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NOVEMBER 1967

y
W. P. Leber, Governor-President

H. R. Parfitt, Lieutenant Governor

Frank A. Baldwin

Panama Canal Information Officer

&*J5£k

Robert D. Kerr, Press Officer Publications Editors Morgan E. Goodwin and Tomas A. Cupas

Editorial Assistants Eunice Richard, Tobi Bittel, Fannie P. Hernandez, and Jose T. Tunon

Official Panama Canal Publication Published quarterly at Balboa Heights, C.Z

Printed at the Printing Plant, La Boca, C.Z. Review articles may be reprinted in full or part without

further clearance. Credit to the Review will be appreciated.

Distributed free of charge to all Panama Canal Employees.

Subscriptions, $1 a year; airmail $2 a year; mail and back copies (regular mail), 25 cents each.

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

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

cAbout Our Cover

MOLAS MADE by the Cuna Indians of the San Bias

Islands adorn the cover of this issue of The Panama

Canal Review.

Artistically designed in bright colors and intricately sewn, they represent a small but purely Panamanian

industry. The molas themselves occasionally reach the

smart shops of New Orleans and New York where they

fetch good prices. They are seen with greater frequency

in Panama.

When framed, they make handsome wall decorations

for die home—the most common use for them. They also are used to cover pillows and stitched together to form

jackets, blouses or skirts. The mola consists basically of four pieces of cotton

cloth, usually 14 by 20 inches, of different colors, with

green, red, orange and black dominating. These are placed in layers, one over the other, and sewn together.

At first glance, they seem to be appliqued, but this is not the case. The Indian seamstress cuts into the layers

of material until she finds the color she wants; by cutting

Snaex

Panama's Banana Industry 3

Inter American Geodetic Survey 6

Cristobal Women's Club 9

Shipping Notes 10

Summit Gardens 11

Visiting Cruise Ships 14

Shipping Statistics __ 14

Canal History 16

National Lottery 17

Anniversaries 22

away and by sewing the edges, she creates the design

she wishes.

These designs have no religious significance, contrary

to what many believe, and the variety of designs is limited only by the rich imagination of the Cuna women

who have an extraordinary artistic sense.

It is believed that the mola came into existence in the middle of the last century when the Cunas established

themselves on the islands in search of a climate more

hospitable than that of the jungle. The women wore

white blouses of cotton witfi shells and pieces of mirrors

and beads used as trimmings on the borders of the blouse. The appearance of colored cloth and the sewing

machine on the islands permitted the women to change

the beads on their blouses for trimmings of colored material, beginning with simple designs. These evolved into more complicated designs and soon covered the entire blouse. Thus the mola was born.

Now, a prospective bride of San Bias would not think

of getting married if she did not have a dozen new molas

in her trousseau.

What's the crowd waiting for? Turn to page 17 and find out.

2 November 1967
«il

Freshly cut bananas, still bearing their protective polyethylene sacks, are taken from the field to the packing house. Each stem of this very

delicate fruit is carefully place into a cradlelike section of the vehicle as further protection against bruising.

3d Vital to Panama

Banana Industry

SOMETIMES THEY call it green gold. But it's familiar to most people as the banana—plump, tasty and a hardworking contributor to Panama's economy.

The consumer in the United States or Europe may think this nickname odd

because he knows bananas are yellow, not green. But they are green when

the big, 75-pound stalks are harvested and still green when shipped out to customers abroad. The banana grows wild throughout

much of Panama, but it is the commercial cultivation of bananas that means much to the country. The banana in

this case is the sweet banana, not the

plaintain or cooking banana which is starchy rather than sweet. The plaintain is used widely as a key ingredient

in many dishes, and eaten as a vegetable in Latin America. However, it rarely appears in the markets of the Temperate Zone. More than 11,000 Panamanians are employed in the banana industry which

The Panama Canal Review 3

exported almost 14 million bunches in 1966, according to Panama Government

figures. This represented nearly $35 million, and was 44 percent of the country's

total exports. Besides salaries, the banana means tax money for schools, roads,

hospitals and services every citizen expects from his government.

This remarkable plant is one of the

world's most important fruits for three fundamental reasons—its food value,

pleasing flavor and year-round availability. Less obvious characteristics enhance its value as a crop that lends

itself to profitable large scale cultivation.

Production is more or less constant throughout the year, so management

doesn't have to hire great numbers

of workers for brief periods, particularlv during harvest time. This built-in advantage also gives the field hand a steady pavcheck as opposed to a seasonal one. Another tremendous benefit is comparative freedom from constant replantiiigs. The seed, composed of suckers and

divisions of the psuedostem, produces

a new plant every 10 to 15 months for

as long as 40 years.

After fruiting, the 10 to 12-foot stem

or false trunk dies. A sweep of the machete cuts it down and other suckers soon shoot up from the underground

rhizome (stem).

Thanks to the rapid growth and the

fact that the first crop is obtained in about a year, financial returns are quick; the planter doesn't have a lot of cash

tied up for a long time in a slow- growing crop. The entire operation sounds unbelievably simple, but it really isn't. There

are hazards and pitfalls that must be

avoided if banana cultivation on a commercial basis is to succeed. Highly

efficient and knowledgeable management is a must. Effective organization

and flexibility must guide every phase

(See p. 4)
Wind, Cold

Are Enemies

OfBananas

(Continued from p. 3)

of the operation—growing, harvesting,

packing, distributing and sales.

irrigation is required to guarantee

continuous production during the dry

season. Spraying with DDT and other chemicals is imperative to keep bananas

coming and free of disease. A highly perishable commodity, the banana has to be handled carefully. The

time to cut the green fruit is selected through careful observation and by

people with considerable experience.

The degree of maturity the fruit is al- lowed to attain before harvesting de- pends upon the distance it must travel

to market and the type of transportation. Bananas going from Panama to the United States ripen 8 to 10 days after cutting time. For those going to Europe,

it takes longer.

Refrigerated ships, in which they

travel to consumers, are cooled to about

56 degrees, slowing to some extent the ripening process.

Bananas, like virtually all crops, are vulnerable to disease. The most lethal

is called Panama disease, which also is prevalent in other countries. It is a fun- gus that destroys the roots, then the rest of the plant.

Blowdowns are another menace to bananas. Even light winds can lay waste

to acre after acre of bananas. Of less importance to Panama but of great con- sequence to other regions of the world is the danger of a cold snap. When the mercury drops to below 54 degrees, the grower can expect to find some damage

to the fruit. The leader of Panama's banana industry is the Chiriqui Land Company, a subsidiary of the United Fruit Company. The firm's first investment in Pan- ama was at the Caribbean settlement of Almirante in 1898. By 1914, the pro- duction from the region's Changuinola

A workman unloads the stems at the packing plant. Here they are hung individually on overhead hooks that carry them to the processing areas where they are first cut from the stem.

Valley became famous for high quality

bananas which brought good prices in the United States and Canada.

At the end of World War I, an infes- tation of Panama disease destroyed great

numbers of banana plants and almost

forced the company to close down its operations here. But it survived and

gradually recovered. In 1927, it set up

a new branch on the Pacific coast in Chiriqui, calling it the Armuelles Divi- sion-presently the largest banana pro- ducing enterprise in the country. This

region was called Rabo de Puerco (pigtail) at the time and is now the citv of Puerto Armuelles.

