzer, Dr. John M. Wilkerson, and Dr. Evganie

P. Shirokov. The panel of nurses is comprised of Miss Beatrice Simonis, Miss Rebecca T. Kendall, Miss Lucille Hearn, and Mrs. Thelma S. Rand. The panel system is a comparatively new addition to local Civil Service procedure. Panels were first established here

in September, 1954. Panel members re- view and score the qualifications of those applying for positions in the medical and

nursing services in the Canal Zone, as

positions in these fields must be filled by Civil Service competitive procedure. A number of well-lmowTi former Zon- ians—they were required to state that they were "independent politically"— have served on the local board. They

include Seymour Paul, former head of the Canal's Personnel oi-ganization, Amos W.

Fox, for many years the Board's secretary, Harvey A. McConaughey, Ernie L. Payne

Arden' Bennett, and Robert J. Smith. Emergency and Examination

Civil Service provisions more or less went out the window in the Canal Zone

during World War II, just as they did

in other Federal agencies. During the emergency the employment of non-Civil

Service employees, laiown as "War Service Appointees," was allowed in positions which had formerly been restricted to those with Civil Service status. But after the end of the emergency, the former rules again became effective. This meant not only that any new employ- ments in classified competitive positions had to be made from registers established from open, competiti\-e examinations, but

also that the War Service appointees had

to qualify through examinations or leave

the service. At about the same time, a Civil Service Commi-ssion regulation was issued in Washington which admitted citizens of
February 3, 1956 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW 13

IN THE air coaditioaei oSe33 of the Credit Union, Mrs. J. B. Clemmons and Mrs. .Judith Apster

tillv business with a couple of msmber-clients. In the bacliground are Walter A. White and Mrs. May Hall of the Canal Zone Mutual Benefit Association, which has office space in the building.

Canal Zone Credit Union Worth $2,000,000 Zone High Schools

Get Formal Notice

Of Accreditation

Official notification that the Balboa and

Cristobal High Schools continue to be

accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools was received last month by the principals

of the two high schools. The official notice came from R. D. Matthews, Chairman

of the Commission on Secondary Schools

of the Middle States Association. Both schools were inspected last year by Dr. Ira Kraybill, Executive Secretary

of the Commission. He was assisted by two local committees, one for each high

school. A few weeks later, two other

Association representatives evaluated the Canal Zone Junior College. Formal notification of the Junior College accreditation was received last May. The accreditation of the two high

schools, which will cover the period to December 31, 1960, means that their graduates may be accepted for admission

to most colleges without the requirement

of entrance examinations or other qualify- ing rules. At that time the schools will report progress made toward fulfilling the committee recommendations made in the evaluating report. Earlier reports from Dr. Kraybill and

his evaluation of each high school left

little doubt that the schools would again be accredited. In a special report, he

described the Canal Zone schools as a "good school syst<»m, intelligently administered for the welfare of boys and girls." Regarding Cristobal High School, he

wrote: "The basic preparation given in

this high school is sound for students in college preparatory and vocational work." Concerning Balboa High School, he said that it has "succeeded in analyzing the needs of youth in the Zone quite well and

has a lively and intelligent interest in the

welfare of the pupils in the school."- Accreditation Notice The official notice of accreditation

for the two high schools, follows: "It is a pleasure to inform you that

the Commission on Secondary Schools of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools has approved the continuance of your school on the List of Accredited Secondary Schools for the per- iod ending December 31, 1960. "You have received the report which grew out of the visit of the Committee

to your school. Although the chairman's

report does not represent official action on the part of the Commission, it is hoped

that you have found much of value in it. Less favorably considered phases of your program are indicated in the chairman's

report and the graphic summaries. We

trust that you will give careful consideration to any weaknesses which have been

revealed, as well as continue to be inter- ested in the strong features which were

described. By May 1, 1960, we shall ex- pect a descriptive report indicating activities of you and yoiu- staff subsequent to receiving the report of the committee.

"Please accept sincere congratulations on this occasion. We, in the Commission

office, will be happy to be of service to you and your school whenever an opportunity is available."

(Continuedfrom page 5) Union have got- ten out of bed at night to arrange loans

to finance emergency trips to the States; they have watched Zone families grow. "Sometimes," one of them said the other day, "we have loaned a father money to finance his son's college education. A little bit later we lend that boy money to buy his first car, take his wedding trip, and, sometimes, to finance the

first baby." Panama to examinations for positions in the Canal service. When Civil Service examinations were resumed in the spring

of 1947, record crowds turned out. One

clerical examination in June 1947, at- tracted over 1,250 applicants. Registers are currently established for the positions of clerk, typist, stenographer,

nurse, and medical officer. The two last are open, continuous examinations for which applications will be accepted until further notice. The Civil Service Commission also plays a big part in the examining and

training of in-service personnel. Test

material and examining facilities in the

screening process for the selection of per- sonnel to attend the Junior and Senior Management Intern Programs have been

furnished by the Commission. During

the past 10 years the Canal organization has had 20 prmcipal participants in these programs. Howard W. Osborn and John

R. Hammond, Jr., of the Engineering and

Construction Bureau are now in Washington attending the Senior Program; Mr.

Osborn, of the Maintenance Division, for the entire five-month course and Mr. Hammond, of the Engineering Division,

for the three-week orientation period. Recently the Commission instituted an

"examination process" for screening per- sonnel other than for the Management

Intern Programs. This is called the Federal Service Entrance Examination, de- signed to attract those of college caliber wishing to make a career in the Federal

service. The first of these examinations, held

recently in the United States, attracted over 30,000 applicants. The examinations will be made available locally as soon as the material arrives, which is expected to be very soon.

