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GiJi'0" PanaTMa Canal Museum

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Vol 2 No. 6 BALBOA HEIGHTS. CANAL ZONE, JANUARY 4, 1952 5 cents

FINANCIAL AFFAIRS EXPECTED TO OCCUPY

MUCH ATTENTION AT BOARD MEETING HERE

Canal Housing Program Moves Into High Gear

With Bids Asked On Two Big Group Contracts

ONE OF THE entirely new types of holies to be built this year is a three-bedroom single

r house with a covered terrace at the back of the living room. Above is the rear view of this house.

The Panama Canal's housing program

is moving into high gear. Two large group contracts have been advertised for bid, to be let within the next few weeks. Plans are being considered for the

acceleration of the program so that it would be completed in the fiscal year 1956

instead of in fiscal year 1958 as was

originally planned. This, of course, will be dependent on action by the Bureau of the Budget in making funds available. The availability of materials and labor

will have some effect on the speed-up of the housing program as will the willingness of contractors to bid on large contracts. At the present time the Company is going ahead with plans for accelerating the program. On December 7, Isthmian Constructors was awarded a contract to build 96 new

quarters for the extension of Silver City.

The first large group contract for quarters at Paraiso, Ancon, Balboa, and

Diablo Heights, and for site preparation

at Summit, was advertised December 14, and the bids are to be opened January 28. The second large contract, for the construction of quarters at Margarita and

Gatun, clearing of an extension for Margarita, site preparation at Cardenas and

access utilities for Summit, was advertised

today, the bids to be opened February 18

Overall Program

The overall program contemplates

abandoning all quarters at New Cristobal,

Pedro Miguel, Red Tank, and at Cocoli,

which has been taken over by the Navy

The expansion of Margarita and Gatun

will provide housing for all U. S.-rate employees now living in New Cristobal and Colon Beach. No quarters will be (See page 3)

Matters partaining to the financial condition of the Panama Canal Company

are expected to occupy much of the

attention of the Board of Directors at the meeting which opens Monday in the Board Room of the Administration

Building at Balboa Heights.

This will be the second meeting of the

Directors since the Panama Canal Company came into being, the other being

held last September in Washington.

Normally the Board meets quarterly but

the December meeting was postponed

until this month.

No complete financial figures will be

available for the Board's consideration on

the first six months of operations as a

corporation. However, the Board is ex- pected to review generally operations and

finances for the first half of the year. Much of the Canal business scheduled for consideration at next week's meeting is of a continuing nature and relatively few new items are expected to be introduced. Panama Line Terminus

Among the items considered at the September meeting (See page 15)

FEATURES THIS MONTH

How the Dredging Division keeps the Canal clean—see Page 8. • Employees celebrate Christmas—see

picture story on Page 6. • Review of 1951—Page 10. • Twilight League Story—Page 16.

Municipal, Building Units Merge

To Form Maintenance Division

Merger of the Municipal and Building

Division at the first of January brought

together two of the oldest individual units

of the Canal organization. Both were

organized soon after the Canal work was

begun in 1904, as quarters construction and installation of municipal facilities were of prime importance at the outset of the construction period.

The new Maintenance Division will be headed by F. H. Lerchen, Jr., formerly

Municipal Engineer, but other personnel

changes and assignments are yet to be announced. Harry A. Metzler, Building

Engineer, who resigned at the end of December, was to have headed the Pacific Side organization and no appointment has been made to that position.

Considerable savings are expected to be

effected by the merger which will permit a

consolidation of shops and offices. A

number of the top engineering personnel

will be transferred to the Contract and

Inspection Division and the Engineering

Division where their services are badly

needed in connection with the accelerated new-housing program. The main field offices of the Maintenance Division on the Pacific side are located in the old Building Division headquarters. Orders and payment for private

work will continue to be handled there. The Upholstery and the Plumbing Shops

FRANK H. LERCHEN

of the Building Division are being moved

to the Municipal Division yards on Gaillard Highway and the other shops will remain in their present location.

All shops and offices of the Municipal

Division in the 14th Street area in Cristo- bal are being transferred to the Building

Division area, which will be the Atlantic Side headquarters.
THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW January 4,1952

Company Officers and Directors

Frank Pace, Jr.

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Karl R. Bendetsen Governor F. K. Newcomer W. R. Pfizer

Gen. R. A. Wheeler Jt\r

T. Coleman Andrews Edward D. McKim Gen. J. L. Schley Gen. Glen E. Edgerton

Daniel E. Taylor John W. Marlvn r B. F. Burdick

SE( 'KETARY PACE, a native of Little Rock, Ark. has a unique and distinguished public service record. He entered the Federal Government service soon after the war during which he served four years as an officer with the Air Transport Command. He served a short

period as special assistant to the Attorney Genera]

after which he became, in January 1948, Executive

Assistant to the Postmaster General. He later served one year as Assistant Director of the Budget and wa3

appointed Budget Director in January 1949. He took

office as Secretary of the Army April 12, 1950, suc- ceeding Mr. Gray in that post.

Mr. BENDETSEN is Assistant Secretary of the Army and was appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Panama Canal Company last September. He also serves as a member of the Executive Committee. He was born in Aberdeen, Wash., where

he was engaged in law practice for a number of years

before the war. He had a varied war service with much duty as a staff and combat officer. He wa3

awarded the Distinguished Service Medal in 1942. He reentered law practice in San Francisco after the

war, but served three months in 1948 as Special Consultant and Acting Deputy to James Forrestal, first Secretary of Defense. He was appointed Special Consultant to Secretary of the Army Gordon Gray

in August 1949 and became Assistant Secretary of the .Army in February 1950.

( ii tYERNOR NEWCOMER serves in a dual capacity with the Board of Directors—as President of the Panama Canal Company and a member of the Executive Committee. He became a member of the Board

of Directors and Vice President of the Company soon

after his appointment as Engineer of Maintenance in .May 1944.

Mr. PFIZER has a service record which can be matched by few persons in the Canal organization. He recently celebrated his 41st anniversary of service with the Company of which he is now Vice President. Like T. H. Rossbottom, whom he succeeded in 1949

as Vice President, he joined the Panama Railroad Company as an office boy in the New York office and

worked his way to the top of the organization. He had

served about 10 years as Third Vice President and

Secretary of the Company before he became First Vice President in July 1949 and head of the Railroad Company's activities in the United States. LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR VOGEL is Vice

President of the Panama Canal Company and during

absences of the Governor-President from the Isthmus

he performs those duties of the President which relate to the Company activities here. He has served with

the Canal organization since July 1949 when he be- came Engineer of Maintenance, a title since changed

to Lieutenant Governor.

GENERAL WHEELER is presently Engineering

Adviser for the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. He retired in February 1949 as Chief of Engineers with the rank of Lieutenant General. He served twice with The Panama Canal, from

1927 to 1930 as Assistant Engineer of Maintenance, and from 1940 to 1941 as Engineer of Maintenance. He made a distinguished record during World War II with service in the Asiatic Theater of Operations. Part

of the war years was served as Deputy Supreme Commander and later Commander of the India-Burma

theater.

Mr. ANDREWS became a member of the Board d

Director? last January and was elected a member of the Executive Committee at the September meeting. He is a native of Richmond, Va., headquarters of the

firm of Certified Public Accountants which he founded

in 1922 and now heads as senior partner. He is a

specialist in cost accounting, business organization and management, publi" administration, public finance, and government accounting. He served last year as President of the American Institute of Accountants.

Mr. McKIM was born in Evansville, Ind., but his home now is in Omaha, Nebr. He is an insurance

executive and has been Vice President of the Mutual

Benefit Health and Accident Association since 1935. During the first World War he served in the now

famous 129th Field Artillery under Capt. Harry S. Truman. After his former commanding officer became

President of the United States, Mr. McKim was named his Chief Administrative Assistant. He also has served as Deputy Federal Loan Administrator. He became a member of the Board of Directors early

last year and was elected a member of the Executive Committee in September. GENERAL SCHLEY closed a distinguished mili- tary career in September 1941 as a Major General and

Chief of Engineers, although he was recalled for two

years of active service during the war. He is a native

of Savannah, Ga., but his home since retirement has been in Washington, D. C. His Canal service from

1928 to 1936 included four-year terms as Engineer of Maintenance and Governor. His service as Director

of the Panama Railroad (now Canal) Company has

Gordon Gray James C. Hughes

been continuous since 1928. He is a member of the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors. GENERAL EDGERTON served as wartime Governor of The Panama Canal, 1940 to 1944, after four years as Engineer of Maintenance. After leaving the Isthmus he served as Chief of UNRRA in China. For

the past two and a half years he has been Executive

Director of the Commission on the Renovation of the White House. He i3 a native of Manhattan, Kans., and held the rank of Major General upon his retire- ment from the Corps of Engineers shortly before his appointment to the White House renovation work. His service as a Director has been continuous since 1940.

Mr. TAYLOR is President of the West India Fruit and Steamship Company, Inc., the West Palm Beach

Terminal Company, and the Palm Beach Biltmorc Hotel Corporation. He was born in Sea Level, N. C,

but much of his business career has been centered in Norfolk, Va., where he organized and headed several

enterprises. He presently lives in West Palm Beach,

headquarters of the three Florida companies of which

he is president. Among his other business interests he

is a member of the Board of Directors of the WaldorfAstoria Hotel Corporation of New York.

Mr. MARTYN has an outstanding record of progressively responsible government experience in both

the legislative and executive branches. It includes 30

years of continuous service in the office of the Secre- tary of War (now Army), which was highlighted by

his appointment in 1930 as Administrative Assistant and Chief Clerk by Executive Order signed by the

President. For his outstanding service during the war years he was awarded the Medal of Merit by the President in 1946. He was born in Washington, D. C,

and entered Government service 45 years ago. Mr. Marty n is a veteran member of the Board of Directors and his long service in his position gives him an inti- mate knowledge of Panama Canal affairs.

Mr. BURDICK has been a member of the Board of Directors since his appointment as Chief of Office in Washington, D. C, in 1939. A native of Houston,

Ala., Mr. Burdick joined the Canal organization in August 1936 after more than 18 years of service in claims and accounting work with the War Department

and the General Accounting Office. After a few months of service in the Canal Zone he was transferred to the Washington Office as Assistant Chief of

Office. (See next page)
January 4, 1952 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW

Board-Employee Talk

Requested By Members

Attending Conference

The possibility" of a"'meeting between

employee representatives and members of the Panama Canal Company Board of Directors was discussed at some length at

the December meeting of the Governor- Employee Conference. Governor Newcomer told the 14 employee representatives present that the Board would meet here January 7. A

definite schedule had not been arranged

but he expected that there would be a short meeting the afternoon of January 7 and that the Board would then recess

until late in the week to enable those members who had not been to the Canal Zone before to see something of Company

activities, he said. At the request of Rufus Lovelady of the AFGE Lodge No. 14 and J. J. Tobin of the Central Labor Union, the Governor

agreed to try to arrange a meeting be- tween a small group of employee repre- sentatives and the Board. The Governor said that he considered such a meeting useful to orient the Board

on some employee problems but cautioned

the employees against confusing major

points with minor grievances. In connection with his recent trip to Washington on budget matters, he ex- plained that all government corporations

are required to submit budgets to show

their programs and that they are staying within the activities authorized by law. On behalf of 20 teachers living in type

201 quarters in Diablo, Mr. Tobin protested over the doubling of the rent they

are paying. He pointed out that these

buildings contain the only bachelor

quarters available in the town and raised the question as to whether the teachers would be permitted to "double up" in four-family houses, two teachers to an

apartment. He also asked that, if the

teachers move because of the doubled

rental, the Company pay the cost of the move. The Governor and Col. H. D. Vogel

explained that there would be no change

in rates until this is passed on by the Board but that such a recommendation

had been worked out in Washington to save a complete overhaul (See page IS)

COMPANY OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS

CANAL HOUSING PROGRAM MOVES INTO HIGH GEAR

&~

(Continued from page 2) Mr. GRAY, President of the University of North

Carolina, was born in Baltimore, Md. He is well known nationally as a lawyer, newspaper publisher, and educator. He won national recognition when he was appointed Assistant Secretary of the Army in Sep- tember 1947 after service as an Army officer during

the war period. He succeeded Kenneth C. Royall as Secretary of the Army in June 1949 and served almost one year before resigning to accept the position of President of the University of North Carolina. He

became a member of the Board of Directors upon his appointment as Secretary of the Army.