Intent youth cuts "hands" of bananas from the stems with hooked knife, then places them

into the washing tubs behind him. Women separate them into smaller hands, cull out those

not meeting quality standards and put the others on conveyor belts for weighing and packing.

November 1967
It was a swampy, malaria and insect- ridden area but gradually that was

changed. Under terms of a contract with the Government, the company built a large wharf on the bay, laid several miles of railroad track linking it with

the main track of Panama's Ferrocarril Nacional de Chiriqui and made

other improvements not covered by the

contract. A mosquito control program helped

to convert the former pesthole into a healthy community. A company-built

and operated hospital serves the more

than 5,000 employees and their families. Needed skills are learned at the modern

machine shop. Schools put up by the company for workers' families were

turned over to the Panama Government,

which now administers them. Recreational facilities and athletic teams for both adults and children were established. A scholarship program for children,

a retirement plan and housing are some of the other benefits the company

provides for employees.

The Armuelles Division of the Chiri- qui Land Company has an annual payroll of more than $7 million and contributes heavily to the local economy by

purchasing cement, paint, lumber, food

and innumerable other commodities.

It also pays rent to the railroad for use of the main line, export tax, income

and other miscellaneous taxes. Together

these payments come to more than $3

million a year. A few years ago after the company began shipping bananas by

pasteboard box instead of by stem, the Armuelles Division built a $2 million factory where Chiricanos are employed

to turn out these containers. Each one holds 42 pounds of bananas,

allowing for shrinkage to a guaranteed

40 pounds, and last year the division exported 12 million boxes, mostly to the United States. The divisional manager,

Clyde E. DeLawder, points out that 30 percent of this comes from 14 independent producers who profit by the

large company's marketing and other

facilities. "We buy all they produce,"

he explained.

The Gros Michel specie of banana,

the most popular grown for many years

in this area, is being replaced by the

Valery. "The Gros Michel banana is susceptible to Panama disease which

ruins the soil for bananas in the future,"

DeLawder noted. "We began to box

bananas in 1961. This opened the way

to the Valery, a thin-skinned banana that bruises easily but resists Panama dis- ease." The Gros Michel is being phased

out at Puerto Armuelles and eventually

•1L

Properly-weighed quantity of fniit, 42 pounds, goes into open trays and is inspected before being placed into plastic-lined box. Spool near the girl's head contains United Fruit Company's "Chiquita" trademark seal for bananas going to the United States and Europe.

onlv Valerv bananas will be produced.

The word Valery is a registered

trademark of the United Fruit Co. Bananas take a lot of nitrogen from

the soil. Fertilizers are used in great

quantities to replace it. Aerial spraying

lays down fertilizers, fungicides and in- secticides. Polyethylene sacks are placed

over every stalk of maturing bananas

to offer further protection against insects. This gives the illusion that the sacks are almost part of the plant.

Every 6 to 10 years land is left fallow

to starve out the nematodes in that

Two-fisted eater of bananas, William E. Lebrun, Jr., is obviously an enthusiastic supporter of the Panama banana industry.

area. Another important measure is the use of guy lines to give each plant

greater support and protection against

blowdown.

Mechanization is used where practical, but many of these tasks must be

done by hand labor. At the packing

plant, stalks suspended from overhead

hooks move on a conveyor to large

washing pools. Workmen use short curved knives to cut "hands" of bananas

from the stalks and place them into the water for washing.

Women discard those that don't meet

the quality standards. The rest are car- ried on to where the brand name seal, "Chiquita" if bound for the United

States or Europe, is placed on each one.

Finally, they are placed in cartons, which are checked for weight. The

bananas are covered with a layer of polyethylene and the box closed. The banana yields few byproducts

though one company does produce

mashed banana, or puree. Demand for high quality fruit in temperate markets is great, fluctuating

only slightly according to the availability of other fruits. This delicious food, which

provides the livelihood for thousands of persons in Panama and other nations of Latin America, Asia and Africa, seems

to be almost perfect. But for the chubby consumer, at least,

it isn't. Bananas contain about 460

calories per pound.

The Panama Canal Review
IAGSMapping

Experts Aid

The Americas

THE INTER American Geodetic Sur- vey (IAGS) is one of the largest U.S. mapping organizations but it does not produce a single map.

Its task is to assist the mapping

agencies in Central and South America

in producing the maps themselves. Maps can be used as valuable tools for implementing economic development

programs. Mapping in the Americas had its beginning near the end of World War

II, in 1945 when President Harry S. Truman directed the U.S. War Department to establish long-range mapping

and charting projects in the Antilles, Central and South America. To carry out this mission, the Caribbean Defense

Command was assigned the responsibility and was issued an initial directive April 5, 1946, forming the Inter American Geodetic Survey.

The directive designated its plan as "Mapping Plans Caribbean Defense

Command," abbreviated MAPPLAN,

CDC. Now it is simply MAPPLAN.

From 1946 to 1957, a few maps were

produced. During those years, the geodetic networks were being established and photographs were being taken. Some 170,000 square miles of Latin

America have been mapped since the inauguration of the plan.

IAGS projects are at work in Bolivia,

Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica,

Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Sal- vador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and

Venezuela.

The IAGS carries out the U.S. Army's

portion of the MAPPLAN directive to

collect existing data; to obtain new

data through aerial photography and

in the field; to establish a geodetic

tie between North and South America; to standardize maps; to develop

cartographic agencies; and to promote

international good will. When IAGS personnel speak of mapping Latin America, they refer to

a total area of more than 8 million square miles. Brazil alone is 250,000

square miles larger than the continental United States. IAGS has loaned more than $5

They're not admiring the scenery, although that would be easy to do. The group above is engaged in leveling while standing atop a dam in Brazil.

millions worth of equipment to the col- laborating agencies of Latin American

nations. Each of these agencies receive continuous technical assistance from

qualified, bilingual U.S. technicians

either permanently assigned to the country or on temporary duty assign- ments from the Canal Zone. Technical

training is provided in the Canal Zone

Cartographic School. U.S. bilingual

personnel perform certain operations

beyond the capability of the collaborat- ing agency and bilingual engineers in the field give on-the-job training, as- sisting in the preparation of the annual

mapping program of the country.

Col. Edward C. Bruce, the new director of the U.S. Army Inter American Geodetic

Survey, is on his second assignment in Latin America. He served as MAPPLAN

officer for the United States Southern Command from September 1961 to July 1964.

More than 550 rugged military-type

vehicles—needed because of inadequate

roads or extreme weather conditionsare on loan to collaborating nations.

In the Canal Zone, IAGS has an

instrument branch where repairs are made to instruments for collaborating

agencies as well as those of IAGS.

Every two years, each piece of technical equipment is rotated for complete

inspection, adjustment and overhaul, if necessary. And no charge is made to the collaborating country.