After the first seven years of its pillar- to-post, or basement-to-basement exist- ence, the Credit Union was given office space in the Balboa Clubhouse. Its headquarters were in the Clubhouse until the present building was constructed in 1950, almost directly opposite the Balboa Armed Services YMCA. The building has air-conditioned office space on its first floor and two apartments above. One of the apartments is occupied by Walter

White, of the Canal Zone Employees Mutual Benefit Association, which rents

office space on the first floor, and the

other apartment is occupied by a full-time employee of the Credit Union. Surplus Of Funds

If the Credit Union has any current embarrassment it is a surplus of funds. By its bylaws it was required to invest

its surplus in U. S. Government bonds. Last month members were circularized as

to their wishes to change to a more modern investment policy, which would allow

the directors to invest the surplus in long- established investment funds, preferred

stocks, etc., as trust departments of banks do with the funds they handle. Members voted to make this change. New surpluses in the future as well as the funds which will accrue as the Government bonds mature will be so invested, but 50 percent of the surplus will be con- tinued in government bonds. A number of well-known Isthmians have been connected with the Canal Zone

Credit Union since its inception. Its first officers were W. B. Boggs of Balboa

Heights, president; Capt. W. E. Minnix

of Cristobal, vice president; Grover F. Bohan of Gorgas Hospital, treasurer; and

Charles S. Hollander, of Ancon, secretary. Mr. Hollander, who later served as presi- dent, and, again, for a number of years

as treasurer, is now retired from the Canal organization and lives in Jacksonville, Fla., Other well-known oldtimers who have served the Canal Zone Credit Union are R. 0. Shuey, Maj. George Her- man, Capt. J. M. Fahnestock, Fred W.

Bradley, and Claude Peters. The Credit Union has a nine-man board of directors, three supervisors, and credit committees

on both sides of the Isthmus.

Its present officers, elected (.?« page 19)
14 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW February 3, 1956 PROMOTIONS AND TRANSFERS

December 15 through January 15

Employees who were promoted or transferred between December 15 and January

15 are listed below. Within-grade promotions are not listed. CIVIL AFFAIRS BUREAU Edmund C. Fishbough, from Motorcycle

Sergeant to Motorcycle and Police Sergeant,

Police Division. Mrs. Ethel S. Browne, from Substitute Teacher to Elementary School Teacher,

Division of Schools. John W. Hall, from Customs Guard to Customs Inspector, Customs Division. Elmer J. Hack, from Records Analyst, Records Section, to Supervisory Clerical Assistant, Police Division. Mrs. Carole R. Wick, from Substitute Teacher to Library Assistant, Division of Schools.COMMUNITY SERVICES BUREAU

George S. McCullough, from Motion Pic- ture Projection Equipment Mechanic to Foreman, Buildings and Equipment, Service Center Division. Wilson M. Camathan, from Supervisor to Lead Foreman, Buildings and Equipment,

Service Center Division. John Henderson, Jr., from General Fore- man Mechanic to Lead Foreman, Motion

Picture Projection Equipment, Service Center Division. Fisher M. Oltenburg, from Motion Pic- ture Projectionist to Motion Picture Projection Equipment Mechanic, Service Center Division. OFFICE OF THE COMPTROLLER

Richard H. Egolf, from Bookkeeping Machine Unit Supervisor, Machine Accounting

Unit, to Accountant, Methods and Relief Assignment Staff. William F. Browne, from Accountant, Methods and Relief Assignment Staff, to Supervisory Accounting Assistant, Machine

Accounting Unit. Mrs. Sylvia E. Staples, from Card Punch

Operator to Time, Leave, and Payroll Clerk, Payroll Branch. Mrs. Lucille D. Van Riper, from Cash

Accounting Clerk, Gorgas Hospital, to Time, Leave, and Payroll Clerk, Payroll Branch. John J. Fallon, from Tabulation Planner,

to Supervisory Accounting Assistant, Payroll Branch. ENGINEERING AND CONSTRUCTION BUREAU

Phra A. Ashby, from Foreman to Lead

Foreman, Hospital Maintenance, Maintenance Division. Mrs. Shirley K. Finlason, Clerk-Stenographer, from Claims Branch to Contract and Inspection Division. OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR-PRESIDENT

Paul M. Runnestrand, from Assi.^tant Secretary and Attorney, Washington Office, to Executive Assistant to the President,

Office of the Governor-President. HEALTH BUREAU

Mrs. Elizabeth J. Brown, from ClerkTypist, Housing Division, to Cash Account- ' ing Clerk, Gorgas Hospital. MARINE BUREAU

Julius Cheney, from Wireman, Dredging

ing Divi^on, to Foreman Electrician, Aids

to Navigation Section. Ervin A. Rolli, from Guard to Guard

.Supervisor, Locks Security Branch. Leonard Wolford, from Marine Trafifu Controller to Supervisory Marine Traffic Controller, Navigation Division. James G. F. Tiimble, from Plant Electrician, Maintenance Division, to Lock Operator Wireman, Pacific Lock:^. LOCKS OVERHAUL

(A number of employees have been transferred to the Locks Overhaul at Gatun. some from their regular positions in the Locks Division and others froin other divi- sions. In practically all cases they will re- vert to their original status at the end of the overhaul period in May. In each ca-^e below, "to Locks Overhaul" should be

understood). Robert T. Head, Jr., Edward P. Scott,

WilUam E. Williams, Charles L. Miller, Hilton McPheters, from Towing Locomotive Operator to Steam Locomotive Crane

Engineer. Lawrence Barca, Machinist, from Maintenance Division. Hugh C. Christie, Clifford S. Asbury, John M. Morrison, David H. Dare, Douglas S. Smith, Carl W. Reynolds, George C. Scheibe, from Machinist to MachinistLeader. Hubert A. Rotenberry, from Towing Lo- comotive Operator to Lead Foreman,

Scaling and Painting. Gilbert A. Smith, from Doorman, Service Center Division, to Checker. Woodrow W. Richardson, Francis W.

Werlein, Irom Ironworker-Welder to Iron- worker-Welder Leader. Thomas F. Gibson, Walter D. Johnston, from Carpenter to Carpenter Foreman.

G. G. Thomas, from Machinist Leader to Lockmaster.

Billie B. Gray, from Steam Engineer to .Steam Engineer Leader. Edward J. Dignam, from Fireman, Fire

Division, to Checker. William G. Bingham, from Distribution and Window Clerk, Postal Division, to Air

Hoist Operator. Samuel I. Field, from Towing Locomotive

Operator to Rigger. Slaughter H. Sharpensteen, from Towing

Locomotive Operator to Lead Foreman,

Scaling and Painting, Anthony J. Kucikas, from Carpenter Foreman, Maintenance Division, to Lead

Carpenter Foreman.