Mr. HUGHES, Secretary of the Panama Canal Company is a native of Lincoln County, Ky. After

his graduation in law he was employed for about 10

years, 1930 to 1940, in legal work for the Corps of Engineers. He joined the Canal organization in Sep- tember 1940 as Assistant Comptroller and Legal Adviser in the Washington Office. He was made Assist- ant Chief of Office the following year and served in that position until February 1948 when he was transferred to the New York Offices of the Panama Rail- road Company as Assistant to the Vice President. He

was elected Secretary of the Company in July 1949i

©

CAR PORT

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jS*J 3TO"AOK 1 ^1

TYPE 337 3 BEDROOM HOUSE

iHaiu(tnn.a i com*t«i BUREAU

iHaiMfNiNII t> -i... GRAPHIC SCALE

FLOOR PLAN of the new type cottage pictured on page 1 is presented above. Several of these houses are scheduled for construction at Margarita during this year. The houses are masonry,

on the ground type.

(Continued from page t) built to have more

than two apartments, except for some

"row type" houses in Cardenas where

this type of construction is necessary because of the terrain. Some of the newer

four-family quarters, built about 10 years ago in Diablo, Ancon, and Margarita, will be retained. The overall program involves the construction of 4,108 family units and 1,270 bachelor units, at a cost for housing alone

of some $67,000,000. New community

facilities, such as clubhouses, commissaries, and post offices are not included in these costs. For the present fiscal year, the housing

and townsite construction program breaks down, by towns, as follows: ANCON: Quarters will be built for 56

families in the Chagres Street-Ancon Boulevard area. Fine grading will be

done; sewers and drainage systems and a

street lighting system will be installed. The streets, service drives, and walks will be paved and topsoil placed in the housing area, and grass will be planted.

Eight of the 48 houses will be duplexes;

three of these will be type 324, similar to those built earlier this year on Endicott

Street in Diablo, and the other five will be

of a new type having a large patio off the

living room. Three of the single houses

will be a modification of the "Breezeway"

house, with four bedrooms each. Seven

single houses will be of type 334B (illus- trated in the lower sketch on page 2 of the November issue of The Review), and

four will be of type 332-B, which has a porch adjacent to the living room.

All of the duplexes will have two bed- rooms each. Of the single houses, 24 will have 2 bedrooms, 13 will have 3 bedrooms

and 3 will have 4 bedrooms each. BALBOA: Fifteen families will be

housed in the quarters to be built in the Pyle Street-Morgan Avenue section of Balboa. Included in the contract are

utilities, paving, and grassing.

The houses will be of the composite

type, similar to those in San Juan Place in Ancon. Four of the 11 buildings will be duplex apartments, two apartments

having three bedrooms each and the remaining four apartments with two bed- rooms each. Two of the single houses will have three bedrooms and a maid's room;

three will have no maid's room but will have three bedrooms. The other single houses will have two bedrooms each.

CARDENAS : Work at this new local- rate community, located north of Corozal,

will consist of clearing, rough grading,

drainage, and site preparation. Two concrete water tanks will be put up and water

lines and sewers will be laid. An access

road, to connect Cardenas with Gaillard Highway, is also in this bid. DIABLO HEIGHTS: This year's building at Diablo will all be in the section

uphill from the site of the old messhall,

overlooking Diablo Road. Twelve masonry buildings will be constructed. Two

of these will be duplexes like those built

earlier and recently assigned in the new

Diablo development near the Canal. Both

of these duplex houses will have two-bed- room apartments. Four modified "Breeze- way" houses, each with three bedrooms

and a maid's room, are to be built. Seven

of the single houses, including the four "Breezeways," will have three bedrooms;

all of the others will be two bedroom types. * GATUN: Ten cottages are scheduled

for this year on the extension of Jadwin

Road on the high ground of the old Third

Locks spoils area. Four of the houses will be modified "Breezeways," with three bedrooms each. The other six houses will have two bedrooms each and will be similar to those built recently at the upper end

of Endicott Street in Diablo. The contract also calls for preparation

of sites and installation of utilities. MARGARITA: Work at Margarita

this year is divided into two parts. Thirty- one acres are to be cleared for an extension

to the present town. This lies south of Margarita and is bordered by Gulick

Road. Between this area and the present town

a building area will be graded and utilities laid in. More houses—131 buildings—

will be erected here than in any other Canal Zone town this current year. Seventeen of these houses will be duplexes

and the remainder single family quarters. All will be of masonry, on-the-ground

construction. Eighty-six of the units will have two bedrooms each; 59 will have

three bedrooms—all of these are single houses—and three Breezeways will be

built with four bedrooms.

Eleven of the two-family houses will be a completely new type, a two-family

modification of the patio cottage illus- trated in the November Review.

Several new types will be built at Margarita. One of these, ((Seepage 15)
THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW January 4, 1952

Electrical Division,

Union Join In New

Education Program

An experimental educational program

to answer the needs of both management

and labor on the Canal Zone has been set up by the Educational Committee of Local Union 397 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and

the Electrical Supervisor of the Southern

District of the Electrical Division. Since late November a seminar group

has met each Thursday night in the Board Room of the Administration

Building, with the chairman of the Union

Educational Committee and the Electrical Supervisor alternating as chairman. The

Industrial Training Coordinator, whose

services wr ere placed at the disposal of the group by the Superintendent of Schools, serves as secretary to the group to keep

minutes and to help prepare reports. The

Apprentice School secretary handles all stenographic work.

During these seminar meetings any

member may present for group discussion a problem he has encountered on the job.

The usual procedure is then to refer this problem for further study to a committee

of two or three members most interested. Their preliminary reports are consolidated

into a tentative report, which does not become final until experience has shown

that it is accurate and complete.

The material developed by the seminar group will be used as the basis for a night

school class which will be operated by the

Electrical Union in about a year. The

practical problems and their solutions

will also be used from time to time by the

Industrial Training Coordinator and the Union Educational Committee to correct and improve the electrical program in the Apprentice School. To select the group in this first seminar,

lists of names prepared by the Electrical Supervisor and the Chairman of the Education Committee were compared.

The first ten names to appear on both

lists were chosen. Vacancies occurring

from time to time will be filled by men

selected by the remaining members of the group.

It is hoped that in time membership

in this committee will rotate through all of the mechanics and Electrical Division

supervisors who care to participate.

And, For The Last Time!

PATIENCE AND SELF RESTRAINT were badly needed by commissary patrons when a $15 coupon book accidently spilled out in front of a long line of customers. Mrs. Florence McElhone and her young

son, Mickey, here demonstrate the apparently hopeless task of gathering and refolding the yards of commissary coupons in front of a line of impatient Christ- ina? customers in Cristobal Commissary. The same forbearance is being urgently requested by Commissary Division officials for the next few weeks while the cash sale? system is being firmly rooted in several retail stores. The system, first instituted experimentally last April in the Ancon Commissary, was extended in succeeding months to the retail stores at Curundu,

Cocoli, Pedro Miguel, and Gatun.

It was inaugurated at the remaining U. S.-rate commissaries when they opened their doors for business Thursday for 1952. The stores changing from the time-honored coupon system to cash sales at the first

of this year were those in Balboa, Diablo Heights, Gamboa, Cristobal, and Margarita. Cash sales were

adopted at both stores in Gamboa since they are located in the same building and use several retail sections jointly. Substantially the same system inaugurated in Your Health

The dry season is truly one for holiday

and outdoor fun on the Isthmus. During

the next few months hundreds of Canal

employees and their families will take advantage of ideal weather conditions for a trip to Panama's colorful interior, a

picnic, or a hunting trip in or near the Canal Zone. No one doubts the benefit of such

healthful outdoor activity nor the relief it gives from the tedium of office and other work. Yet health records over the years show that many fail to take full advantage

of these benefits by protecting themselves from the ever-present threat of malaria

when visiting unsanitated areas. In most cases it is the careless person who contracts malaria. Unlikely as it may

seem it is not only the newcomer to the

tropics who fails to take the proper pre- cautions against malarial infection.

It is important to remember when

planning an outing of any kind that the

rate of incidence for malaria hits a peak

at the outset and again at the close of each dry season. It is important to re- member and practice sensible health rules when visiting outside of sanitated areas during the dry or rainy season. For all those who plan outdoor recreation during the next few months of dryseason weather, the following simple rules should be followed:

1. Stay indoors in a well-screened

building or under good mosquito netting

from early dusk until well after sunrise.

Ancon last April will be used in all stores with the cash system. All employees with limited purchase

privileges are required to have cash purchase cards. For the convenience of local-rate patrons at Gamboa Commissary, cash purchase cards will be issued monthly by the Payroll Division to all Dredging Division employees who make up the bulk of the patronage

there. Other local-rate personnel trading in Gamboa

Commissary will be issued cash purchase cards on re- quest by the commissa-y managers or their assistants. All U. S.-rate commissaries will redeem unused coupons until January 15. After that date unused commissary coupons may be cashed only at Balboa and Cristobal Commissaries until the end of April, after which they may be exchanged for cash only at the Finance Bureau offices at Balboa Heights. No extensive alterations were required at any of the

five commissaries which adopted the cash sales plan

this month. However, for the past several weeks

personnel in the various stores have been in training

to make the system work smoothly. Despite the careful planning and special training for commissary

employees, it is expected that some inconveniences and delays are bound to occur. Commissary Division

officials have asked that customers be patient during

this breaking-in-period. Suggestions for any improvements at the various

stores which will help speed up sales and save time

will be welcomed from patrons.

2. Sleep only in a screened room or under a mosquito net.

3. Use mosquito repellant when it is necessary to be out of doors between sun- down and sunup. The exceptionally low malaria rate which has been achieved on the Isthmus

during the past few years is the result of unremitting effort and the expenditure of many millions of dollars. The cooperation

of the public generally has been a vital factor in the efforts to stamp out debili- tating and death-dealing malaria on the Isthmus. Your cooperation during the next few months will help still more.

Protect your health and that of others. Avoid at all costs the chance of malaria.
January 4, 1952 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW

FOR YOUR INTEREST AND GUIDANCE

LMi. UL

IN^ACCIDENT PREVENTION

The Supply and Service Bureau and the Engineering and Construction Bureau

share the Best Record award for the month of November. This is the first such award for the former and the third for the latter.

THE SAFETY PROGRAM IN THE

INDUSTRIAL BUREAU

The figures to date indicate that the

Industrial Bureau is showing an improvement of 57 percent over their all-time low

frequency rate established in 1950. To

each and every employee of the Industrial Bureau we would like to extend our congratulations for a job well done.

The first fatality in line of duty since May 1950 occurred on November 2, 1951, at 6:55 a. m., when Joseph Jarrett, a Terminals Division longshoreman at Cristobal, fell through a hatch aboard the SS Panama.