The IAGS Cartographic School at Fort Clayton was established in 1952

to train people in all phases of mapmaking and geodesy, a specialized form

of mathematics related to the science

of mapmaking. To date, more than 2,200 students from 21 Latin American countries have graduated from

the school. This institution has two four-month

semesters a year and the student body

is made up of male and female, civilians and military, enlisted personnel and

officers. All courses are taught in Spanish bv bilingual instructors. The training is of a practical nature, with about 70 percent of the time being devoted to field and office exercises designed to develop the technical tal- ents of students. In 1965, a college level program in advanced photogrammetry

(using aerial photos to make accurate measurements in mapmaking) was

introduced and training now is given

at that level. About 75 percent of the photography

in South America has been accomplished by the U.S. Air Force. The balance

has been taken by the U.S. Navy

6 November 1967
and planes privately contracted within

the countries. The Canal Zone-based 937th Engineer Company provides the Army

aviation support to the Inter American

Geodetic Survey, by transporting per- sonnel and equipment to station sites. The aviators assigned to this unit are among the most highly qualified

and experienced in the Army. For some

of the most hazardous flying conditions

in the world, outside of actual combat,

are encountered in supporting the IAGS

mapping program. Types of terrain vary from the lofty Peruvian Andes

with elevations reaching 20,000 feet

to the Central American jungles and

to the vast llanos of Colombia and

Venezuela.

The 937 th Engineer Company headquarters element exists solely to support

field operations of aircraft and personnel from Guatemala to Chile and

Brazil. Thousands of miles are traveled throughout Central and South America

monthly in this support operation and

a high frequency radio network is constantly alert to pass on the routine

or unexpected requirements of mapping

operations.

The IAGS has a Natural Resources

Division, composed of geologists, hydrologists, foresters and other scientists,

to assist the Latin American countries

in their economic development pro- grams. The professional development

programs are provided by this division

at the request of USAID (United States Agency for International Development)

missions. Since its inception, in June

1963, the division has answered 35

requests for advice and assistance in

11 nations. The development programs involve

the inventory and better utilization of

natural resources such as soils, water,

vegetation, climate, physiography and

minerals in such fields as agriculture,

forestry, mining and in the installation

of various types of water and land

resources projects. In Latin America there are about

4,000 persons involved in the mapping

program; this figure includes 700

from IAGS. As each agency becomes more and more proficient, the production of that country's maps goes up and the product

will be available to the United States and to the nation itself for economic

planning or military activities. Mapping operations in Panama under

the direction of the IAGS started in 1946. The Republic of Panama, with no national cartographic agency at that time, formed a provisional Division of

(See p. 8)

Climbing a 103-foot bilby tower to get a line of sight of sufficient length for the geodetic

control is all part of a day's work for the men of the Inter American Geodetic Survey. This photo was taken in Venezuela.

Major David D. Dross, new operations officer with the 937th Engineer Company (Aviation)

is on a second tour of duty in the Canal Zone. He departed from the Canal Zone in 1964 and his last assignment before returning was in Vietnam. The aviators assigned to the 937th

are among the most highly qualified and experienced in the Army.

The Panama Canal Review
cAerial Photod

CJJential to

Mapmaklng,

(Continued from p. 7)

Cartography under the Ministry of Public Works as a part of the Pan

American Highway office to collaborate with the IAGS in the early mapping

operations.

At the beginning, the 660th Topographic Survey Battalion assisted in the basic geodetic network of levels

aind triangulation. The 660th left in 1949 and in 1955 the 551st Engineer

Company (Survey) was assigned to LAGS. Its principal duties were to perform supplemental map control and

field classification. The later members of this organization participated in the field editing

of large scale topographic map sheets

until it was transferred back to Fort

Belvoir, Virginia, in 1966. Since then,

members of the Panama government

mapping agency have continued mapping activities where photography has

been obtained. Large scale maps are more detailed than small scale. Extreme examples are

a one sheet map of the world (small

scale) in comparison with a one sheet map of a town or city (large scale). Panama's new cartographic building, the Institute Cartografico Tommy Guardia, was inaugurated by Panama Pres- ident Marco A. Robles the past FebruThe instrument is a tellurometer and using it is Julio Mock, a student from Panama in the iSEJlTT ^^P the xAGS sD

ch?oI - rSeated' from left: Jose Whittingham, assistant instructor, also from Panama; Nelson Rada of Venezuela; and Victor Villatoro of Guatemala

ary. At that time, President Robles

signed the first map sheet to be run

off a new press and he pressed the button to start the presses rolling.

The institute was named in honor of the late Tomas Guardia, Jr., who was

director of the Panama mapping agency

until his death in 1965. He was an

instructor of the Inter American Geodetic Survey Cartographic School during its early years and served as Chief

of the Office Engineering Branch of the school from 1952 to 1954. When the cartographic agency moved

into its new building, IAGS technicians

assisted in installing and calibrating the cameras and printing press. All branches of the IAGS Cartographic section have responded to requests for techA surveying party in Peru, using IAGS equipment, is a focus of interest in the town.

nical advice and other assistance since the building has been opened.

The officer in charge of the Panama

Project is Major Jack L. Duncan; the

project engineer is George E. Richardson. The chief of the Instituto Cartografico Tommy Guardia is Arq.

Edwin Fabrega.

One of the essential factors in mapmaking today is the acquisition of aerial photography. In Panama, the U.S. Air Force, Navy and civilian contractors

for the Army Map Service have obtained about 70 percent of the necessary photo coverage. The difficulties in getting the final 30 percent are constant cloud coverage in the wet season and smoke haze in the dry season. Recently, experiments have been made

with radar photography in the Darien

area from which topographic maps will be completed later this year. Of the total of 216 large scale map

sheets needed to cover the entire Republic, 104 have been published. The

two gap areas are the Darien east of Chepo and the Golfo de los Mosquitos.

Ten more map sheets were readied for publication last year when a precise

definition of the border between Pan- ama and Costa Rica was agreed to by

the mapping agencies of both countries. Utilizing information from the large

scale map sheets and source data for areas not yet mapped, the Instituto Cartografico Tommy Guardia produced

a small scale map of the entire Republic.

This is the way IAGS operates in all countries of Latin America. It helps the nation build up its own mapping

agency so that most of the work can be accomplished by that country.

8 November 1967
60th Birthday

For Cristobal

woman s Club

THE CRISTOBAL Woman's Club,

celebrating its 60th anniversary this

year, came into being in days that

tried men's souls, and even more so

tried their women's souls.

Col. William C. Gorgas had exter- minated the danger of yellow fever on

the Isthmus through mosquito control. Bv 1905, towns were growing up like mushrooms along the route of the pro- posed Panama Canal and. little bv little, these towns were peopled bv women

and children, the families of Canal

construction men.