Robert McGuiimess, William E. Pierson,

Felix Karpinski, from Towing Locomotive

Operator to Machinist. Robert A. Hanson, from Towing Locomotive Operator to Boilermaker. Howard J. Clarke, Jr., from Towing Lo- comotive Operator and Diver to Rigger and

Diver. SUPPLY BUREAU

Nathan W. Ashton, from Supervisory Supply Assistant to Wliolesale Meats Fore- man. Commissary Division. Arthur S. Miller, from Purchasing .^gent

to Car Loading p'oreman. Commissary Division. WilUam A. Cawl, from Car Loading Fore- man to Supervisory Supply Assistant, Commissary Division. TRANSPORTATIO.N AND TERMINALS BUREAU

Albert G. Terwilliger, from Electrician. Motor Transportation Division, to Steve- dore Foreman, Teriiiinals Division. Harold L. Conrad, Charles E. Chase, from Gaugei and Ciibtenilcr Foreman to Cribtender Foreman, Marine Bunkering

Section. Marion E. Taake, from Gauge and Crib- tender Foreman to Steam Engineer, and

Cribtender Foreman, Marine Bunkering

Section. John A. McClain, Jr., from Steam Engineer and Cribtender Foreman to -Steam Engineer, Marine Buiikering Section. Theodore L. Kaufe/, from Usher, Service Center Division, to Gaugei and Cribtendei, Marine Bunkering Section.

From Cristobal A neon _ Panama- . Cristobal . A neon

-l''el)ruary 4 February 1

1

. February 18

I'eliruars' 2,S From New York Panama..^ February 2 CristobaL . . February 9 A neon February 16 Panama February 2.? North- and sotith-bound shijis are in

ll.iili on Mondavs.

ANNIVERSARIES

Like a good manv construction-dav workers, Gregor Gramlich came here to \isit relatives. In his case it was his brother, John, then with the Mechanical Division

at Gorgona. E.xcept for a three-month

break in service in 1918 when he went to the United States and tried unsuccessfully

to enlist in the .Army—all enlisttnents were

closed —he has been with the Canal organization ever since 1911. Last month he

chalked up the forty-fourth anniversary of

his Canal service. This year marks his last anniversary; he

will retire before 1956 ends and, if he can

tear himself awav' from his Santa Clara

property, will go to the LInited States to

live. Two of his sons are there already:

i\Iark is an industrial engineer with Lockheed in California, and Dick, his youngest,

is a student at Georgia Tech. Gregory, the

oldest son, works at Pedro Miguel Locks.

All of his Canal service has been with

dredges, part of the time on those which

dredge by suction and, since about 1930. on the dredges with the big dippers. As

master of the dredge Cascadas, he is knov^-n as Captain. His hobby, according to Mrs. Gramlich, who describes him as a "completely satisfied employee," is his job. He "likes his work,

he likes his job, and he likes the men he works with," she adds.

40 YEARS

Edward Barlow, Supervisor of the Miraflores Locks, who completed 40 years of Canal service in Januarv, has described the operations of the Canal locks to more

queens, presidents, vice presidents, cabinet members, senators, and congressmen than

he can count. In addition, as a lecturer

I'lDW.Mil) B.\HL(I\V aboanl transiting ships in hisoll-dutv hours, he has told thousands of lesser souls how

nuich water it takes to put a shi|) through

the one set of locks—26,000,000 galUms; how wide the Cut is —300 feet at its narrowest spot, and answered hundreds lA like questions from Isthmian visitors. Born in Cumberland, R. I., "Barney" came to the Isthmus in the latter part of 1915 on the old SS Allianea. His first job was as an operator (m the pontoon bridge which crossed the Canal at Paraiso. For

his first four years he worked at various

jobs. In 1920 he joined the force of the

P.icific Locks where he has been ever since. Like Captain Gramlich, he is in the last year of his Canal service. He, too, will retire

later this year. He and Mrs. Barlow have

just returned from a visit to Europe. But

after their retirement, thev' expect to have

a try at New England as a home.

.?5 YEARS

Jerome Barras, Chief of the Real Estate

Unit of the Comnuinity Services Bureau, and his cigar are almost inseparable. He

has even communicated his enthusiasm for the fat, black tobacco cylinder —or maybe

even some of his cigars —to his boss, WiLson

Crook, who recently has forsaken his usual

cigarette in favor of cigars. Mr. Barras began his Canal service in 1925 with the Ca'n.il Zone Police; his other
February 3, 1956 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW 15

live years of C'io\cniiueiu ser\ire were those he spent in the Army. He left the post of detective sergeant when he transferred to the office of the Chief (Jiiarterniaster in 1941. Most of his work with that office was in real estate. In 1950 he was promoted to his pre.sent post of Chief of tlic Real Kstate

Unit.

iO YE.\R.S William H. Edmondson, Supervisory

Electronics Engineer, was January's 30-year man. Cieorgia-born, he servetl in the Navy

for 12 years —part of that time on the Isth- mus —before he joined the Canal organization in 1937. He began his Canal career as a marine

signalman; all of his ser\'ice has had to do

with nririne commimications, or with such complicated electronic ei|ui()ineiu as radar and loran. He was on the ground floor when the Canal set up its first ship-to-shore communication system and has had a hand ever

since in developing and imi)ro\ing it. He

and his force also help Zonians when their radio or record-player needs an e.\pert hand.

25 YE.XRS Two of January's six 25-\ear employees have unbroken Canal service, and in each

case the quarter centur\ employees are still with the Unit which first employed them. Those with unbroken serxice are: Laura A. Atchley, who teaches third graile at H.iIIhm elementary school, and Edward E. Albin, a Fire Sergeant stationed at Balboa. Miss

Atchley was born in Decatur, Ala., and Ser- geant Albin in New York City. The other silver anniversary employees

are:James F. Daugherty, Head Foreman Car- man with the Railroad Division, who was

born in Philadeliihia and has spent his Canal

years in work with railroad cars; B. Edward Lowande, Chief Customs In- spector at Balboa, a native of Bound Brook, N. J., who came here as a boy, and has been

with Customs since 1934; Jesse DeW. Tate, a native of Greenville

S. C, and now .\ssistant Chief of the Aids

to Navigation Section; and

William A. Van Siclen, Jr., known to his intimates as "Lonny," w^ho came here as a

youngster, served an apprenticeship with the Canal, went on to college, and is now Superintendent of the Atlantic Locks.