Russell T. Wise has been transferred from the Municipal Division to the Safety

Branch as Public Safety Assistant. HONOR ROLL

Bureau Award For BEST RECORD

November

SUPPLY & SERVICE

ENGINEERING & CONSTRUCTION

AWARDS THIS CALENDAR YEAR

Civil Affairs 4 Engineering and Construction 3

Industrial 3 Community Services 2 Supply and Service 1 Health 1 Marine

Railroad and Terminals

Division Awards For NO DISABLING INJURIES

November

RAILROAD DIVISION

MUNICIPAL DIVISION

MOTOR TRANSPORTATION DIVISION

HOSPITALIZATION & CLINICS DIVISION

AWARDS THIS CALENDAR YEAR

Motor Transportation 6 Grounds Maintenance 5 Municipal 5 Railroad 5

Electrical 4 Locks 3 Dredging 3 Building 3 Clubhouses 3 Storehouses 3 Sanitation 3 Hospitalization and Clinics 2 Commissary 1 Terminals

Navigation

The year 1951 has shown a tremendous

improvement in the safety record of the

Industrial Bureau. As this goes to press,

it appears that the accident rate for the previous year will be cut approximately

in half. This record is not simply due to chance, but is the result of a safety pro- gram which had its beginning a few

years back. Accident prevention is primarily a process of education of all hands in the

principles of safety and the cultivation of a safety conscious attitude in each and

every man. It is on this idea that the Industrial Bureau Safety Program is based. Foremost in the program are the weekly

five minute safety talks which are given each Monday morning by supervisors in each shop. Each worker thus starts his work week with a fresh reminder of safe

practices. Each supervisor selects his own

subject which may consist of a simple

discussion of unsafe practices noted in the

shop, or may be drawn from applicable

topics selected from safety publications or standard safety talks of the National

Safety Council. Safety must be sold and

resold and these five-minute talks are probably our most effective means of doing it. Use is also made of the Joint Shop

Committee Meetings as a means of pro- moting safety. Here safety is an active and recurring topic, the meeting not only

serving as a medium for management to stimulate interest in safety, but also as one by which employees can and do intro- duce safety suggestions. Similarly, at the weekly production meetings safety is discussed, when the occasion warrants, with the senior shop supervisors who are responsible for safety in their respective

shops.

A third measure to keep all hands alert to accident hazards is the bimonthly

safety inspection conducted by a repre- sentative group of the Industrial Bureau

Lt, Cmdr. W. M. VINCENT, USN

Safety Representative for Industrial Bureau Director

and a member from the Safety Branch.

A written report of this inspection is given

to each shop, which must submit a report

of the corrective action taken. In short, the Industrial Bureau Safety

Program is directed at making every employee safety conscious and cognizant of the fact that safety is everybody's business.

Four Divisions will receive Honor Roll

certificates for no disabling injuries during

their operations for the month of November. They are: Motor Transportation,

Municipal, Railroad, and Hospitalization

and Clinics.

The Canal Zone Government-Panama

Canal Company experienced an accident frequency rate of 12 for the month of November. This frequency rate is the

result of 34 disabling injuries and a man

hour exposure of 2,765,255. The year to date frequency is 15.

NOVEMBER 1951

Supply and Service Bureau

Engineering and Construction Bureau

Health Bureau

Marine Bureau

Industrial Bureau

C. Z. Gen I Panama Canal Co. (This month)

C. Z. Gov'l-Panama Canal Co. (1951 to Date)

Civil Affairs Bureau

C. Z. Gov't Panama Canal Co. (Best Year)

Community Services Bureau

Railroad and Terminals Bureau

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

(Frequency Rate)

9 ^HB

10

12

15

16

17

17

33

lllii"

10 20 30 40 50 60 70

Number of Disabling Injuries 34 Man-Hours Worked. 2,765,255 LEGEND

I I Amount Better Than Canal Zone Government—Panama Canal Company Beat Year 5^=31 Amount Worse Than Canal Zone Government—Panama Canal Company Beat Y«ar
THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW January 4, 1952

It Was Christmas .

AT COROZAL HOSPITAL where Col. George

Hesner and his prize patient, ) 01-year-old Fred

Huggins, watch as the Christmas tree is being decorated. A special Christmas party was held later in the Occupational Ward. The tree was decorated by

the Chief Nurse, Mrs. Delia G. Pilkerton, Miss Marie McNeff, and Mrs. Ma.-tha White, with the

help of some of the patients.

What with office parties, trimming

Christmas trees or decorating their houses and the last minute shopping which

jammed commissaries until closing hour

on Christmas Eve, employees had a busy

time. The younger generation was busy

too, with the annual collection made in some of the schools for less fortunate boys

and girls. At Balboa High School alone, a Student

Association sponsored committee headed

by Robert Peacher collected approximately 1,050 articles of food, clothing,

and toys. The collection was distributed by the students to the St. Joseph of Malambo orphanage, the Bella Vista Childrens Home, and the Red Cross.

Cocoli Taken Over By Navy

Pending Permanent Transfer

The town of Cocoli was transferred to the Navy January 1. The transfer was on

a permit basis in anticipation of a more

permanent arrangement for which legisla- tive authority is necessary. Only that

portion of the town east of Bruja Road

was included in the transfer. The highway remains under the control of the Canal Zone Government.

As of the first of this month 58 Canal

families and 12 Canal bachelors were still living in Cocoli. They will be transferred

to quarters in Balboa, Pedro Miguel, or Gamboa not later than March 31. Retired employees living in Cocoli have been

advised that they may have quarters in Gamboa.

The commissary, clubhouse, and gasoline station will continue to be operated

by the Panama Canal Company for the

present. The Canal Zone Government

will operate the Cocoli school as it does on

other military reservations. The Canal Zone Police and Fire Stations, however, were closed on January 1 and their functions at Cocoli taken over by the Navy.

The first military unit to be stationed on the Canal Zone was a battalion of Marines which arrived here in 1904.

AT TlfE CIVIL AFFAIRS BUILDING

AT THE ADMINISTRATIVE BRANCH

Concrete construction in the locks at Pedro Miguel was begun September 1, 1909; that at Miraflores was started in May 1910. AND AT THE MUNICIPAL DIVISION
January 4, 1952 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW

Official Panama Canal Company Publication

Published Monthly at BALBOA HEIGHTS, CANAL ZONE

Printed by the Panama Canal Preti Mount Hope, Canal Zone

F. K. Newcomer, Governor-President

H. D. Vogel, Lieutenant Governor

E. C. Lombard, Executive Secretary

J. Rtjfus Hardy, Editor

Eleanor H. McIlhenny

Oleva Hastings

Editorial Assistants LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Letters containing inquiries, suggestions,

criticisms, or opinions of a general nature

will be welcomed. Those of sufficient interest

will be published but signatures will not be

used unless desired. SUBSCRIPTION—$1.00 a year SINGLE COPIES—5 cents each On sale at all Panama Canal Clubhouses,

Commissaries, and Hotels for 10 days after publication date. SINGLE COPIES BY MAIL-lOcents each BACK COPIES—10 Cents Each

On sale when available, from the Vault

Clerk, Third Floor, Administration Building, Balboa Heights.

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

Panama Canal Review, Balboa Heights,

C. Z. Forty Years Ago

In December

Looking ahead, legislators of the United

States Congress 40 years ago were planning for the days when the Canal would

be in operation.

Two bills concerning tolls were intro- duced into the House by Representative

J. R. Knowland of California (he visited the Canal Zone later that same month) to provide for tolls and transit charges.

One provided for tolls and charges for vessels owned by the United States and

for U. S.-registered ships in the inter- coastal trade. This bill provided that the

act should not apply to vessels in the

coastwise trade owned by any railroad company and that ships favored by the

act could be used as Army or Navy

auxiliaries. The second bill would give the Presi- dent the power to fix charges of not more

than $1.50 or less than 50 cents per registered ton. United States vessels and

vessels of the Republic of Panama were

to be exempted from these rates, but the

bill added that the President might

charge the highest rate to ships in the

coastwise trade, owned in whole or part

by a railroad company.

On December 6, Representative Roberts of Nevada introduced a bill designed to prevent interstate railroads from owning or controlling ships engaged in trade through

the Canal and five days later Senator Lodge

of Massachusetts introduced a bill providing

that all tolls and transit charges which

might be imposed on public vessels of the United States should be paid from the United States Treasury.

1952 Brings Income Tax Problems To

Forefront For Canal Zone Employees

Although reminded twice monthly of 1040 LONG FORMS. This form is re- the painful subject by their deduction quired of those with incomes of $5,000 or

slips the turn of the year brings a new more ; those with outside incomes of more

trend of thought to employees on the than $100; and those who itemize their matter of their income taxes. deductible claims. Generally, those in the

It is the season for making a cash settle- latter category have deductions amounting

ment with Uncle Sam on taxes for 1951. to more than 1Q t of their salaHes_ And, for many employees who are re- Taxpayers usi &e 1040 L Forms are quired to do so it is the time of the year

jred to co

*

fe their ^ f the

to file an estimate of their 1952 incomes. and mail aF

check or order The deadline both for filing final returns with the final retums f amQunt due

on 19ol incomes and estimated tax decla- If the tax is less than

^withhoi ding

rations for 19o2 is March lo, but officials credit a reflmd ^ automati cally b*

of the ocal Internal Revenue Office have mailed when ^ return fi]ed urged taxpayers not to delay and be in- ., .... . . . convenience^ by a late rush of customers. Man-X ""PTM! hav

,e been received January 15 is the deadline for filing «crnmg th* filmg

of new Exemption

amended' income declarations for 1951.

Certificates, Form W-4, for this year.

Relatively few Canal employees are con- Thl" 1S not required unless there has been

cerned with amended declarations and a TManp TM the "umber of exemptions

those who are may, if they so desire, file TMed- , Whe

,n there f

an

]n

?

Te*?e in

their final returns by the January 15th th? nTMlber

?/r exemptions claimed andeadline in lieu of amended declarations. other f

orm W"4 "»?

.

be filed at

. »W

D . . n t time. A new r orm W^ is required within Pointers On Tax ,„ , ; ,, , 1 ,.

. . . , . 10 days when the number of exemptions As a convenience to employees a few of

j g decreased

the general features about income taxes

are presented in this issue of The Panama 1952 Tax Estimates Required

Canal Review. Detailed instructions A large number of Canal employees will are available in printed form at the In- be required to file estimated tax declaraternal Revenue offices in Balboa and tions for 1952. Generally, those required

Cristobal, but those employees with to do this are those whose income from

complex income tax problems should con- wages exceed $4,500 a year after subsuit with the personnel of Internal Reve- tracting all their exemptions at $600 each, nue Office. Wendell L. Lindsey is Senior and those with an outside income of Deputy Collector-in-Charge and John A. more than $100 a year. These forms must

Phillips is Assistant Deputy Collector, be filed by March 15. In those cases Another Deputy Collector is to be as- where the amount to be withheld during

signed to the Canal Zone during the the year is less than the estimated tax present tax collection period. the taxpayer is required to pay in advance

Later this month, perhaps near the end the amount due. Such payments may be

of January, all employees will be furnished made quarterly, semi-annually, or annuwith statements of their total pay and the ally, but at least the first-quarter payment

total amount of money withheld for taxes must be made when the estimated tax during 1951. These statements, Form declaration is filed. W-2, will be furnished in duplicate by the ^

ampi e suppiy f mcome tax forms,

Payroll Division. estimated tax declarations, and informaTypes Of Returns tion pamphlets has been received by the There are three types of income tax local Internal Revenue Office. Forms

returns, briefly described as follows: 1040 and 1040-A as well as forms for 1040-A. This is a simplified form which estimated tax declarations will be dis- may be used by those employees with in- tributed to all Canal Zone Post Offices, comes from wages of less than $5,000 a This is being done solely as a convenience

year and an outside income of not more and employees have been specifically than $100 a year. For those using Form requested not to seek information con- 1040-A, the amount of tax due will be cerning their income tax problems at computed in the Collector's Office to the post offices. best advantage of the taxpayer and a Both the final ^^ tax retur to_ balance due statement or a refund check

ther with the amount of taxes due> hcunT^ £TMJ!qU^ t and the estimated income tax declarations 1040 SHORT FORMS. This form may be gent to the Collector f Internal be used by those taxpayers with an annual Revenue jacksonville, Fla., or to the income of less than $5,000 who do not Intemal Revenue 0ffice m Balboa. itemize their deductions for such items as medical expenses, contributions and other How To ComPute Tax

taxes. Only the first two pages of Form Those with net taxable incomes up to 1040 are used. Tables for computing the $12,000 can use the following method of taxes are found on page 4 of this form. computing their 1951 income taxes:

1. Start with your adjusted gross income.

2. Subtract from this figure your itemized non-business deductions or the standard

deduction of 10 percent (providing the 10 percent deduction is not over $1,000).