But for the women who came to the Canal Zone in those davs there was

little of beauty, except for the tropical verdure. There were few comforts in the Canal Zone in those early days;

there were manv privations, and almost no diversions. In some cases, families lived in freight cars on sidings and manv families were housed in the most

primitive shacks. Housekeeping con- veniences were rare, food was of such poor quality that even good cooks had

their ingenuitv taxed to set a nourish- ing and appetizing table. The women

became discontented and added to the low morale of the men, with the result that every boat saw an exodus of the Canal diggers and their families. The U.S. Government, concerned

with the problems of the building of the Panama Canal, still was not too busy to consider the problem of the women in the Canal Zone. A directive was issued by the Government "to pro- vide an object in life for the wives of the employees and relieve monotony,"

and Miss Helen Varick Bosvvell was

sent from Washington's National Civic

Foundation to look into conditions. Women's clubs appeared to her to be

the answer. The Cristobal Woman's Club was

organized September 27, 1907, and was the Erst of a group of seven Isth- mian clubs formed 2 weeks later under

the name of the Canal Zone Federation

of Women's Club. These clubs were

landmarks of the early construction davs of the Panama Canal, and the

Tuesday morning workshop with members busy in Bazaar preparations.

n

turn

The Cristobal Woman's Club has been in its own building in Margarita since August 1959.

names on the club rosters are familiar

to students of Canal history. Mrs. George W. Goethals, wife of Colonel Goethals whose engineering

skill completed the mammoth task of the Canal building, was the first president of the Canal Zone Federation. The

first four vice presidents were Mrs. Lorin C. Collins, who later became president; Mrs. Gorgas, to whose husband

the Canal Zone owes its present-daysanitation; Mrs. William L. Sibert,

wife of the colonel of engineers in charge of construction on the Atlantic

side for many years, and Mrs. Chester

Harding, whose husband later became

a Governor. Then, just as the towns were deserted upon completion of the Canal and, in (See p. 21)

The Panama Canal Review
Ever Larger

SNIFFING

Tankers

THE RAPID growth in the size of the

oil tanker has manifested itself in the

past year by the delivery of the first vessel of over 200,000 tons deadweight,

the Idemitsu Maru, and by the ordering

of six tankers each of 276,000 tons deadweight for the Gulf Oil Company.

These projected vessels will be used

to transport crude oil from the Persian Gulf to a storage depot in Bantry Bay, Ireland, for trans-shipment to the European oil refineries in smaller

vessels. This system of trans-shipment is the economic solution to transportation of crude oil in large "Cape route onlv" vessels. If sufficient depth of water is pro- vided at the loading and storage ter- minals, the growth in size may continue

with a possibility that there will be

500,000 tonners and 1 million ton deadweight tankers. Giant Bulk Carrier

THE SHOBU MARU, one of the largest

bulk carriers now in service in Japan,

made her maiden voyage through the Panama Canal in mid-August with a cargo of 55,000 long tons of coal from

Norfolk to Japan. The big ship is 815

feet in length and has a beam of 104.49

feet which put her in a class with some

of the Canal's biggest customers. Her summer deadweight was given as 62,418 tons. Her agent at the Canal is Boyd Brothers.

PANAMA CANAL TRAFFIC

STATISTICS FOR FIRST QUARTER

FISCAL YEAR 1968 TRANSITS (Oceangoing Vessels)

1 968 1967

Commercial 3,316

U.S. Government 350

Free 19

3,035 189

98

Total 3,685 3,252

TOLLS

Commercial $20,527,815 $18,666,255

U.S. Government- 2,284,978 1,168,509

Total__ $22,812,793 $19,834,764

CARGO00 Commercial 23,399,819 21,331,067

U.S. Government. 2,331,390 1,151,816 Free 134,260 153,481

Total 25,865,469 22,636,364

° Includes tolls on all vessels, oceangoing and

small. 00 Cargo figures are in long tons.

According to a recent article in the Marine Digest, the Shobu Maru has a revolutionary bow design which en- abled her to exceed design specifica- tions in test runs. Her new contour combines the best features of both

cylindrical and bulbous bows. It was

developed by Nippon Kokan K.K.,

builders of the vessel, for operation of

large ships on engines of lower power

without sacrificing speed. The Shobu

Maru established top speed of 17.38

knots and service speed of 15.25 knots with one-third cargo load during her

sea trials.

^1968
Summit Gardens: Fun

For Adults, Children

AS DRY season approaches. Isthmian

residents begin planning more outdoor

activities, particularly those the entire family can enjoy together. Picnics with the accompanying cookouts or barbecues are high on the list of dry season activities. And one of the

favorite locations to take the family

for a dav outdoors is Summit Gardens,

the sprawling, 300-acre natural wonderland on Gaillard Highway, not far from Gamboa.

Picturesque vegetation, shade trees,

lily ponds, picnic tables, fireplaces,

winding flowered lanes, gently rolling

hills and uncluttered lawns where the

kiddies can romp while adults relax in the afternoon somnolence. These are a few of the attractions. Parents who take their youngsters

for a day at Summit Gardens are almost

sure to be asked to take them for a

ride on one of the two burritos, Mancha

or Gato. Presented as a gift from

former Canal Zone Gov. Robert J. Fleming, Jr., the sturdy burritos mean

free rides to the children visiting Summit. The pair also serve as ambassadors

of good will at various fairs throughout

the Republic of Panama. They are usually seen by the Panama Canal pavilion at the fairs where local kiddies

are given rides. Another fascination for the children and parents, alike, is the Summit Gardens Zoo. Though small compared with

metropolitan zoos in the United States and other nations, this zoo, the only

public one on the Isthmus, houses a large number of the animals found in Panama. In fact, almost all of the animals and birds on display at the zoo

are natives of this area. A few rabbits, chickens and geese have found their way into some of the

cages, to the surprise of first time visitors. But by and large, the animals are not the type found in northern climes. From time to time, new species are acquired through donations or by being

captured by zoo officials. Roy Sharp, who as Southern District Grounds Supervisor has responsibility

for Summit Gardens, says birds are frequently netted and added to the

collection of fowl. (See p. 12)

Curious jaguar peers out as photographer

snaps this picture. This animal was purchas- ed as a cub from an elderly Indian woman

who had killed the mother. But that was

3 years ago and the former baby jaguar has

since grown into an adult weighing some 200

pounds. The jaguar is the largest member

of the cat family in the Americas.

View of an undisturbed lily pond from under one of the bridges at Summit Gardens. Beautiful landscaped paths and walkways help to make this area inviting for a lazy day stroll. More energetic children may prefer to frolic.

The Panama Canal Review 11
Truly A Miraculous Plant

(Continued from p. 11)

One of the most looked at animals

in the Summit Gardens cages is a three- year-old jaguar, the only one in the zoo. The jaguar is the largest member of the cat family in this hemisphere. This

animal was purchased as a cuddly,

weeks-old cub from an elderly Indian woman who had shot its mother and

retrieved the baby. L. A. Ferguson, Director of the Supply and Community

Services Bureau under which Summit

Gardens is administered, set up a special

cub purchase fund contributed to by

friends and associates. Today the jag- uar is a lithe adult weighing perhaps

200 pounds.

Another ferocious member of the cat family found at Summit is the puma,

an animal that ranges from the United

States to South America. Smaller than

the jaguar, it is known as the mountain

lion in parts of the United States. Two

still smaller felines are the jaguarundi,

which some Isthmians erroneously' call a black panther, and the ocelot or ti- grillo. Near the cages housing these are the gatos negros, members of the weasel family. Favorites of the young set are the

spider monkeys that use arms, legs and

tail to swing about, showing off their

agility. The imploring faces of the lit- tle capuchin monkeys, the type used

by the old organ grinders, rarely fail to capture the sympathetic attention of visitors. Red, white and black vultures with

great wingspreads are among the larger

Panamanian and migratory birds on

display. There is also a spindly legged

stork. Loud squawking but brilliantly feathered macaws glare out at visitors. Dozens of varieties of smaller birds are housed together in a miniature

jungle of plantlife that provides natural and roomy environment. The birds in- side range from the toucans with their

large, multicolored beaks and the tiny blue honey creepers with red legs, to the bright red "sangre de toro" or tan- ager and orange billed sparrow. Fre- quently the birds with less spectacular

physical features possess curious habits. For example, the cowbird lays eggs

in the nests of other birds and lets them hatch them and feed and care

for the young. A stroll through the zoo grounds

takes you past cages with crab eating

raccoons, wild turkey, native deer, capy- bara (the world's largest rodent).

the kinkajou or honey bear, pools

with turtles and caimans and myriad

other creatures. But it is the vegetation—trees and

plants from many tropical nations—that draws thousands to the Gardens every

year. Set up in 1923 to introduce, propagate and disseminate plants for the

Isthmus, the Gardens have thousands of economic, fruit and flowering trees, ornamental shrubs, and vines. These

grace virtually every townsite within

the Canal Zone plus Panama City

and Colon. Some experimental work is done on

such things as grasses for grazing and

for lawns. Seeds from many plants

nurtured in Summit Gardens have

been sent to other countries in the hemisphere.