20 YEARS

Six of January's 20-year employees come

in pairs. There are two Marine Traffic Controllers, H. A. Kleefkens of the Cristo- bal Port Captain's office, and Duayne T. McNeil of Balboa; Bruce G. Sanders, Jr., Assistant Chief Customs Inspector in Cristobal, and Richard W. Stoudnor, Customs

Inspector in Balboa; and John E. Davis and

Walter E. Wilkinson, both Pumping Plant Operators for the Maintenance Division. Mr. McNeil, Mr. Sanders, and Mr. Davis have unbroken Canal service. Mr. Sanders

also has an unbroken Canal Zone exist- ence—he was born in .A.ncon. Other 20-year employees with continuous Canal service are T. A. Albritton, a native

of Bocas del Toro and now (ieneral Foreman

of Roundhouses for the Railroad Division; Eugene Breakfield, a clerk at Fort Da\ is Postal l)eli\ery Unit and former president

of the Postal Employees Union; Murrel L. Dodd, born in Star, Okla., now a Lead Foreman for Road Construction for the Maintenance Division; and Peter S. Proback, Balboa Policeman who holds the all- time record —a perfect score —for police

pistol shoots. Those with broken service are: William

C. Jordan, Air Compressor Barge Operator

for the Dredging Division; and William N.

Taylor, born in Paraiso when his father was

in the post office there, and now Chief of the Local-Rate Section of the Wage and

Classification Division.

15 YEARS

Sixteen Canal employees completed 15 years of Government service in January. Those whose Canal service is unbroken are: Fred N. Dahl, Training Officer for the

Health Director Donates Blood

THE FIRST BLOOD to be donated to the Canal Zone blood bank was given late last month by

Col. Charles 0. Bruce, Health Director. The Gorgas Hospital blood bank was opened February 1 and with its opening the $2.5 charge for a pint of blood will no longer be required. A blood bank will be opened later at Coco Solo Hospital after equipment on order is received. The blood bank was or- ganized through the cooperative effort of the Canal Zone Chapter of the Red Cross and the Health

Bureau. Shown with Colonel Bruce are Red Cross volunteer workers and Gorgas Hospital employees. They are: Mrs. Frankie B. Priest, Red Cross Volunteer; Mrs. Mary Gorich, Gorgas nurse; and Aubrey Batson, Gorgas Hospital attendant. Also present but not shown in this picture was

Mrs. Thelma Monagan of the Red Cross Volunteer Serxices on the Pacific side.

Commissary Division; William R. Dixon, Foreman, Nlotor Transportation Division; Abraham Felixson, Supervisors' Storekeeper,

Pacific Locks; William G. Hoelzle, Police- man and Motorcycle Officer. Balboa

:

Charles G. Morency, Mate on the Pipeline

.Suction Dredge Mi>:di: Dorothy H. Tinnin, Time, Leave, and PaNToll Clerk, Payroll Branch; and William C. Williford, Ouarters

.Maintenance Lead Foreman, Maintenance

Division. The 15-\ear employees w hose Canal service is not continuous are: Frank H. Dibble, Diesel Operator Machinist, Electrical Division; T. N. Etchberger, Jr., Guard, Terminals Division; John

J. Fallon, Supervisory Accounting Assistant

.

Payroll Branch; Dorothy E. Hamlin, .Ac- counting Clerk, .Accounting Division; Daniel A. Mariscano, Towing Locomcjiive Operator, Pacific Locks; Oliver L. Riesch, Systems .Accountant, .Accotmtiiig S\stems

Staft'; James A. Schofield and Albert A. Shore, both Machinists at Gatun Locks; Frank T. Willoe, Chief Towboat Engineer, Navigation Division; and Arthur J. Wynne,

.Supervisory .Accountant, Accounting Division. RETIREMENTS

Retirement certificates were presented the end of January to the following emplo\ees who are listed alphabetically, together with

their birthplaces, titles, length of Canal

service, and future addresses: George H. Carnright, New York; Wholesale Cold .Storage Foreman, Commissary

Division; 28 \ears, 5 months, 8 days; address undecided. Bruce A. Chance, Oregon; Tractor-Bull- dozer and Pumping Plant Operator, Maintenance Division; 7 years, 4 months, 24 da\s;

.Auburn, Calif. Charles F. Magee, .Massachusetts; .Mate, Pipeline Suction Dredge, Dredging Division: 34 years. 9 months, 17 days; Canal Zone for present.

Food Control Program

To Benefit Consumers;

Will Start This Month

A food-control program designed to assure consumers in the Canal Zone of adequate standards for all food products purchased in the Republic of Panama for

resale in the Canal Zone will become

effective February 22. The control program is outlined in re- vised health and sanitation regulations which were required as a result of the

withdi'awal of health and sanitation supervision in Panama City and Colon by

Zone health authorities. The revised regulations provide for in- spection and surveillance of food sources

in Panama supplying food for resale in the Zone to units of the Canal organization or outside organizations. They also cover house-to-house delivery of foods such as milk, and only those establish- ments meeting sanitary requirements will be licensed for such deliveries. The regulations do not cover food

products sold in Panama to individuals. However, a list of approved food sources

will be available to Canal organizations

desiring to make such purchases regularly. The regulation and surveillance of food

establishments at the source of supply is in conformity with health regulations throughout the United States. The in- spection of food bought in the States for

sale in the Panama Canal Commissaries

is generally handled through the Depart- ment of Agriculture.
16 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW February 3, 1956 Get Your Car Inspected Now —

Or Face A Long Wait Later!

INSPECTOR J. W. Acker motions Mrs. M. 8. ll. at the Motor Transportation Division. Canal Zone owners of private vehicles

face a long wait in line to have their vehicles inspected, unless they get going and

get going fast, representatives of the Motor Transportation Division warned

last week. This year, for the first time, private vehicles must have their headlights, brakes, tires, window glass, etc., inspected and vehicles which have not been inspected or those which have failed to pass will not be allowed on Zone high- ways after the end of the month.