3. Subtract your exemptions at $600 each for your net taxable income.

// the amount is— Your tax will be Not over $2,000 20.4 percent of the total Over $2,000 but not over $4,000 $408 plus 22.4 percent of excess over $2,000

Over $4,000 but not over $6,000 $856 plus 27 percent of excess over $4,000

Over $6,000 but not over $8,000 $1,396 plus 30 percent of excess over $6,000

Over $8,000 but not over $10,000 $1,996 plus 33 percent of excess over $8,000

Over $10,000 but not over $12,000... .$2,696 plus 39 percent of excess over $10,000
THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW January 4, 1952

Keeping Canal Channel, Harbors Open

Is The Dredging Division's Main Job

Dispatchers, boarding parties, pilots, and lock crews would soon be men without

jobs, the people of the Canal's Dredging

Division believe, if there were no harbors

for ships and no channel through the Canal.

It's the main job of the Dredging Division to see to it that there are just exactly

those two things: Navigable water at the Canal terminals and a channel which is unobstructed and deep enough to accom- modate any transiting vessel. Aside from this, of course, the Dredging

Division also operates the two 250-ton

cranes, Atlas and Hercules (which crossed the Atlantic from Germany during the

First World War), a fleet of tugs, motor

boats, and launches, and the gravel plant on the Chagres River which does a

thriving sand and gravel business. Every morning, before any ship reaches

the narrow confines of Gaillard Cut

where as recently as 1931 slides halted

traffic completely—a hydrographic engi- neer who is as familiar with the Cut as most people are with their own back yards

makes a careful examination of the 6.7- mile long section between the upper end

of Pedro Miguel Locks and Gamboa.

From a bosun's chair on top of a slowly

moving launch, he scans the banks and

the channel to see that during the night no goodsized boulder has rolled from the

side into the water or that no slide of even

the smallest size has occurred. Breaks Shows Potential Slide The other morning, for instance, George

T. Darnall, Jr., who is one of the Dredging

Division's hydrographic engineers (highly trained civil engineers) spotted a small cracking on the east bank of the Cut. The

break was within the old East Lighthouse

slide area. From the launch Mr. Darnall could see no slide, but he noticed that poles which

carry electric lines to the bank lights were

leaning. Over the Division's specially as- signed frequency—radio communication was installed some two years ago—he asked that a gang be sent to make a more

careful examination. Although only some

25 or 30 cubic yards of earth were sub- sequently found to be hanging loose on

the bank, a closer inspection revealed that

BEHEMOTH AMONG DREDGES is the suction dredge Mind', one of the largest in the world.

It can operate efficiently at 70 feet below the surface and can swing the 106-foot "ladder" which holds

its intake pipe in a radius of 300 feet. A typical day's work is the digging of close to 40,000 cubic yards in a little less than 20 hours.

CARTER ORR, one of the Division's fenior suction dredge operators works blind. He can see neither the bottom where the dredge Mindi is digging nor the

shore onto which the dredged material is dumped

through a pipeline.

some 45,000 cubic yards of earth had

settled and constituted a potential slide of serious proportions. A drag survey was made immediately and since no material had entered the Canal channel, it was not

necessary to set a buoy to mark the shoal. But this area will receive close attention

until it is determined that the material has ceased to move. Annual Sounding Made

Once each year, and oftener in the Cut,

the Dredging Division makes a complete

sounding of the harbors and the channel

to see that no "lumps" have developed on

the bottom and that no unusual amount

of shoaling has occurred. For these soundings the engineers use sounding leads and the comparatively new fathometer, which is a combined

electronics and sound device indicating

depth by echo. In addition, the Division sends out "drag gangs" whose boats plod up and

down the Canal, five of them fanning out behind a launch. Each of the small boats

is straddled by a wide wooden crossbeam

from which heavy wires suspend, well below the surface, a 22-foot length of heavy 2-inch pipe. When the pipe strikes any submerged object, one of that boat's crew tosses overboard a marker buoy. A

spotter boat, following, makes a careful examination of the "lump" and records

the exact location so that arrangements

can be made for its removal.

If the obstruction is a large rock, it may

become a matter for the dipper dredge Las

Cascadas, or, if the boulder is too large for the dredge's big 15-yard bucket to handle, the obstruction may either be buried in a

hole dug into the bottom or may be blown to pieces by a drill gang. While Mr. Darnall was inspecting the Cut, Lyle Womack—whose career in- cludes a trip to the South Pole on one of Byrd's Antarctic expeditions and a tour

as a lion tamer in Los Angeles—was

looking over the water hyacinth situation. This sounds more like a botanical than

a maritime occupation, but actually it is highly important to the Canal. The

plants, which multiply 1,000 times in

seven months, could take over the water- way if they ever got out of hand. Part of the water hyacinths Mr. Womack and his gang of 34 men find (they use the launch USS Hyacinth on

these trips) are pulled up by hand and

loaded into pangas for dumping onto dry

land where the plants promptly die. Other water hyacinths get a more modern treatment. They are sprayed with

2-4-D, a plant hormone compound which

speeds up metabolism so that the plants eat all of their reserve food and die, gorged to death. The dead plants shrivel and rot away into the water, finally

sinking to the bottom. Grass vs. Hyacinths—Tie Score

Destruction of the water hyacinths has,

ironically, caused increased growth of their traditional enemy, river grass. The

hyacinths choke out the grass and the

grass retaliates in kind; removal of the hyacinths upsets Nature's balance and

the grass flourishes unhindered. It must

be cut by hand, as no chemicals have been

found to kill it. Sometimes the destruction of these "noxious plants," as they are dubbed in

official reports, has its exciting moments. Not long ago a 10-foot crocodile got a

blast of the 2-4-D full in his big red eyes. He came out of the hyacinth bed,

thrashing and close alongside the panga.

Its crew disposed of him promptly, if not

neatly, with a pitchfork and a machete.

His hide later brought $8 for his killers. Mr. Darnall and his gangs and Mr. Womack and his were accounting for most of the work in the channel the other

day, but two of the Division's big dredges were busy in the harbors. Dredge in Balboa

In Balboa harbor, the 146-foot long

dipper dredge Las Cascadas, was scooping

Local legend has it that pranksters

nearly precipitated an international

incident about 1915 when, during a

slide in Gaillard Cut, an island suddenly appeared in the channel. The

jokers rowed out to the island, old- timers vow, and planted a British

flag on the new land.
January 4, 1952 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW

- . —--:. ,- ' v~-.-' - ""-•— -

DIPPER DREDGES like the U. S. Cascadas are the useful, if not handsome, floating steam

shovels which help keep the Canal open for traffic. In case of blockage of the Cut or some other vital spot, the Cascadas would dig it away with its 13 5 cubic yard bucket.

up bucketful after bucketful of dripping gray sludge and dumping it into huge

scows alongside.

Every time her bucket, big enough for a man to stand in, hit bottom and started

to scrape off the "lumps," the whole big

dredge shuddered and shook. The oper- ator on that particular shift was S. S. Shobe,

naturally known because of his initials as "Steamship."

He and his gang on the Cascadas are among the few men who come to work at

a different time every day. They don't work by the clock; they work by the moon—inasmuch as it affects the tides. Even the 79-foot "stick" which holds

the 48,000-pound bucket is not long

enough to reach bottom in Balboa's high

tides, so the Cascadas crews work the four hours before and four hours after mean

low tide. At 9:30 a. m. the other day, an

hour after low tide, the bucket was hitting

bottom in 42 feet of water. Held in place by her three great spuds

a spud is a sharp-pointed vertical post, forced by power through a socket in the dredge to anchor it or hold it steady

two forward and one aft, the dredge is raised a little and slants up slightly toward

her square bow. She is, more or less, a great floating steam shovel but is three or more times the size of most earthbound

equipment. Mr. Shobe, a native of Missouri and a veteran of World War I who has been with

the Division continuously since 1920, first as an engineer, then as a mate, and finally as an operator, explained how he is guided

by a semi-circular marked collar around

the base of the "boom." Unlike his land- bound counterparts, he cannot see what

he is excavating and must work by touch. The guide enables him to be sure he has covered every sector in the arc and has

missed no bottom lumps. In one watch,

the Cascadas can clear a 100 by 50 foot

stretch of bottom, provided it is working

in sludge. Rock formations slow down the work. They are bitten into by the wickedlooking teeth which edge the bucket, but

occasionally the dredge encounters rock

too large to be handled. These rocks have to be drilled and

blown up. Much of this sort of work was

done recently on the Diablo side of the Canal. Neither Mr. Shobe, Captain Gregor

Gramlich, or any other of the Cascadas

crew who are so proud of her could ever

call her the glamour girl of the Canal. But

she has had an exciting life. She has

helped to free, by digging the bank from

under it, more than one grounded ship.

A recent incident of this sort was the Cape

Georgia which ran onto a shoal near Fort Sherman on July 2, 1947. In cases of this

sort, as in that of theLaurenceJ. Gallagher,

which ran aground in March 1946, at Dump 8 in Gatun Lake, a dipper dredge

sometimes excavates as much as 11,000 cubic yards of earth before the ship is refloated. The Cascadas dug the trenches for the trans-Isthmian pipeline in sections where

it crosses Gatun Lake and the channels and for most of the cable crossings of the Canal. She has assisted the two 250-ton

cranes in raising a derrick barge which

sank alongside the west breakwater in Limon Bay and pulled up some of the old French equipment which was once so

plentiful hereabouts. She has dug out the

sites for more than one set of finger piers

and even excavated for the swimming

pool at Coco Solo. Dredge in Cristobal

Over on the Gold Coast the Mindi, one

of the world's largest suction dredges, was

having as busy—if a somewhat quietertime. This monster, which measures 225

feet from one end to the other, had her

32-inch intake pipe buried deep in 42 feet

of water, sucking up clay and mud from

the bottom of Cristobal harbor. At the controls which guided the suction pipe and maneuvered the spuds was

Carter Orr, one of the Division's senior suction dredge operators. He could not

see the bottom where the pipe, like the

intake on a huge vacuum cleaner, was

drawing in the muck at the rate of some

1,600 cubic yards an hour. And he also could not see what was spilling out of the other end of the discharge line onto

Telfer's Island, almost two-thirds of a

mile away. The length of this discharge pipe is not

unusual; sometimes the pipe lines are two

miles long. Additional sections of pipe, on

pontoons, stand ready to be coupled onto

the line when it has to be lengthened. In Canal construction days, as now, suction dredges were highly thought of. In 1908 an official comment on this type of dredge

was: "Each of them is doing the work of eight very good steam shovels and

several dump trains." From the shore where the outlet of the

pipeline was spewing its load to reinforce one of the levees which are necessary to contain the spoil and prevent the dredged

material from flowing back into the channel, the pipeline foreman radio-telephoned

that he needed more clay. The operator

maneuvered the controls which raised one

of the two 70-ton spuds which hold the Mindi stationary, swung the whole great

rectangular craft in an arc until the 100-

foot, 300-ton ladder could reach bottom

where charts showed him clay had been

found. A few minutes later water spilling

from a connection in the pipeline turned

red; clay was going through. Rattle of Rock

Operations on the dredge are not al- ways as quiet as they were the other day.