Plants now flourishing at Summit

Gardens came from Madagascar, the

Philippines, Australia, New Zealand,

Hawaii, China, Burma, the West Indies,

;v^ _

Huge, tangled banyan tree chokes out most other trees that happen to be in the way. There

is no limit to the number of aerial roots that descend from above the ground and implant themselves into the soil, creating a huge tangle of what appears to be additional trunks.

>Z£r~*" '- ~ ' " tS'^'*^-

- * • --,. -^ Z^^MzZ

-isfr>i

Stoic looking capybara may not be the most beautiful resident of Summit Gardens but he

is surely one of the most interesting. The capybara is the world's largest rodent.

12 November 1967
~Ss A group of children stroll under an archway of bamboo, which is a member of the grass family. Bamboo grows several inches in a day

but grows in height only, and not in diameter. Sometimes it grows

to a height of 50 feet and is frequently confused with rattan, a palm

commonly used in the manufacture of furniture.

A feminine visitor examines this miraculous plant, the only one at Summit Gardens. As the name implies, this member of the plant world has an extraordinary characteristic. It produces red berries which, when eaten, cause everything eaten for 2 hours or longer

afterwards to taste almost sickening sweet.

the East Indies, Central and South

America, and the Mediterranean area. The best way for a layman nature

lover or avid horticulturist to see Summit Gardens is the dry season tours conducted by Sharp who plans to re- sume the tours again this year. The

newcomer to the tropics finds these

tours of special interest. Sharp points out the rarer plants, describes their uses, physical qualities and more notable characteristics. Many of these are indeed worthy of notation. Several beautiful stands of bamboo

are found throughout the Gardens. The

bamboo shoot, which is covered with

a prickly sheath, never grows in diameter but makes up for it by rapid

vertical growth. It rises as much as 1 foot in 24 hours and eventually reaches

a height of up to 50 feet. "Bamboo"

furniture found in many households

is actually not bamboo but rattan, a climbing palm.

Scattered throughout the Gardens

are teak trees, a native of Burma that was first introduced here in 1926. It is one of the most highly valued woods

because of its beautiful grain, hardness,

resistance to termites and, to some extent, even to fire. It is commonly used

for decking on sleek yachts and for

elegant furniture. In Panama City, shoppers find handsome wooden chests from

India made of teak. The banyan is a strange tree from

India which is found in Summit Gar- dens also. It has a main trunk and an

unlimited number of aerial roots that descend from limbs and implant themselves into the ground, producing a vast entanglement that strangles other trees. One of the few it does not kill is the palm which has an internal cell struc- ture allowing it to receive nourishment

directlv from the ground up through

the trunk. One of the largest palms in the world,

the talipot palm of Ceylon is found

near the entrance to Summit Gardens.

It flowers only once every 30 to 35

vears, then dies. The talipot is also the home of bats which cut partially through

the large leaves to make them droop,

providing a cave-like hiding place on

the underside.

The nispero, or sapodilla, an ex- tremely hardwood tree, produces a small edible fruit. While still green, the fruit gives a milky sap originally

used for the manufacture of chewing

gum. Mistletoe, a parasitic vine, is seen

clinging to mango and other trees in the Gardens.

Growing in great profusion at the Gardens are various species of orchids,

large and small, which festoon tree trunks where they have been nailed. Despite their apparently clinging ten- dency, the orchids are not parasites;

they receive nutrition through the air and rain rather than from a host. Vanilla, a vine that was the original source

of vanilla extract, is a flowering orchid,

also seen at Summit.

African coffee plants, rubber plants

from Brazil, espave or wild cashew and

the cola tree, originally used for popular

cola drinks, are a few of other thousands

of plant species.

The properties of the miraculous

plant seems almost incredible to some

visitors to the Gardens. This tropical

African plant produces red berries which, when eaten, cause everything

consumed for 2 or 3 hours thereafter

to have a sugary sweet taste. Sharp says the true test of this is to

taste a sour lemon before eating one of the berries; next taste the same lemon

and notice the striking difference. The

before and after are important, Sharp

says, because otherwise the taster will think he is being given a sweet lemon.

These are but a few of the delights of Summit Gardens—and admission is free.

The Panama Canal Review 13
CANAL COMMERCIAL TRAFFIC BY NATIONALITY OF VESSELS
tober 3 en route to South America with

a special visit to Easter Island. After leaving Cristobal the ship also called at Callao, Valparaiso, Montevideo, Buenos

Aires, Santos, Recife and Curacao. The

Brasil will transit southbound and depart Balboa November 9 for an around

South America cruise. December will bring the United

States into Cristobal on a Caribbean

cruise, the Moore McCormack Line

Argentina on a Cristobal cruise from

New York and the Holland America

Line Maasdam from the west coast with

the Chapman College students aboard. The Queen Mary will stop in Balboa

December 1 during her final voyage. January and February are the busy

cruise months. The Queen Elizabeth, the Empress of Canada and the Federico C will dock in Cristobal on West

Indies cruises. The Kungsholm will arrive at Cristobal January 12 on a 93

day "Cruise of a Lifetime" to the South Sea islands, the Far East and the Pacific. The Bergensfjord will transit January

24 on a cruise around South America.

The Europa will visit Cristobal Jan- uary 14 and February 10 as part of Caribbean cruises. Due in February are the Leonardo

da Vinci, of the Italian Line from New

York and Port Everglades on a Caribbean cruise, the Franconia and the Carmania of the Cunard Line, the Empress of Canada, the United States, the France, Hanseatic and the Federico C

all on Caribbean cruises. The Argentina

will transit February 8 on a round

South America cruise. The Home Lines' ultramodern pas- senger liner Oceanic is to make a stop

in February as part of a Caribbean

cruise with a visit at the San Bias

Islands. The Renaissance will stop in Cristo- bal March 9 and the Federico C will make two calls at Cristobal that month.

Both the Hanseatic and Bremen will stop at Cristobal in March during

Caribbean cruises. The Caronia, the Cunard Line cruise

vessel, will arrive in Balboa April 25

on the last leg of a round-the-world

cruise. The Statendam and the Kungsholm, the Rotterdam and the Bergensfjord all are to dock in Balboa during

March or April on the return trip to New York following cruises to South

America and the Pacific. Scheduled to make a southbound

transit of the Canal early in December

is the new cruise ship Princess Italia operated by the Princess Cruises of Los Angeles. The $20 million, 12,000

ton liner constructed in Trieste has been designed expressly as a cruise liner.