Although there are between five and six thousand vehicles of this sort in the Canal Zone—vehicles entitled to Base passes

will be inspected by the military services concerned - only about a quarter of them

had passed inspection during the first three weeks of January. Motor Transportation Division oflficials said that undoubtedly part of the slow

start was due to the fact that the owners

of some vehicles were having known defects repaired before they brought their vehicles in for inspection but they also attributed most of the delay to peoples' natural inclination to "do it tomorrow." Whatever the reason, they urged that owners bring their vehicles in now. Production Lines The inspection takes only between five and seven minutes. It is run on a "pro- duction line system" on a regular course

laid out at the two garages at Ancon and

Cristobal. Inspectors are' on duty be- tween noon and 8 p. m. Mondays through

Fridays, and continuously from 7 a. m.

to 4 p. m. Saturdays. During the first three weeks of January,

at the two garages, 1,617 vehicles passed

inspection and 37.5 were rejected. The

average has been 1.6 defective items to each rejected vehicle. Most rejections are due tci the lighting system; most com- mon difficulty is failure to have operating stop lights. Cracked and obscured glass was responsible for 24 percent of the re- jections. Inspectors frequently have to explain that obscured glass can include that which is covered with stickers or other items which prohibit clear and safe

vision. The only places on car glass where

stickers are permitted are the four-inch squares at the lower corners of the windshield or rear window.

Other reasons for rejections, in the

order in which they have been found:

Defective foot brakes, parking brakes,

steering mechanism, horns, exhaust sys- tem, tires, and windshield wipers. Human Frailties Some of the inspectors are baffled by

the oddities of human nature disclosed by

the inspection. A number of owners did not know how to lower the driving beams

of their headlights. Shown the floor-but- ton, they said: "Oh, that's what that

thing's for, is it?" Husbands blame car defects on their wives: "Now, why didn't she tell me

about that?" One driver said he did not have oper- ating brakes because he had lumbago and was unable to press on the pedal. Another,

told that the brakes on his Model A were

bad, commented: "That's all right, boss—

I'm the only one who drives it." And they are still chuckling over the woman di'iver who got lost in leaving the

repair shop. She landed in the inspection

line and had a sticker on her car before

the inspectors discovered she was only

looking for the exit gate. And at that

the inspection wasn't necessary. She was

an Army employee living on a Post, and military posts have their own inspections and post stickers.

Ships Sailed Its Waters For Centuries But Port Of Balboa Is Only 55 Years Old

{ConHnued from page II) was Some in- crease in this trade during the last six years of the construction period; this was

principally due to the shipment of lumber

from the west coast of the United States

to the Canal Zone. The town of La Boca grew up from a

little cluster of houses near the old French

pier while it was being built. These were

used to house employees engaged in the construction work and later in work at the new port.Plague; Wharf Collapse Two incidents of more than passing

interest in the history of the Port of Balboa occurred during the Canal construction period. The first was in 1905 when two cases of bubonic plague were

discovered and the second was in August

1912, when a large section of the wharf

built in 1905 collapsed and caused the sinking of a steamship in the channel. Although rigid quarantine regulations were adopted when the Port of Ancon was

first opened in June 1904 because of plague in South American ports, a dock

laborer was stricken in June 1905 and

died a few days later. Investigation re- vealed that rats at the dock were infected. The Sanitation Department initiated drastic measures to prevent a spread of the

disease. These included a quarantine and

fumigation of the area, a rat-catching-and

killing campaign, and elimination of har- boring places for rats. Despite these precautions, another case was discovered two months later and much the same procedure was repeated, but in a smaller area. Due to the energetic and speedy action, no additional

cases were reported and to this date these two remain as the only cases of the dread bubonic plague ever to originate in the Canal Zone. There were no casualties in the disas- trous collapse of the pier in 1912. It occurred soon after midnight on August

17, 1912. The Pacific Mail Steamship Company's steamer Newport, a 2,735-ton

vessel was moored alongside the pier when

it collapsed. A Canal Zone policeman on

patrol duty in the vicinity aroused the crew of the ship in time for all to escape

safely before the weight of the pier sank

the vessel. A committee appointed to in- vestigate the accident concluded that the

pier collapse was caused by a sudden

earth slide of about 8,000 cubic yards of material from a fill immediately back of the wharf.

First Use Of Canal Some three years earlier, the SS Newport had the distinction of being the first ship to use the Panama Canal. Five

miles of the Canal from the Pacific entrance was opened to navigation on February 1, 1909, and the Newport was per- mitted to steam through the new channel on its way to San Francisco. Although the channel was not completed to final depth and width, most of the channel had been excavated to a depth

of 50 feet at mean tide. Until the opening of the Canal, ships leaving the La

Boca piers entered and left by a channel

first started by the French as the Pacific entrance of the Canal and later completed and kept in navigating condition by the Panama Railroad Company. This old French Channel, as it was called, was

closed a few weeks later by the consti-uc- tion (if the Fort Amador causeway which

crossed the channel between the mainland and Xaos Island.

(Editor's Note: This is the first of a series of articles on Panama Canal ports. The

next will deal with the development of the present Port of Balboa and its present-day

operations. Later articles will tell of the

history of the Port or Cristobal and its operations.! Have Good Steady Ladders

For Washing New Windows

Residents living in the new masonry

([uarters which have glass louvres have

been cautioned to e.xercise care in the use

of ladders near their windows.