Sometimes the Mindi is working on a coral or sandstone formation. The sheath

cutter blade which is used for earth dredging is then replaced by an eight- bladed rock cutter with six rows of large

teeth, just as the blade on a meat grinder

is changed. This cutter chews into the

coral formations. Pieces of the coral

rattle and bang as they are pulled through

the intake and the pipeline.

Once in a while a piece (Sse pagi 15)

CAPTAIN GREG3R GRAMLICH (left) AN

the dipper dredge Lis Cascadas work. Setting their bottom of Balboa harbor free from "lumps."

D S. S. SHOBE are two of the men whi make

working hours by the tides, they are keeping the
10 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW January 4, 1952

Looking Backward—1951 In Retrospect

JANUARY: When the year opened,

the worst polio epidemic in Isthmian

history was still going on and $250 a day was being spent for care of C. Z. polio

patients. The March of Dimes opened its annual drive. The Zone's first Internal Revenue

Office""opened; the first paychecks were

received with tax withheld. President Truman asked $1 l,S93,000for the Panama

Canal in his budget message. Edward D. McKim and T. Coleman

Andrews were named to the PRR Board

of Directors. Three bills to remove the

retroactive income tax were introduced

into Congress. Crafts workers got a

raise. George Green Memorial park was dedicated. FEBRUARY: Governor Newcomer

appointed a three-man committee from

the Board of Directors to study reorganization problems at first hand. They met

in Balboa; prepared recommendations for the March meeting of the entire Board.

Polio restrictions were lifted. Air raid instructions were issued to personnel at Balboa Heights.

A draft board was authorized for the Canal Zone. A. C. Medinger was named

Selective Service Director. Air raid

sirens sounded when an unidentified plane was reported over Gatun. The Canal Zone was exempted from

price controls. It was the rainiest February since 1915. MARCH: Governor Newcomer and

Arnold Bruckner, Finance Director, at- tended the Board meeting in Washington.

Policies for the Panama Canal Company

were set. Consultant accountants arrived

for a study of Canal-Railroad procedure.

Cash sales started in Ancon Commissary. The Kobbe school opened.

Zonians filed estimated tax returns. A

law firm was employed by a group of workers to test validity of tax for the Zone. The Supply Department and the Panama Government sent representatives

to the Interior to look over the supply of meat, dairy, and forest products. A. C. Medinger was named Panama

Canal representative on the Wage Board.

Police Officer Peter Proback shot a record

200 out of 200 in the annual pistol meet. APRIL: The "retroactive" rainy sea- son continued. The fourth bill to eliminate retroactive tax was introduced into Congress.

The Canal put through its 150,000th

commercial ship. Retired employees were

told that they could not hold quarters in the Zone more than a year after retire- ment. The Silver City swimming pool

opened. Zonians learned that a large new

town was to be built at Summit.

MAY: A 300-acre tract of land near Corozal was transferred by the Army to the Canal for the new local-rate town of Cardenas.

Bullets landed in the Canal Zone as Panama changed its government. During

the disturbed period trains operated only

in the Canal Zone; New Cristobal schools were closed. First moves were made in Washington

for employee pay raises. Gasoline went up two cents. The last air raid siren was installed and 3,000

people watched Cuna Indians dance on

the lawn of the Administration Building.

JUNE: The House passed Rep. Daniel

Reed's Bill to kill retroactive income tax. The Board of Directors approved bylaws for the new company.

Local Selective Service officials were sworn in and local draft plans set up. Over 200 civilians registered for the antiaircraft program. A new medical tariff was announced for July 1. Also announced was a uniform 20

percent surcharge for goods and services to all but intra-government users. Arnold Bruckner, Finance Director, retired. Firemen and teachers went on a

bi-weekly pay basis. Deadline for paying the 1950 tax was extended three months.

JULY: The Panama Canal and the Panama Railroad merged into a single

Government-owned corporation with

assets of over $500,000,000.

President Truman signed the bill re- moving retroactive income tax, soon after

it had passed the Senate. Curundu Commissary went on a cash

basis.

PROMINENT AMONG THE VISITORS to the Isthmus in December was United States Representative Clarence Cannon, Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. He is a Democrat and a veteran member of Congress. Congressman Cannon, above, left, is shown with Governor Newcomer and Representative Norris Cotton, Republican, of New Hampshire, who is also a member

of the Appropriations Committee. The two legislators were photographed shortly before boarding a launch at Pedro Miguel for a trip through the Canal.

All employees are to be paid by check. Summit and Cardenas were chosen for the names of two new Zone towns. Housing

assignments in Cocoli were frozen. Red

Tank's "Titanic" and "Iceberg" were

being vacated for demolition. A new

Contracts and Inspection Division was

established. AUGUST: A pay raise bill for classified employees was reported by a House Committee. The Civil Defense office closed

no funds. Plans were announced for consolidation

of dispensary services from Ancon, Bal- boa and Pedro Miguel at Gorgas Hospital.

A change of the northern terminus of the Panama Line was being studied. Headquarters of the Railroad and Terminals Bureau were moved to Cristobal. Schools reopened for some 4,000 local- rate children. West Indian Commemorative stamps went on sale. SEPTEMBER: Canal Zone men be- tween the ages of 18 and 26 registered for Selective Service, 227 of them on the

first day. Six men, who had registered

in the States were inducted. The white schools reopened with a record first day registration of 5,161. The Board of Directors met in Washington to consider the 1953 budget. Plans for a new ice cream and milk

bottling plant were announced. Bids were advertised for new houses in Silver City. Paul Blanquet, an engineer from

the Suez Canal, visited the Canal Zone. A plan under which employees may buy

rented furniture was announced.

A. C. Garlington, Electrical Engineer,

retired. OCTOBER: President Truman signed

the pay raise bill but Congress upped the income tax. Crafts workers got a pay

raise. Panama Line ships were tied up by the East Coast strike. After a study of the cost of reopening

Margarita Hospital, it was decided to abandon this plan and retain Colon

Hospital.

Canal traffic was the highest since March 1939 but tolls were down. The

annual Community Chest drive got under way.NOVEMBER: Pay raises went into

effect for some 14,000 local-rate workers. Isthmian Constructors submitted the lowest of five bids for Silver City housing.

Lieutenant Governor H. D. Vogel and

Henry L. Donovan, Community Services

Director, flew to Washington to confer on

housing.

Gatun, Cocoli, and Pedro Miguel Commissaries went on a cash basis. Signs

urged Zonians to cooperate in relieving the coin shortage. A draft quota of nine was set for January—first for the Canal

Zone. DECEMBER: Consolidation of the Municipal and Building Divisions, as of January 1, was announced. Maintenance

and painting of quarters will be held to a minimum, Housing officials said.

It was announced that the Navy would

take over Cocoli, on a license basis, on January 1. Another announcement dis- closed that all U. S.-rate commissaries

would be on cash January 2. The first large group contract for housing was advertised. The Governor went to Washington for budget hearings.
January 4, 1952 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW 11 Hear That Whistle? Here Comes 901

BEFORE: This is how one of the Panama Railroad's new locomotives looked when it arrived from New York aboard a Panama Liner. The 250-ton crane Hercules was taken through the Canal

to Cristobal to unload the crates and their 75-ton loads.

AND AFTER: With three transcontinental round trips to its credit on its first day of operation, Locomotive 901 is already a seasoned veteran. People still turn to look, though, when they hear it3 melodious three-toned tootle. Something new was added to the Canal Zone on December 12. Attracted by the sound of a completely new three-toned train whistle, people

popped their heads out of office windows

at Balboa Heights and in Cristobal or ran

to their front doors in towns along the Panama Railroad line. Locomotive 901 was making its first run.

First to be put into service of the three new 1,600 horsepower Diesel-electric engines recently purchased by the railroad, 901 was on its first official trans-Conti- nental crossing. At the controls of the sleek pullmangreen locomotive with the wide orange

stripe down its side was A. P. Byrne,

the Railroad's senior engineer. His service with the Railroad dates back to 1917. In charge of the train was the Railroad's

senior conductor, J. F. Frensley, who has been a railroad man since 1910 and with

the Panama Railroad since 1930. Although its crew changed, the sturdy

75-ton locomotive—known in railroad

parlance as an Alco, GE-all-purpose type

road and switching locomotive—got a

real workout on its first day. It hauled

the northbound morning train from

Panama to Colon, returning from the

Atlantic Side at 9:40 a. m. with the midmorning southbound passenger train. At 12:30 p. m., it left Panama City

again on its second northbound run, this time with the noon passenger train. It returned from Colon, again pulling a passenger train, at 4:30 p. m.; made its next northbound trip at 7:15 p. m.—this time with a freight train—and ended its business for the day by returning from

Colon with the night passenger train at

10 o'clock. Score for the day: Three

round-trip Continental crossings.

William G. Wood, one of the younger Panama Railroad engineers, was especially

coached in handling the big locomotives

by Alco-GE engineers. He has been

temporarily assigned to the job of training other engineers until they are qualified to handle the locomotives.

Deck Passengers

Locomotive 901 and its two companions, which became 902 and 903 when

they entered the service a few days later,

all arrived as deck cargo aboard the Panama Line ships. The first of the

three was unloaded November 26 from

the Aneon by the 250-ton floating crane Hercules. The other two locomotives arrived on the Panama and Cristobal the two following weeks, and were also unloaded by the floating crane. Addition of the three new locomotives

brings the Panama Railroad's fleet to a

total of 14. Five of them are the "400

class," which were purchased in 1940 and

are also Diesel-electric; six are of the "800 steam Mikado class" which were bought in 1942—the last previous pur- chase—and the remaining three are the new "900 class" series. Railroad officials explained that the

"class" number has nothing to do with

the age or date of purchase of the locomotives or with their tonnage rating. The

numbers are simply a serial number given

locally to designate the type, of engine. In 1940 the Panama Railroad had

purchased five locomotives from the American Locomotive Company. These

had been numbered as the 700 class but

were all sold to a States purchaser last September.

In the near future the railroad expects

to retire some of its older locomotives,

starting with the 800 class of steam loco- motives. These are oil burners.

First Oil Burners In 1909 The first oil burners for the Panama

Railroad had arrived on the Isthmus in 1909 but have long since been relegated to wherever it is that outworn locomotives

go. Twelve of the original oil burners had

been purchased in the United States and

shipped to the Canal Zone knocked down.

At the time the original oil burners

arrived, the Panama Railroad had in ser- vice 297 locomotives, 124 of which were

old French engines. Nine others were the Decauville type, also dating back to the French construction period. Four others were 18-ton narrow gauge

construction engines, for use on the spill- way work at Miraflores. Like the latest new locomotives, they were shipped in big cases and unloaded by crane at

Cristobal.

College Is Offering

R. P. History Course

A one-semester course in the history of Panama will be offered in The Canal Zone Junior College's Extension Division beginning February 4. The course will be taught by Sue Core,

fifth grade teacher at the Ancon elementary school. Miss Core has written a number of books of local lore, including two children's histories of Panama.

She plans to handle the history course on a lecture basis. It will cover, according

to her present plans, the history of the Isthmus from the earliest known geologic

periods through the present and will combine actual history with some folklore and legends.