PRINCIPAL COMMODITIES SHIPPED THROUGH THE CANAL

(All cargo figures in long tons) Pacific to Atlantic

Commodity

Ores, various Sugar

Lumber, miscellaneous Petroleum and petroleum products

Miscellaneous iron and steel manufactures

Fishmeal

Metals, various Bananas Food in refrigeration

(excluding bananas)

Pulpwood

Canned food products

Iron and steel plates and sheets Boards and planks

Salt Wheat

All others

Total

First quarter, fiscal year1968
CANAL HISTORY

50 y[ear4 cAgo

IN THE autumn of 1917, the Canal

organization announced plans for experimental cattle breeding in the Zone,

following success with an original pro- gram of fattening young cattle brought

in from outside. Canal authorities an- nounced their desire for purchase of 30 bulls in Louisiana or southern Texas, with Holsteins preferred for dairy purposes and Herefords for beef cattle. Two roads now essential to Pacific

side auto traffic came under construction 50 years ago. One was the highway

between Corozal and Miraflores, en- gineered in 1917 to shorten by 3,840

feet the old road which ran parallel to the Panama Railroad bed. A second road then being built con- nected Balboa with the old pier at La

Boca, running along the base of Sosa

Hill and through the bed of the old Sosa Hill quarrv.

25 y[earJ c4g.o

CANAL ZONE residents were feeling

a unique side effect of World War II in September 1942 when they were warned not to carry on private cor- respondence with unknown persons

through clubs such as "Lonely Hearts" and "Pen Pals." Authorities cautioned

against any persons representing themselves as collectors of unusual postmarks, signatures and postcards as well.

It was a time of realization that solici- tations for information on the Panama

Canal might come from Axis agents.

Twenty-five years ago, the new Bal- boa High School building was used

to house senior high classes, previously held in the Balboa Elementarv School,

and most junior high classes. In midOctober, students and schools personnel

learned they were soon to be inoculat- ed against typhoid in a separate phase

of the Canal Zone's first typhoid

inoculation program. Use and possession of marijuana be- came a crime in the Canal Zone on

October 1, 1942, when the 77th Congress passed an amendment to the Canal Zone Code making this a criminal

offense.

10 yearJ c4g.o

THE U.S. BUREAU of Public Roads

announced, in September 1957, that the Interamerican Highway would be

completed within 2 years. Officials ex- pected the new road to be open for

motor travel from Laredo, Texas, to the Panama Canal before 1959.

Pacific side teenagers received a boost from the Canal organization September

11 when Gov. W, E. Potter formally

presented them the keys to Budding

9A in Balboa for establishment of the Balboa Teen Club, still operating today.

Bids opened in the fall of 1957 for alterations and additions to convert the former Ancon Commissary into a new

office building for the Panama Canal

Personnel Bureau. One \j[ear cAgo

NOVEMBER 1966 saw the arrival of Sing-Out '66, an exciting vouth program

which earned acclaim throughout Pan- ama and the Canal Zone. This was the

first visit to the Isthmus for the 160- member globetrotting cast. The SingOut theme song, "Up With People," was to become a familiar sound in both

English and Spanish.

The last of the original Panama

Canal "mules" was slated for disas- sembling in November 1966. This

marked the 68th "mule" to end up

on the scrap heap since the old models were gradually replaced bv new towing

locomotives in 1964.

lfc»Ui

DEPENDENT PROGRESSIVE PARTY-

-^

tovx Cooke j progress *^M

Campaigning was spirited at the Culebra Post Office in 1912 during mock elections. Because U.S. -citizen residents of the Canal Zone could

not vote in national elections at that time, mock elections were held a few weeks before elections in the United States as "manifestations

of political desire for expression," according to the "Canal Record." The tickets usually bore nominations for national and municipal offices and at least one village included on its ticket a nomination for the position of "town grouch."

16 November 1967
What Dreams Are Made of:

Winning Lottery Numbers

A $50 MILLION business that thrives on dreams and hunches?

That's the National Lottery of Panama, which twice a week can turn the timelv dream or the right hunch

into a fortune.

It's just a matter of converting a mental image conceived during sleep

or an intuition into the numbers that'll show up on the Lottery's prize board. And because people keep having dreams

and getting hunches, thev continue

plaving the lottery. In Panama, they have been playing it for 84 years now, first when it was a

privately owned business and later when it became a government operation. So heavily in fact—approximately

$1,250,000 weekly-that the National

Lottery ranks as the largest independent agency of the Panamanian Govern- ment from the standpoint of generating revenue for the treasury. The Panama Lottery runs two

drawings weekly, on Sundays and

Wednesdays. For each drawing, it is- sues tickets numbered from 0000 to 9999 and from 00 to 99. The Sunday

4-digit tickets consist of 75 pieces each;

the Wednesday tickets, of 30 pieces

each— 10,000 tickets for each drawing.

Each piece costs 55 cents and can win

prizes ranging from $1 to $1,000. There

are three main prizes in ever)' drawing. For the complete ticket on Sundays,

these prizes are $75,000, $22,500 and

$11,250; on Wednesdays, $30,000,

$9,000 and $4,500. Lesser prizes or "approximations" are derived from the main numbers. Eleven hundred of the

2-digit tickets containing 20 pieces of the same number are issued for Sundays; 925 2-digit tickets, also of 20

pieces each, for Wednesdays. Each

piece costs 20 cents and stands to win

$11 for first prize, $3 for second, and

$2 for third. The Panamanian govern- ment levies no taxes on lottery prizes.

There are two special or extraordi- nary drawings in the year. One, on the

first Wednesday in July, has a first prize of $100,000 (50 'pieces in the

ticket); the other, on the Wednesday

before Christmas, offers a $250,000

first prize (125 pieces in the ticket).

The price doubles for the special

drawings.

To sell this huge quantity of tickets

(sales are averaging 90 percent of the

total weekly issue worth $1,400,500)

the Lottery employs an army of ap- proximately 2,500 vendors in Panama

City and Colon, which account for 80

percent of the sales, and about 50

contractors in the rest of the country

who in turn employ an estimated 500

vendors. Regular vendors earn 6 per- cent commission; contractors get 9 percent, but have to pay their own vendors and cannot turn in unsold tickets as vendors in Panama City and Colon

are allowed to do. Lottery vendors can play an important part in the lives of their cus- tomers. Win the friendship of one and

you're assured of vour favorite number

every week; fall into bad grace and

you may find that a fortune slipped out of your grasp. One of the most widely-known vendors in Panama City is Mrs. Adelina A. de Icaza, a great grandmother who in 30 years has set an amazing record of good luck for her customers. She has sold the first prize 28 times;

(See p. 18)

Hundreds of hopeful players gather in Lottery Plaza every Wednesday and Sunday to see the lottery drawings held^9in kiosk at right. Thousands of others in every city, town and province of the country see and hear the drawings over television and radio.