Calls have been received lately at the Housing Oflices for the replacement of broken louvres caused by residents using

faulty ladders and breaking the glass panes. No one has been injured so far, but the use of faulty ladders while clean- ing the louvres can result not only in broken glass but also serious injury.
February 3, 1956 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW 17 STATISTICS ON CANAL TRAFFIC

For the purpose of comparison between pre-war and post-war traffic through the Panama Canal, statistics for the fiscal year 1938 are used in this section, as being more nearly normal for peace time than those for 1939. TRAFFIC, TOLLS DURING 1956'S SECOND QUARTER

DROP WELL BELOW THOSE OF FIRST THREE MONTHS

Heavy Early Traffic

Puts Six-Month Total

Above Previous Year's

Although both commercial and govern- ment traffic through the Panama Canal was lower during the second quarter of the present fiscal year than for the first three months of fiscal 1956, heavy trafiic during the first quarter was sufficient to bring the total for the fiscal year to date

higher than that for the first six months

of fiscal 1955. Tolls for the first six months for the present fiscal year also ex- ceeded tolls for the first six months of

fiscal 1955. During the second quarter of the pres- ent fiscal year, the months of October, November, and December, a total of 1,994 ocean-going commercial ships transited the Panama Canal. While this figure exceeded by one the total number of commercial transits for the comparable quarter of fiscal 1955, it was 95 less than for the first quarter of fiscal year 1956. Commercial tolls for the second quarter

of the present fiscal year totaled $8,715,-

000, exceeding by over $400,000 tolls for the second quarter of fiscal year 1955, but dropping below the total for the first quarter of this year by $565,000. The number of transits of government

vessels through the Canal during the sec- ond quarter totaled 140, three more than

for the first quarter but three less than

the total for the second quarter of fiscal year 1955.Intercoastal Trade Drop

The decline in traffic from that of the

first quarter of the present fiscal year was

attributed in the main to fewer petroleum shipments in the United States inter- coastal trade. During the second quarter

of the present fiscal year, 162 ships transited the Canal in the intercoastal service, exactly the same number as in the second

quarter of fiscal 1955. This, however, was a drop of 74 from the first quarter

of the present fiscal year. The next largest decrease was in ship- ping between the East Coast of the United States and Canada and Australasia, although here again the figure for the second quarter of the presgnt fiscal year was higher than that for the comparable quarter in fiscal 1955.

Traffic between the East Coast of the United States and South America showed

an upswing as did trade between Europe

and Australasia. German Ships Increase By nationalities of vessels, the big

three, United States, Great Britain, and Norway continued to hold the top three

places in that order. Japanese vessels, 124 of which transited during the quarter just concluded, moved

from fifth place last year to fourth place

this year. One of the most marked in- creases in shipping by nationalities is that

Secretary Of The Army

Sees Ship In Transit

LOOKING OVER the balcony of Miraflores Locks

control house to see what happens below when a handle is turned on the control board inside is Secretary of the Army Wilber M. Brucker, Stockholder

of the Panama Canal Company. The Secretary vis- ited the Locks while here last month to attend the meeting of the Company's Board of Directors.

of German-registered vessels. During the second quarter of fiscal year 1955, the number of German vessels transiting the Canal was in eighth place. During the

first quarter of the fiscal year, Germany

moved into sixth place and in the quarter

just concluded moved to fifth place.

Oil Tops Shipments

On Atlantic-Pacific

Trade Through Canal

Shipments of oil through the Panama

Canal in the Atlantic to Pacific trade continued in the top position of commodities shipped through the Panama Canal

in that direction, although oil shipments from Pacific to Atlantic dropped from

first to third place during the second

quarter of the present fiscal year.

Oil was replaced in the number-one spot

in the Pacific-Atlantic trade by ore ship- ments which were considerably higher than during the first quarter of the pres- ent fiscal year as well as during the second

quarter of the previous fiscal year. The

increase in ore shipments reflects higher production in South American iron mines,

particularly in the comparatively new

iron ore fields in Peru. In the Atlantic to Pacific trade, soy

beans moved up from sixth place last quarter to fifth place in the second quarter of this year with almost doubled ship- ments. Bauxite Is Newcomer

Shipments of ammonia, in foiu-teenth place during the first quarter, moved up

to ninth place for the quarter just concluded. Bauxite—aluminum ore —was a newcomer this quarter to the list of the top 15 commodities carried through the Canal from Atlantic to Pacific. Bauxite

is coming from fields in Jamaica and Canada. Shipments of cement, (See page is) MONTHLY COMMERCIAL TRAFFIC AND TOLLS

Vessels of 300 tons net or over By fiscal years

Transits Tolls

(In thousands of dollars) 1956 1955 1938 1956 1955 1938

July .-.._. 727 676

640 457 $3,247 $2,646 $2,030 652 505 2,980 2,752 2,195 686 660 444 3,053 2,756 1,936 October _ 709 683 461 3,066 2,831 1,981 \o\einber 627

658

636

676

668

435 439

2,705

2,944

2,630

2,853

2,832

1,893

1,845 444 1,838 637

709 685

698

653

3,947

7,997

436

506

487 465

445

2,741 $17,995

2,721

3,014

2,938

3,072

2,804

$16,468

$33,849

1,787

2,016

.April 1,961 Mav 1,887

1,801

Totals for first 6 months

4,083 $11,880

Totals for fiscal year
18 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW February 3, 1956

Paraiso To Have

New Commissary,

High School, Soon

Two new buildings, a modern high

school and a $112,000 Commissary retail store, are now being built in the townsite

of Paraiso. The high school, work on

which was started in October of last year, has a contract completion date in May.

The contract for the construction of the

Paraiso Commissary was awarded the

last part of January to the Isthmian Constructor, Inc., and work should be completed by August 17, 1956. Being built by the Dillon & Hickman

Construction Company at a cost of $99,-

.500 to replace the present Latin American High School facilities in La Boca, the new

high school plant will be provided by

completely remodeling the existing Locks

Division storehouse located on Paraiso Road and Ada Street in Paraiso. The building will include ten class- rooms, a library, laboratories for home

economics, physics, and biology, two

teachers' rooms, and school offices. A

new masonry music room and a steel building for shop will be connected to the main building by a covered passageway. Community Center The new Commissary, which will be

built at the east end of the recently completed Paraiso Civic Center, will be the

final unit of the Paraiso Community Center, the first under-one-roof Community

Center ever planned as such in the Zone. The building will be of concrete construction and will mclude a large sales area, an office, space for cashiers, a re- ceiving and stock room, a cold room, a

freezer room, and a loading platform. After the completion of the building, groceries and other foodstuffs will be moved to the new Commissary from the present store. They will be sold on the

self-service plan, with five check-out

stands provided. Bakery foods, candy, and tobacco will be sold at separate counters outside the self-service area. Shoes, housewares, and dry goods will continue

to be sold in the old Commissary building.