The course will be offered on a one- hour-a-week, no credit basis. The class

will meet at 7:30 p. m. each Monday

during the second semester. Those interested in the course may

register on Thursday, January 24.
12 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW January 4, 1952

PTJrJ^£«o„ First Chief Nurse Honored

The 1952 school vacation may scorn a long way off but plans arc already being

made for the summer recreation program

in the Canal Zone communities.

A meeting of the Canal Zone Recreation

Hoard has been called for January 12 in the District Court offices in Cristobal.

Officers of the board, elected at a recent meeting for 1952, are: E. D. White, Jr., President; Hamilton Lavalas, Vice Presi- dent; Elman Clark, Secretary; and J. E. Winklosky; Treasurer. Also elected at the meeting were Mrs. G. 0. Parker as Coordinator for the U. S.-rate recreation

activities, and Stanley Loney as local-rate Coordinator. Both served in those positions during the past year.

EMPLOYEE representatives attending the Governor-Employee Confer- ence recently requested publication,

in The Panama Canal Review, of the Medical Tariff. The second part appears below. The first section was

published in the December issue of The Review. The Medical Tariff will be concluded in the next issue.

MEDICAL TARIFF

Part 2

6. In- Patient Care—Gorgas and Colon

Hospitals, a. The per diem charge will be in accordance with the rates prescribed in column 1. Table 2, and includes subsistence, routine examination, nursing care, dressings,

and other routine procedures not listed in Table 5. . b. Private room charges; additional:

(1) Private room, with bath, per day $4-00

(2) Private room, without bath, per day 3.00

(3) Double room, with bath, per day, each occupant 2.50

(4) Double room, without bath, per day. each occupant 1-50 c. Special nurses or special attendants, il requested by patient:

II) Special nurse. 8 hours $15.00

(2) Special attendant. 8 hours._ ___ ^ 4.00 d. Companion of patient: The patient's per diem rate, plus $2.00 per day.

e. Newborn infants: No charge for newborn as long as mother remains in hospital.

Otherwise, the charge will be the per diem

rate of the mother..

f. Number of days in hospital: To deter- mine the total number of hospital days to be

charged, the day of admission will be counted regardless of the hour of admission,

and the day of discharge will not be counted,

unless the patient is discharged on the day

of admission.

g. When a patient has been in hospital for three months, report will be made to the Health Director, giving such data as diagnosis, prognosis, and status of any pending

charges. h. The Health Director is authorized to remit any or all charges for in-patient or out-patient treatment necessary for the protection of the public health, or to make re- ductions, not to exceed 50 percent, of the charge on account of lack of means of the

patient, or in case of destitution, to remit

the charges entirely.

7. Deposits Sufficient to Cover Esti- mated Charge—a. All classes of patients

are required to furnish, prior to admission, an acceptable written guarantee from a re- sponsible person accepting full responsibility

for all charges while in hospital or make a

cash deposit covering estimated charges,

except the following:

(1) Employees of the Panama Canal Company and

Canal Zone Government and their dependents.

(2) Commissioned and enlisted personnel of the Armed Forces and their dependents.

(3) Any patient whose cost of hospitalization is paid by a United States Government Agency.

(4) Such other patients for whom the Superin- tendent of the hospital deems a deposit not necessary.

8. Corozal Hospital—a. The charge for patients admitted to Corozal Hospital will be as follows:

1 i Mental Section: The charge will be the same as Table 2, except for those patients legally committed

to the Mental Section for whom no charge will be made.

(2) Domiciliary Section: The charge for patients ad- mitted for domiciliary care will be as follows:

(a) Patients having a U. S. Rate or equivalent

M EMBERS OF THE NURSING profession in the Canal Zone were honored early in December when a memorial plaque for Miss Mary Eugenie Hibbard was unveiled at Gorgas Hospital. Miss Hibbard was the first Chief Nurse at Ancon (now Gorgas) Hospital and was the first woman employed

by the Isthmian Canal Commission for service in the Canal Zone. The picture above, taken just after the brief ceremony, shows Miss Jessie M. Murdock telling Governor Newcomer some of the incidents of the early Canal construction days. Miss Murdock was

also employed in 1904 as a nurse at Gorgas Hospital and later succeeded Miss Hibbard as Chief Nurse. She made the presentation in behalf of the Woman's Auxiliary of the New York Society of the Panama

Canal. The plaque was unveiled by Mrs. Clifford Payne, former Gorgas Hospital nurse, and was

accepted by Colonel Clifford G. Blitch, Superintendent of the Hospital.

status, the charge will be $4.00 per day.

(b) Patients having a Local Rate or equivalent

status, the charge will be $2.00 per day.

(c) For all other classes of patients the charge will be $0.00 per day. b. The Health Director has authority to reduce the foregoing rates when, in his dis- cretion, such action is warranted.

c. Admission to Corozal Hospital will not be made except on the prior authority of the Health Director.

9. Palo Seco Leprosarium—a. No

charge will be made for patients admitted

to the Palo Seco Leprosarium, except for those admitted for the account of the Panama Government, for whom charges

will be in accordance with the agreement

negotiated with that Government.

b. Admission to Palo Seco Leprosarium

will not be made except on the prior authoritv of the Health Director. TABLE 2 TABLE OF CHARGES—GORGAS AND COLON HOSPITALS

Salary Groups

Hospital Wards

(per day)

(1)

Obstetrical care

including 6 days'

ward and operating room charge, spon- taneous deliveries only.

(2)

Surgical operations and diag- nostic procedures

percent of max- imum charge

(see Table 5)

(3)

Group 1 : $0.50 hourly or $86.00 per month or

less. $1.00 $25.00 10%

Group 2: $0.51 to $1.30

hourly or $86.01 to $225.00 per month. 1.25 40.00 20%

Group 3: $1.31 to $2.30 hourlv or $225.01 to $400.00 per month. 2.50 60.00 25%

Group 4: $2.31 to $2.87 hourlv or $400.01 to $500.00 per month. 3.50 75.00 30%

Group 5: $2.88 hourly or

$500.01 per month or more. 5.00 80.00 40%

Group 6: Private pax- patients.

10.00 150.00

100% of max- imum charge

Note: Hospital charges are free to employees of the Panama Canal Company and

Canal Zone Government, except for subsistence and obstetrical care. A

charge for subsistence of $2.00 per day for U. S. Rate employees and $1.00 per day for Local Rale employees will be made while in hospital, except

for those injured in line of duty, and obstetrical patients, who will be charged the appropriate rate shown in column 2. Private rooms are an

additional charge to all patients.
January 4, 1952 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW 13

Gorgas Messenger Foreman

Handles Manifold Duties

A DEMONSTRATION' of the aotual workings of the new, money-saving traction controller for towing locomotives on the Canal Locks is being given by its inventor, Kenneth L. Middleton, Junior Control House Operator at the Pacific Locks. Interested spectators are Captain Robert M. Peacher, Marine Director (right) and Roy C- Stockham, Chief of the Locks Division. Mr. Middleton was

awarded $200, the highest amount yet won by an employee since the cash award system for employee

suggestions was instituted in August 1946. Mr. Middleton proposed a design for general modification

of the internal parts of the locomotive traction controllers in October 1950 while engaged in wiring new towing locomotive? built by the Industrial Bureau. Questions About Fluoridation

Answered By Water Experts

With fluoridation of Canal Zone water

as a partial preventive against dental de- cay about to become a reality Zonians

are naturally curious about some of the

effects this will have. As an answer to some of the most fre- quently asked questions about fluoridation, Maintenance Division officials cited an article appearing recently in the monthly publication of the American

Water Works Association. The Association had submitted several questions to the United States Public

Health Service, the answers to which are condensed below. The policy of the United States Public Health Service, according to the monthly

Water Works Engineering Magazine, is to recommend increasing the fluorine concentration to the optimal level, varying

from 1.0 to 0.65 part per million, de- pending on the climate, in those cities where the supply naturally contains "less than the optimal amount of fluorine to adequately control dental decay."

Reports on the toxic effects of fluorides appear from time to time, but on critical analysis they have been found to bear no

relevance to the proposal of adding the

prescribed amount of fluorine to a public water supply.

Simulates Nature

Fluoridation of public water supplies, the Health Service said, simulates a "purely natural phenomenon—a condition set up by Nature in those communities fortunate enough to have about one

part per million of fluoride naturally

present in the public water supply."

The beneficial effects of fluoridation for dental health is now generally recognized

and accepted and the question of possible hazards to health due to the minute amounts of fluoride added has been

answered by exhaustive clinical and biological studies made by several govern- ment agencies. No evidence has been

found to indicate that any change occurs

in the bone structure or bone density of

children, or that their sight or hearing

is affected. Other studies have disclosed no delete- rious systemic effects, and reports of toxic

effect from fluorides in the amounts

added to drinking water have been shown

to be unfounded.

The method to be used in the Canal Zone calls for sodium silicofluroide and is less expensive than that using a related chemical, sodium fluoride. The chemical will be applied to the water supply at the Miraflores and Mount

Hope filtration plants, which supply water not only for the Canal Zone but for Colon, Panama City, and the Panama

City suburbs as far as Juan Diaz. The cost of the fluoridation is estimated

at about $12,000 for one year.

Employee Groups Ask Board Conference

(Cortinued from page 3) in rental rates. Other matters which came up before the Conference included: A request from

Gamboa that the annex where bowling

alleys are located be retained after the

alleys are removed, and used to house permanant gym equipment and turned

over to the Schools Division; the unsafe

condition of the night lighting towers at

the Balboa Stadium; a request from Pedro

Miguel for drinking water at the theater. Attending the meeting were : The Governor, Colonel Vogel, E. A. Doolan, Personnel Director, and F. G. Dunsmoor,

Executive Assistant to the Governor; W. R. Howe, Mr. Tobin and Walter

Wagner, for the Central Labor Union;

Daniel P. Kiley, Pacific Locks Employees

Association; Joseph L. Hummer, Machinists; Mr. Lovelady; Robert C. Daniel,

Railway Conductors; Guy R. Lord,

Marine Engineers; James Jones, Pedro

Miguel; Timothy Ladd, Cristobal-Margarita; William H. Ward, Gamboa; Raymond F. Ralph and F. J. Moumblow,

Gatun; Dr. H. C. Deering, Pacific—all from the Civic Councils.

The first contact a good many people

have with Gorgas Hospital is with Guillermo L. Dixon, who has been foreman of the hospital's messenger service since 1942. His title belies his duties, however, and

he is considered by a good many people at the hospital a main cog in making its wheels go around. More than one employee patient has

received his paycheck through Dixon's

efforts. More than one worried relative has had news of an ailing brother or sister or parent when Dixon relieves at the

hospital information desk. And more

than one person has been rushed to surgery for prompt emergency treatment by this slim young native of Bocas del Toro Province. There was the time during the war, for instance, when an injured machinist was

brought to the hospital from his ship. He

had been repairing the ship's guns and a

recoil spring had slipped and struck

GU1LLERMO L. Di.\0.\

his head. Dixon was the only messenger around when the patient reached the hospital. He was certain that the injured man

was dying but hurried him into the elevator and upstairs to surgery. No one in the

hospital was more delighted than Dixon

when the patient recovered. Dixon went to work at Gorgas Hospital

in 1940, some two years after he came to Panama City. His first job was as an

assistant in the kitchen, delivering food

to the various wards. From this job he moved into the message center, working as a floor messenger

for about three months. For the next six months or so he was a route messenger,

delivering mail and hospital papers from

one office to another. Later that year he became the messenger foreman, in charge

of the 19 men who made up the crew at that time. His station is at the admitting office desk where he receives calls for messengers from all over the hospital and dispatches

the nine men in those jobs to move patients or papers as has been requested. He

helps in filing patients' cards, answers one

of the telephones which seem always to be ringing, sorts and distributes hospital

mail. Dixon is married and lives in La Boca

with his wife and three sons. After hours he sometimes puts on a white coat and serves at private parties.