The Panama Canal Review 17
Luck Stories

Are Bizarre,

Commonplace

(Continued from p. 1 7)

the second prize, 16 times; the third

prize, 23 times. Her phenomenal record

of selling prize-winning tickets began

in 1942, when 3757 played on October

18. (Incidentally, when 3757 played

again for first prize 13 years later, on September 5, 1965, Mrs. Icaza was still selling it.) The last time she sold the big prize—6180—was August 20 of

this year. Once she sold the first prize two

Sundays in a row (3757 on September

5, 1965, and 7091 on September 12, 1965). She tells a typical lottery luck

story in this connection:

A friend came to her stand to buy

a complete 75-piece ticket. He asked

Mrs. Icaza to choose the number

for him.

"I was playing 1 that week," she

recalls, "so I gave him 7091. A short time later, he ran into a friend and

offered to sell him half the ticket. The

friend inquired where the number had

been bought. When he was told it came from me, his reply was: 'Oh, no; she sold the first prize last week.'

"

Well, 7091 played and Mrs. Icaza's friend was richer by $75,000 and the other fellow was out the $37,500 he

would have won if he had bought half the ticket. More than her lucky hand, however,

it's her exceptional honesty that has made Mrs. Icaza outstanding.

Three times in 30 years she has

returned prize-winning tickets to cus- tomers who had reserved numbers but

failed to pay for them. The sums in- volved were $2,000, $19,000 and

$42,000. To appreciate the generosity

and unselfishness of her action, it must

be remembered that prize-winning

lottery tickets are payable to the bearer. Mrs. Icaza tells about these incidents modestly.

When 6400 played on January 6, 1952, she had reserved 42 pieces of

that number for a long-time customer. As a matter of fact, that was the second

successive week she had saved, unpaid,

the 42 pieces of 6400 for this customer.

The orphan girl in center has just drawn an ivory ball from the revolving cage operated

by lottery employee in white shirt. Everyone's eyes are on the young lady.

She has given it to the Governor of the Province who unscrews it open and shows the number

in each half to the spectators and to the television cameras. The crowd roars.

When the number played, she immediately went to her customer's home

to turn in the winning pieces. The cus- tomer refused to accept them, pointing out they were unpaid.

The following day, Mrs. Icaza went

to the lottery office, cashed the pieces

and then deposited the $42,000 in the Banco Nacional in her customer's name. "You can draw against your $42,000," Mrs. Icaza told the customer by phone,

"the money has been deposited in your name."

Mrs. Icaza admits she was suitably

rewarded.

On the two other occasions, her

fortunate customers also had failed to pay for their reserved tickets. "But I knew they would pay, even

if they didn't hit," is Mrs. Icaza's simple

explanation.

Has she hit the lottery herself? Yes, once. By mistake. A customer who went on vacation

paid up his 26 pieces of 3757 for 6

weeks. The number won first prize on

the third week after his departure.

When Mrs. Icaza went to the Lottery

Office to have the prize-winning pieces

kept in the safe until her customer's

18 November 1967
The winning numbers are posted on the lottery's prize board as each is drawn. The board

also shows the province where each winning ticket is sold.

return, she discovered she had put aside 28 instead of 26 pieces. The mistake was worth $2,000 to her. Like other vendors, Mrs. Icaza finds that dreams and hunches motivate

many of her customers. People will go

after a particular number because they

had a dream which "meant" that number.

Dreams fall into two classes: Those

in which specific numbers come up and

those which involve persons, animals,

objects, or situations which require

translation into numbers. Even number

dreams, unless they are the 4-digit

variety, will require some interpretation

if the dreamer wants to go after the big money. Here's the way one man

interpreted a 1 -number dream to hit the big 4-digit first prize: His deceased

brother told him in a dream: "Buy

7." He bought 7777, 10 pieces—and

collected $10,000 the following Sunday.

The official Lottery magazine once

told of the consistent good luck of a Canal Zone employee, now deceased. He had won $6,000 on 9313 and hit for $10,000 with the same number

3 years later. Why did he start to play that number?

Here's the Lottery magazine's version: "A friend died, owing him $9. Then

the friend appeared in a dream and

handed him $3. The friend reappeared

and handed him $1 and showed up

a third time to pay $3."

Non-number dreams are subject to various interpretations, depending on what dream book or interpreter is consulted. Of course, if the resulting number doesn't play, the fault is neither with the book nor the interpreter, but

with the dreamer himself. Either it was

a "bad" dream or some important detail was not remembered at the time of the consultation. Hunches may be individual or collective. A person will feel strongly one week on the number of his paycheck,

or his identification card, or his tele- phone, or his postal box, or his license

plate, or his birth date, or his age,

or a family anniversary (particularly a death anniversary), or the grave

of a deceased relative or friend, or a pawnshop ticket, or any one of a myriad of such number-bearing objects or

situations. Often the whole community of

lottery players will pursue a particular

number 1 week because of some at- tention-attracting event—the death of a national figure (date, age, grave number), or an unusual accident (the

number of victims or the license plate

number of the vehicle involved), or a

significant anniversary. The age of

Christ, 33, is very popular around

Easter Week.

On such stuff the lottery business

thrives. And how it has thrived in Panama!

In the past 10 years, the Panama

Lottery's gross revenue and net earnings have nearly doubled. In 1966,

gross income was approximately $50

million and net earnings topped $10

million. The estimate of the gross take

this year is $70 million with net earnings

exceeding $12 million. The Lottery's operations provide the National Government with about 10

percent of its revenue. Lottery funds

support hospitals, health units, nurseries, asylums, orphanages, and disaster

relief operations. For example, the

recently inaugurated center for the Panamanian Institute of Special Education, which treats exceptional chil- dren, was built with lottery money. By

law, 10 percent of all unsold prizes is set aside for the Institute. Unsold tickets turned in to the Lottery prior to each

drawing are held for 1 year if they win

prizes. Then they are destroyed.

It is often said that if there is any one institution in which Panamanians

have blind faith that institution is the National Lottery. This reflects the out- standing record of integrity of the organization since its beginning.

Take the drawings. They are con-

(See p. 20)

Language is no barrier for playing the Panama Lottery. An American customer points to the number he wants. Maybe it's his license plate number or postal box.

The Panama Canal Review 19
Duque Founded Lottery

(Continued from p. 19)

ducted in public and are open to

inspection by anyone.

Forty identical ivory balls, numbered

from to 9 (four to each number),

are used in the drawings. Each ball unscrews in two halves, each bearing

the number inside. The halves are placed on public display 1 hour before each drawing in the triangular kiosk behind the Lottery Office where the numbers are drawn. In the presence

of two witnesses picked at random from

among the spectators, each ivory ball

is then put together and placed in a hand-operated revolving cage.

Three children between 6 and 7

years of age, rotated weekly from

among the city's four orphanages,

draw four balls each, or one complete

prize. The orphanage gets $7 for its

children's services.

Rain or shine, hundreds of hopeful

players crowd in the small plaza sur- rounding the kiosk to witness the drawing. Many of them make last-minute purchases from vendors shouting the numbers still available on their boards

or waving strips of tickets to attract

attention.