Oil Tops Shipments On AtlanticPacific Trade Through Canal

{Cunit nued from page 17) SCrap metal, and machinery, among the top 15 in the

first quarter, dropped out of the list of leading commodities during the second

(juarter. There was less change in commodities

shipped from Pacific to Atlantic, other than a switch in the three top positions. Canned food products rose from fifth place in the first quarter to fourth place

this quarter; wheat moved up two places from seventh in the first quarter to fifth

in the second quarter of the fiscal year; and nitrate shipments moved ahead three

places, from ninth in the first quarter to

sixth this quarter. In the reverse order, sugar shipments dropped from fourth to seventh place and

barley from sixth to tenth ; although barley shipments this quarter were well over

twice what they had been a year ago, they were still well under the figures for the first quarter of the present fiscal year.

Canal commercial traffic by nationality of vessels

Second Quarter, Fiscal Years

Nationality 1956 1955 1938 Number of

transits Tons

of cargo Number of

transits Tons

of cargo Number of

transits Tons

of cargo

Belgian . 8

1 285

12

10 53

5 80

16

1 29

83

2890

2 43

119

1 109

1 35

16 210

1524

5

19,184

Brazilian

British . 294

18

959

5 81

19427

11720

102

1 •SO 124

5 93

1,996,059 100,778 80,716

83,832

46,592 278,488

24,887 23,593 150,666 306,226

186,831

109,181 9,850

176,067 873,110

38,197 689,951

1,631,423 56,753

25,998

131,342 25,749 334,783

39,355

6,269 160,268 267,474

147,188

165,614

10,068 231,231 662,291

5,176 487,453

2,770

162,194 34,423 997,104

643,712

11,769 28,794 .

297

1 1,447,720 6,127 Chinese ,. Colombian

Costa Rican_ Danish Ecuadorean_

56 220,973

28

83

19

1

163,965 384,808

82,437 Honduran 869

Israeli. 1372 46,192 418,523 Korean

Xetherland Xicaraguan

34

15 239

107

8

2

1

213,726

17,916

1,247,621 471,340

33,231 4,208

74 205,439 Norwegian Panamanian.

15139

1

795,486

94,155

1 148

2 4,990

10

41 41,446222,084

642

34 539

2

1

22,060

192,963

16,477

10,721 2,914,698

5,142

6,553

Swedish 27 180,032

United States 528

1 3,363,871 5,574 464 2,583,090 Yugoslavian 4 21,052 Total 1,994 10,796,041 1,995 9,456,999 1,335 6,670,241

Principal commodities shipped through the Canal

(All figures in thousands of long tons) ATLANTIC TO PACIFIC

Commodity

Mineral oils Coal and coke Manufactures of iron and steel- Phosphates Soy beans Sugar

Sulphur

Paper and paper products Ammonium compounds

Rice Cement

Chemicals, unclassified Machinery

Scrap metal

Bauxite.

All (ithersTotal

.

Second Quarter, Fiscal Years

1956 1955 1938

1,029,210 1,025,591 287,537

670,042 731,195 37.108 548,070 378,459 479,661 343,172 335,341 71,763 265,073 225,393 307

196,424 142,164 971

132.137 122,163 101,599

115,671 84,331 94,572

103,891 39,476 21,470

97.739 16,021 1,759 79,067 48,663 37,256

77,475 55,945 27,914

76,151 78,934 40,773

74,302 1,397 126,267 66,853 24,019

1,278,3.S4 1,257,271 957,443

5,154,531 4.566,363 2,286,400

PACIFIC TO ATLANTIC

Commodity

Second Quarter, Fiscal Years

19.S6 1955 19.?8 1,353,674 779,287 468,503

977,291

1,047,372 195,281

524,191 671,973

665,884 Canned food products Wheat

353,191 313,560 303,166

284,240 381,083 217,658

Nitrate 274,284 346,891 306,890

237,237 257,404 .^02,6 17 Bananas 227.245 244,867 4.911 Metals, various. 199,605 181,942 17-^,591 Barley.. .-. 193,528 73,591) 57,31(1 Refrigeratei food products (ex ept fresh fruit) . 168.019 141,345 64,079

Iron and steel manufactures 103,581 60,513 3,184 ColTee . 76,457 68,125 33,884 Copra . 74.329 66,429 33,454 Cotton 70,689 62,420 34,063

All others. . 777.641 881,09,') 9,''(),986 Total H 5,641,510 5,299,218 4,383,841
February 3, 1956 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW 19

Owners To Gel Ample Nolice of Conversion FirSt NcW Yovk OfftcC Awavd

(Cuniimied from page I) residents move be- tween areas served by different frc(|uencies. A memorandum outiininp what will be required will be furnished by the Housing Offices to all occupants of quarters requesting transfers.

If a transfer is made from one 25-cyclc area to another, no action will be required

of the resident unless the move is to or from an area which is scheduled to be converted within 90 days. In this case the conversion contractor must be notified so that necessary arrangements can be made for the conversion of the equipment.

If a resident moves from a 25-cycle area to a 60-cycle area, special arrange- ments for conversion must be made in advance with the contractor. These ar- rangements should be made promptly to avoid possible delays in the conversion because of the rigid schedule which the contractor must meet during the conversion program.

If a transfer is made from an alread}' converted 60-cycle area to a 25-cycle area

at the employee's request, it will be his responsibility to arrange for the conversion of his electrical equipment, since this cost will not be borne by the Panama

Canal Company. If such a transfer is re- quired by the Compan.v-Government, the employing unit will be responsible for making the necessary arrangements.

FIRST .\\V.\RD to an employee of the Canal Company's New York office was made to Miss \\'illa G. Shelton, Chief of the File Section of the Procurement Division. Photoirraphed with her at the time of the award were L. A. Ferguson, Procurement Officer, left, and E. H. Harms, .Manager. Miss Shelton was given an incentive award of S25 for her suggestion for eliminating duplication in the filing system. This decreased the workload in her section and also decreased the number of copies

of the purchase orders which were required. The check was presented by Mr. Harms. Other executives at the presentation were Mr. Ferguson, Peter DeStefano, Chief, Finance Department, and Eugene S. P. Martin, Executive .\ssistant.