With his on-hours and off-hours jobs he thinks he has an interesting time. There's always something happening.
14 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW January 4,1952

THIS MONTH'S CALENDAR

JANUARY

4th—American Legion, Post No. 6, Gamboa Legion Hall, 7:30 p. m. V.F.W., No. 3857, New Cristobal, 7:30

p. m. 5th—Track Foremen, Xo. 2741, B & B

Shops, Balboa. 6th—Masters, Mates, and Pilots, No.

27, Diablo Clubhouse, 9 a. m. 7th—Postal Employees, No. 23160, Bal- boa Lodge Hall, 7:30 p. m. American Legion, Tost No. 3, Gatun

Lodge Hall, 7:30 p. in. V.F.W., Post No. 727, Fort Clayton,

7:30 p. m. V.F.W., Post No. 3822, Curundu Road,

7:30 p. m. Pedro Miguel Civic Council, Union

Church, 7 p. m.

Cristobal- Margarita Civic Council,

Margarita Clubhouse, 7:30 p. in. 8th—American Legion Auxiliary, Post No. 1, Balboa Legion Hall, 7:30 p. in. Electrical Workers, No. 397, Balboa

Lodge Hall, 7:30 p. m. American Legion, Post No. 7, Fort Clavton, 7:30 p. m. V.F.W., Post No. 100, Old Boy Scout

Building, Cristobal, 7:30 p. m. Gatun Civic Council, Gatun Clubhouse,

7:30 p. m. 9th—American Legion, Post No. 2, Cristobal Legion Hall, 7:30 p. m.

Pacific Civic" Council, Board Room,

Administration Building, 7:30 p. m. 10th—Painters, No. 1232, House 0838,

Balboa, 7 p. m. 11th—Blacksmiths, No. 400 (combined

with Boilermakers, Nos. 463 and 471)

Margarita K. of C. Hall, 7:30 p. m.

13th—Plumbers, No. 606, Margarita K. of C. Hall, 9:30 a. m. 14th—Machinists, No. 699, Margarita K.

of C. Hall, 7:30 p. m. American Legion, Post No. 1, Balboa

Legion Hall, 7:30 p. m. 15th—Operating Engineers, No. 595, Margarita K. of C. Hall, 7 p. m.

16th A.F.G.E., No. 14, Balboa Clubhouse,

7:30 p. m.

V.F.W., Post No. 40, Balboa K. of C.

Hall. 7:30 p. m. American Legion Auxiliary, Post No. 3, Gatun Legion Hall, 7:30 p. m.

17th—American Legion Auxiliary, Post No. 6, Gamboa Legion Hall, 7:30 p.m. 18th—V.F.W., Post No. 3857, New Cristobal, 7:30 p. m. 20th—C.L U-M.T.C, Margarita Clubhouse, 8:30 a. m.

21st—Electrical Workers, No. 677, Gatun

Masonic Temple, 7:30 p. m. 22d—Operating Engineers, No. 595, Bal- boa Lodge Hall, 7 p. m. American Legion, Post No. 7, Fort

Clavton, 7:30 p. m. V.F.W., Post No. 100, Old Boy Scout

Building, Cristobal. 7:30 p. m. 23d—A.F.G.E., No. 88, Margarita Clubhouse, 7:30 p. m. American Legion Auxiliary, Post No.

2, Cristobal Legion Hall, 7:30 p. m.

24th—Governor-Employee Conference

Board Room, Administration Building,

2 p. m. 28th—V.F.W. Auxiliary, Post No. 3822

Post Home, 7:30 p. m. Machinists, No. 699, Margarita K. of C. Hall, 7:30 p. m.

January Sailings

From Cristobal

Cristobal January 4 Ancon January 1

1

Panama January 1

8

Cristobal January 25 From New York

Ancon ^January 2 Panama January 9

Cristobal January 16 Ancon^ January 23 Panama January 30

PROMOTIONS AND TRANSFERS

From November 15 Through December 15

The following list contains the names of those employees who were transferred from

one division to another or from one type of work to another. It does not contain within grade promotions or regradings.

ADMINISTRATIVE BRANCH

Albert H. Evans, from Administrative

Assistant to Assistant Chief, Administrative Branch. CIVIL AFFAIRS BUREAU

Robert B. Mcllvaine, from Clerk, Hotel

Tivoli, to Customs Guard, Postal, Customs,

and Immigration Division. Paul H. Reynolds, from Guard, Division

of Storehouses, to Fireman, Fire Division. Harold J. Zierten, from High School Teacher to Assistant Principal, Balboa High

School, Division of Schools. Otto L. Savold, from Assistant Post- master, Cristobal, to Postmaster, Ancon,

Postal, Customs, and Immigration Division. Francis G. Farrell, from Assistant Post- master, Balboa, to Assistant Postmaster,

Cristobal, Postal, Customs, and Immigration Division. Mark Z. Brandon, from Clerk-in- Charge, Air Mail Field Post Office, to Assist- ant Postmaster, Ancon, Postal, Customs,

and Immigration Division. Julius M. Culpepper, from Special Postal Clerk to Clerk-in-Charge, Air Mail

Field Post Office, Postal, Customs, and Immigration Division. Eldridge N. Burton, from Assistant Postmaster, Ancon, to Assistant Postmaster, Balboa, Postal, Customs, and Immigration

Division. Earl F. Unruh, from Postmaster, Ancon,

to Postal Inspector, Postal, Customs, and

Immigration Division. COMMUNITY SERVICES BUREAU

John W. Manush, Jr., from Supply

Clerk (General) to Clerk, Housing Division.

Mrs. Grace E. Brown, from Traffic Clerk, Terminals Division, to Supply Clerk, Housing Division. Mrs. Maurine K. Jenks, from Substitute Teacher, Division of Schools, to Clerk- Typist, Housing Division. ENGINEERING AND CONSTRUCTION

BUREAU

Arthur N. Asad, from Auto Repair

Machinist, Motor Transportation Division, to Construction Equipment Maintenance

Mechanic, Municipal Division. George H. Waugh, from Powerhouse

Operator to Senior Powerhouse Operator,

Electrical Division. John L. Whigam, from Locks Operator,

Wireman, Atlantic Locks, to Wireman, Electrical Division.HEALTH BUREAU

Mrs. Tulia R. Pinilla, from Storekeeper

(General) to Clerk, Gorgas Hospital.

Helen C. Milloy, from Clerk to Supply

Assistant, Gorgas Hospital. Mrs. Cora H. Oliver, from Clerk to Property and Supply Clerk, Gorgas Hospital.

INDUSTRIAL BUREAU

Mrs. Martha Dillon, from Tabulating

Machine Operator, Personnel Bureau, to Bookkeeping Machine Operator, Industrial Bureau. Kenneth F. Brassel, from Plumber,

Building Division, to Pipefitter, Industrial Bureau. Benjamin F. Slaughter, from Lock

Operator (Machinist), Locks Division, to Machinist, Industrial Bureau. MARINE BUREAU

Ralph E. Malcolm, from Lock Operator

(Wireman) to Tunnel Operator (Wireman),

Atlantic Locks. Fred F. Schwartz, from Tunnel Operator

(Wireman) to Junior Control House OperaANNIVERSARIES

Employees who observed important anniversaries during the month of December

are listed alphabetically below. The number

of years includes all Government service, with the Canal or other agencies. Those

with continuous Canal or Railroad service are indicated with (*). 7!

41 Years

J. E. Schriftgiesser, Administrative Assistant, Motor Transportation Division. 35 Years Anthony Fernandez, Foreman, Marine

Bunkering, Terminals Division. 30 Years Joseph A. Farr, Senior Chief Towboat

Engineer, Dredging Division. Frank H. Irwin, Designing Engineer,

Engineering Division. Albert J. Mathon, Lieutenant, Fire

Division. Bert G. Tydeman, Junior Control House Operator, Atlantic Locks. 25 Years

*Hazel A. Alsing, Nurse, Gorgas Hospital.

S. C. Callender, Clubhouse Manager,

Clubhouse Division. Richard E. Cox, Administrative Officer, Commissary Division. Walter A Wieman, Housing Manager,

Housing Division.20 Years Wilbur C. Dunscombe, Chemist, Board

of Health Laboratory.

Howard M. Fuller, Accounting Clerk, Finance Bureau. George K. Hudgins, Pilot, Navigation

Division. George L. Radel, Tunnel Operator,

Machinist, Atlantic Locks. Roy C. Stockham, Chief, Locks Division. 15 Years

Paul L. Beck, Principal, Cristobal High

School. Felix A. Boles, Senior Machinist, Aids to Navigation Section. Edward J. Brady, Assistant Relief Fore- man, Railroad and Terminals Bureau. Bernard J. Brown, Chemical Engineer,

Engineering Division. *Martin W. Carmody, Road Conductor,

Railroad Division. Robert C. Daniel, Yard and Road Conductor, Railroad Division. •Sidney Hayes, Policeman, Police Division. *Scott J. McKay, Chief Towboat

Engineer, Dredging Division. Harry W. Moist, Assistant Roundhouse

Foreman, Railroad Division. 'Raymond M. Schneider, Locomotive

Electrician, Railroad Division. Kathryn P. Stapf, Cash Accounting

Clerk, Railroad and Terminals Bureau. *Bernice Stephenson, Clerk, Motor

Transportation Division.

tor, Atlantic Locks. Francis J. Moumblow, from Junior Control House Operator to Lockmaster,

Atlantic Locks. Earl Cassell, from Lockmaster to Electrical Supervisor, Atlantic Locks. Gilbert L. Fritts, from Pilot-in-Training

to Probationary Pilot, Navigation Division. Lewis R. Cox, from Chauffeur, Motor

Transportation Division, to Guard Supervisor, Dredging Division. John A. Henson, from Foreman, Aids to Navigation Section, to Towboat Master, Navigation Division. Albert L. Taylor, from Steam Engineer

(Floating Crane) to Engineer (Dipper

Dredge), Dredging Division. James E. Cole, from Hydrographic

Engineer to Chief, Surveys Branch, Dredging Division. Gordon E. Walbridge, from Surveying

and Cartographic Engineer, to Hydrographic Engineer, Dredging Division. Thomas C. Makibbln, from Probationary Pilot to Pilot, Navigation Division. Robert A. Boydston, from Radio Mechanic to Chief Radio Operator, Aids to Navigation Section. Frank F. Roberson, from Machinist,

Industrial Bureau, to Lock Operator (Machinist), Atlantic Locks. {.See next page)
January 4,1 952 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW 15

TIPS FOR TYPISTS have been given to 50 of the Canal's experienced stenographers and typists on the Pacific side and plans are being made to organize similar classes on the Atlantic 3ide. The above

picture shows Mrs. Mary B. Eugene, Balboa High School teacher who is conducting the classes, giving individual help to one of the "students." Three classes have already been held at the Junior College in Balboa and another is scheduled for this month. The classes last for one and a half hours and are attended by about 17 regularly employed

typists who are excused from their duties to attend. The special instruction ha3 proved instructive and highly popular although some of the students were somewhat sceptical before attending. The

classes were organized by the Training Section of the Personnel Bureau.