Canal Zone Credit Union Worth $2,0 CANAL TRANSITS—COMMERCIAL AND U. S. GOVERNMENT

(Contimed from page IS) last month,

are: Robert Van Wagner, president; Clar- ence W. Kilbey, vice president; J. H.

Selby, treasurer; J. E. Steiner, secretary; and the five directors are: Nelson E. Wise, Ben S. Chisholm, Nelson W. Magner, Norman B. Davison, and W. L. Willumsen. The supervisory committee, which

serves as a check on the directors, is headed by the auditor, Maenner B. Huff;

its other two members are Malcolm

Johnston and Dale H. Keigley. The

credit committees on both sides of the Isthmus are composed of the directors, plus Leo J. Krziza as alternate. Great Divide

Second Quarter, Fiscal Years

1956 1955 1938

Atlantic

to

Pacific

Pacific to Atlantic Total Total Total

Commercial X'essels: 1,01398

98190

1,994 1,995 256

2,251

1,335 188 236

Total Commercial 1,111 1,071 2,182 1,571

**L'. S. Government vessels, oceanijoing _ .. 39 24 63 74

*Small , 29 58 87 79

Total commercial and U. S. Government 1,179 1,153 2,332 2,404

*\"essels under 300 net tons or 500 displacement tons.

**\'essels on which tolls are credited. Prior to Jul\- 1, 1951, Go\ ernment-operatcd

ships transited free.

TRAFFIC MOVEMENT OVER MAIN TRADE ROUTES

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

SXOW never drifts through this mountain pass but

it is as truly a continental divide as any in the Andes

or the Rockies. The sign is on the Gamboa Road.

Second Quarter, Fiscal Years

1956 1955 1938 United States Intercoastal __ 162 162 311 519

135

501

165

124 East Coast of U. S. and Central .America _ _ 3 East Coast of r. S. and Far East ._ 301 280 139

I'. S. -Canada East Coast and .-\ustralasia _ 36 46 42 Europe and West Coast of I". S. -Canada 186 179 252 Europe and South .America 171 145 142 Europe and .Australasia 99 84 38

-All other routes 385 433 284

1,994 1,995 1 335
20 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW Febroaiy 3, 1956 St. Lawrence Seaway Officials

Appreciate Canal Cooperation

,i^.i SHIPS >ND SHIPPING •^A:,^.

DISPATCHING will be a maJDr problem in the St. Lawrence Seaway where the lucks will all be

single flight. During their visit here last month, Seaway representatives watched operations in the Marine Controllers' office at Balboa.

Appreciation for the help received from

Canal officials and personnel during their three-day visit to the Canal Zone was

expressed publicly last month by officials of the St. Lawrence Seaway.

Officials of the 188-mile waterway

which will be completed in 1958 said they were particularly interested in the Pan- ama Canal's handling of pilotage and dis- patching, and application of tolls. Since the waterway will have 1.5 locks, including those of the Welland Canal, and since the locks will all be single-flight, permitting only one-way traffic, dispatching will be of considerable importance. The St. Lawrence Waterway locks will be considerably smaller than those of the Panama Canal. Their dimensions will be such that transits will be limited to vessels of not more than 765 feet overall length, and 80-foot beam. The waterway itself will have a mini- mum channel width of 200 feet and a nia.ximum width, in the American section,

of 442 feet. It will have a 27-foot navi- gable depth. Unlike the Panama Canal it will be

Investment Course Sets Record At Junior College

closed to navigation, because of ice, for about four months out of each year. Spokesmen for the St. Lawrence Water- way group said that they had reached no

definite decisions as to some of their operating programs but that what they had

seen here would undoubtedly have some

effects on their final planning. "The local people have been very, very

cooperative," L. G. Castle, Administrator

of the St. Lawrence Seaway Development

Corporation, told local newsmen before the group left the Canal Zone. "We have

asked many questions and we have had

complete cooperation." The St. Lawrence Waterway group in- cluded both United States and Canadian

representatives. During their visit they watched operations in the marine controllers' offices, inspected the locks, and made

a partial transit of the Canal.

Transits by Ocean-Going Vessels In December

Commercial

r. S. GoveTmnent -

Total

Tolls*

1955 195J, 65S 67(i 8 25

653 701

Commercial $2,947,237 $2,857,345 U.S. Governments _ 26,997 71,818

Total $2,974,234 $2,929,163

"Includes tolls on all vessels, ocean-going and small. The Gatun Locks overhaul is moving

ahead on a normal schedule and present

indications are that the east chambers, now under overhaul, can be placed back

in service by February 25, the date

scheduled. All of the eight gates to be removed have been jacked up and moved

off their pintles. Of special interest in the overhaul this year is the effectiveness of the cathodic

protection of gates. Observations made

indicate that this protection has been

highly effective against corrosion. Hundreds of visitors to the Isthmus are expected this month, the busiest period

of the year for tourists. Fourteen dates have been reserved for tourist special

trains, including those for passengers on

the SS Maasdam and SS Silver Star last Wednesday, and the SS Patricia today. Some of the finest passenger ships

afloat are to visit Canal waters during

the remainder of this month. The schedule for these is: February 6, Mauretania; February 14, Nieuiv Amsterdam and

Italia; February 15, Trade Wind; February 17, Flandre; February 19, Silver Star and lie de France; February 20, Homeric; February 21, Empress of Scotland; February 26, Berlin; and February 28, Mauretania. All of the special trains will start from

Cristobal and tourists will visit Miraflores Locks this year because of the overhaul

in progress at Gatun. Great Open Spaces

The largest enrollment in any course

to be given in the extension division of the Canal Zone .lunior College since the war was reported last month when '^O Zonians, several of them husband-ami

wife combinations, registered for a coursi'

in the theory and practice of investments. The 80 who signed up for the course met for the first time last night. The

registration was so large that the class was split into two sections. Both sections are being taught by

Tiffany Richardson, member of a Panama

City brokerage firm. This year is the first time such a course has been offered by the Junior College.

SCENES LIKE THIS will be common when the great chambers are empty during the overhaul

of Gatun Locks. Started last month, the overhaul will end in May. The picture w^as taken during

the last overhaul at Miraflores Locks.