PROMOTIONS AND TRANSFERS RETIREMENTS IN DECEMBER

{Continued from page 14) PERSONNEL BUREAU

Mrs. Helen M. Cicero, from Card Punch

Operator to Tabulating Machine Operator, Personnel Bureau. RAILROAD AND TERMINALS BUREAU

William J. Rose, from Auto Repair

Machinist, Motor Transportation Division,

to Locomotive Machinist, Railroad Division. Mrs. Barbara M. Hutchings, from

Clerk-Stenographer, Administrative Branch,

to Clerk-Typist, Steamship Ticket Office. Robert Ward, from Wood and Steel Car- man to Car Inspector, Railroad Division. Frank P. McLaughlin, Jr., from Commissary Assistant, Commissary Division, to Foreman, Cribtenderand Gauger, Terminals

Division. SUPPLY AND SERVICE BUREAU

Desmond S. Doig, from Principal Fore- man, Municipal Division, to Chauffeur,

Large Truck, Motor Transportation

Division. SAFETY BRANCH

Russell T. Wise, from Construction

Engineer, Municipal Division, to Public Safety Assistant, Safety Branch.

HOUSING PROGRAM INTO HIGH GEAR

{Continued from page 3) illustrated in this issue of the Review is a single, three-bed- room house with a covered terrace at the back of the living room. Another new

type, classed as a three bedroom house,

actually has one small and one large bed- room, with a folding partition to divide

the larger bedroom into two smaller ones. This latter house was pictured in the November Review.

PARAISO: At Paraiso 115 masonry

two-family houses are scheduled, in the north and south extensions of the town. Five of the houses will have 1 bedroom;

61 will have 2 bedrooms for each apart- ment; 40 will be of the three-bedroom

type and 9 will have 4 bedrooms to each

apartment. The houses will be identical with those built at Silver City this year. The bid includes grading, excavation,

installation of a street lighting system, a sewage system, paving of streets, and

walks, and installation of other utilities. SUMMIT: Work at the new U. S.-rate town of Summit, off Gaillard Highway

between the Gun Club and the Summit

Golf Club, is divided into two parts. Included in one group contract is the

clearing, grubbing, rough grading, and

site preparation work of approximately

150 acres. Also under this bid is the

construction of a storm sewer drainage

Employees who retired at the end of December, their birthplaces, titles, length of service at retirement, and their future addresses are: Mrs. Mary G. Hammond, Connecticut; Tabulating Machine Operator, Accounting

Division; 14 years, 7 months and 11 days;

Ramsey, N. J. Dr. Philip Horwitz, Poland; Quarantine

Officer, Cristobal; 31 years, 7 months and

16 days; future address uncertain. Mrs. Edna M. Judson, Massachusetts; Claims Examiner, Finance Bureau; 20 years,

7 months and 21 days; Boston, Mass. Jacob F. Krause, Pennsylvania; Junior Control House Operator, Atlantic Locks; 31

years, 9 months and 10 davs; Pitman, N. J. Mrs. Delia G. Pilkerton, Virginia, Nurse Supervisor, Corozal Hospital; 35

years, 7 months and 6 days; Delaplanes, Va. John F. Stopa, West Virginia; Head

Stevedore Foreman, Terminals Division, Cristobal; 11 years, 11 months and 16 days;

New York City. '

system including appurtenant structures. Work under the other group contract is the construction of a sewage treatment

plant, and two concrete water tanks,

similar to those to be built at Cardenas. These will furnish water for Paraiso as

well as for Summit. In this bid are water

supply mains, appurtenances, and a

service road.

Dredging Division Keeps Canal Clear

{Continued from page 9) is SUcked through

the cutter that is too large to go through

the pipeline. Then a manhole on the

suction line has to be opened and the obstruction removed. Mr. Orr, who grew up on the Isthmus, has been working for the Canal off and on

since he left school in 1912. His first job was with the Storehouses, but after a trip to California he decided that dredges were his main love and on his return went

to work in 1914 as a pipeline foreman

working on one of the old French dredges

which the Canal organization was still using. The only place where he has never

dug, he says, is at Toro Point and he

doesn't understand why he has missed an assignment there. The men of the Mindi, including chief cook Stanley Grant, who turns out a superb cherry pie among other culinary

achievements, work on an around-theclock basis in three shifts. Unlike the crew of the Cascadas and because they

are not governed by the tides, they work

three regular watches from Monday to

Board Expected To Study

Company Finance Matters

(Continued from page 1 ) which are on the agenda is the question of moving the northern terminus of the Panama Line to a more southerly port. Estimated costs

of securing the service of expert consult- ants on this are to be presented.

The primary purpose of the meeting on

the Isthmus is to give Board members an

opportunity to study Canal operations at

first hand and orient themselves with

conditions here. Some of the member?

have never visited the Isthmus. The September meeting of the Board was originally scheduled to be held in the Canal Zone but the plans were later changed. Governor Newcomer renewed

the invitation for a Canal Zone meeting

last September and it was the consensus

of the Board that at least one meeting

should be held here annually.

No Fixed Schedule

No fixed schedule of events has been

planned since this will depend largely on

the extent of the stay of the individual members. Plans are being made, however, to give all Directors ample opportunity to acquaint themselves thoroughly

with the wide variety of activities con- ducted by the Company and to inspect

the various Canal installations. The Governor hopes that arrangements

can be made to hold only a brief orientation session Monday and" delay until later

in the week the principal business sessions. This will give the visitors a better opportunity to study or discuss problems in- formally on an individual basis before any

formal consideration by the Board as a

whole. Secretary Not To Attend

Secretary of the Army Frank Pace, Jr., Stockholder of the Company, will be unable to attend the January meeting. Others not expected to attend are Gordon

Gray, President of the University of North Carolina and former Secretary of the Army, John W. Martyn, Administrative Assistant of the Department of the Army, Lt. Gen. R. A. Wheeler, Ret., and

Maj. Gen. G. E. Edgerton, Ret. The Secretary of the Army's Office will be represented by Karl R. Bendetsen,

Assistant Secretary of the Army, who is Chairman of the Board and will preside

at the meetings. Mr. Bendetsen arrived on the Isthmus last Monday and has

spent the past few days in conference with various Canal officials and inspecting

Canal facilities. In addition to the Governor and Mr.

Bendetsen, Board members scheduled to attend are: T. Coleman Andrews, B. F. Burdick, Edward D. McKim, W. R.

Pfizer, Maj. Gen. Julian L. Schley, Ret., and Daniel E. Taylor.

The Board meeting will also be attended by Lieutenant Governor Herbert D.

Vogel, Vice President of the Company,

and James C. Hughes, Secretary.

Saturday morning. At present they are cutting down the Cristobal shoals, a proj- ect which started more than a year ago and whose object is the enlargement of Cristobal harbor. A job like that, together with the work

done by the men of the Cascadas, the engineers, the water hyacinth men, and the

others ashore and afloat, the dredging men

are convinced, is what keeps the Canal

operating.
16 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW January 4, 1952

Revived Pacific Side "Twilight League"

Again To Provide Season of Baseball

An old Canal Zone institution, which

has been part of the life of Pacific Siders

off and on since about 1916, will be re- vived January 13 when the Twilight

League opens its baseball season for 1952. This year "Twilight" will be a misnomer, for a majority of the league's games

will be played under the lights of the Balboa Stadium. A schedule for the 11- week season is now being made up and will

call for four games weekly, one of them a double-header on Sunday afternoon. The daytime games will be held to seven innings; those played at night will run the full nine innings. Four teams, each limited to 20 players,

all of whom will be local amateurs, will make up this year's Twilight League.

They will be the Old Timers, Working

Boys, Balboa High School team, and a team from the Balboa Boys' Club. Popcorn, hot dogs, and soft drinks

which will be sold during the games will add to the baseball atmosphere.

To Foster Baseball Interest When the League was reorganized late

last fall, its bylaws described the purpose

of the league as being: "To foster opportunities for young men desiring to further

their baseball abilities and to create an

interest in a game that will produce upstanding citizens and leaders of the fu- ture. It is also intended to bring to the communities a form of recreation and

entertainment."

Umpires will be from the Army League

and uniforms are being provided by each

team's sponsor. An additional feature this year will be

the scouting of Joe Cicero, whose 21 -year

baseball career included tours with the Boston Braves, Philadelphia Athletics,

and Cincinnati Reds. He has been ap- pointed a scout for the Brooklyn Dodgers

and will attend all games, looking for

likely big league material. Baseball on the Isthmus is almost as

old as the beginning of the construction

period. In 1906, when American work on

the Canal was only two years old, an Isth- mian Baseball League was flourishing. Baseball was played everywhere, mostly

in the dry season, but the season sometimes extended well into the mid-summer.

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0> 71 lO^^U) Q^^^ "j wm——u «0= =^! »4— u

TWILIGHT LEAGUE games have always attracted local baseball fans. A number ofoldtimers can be spotted here, in this undated photograph which was taken probably in the late 1930's or early 1940s. Enjoying the game from the front row is Earl Stewart, then employed in the Accounting Department. Behind the unidentified woman is Captain George Hudson, a Canal pilot. Others, left to

right in the second row are: Robert Glaw, a former Paymaster; Captain Arthur Luther, for many

years a Panama Canal pilot; M. B. Huff, who succeeded Mr. Glaw as Paymaster; Fred Brady, of Wilford & McKay, shipping agents. In the third row are: an unidentified man, LeRoy Magnuson,

Floyd H. Baldwin and J. E. Heady.

Players represented various towns or

divisions and in 1907 a move was on foot

to form teams made up of natives of various States. In September 1907 an

all-Kentucky team was hurling challenges

to various other State teams, its particular

desire being to cross pitches with the men

from Georgia, who had organized a team

at Culebra.Diamond Laid Out

In 1914, when Canal headquarters were

transferred to Balboa, one of the first things done was the laying out of a baseball diamond "between the Balboa corral and the Street railway tracks." The first mention in Canal files of a Twilight League did not come until 1916 when the League, through its president,

Major W. R. Groves (then Chief Quartermaster), asked permission to use the dia- mond behind the Balboa Commissary

CHAMPIONS FOR 1946 were the players from the Mechanical Division. Back row, left to

right: Captain A. S. Pitre, Superintendent of the Mechanical Division, William J. Bain, Lloyd K.

Henry, John P. Corrigan, Jr., William H. Hele, Harold L. Smith. Front row, left to right: Michael

( lleason, Lloyd A. Ponson, William C. Showrank, Wilfred A. Lavallee, and Richard F. Capps.

from January 1 to July 1. Eight clubs played in the league that year: The

Supply Department, Metal Trades Council, Pacific Terminals, Car Repair Shop,

the Boiler Shop, the Accounting Department, the Electrical Division, and the Building Division. Past presidents of the Twilight League

include R. K. Morris, also a former Chief

Quartermaster, George H. Cassell, now

General Manager for the Housing Division's Southern District, and R. W. Glaw,

former Paymaster.

A. C. Medinger, now Deputy Director

of the Marine Bureau, was top pitcher for the Metal Trades team in the 1918 season. One of the high periods of the Twilight

League's history was during the early

1930's. By that time the ball grounds in Balboa had come to be known as "Razzberry Park," and baseball fans rushed

there right after work to see the four teams in the League tangle from 4 p. m.

until darkness stopped the game. One of the teams in 1932 went by the fancy name

of "Mysterymen." A star player in that

outfit was Fred Mead, now of the Administrative Branch, and a leading backer

for the very junior "Little League."

Other well-known Isthmian names crop up on old Twilight League records:

Terrell Toone, Bobby Engelke, "Jiggs"

Cross, Bill Hele, Dick Stoudnor, "Junior"

Mitten, Moises de la Pena, Marc Quinn,

"Rusty" Jones, and Jimmy Thompson.

President of this year's Pacific Twilight

League is William Carlin, a resident of Balboa and an employee of the Army, who

once played semi-pro ball in Philadelphia.

Benjamin Suisman, of the Engineering

and Construction Bureau, who repre- sented the Boys' Club in the 1945 league,

is vice president.

Augustus R. Kara, of the Engineering

Division, is treasurer and publicity man,

and G. C. Lockridge, of the Schools Division, is the trustee.