At 11 a.m. on Sundays and at 12 on Wednesdays all eyes converge on the

kiosk. The participants in the drawing

are the Governor of Panama Province,

who is the presiding authority; the Vice Minister of Finance, who represents the Government; a notary public, the two witnesses (who get no emoluments) and the three orphans. Their

every movement is covered by televi- sion cameras and described by eight

TV and radio announcers. There is

literally no corner of the country where

the Lottery drawing cannot be seen

or heard. On a signal from the Governor, a Lottery employee starts the gyrations

of the cage. The ivory balls tumble as the cage spins. Another signal from the Governor and it stops. A small trap- door in the cage is opened, the little orphan picks up a ball and hands it to the Governor. He unscrews it and

then reads the number aloud, showing

the numbered halves to the public. The

ball is put together again and returned

to the cage. The process is repeated until 12 numbers—4 to each prize—have been

drawn.

To a newcomer the spectacle is one

of organized bedlam, but exciting.

The system is the same for every drawing, just as it has been since the Lottery began as a private institution

in 1883. Founded by the revered philanthropist Jose Gabriel Duque, it started

as a 3-digit, one-prize lottery. Each

ticket consisted of 5 pieces and sold for

1 peso (half a dollar). The fust prize was 500 pesos. The very first drawing was held February 25, 1883, and the winning number was 053. The change

to the present 4-digit system was made

in 1903. When Mr. Duque's concession ex- pired in 1919, the Government took over the lottery operation. By that time, three prizes were being offered. The

first drawing under Government supervision was held March 30, 1919, and

the winning number was 1705. One more change was to occur. Until 1921, only the first prize actually was drawn; second prize was the number immediately preceding and third prize the number immediately following. Since that year, each prize is drawn separately.

A state lottery is not peculiar to Panama. Every Latin American country

runs one or more lotteries (in Colombia, for example, one is drawn ever)' day of the week) . Through the centuries lotteries have been conducted in England, Ireland, Germany, France,

Spain, Switzerland, Russia, and the United States. The largest in the United States was the Louisiana Lottery, conducted after the Civil War

by the State of Louisiana. It was eventually stopped by law, but lotteries are being revived in a few states in recent

years and the idea of a Federal lottery has gained advocates.

All of the modern lotteries trace

their origin to the days of Rome, where

drawings for valuable prizes were held

after imperial banquets or the festivals in the Coliseum. Lotteries such as we

know them today were first held in Italy and the earliest state lotteries are reported to have been conducted in France in 1520.

Wherever a lottery has operated, man

has sought to perfect a system that will assure him of the winning numbers.

In Panama it has been no different. Dreams, hunches, mathematical for- mulae—all and more have been tried, to no avail. Perhaps there is one system

after all that has proved its effective- ness, yet few have been aware of it.

It is to forget about the numbers and

simply keep buying tickets at No.

11-13, "I" Street.

That

selling
Philanthropy

Big Part of

Club's Work

(Continued from p. 9)

some cases were inundated when Catun

Lake was formed, so the clubs dissolved

automatically, their mission finished. Of the original clubs formed under

the Canal Zone Federation, the Cristo- bal Woman's Club is the only one in continuous existence from the day it was founded.

The first yearbook of the Cristobal Woman's Club listed 61 members. Then

came the dissolution of the Canal Zone

Federation on January- 25, 1913. It was

a period of change, from the Construction era to the maintenance period.

Executives were for the most part

transferred to the Pacific side where the

seat of the Canal Zone Government was

to be located, and many engineers, with

their families sailed for the States and

to other construction projects. Membership in the Cristobal Woman's Club

in 1913 dropped to 37. A quarter of a century later the club

roster listed 134 names. Today, on its 60th anniversary the Cristobal Woman's

Club has 254 members, representing more than a dozen countries. The Cristobal Woman's Club has been a member of the General Federation of Women's Clubs, with headquarters in Washington, D.C., since November 4, 1914. As the Club grew, it established the

first library in Cristobal and was the nucleus for the Atlantic side Chapter of the American Red Cross. Civic improve- ments sponsored by the Club included

a playground in Colon, a rest home for women crossing the Isthmus, and a drinking fountain for the overworked

cab horses of Colon. The Club also published a cookbook. For almost 25 years the Club oper- ated a Women's Exchange and Tea

Room at the Gilbert House in Colon,

the Club headquarters until the historic building was condemned and torn down

in 1952. The Women's Exchange and

Tea Room profits were the principal

support of the free clinic, the Cristobal Woman's Club's philanthropic work

at the time.

Governor \V. P. Leber was the guest speaker at the 60th anniversary meeting of the Cristobal Woman's Club last month. At his right is Mrs. Harry Butz, president for 1967-1968. From

left: Mrs. Howard Prithain, recording secretary; Mrs. Butz; Governor Leber; Mrs. Curtis Coate, treasurer; Mrs. Charles Hinz, corresponding secretary and Mrs. Patrick Ridge,

first vice president. Mrs. Andrew Kozar, second vice president, is not in the photograph.

A soup kitchen was operated by the

Cristobal Woman's Club during 1921

and 1922 to help feed the needy

of Colon. An interesting sidelight is that in those early years, when funds were

needed to continue the operations of the Club, it was decided to hold a card

party as a money making project. But

first the bylaws had to be changed.

Some of the Club's founders were

opposed to card playing as "not fit for genteel ladies." The old YMCA building in Cristobal was the Club's first meeting place.

From 1917 to 1952 the Gilbert House

was Club headquarters. The American

Red Cross gave the Club permission

to use their building from 1952 to August 1959, when the Cristobal Woman's Club building was completed in Margarita.

The philanthropy program of the

Cristobal Woman's Club has been active

since the Club was formed 60 years

ago. Each Thursday of every week in the year, food and clothing are distrib- uted to about 80 aged indigents of Colon, most of them over 75 years of

age, who gather at the Cristobal Woman's Club little room in the back of the

old Cristobal Fire Station. Long before the doors open at 8:30

a.m. each Thursday, the aged, the lame,

and the near-blind begin to congregate

to await the arrival of the Cristobal Woman's Club Philanthropy Committee members. Some of the aged assist one another, some lean upon a youngster's arm. Each carries a sack or homesewn bag in which are placed the food contributions. Sometimes there are

extras, and always there are extras at Christmas and New Year's. Volunteer members fill shopping

bags, mostly with foodstuffs, for distrib- ution to Colon's aged poor for those

holidays. Last Christmas the Philan- thropy Committee supervised the preparation and filling of more than 200

bags for their regulars and about 150

"extras." Investigation teams of the Club

visit and determine the needs of those who apply for aid and, although old people get first consideration, clothing

is provided also for children. The 60th anniversary of the Cristobal Woman's Club, founded in Canal construction days, was fittingly observed

last month with an address by Gov. W. P. Leber on the Canal's future. Mrs. Harry Butz, president, presided

and, symbolic of the club's history, used

a cocobolo wood gavel that dates back

to French construction davs and which was salvaged from the attic of the old Panama Canal Administration Building

in Panama City many years ago.

The Panama Canal Review 21
ANNIVERSARIES

(On the basis of total Federal Service)

ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES

DIVISION

Luther B. Matthews

Cylinder Pressman—Small MARINE BUREAU

Pablo V. Caballero Lead Foreman-Operations—Lock Wall

Reginald A. Carter Time and Leave Clerk ENGINEERING AND CONSTRUCTION

BUREAU

Alejandro Martin

Oiler— Floating Plant David H. Sterling

Leader—Sean TRANSPQ, INALS

Edv

TrucT

Harry J. AiJ Truck D|

Charles L. Toolroom Attendant SUPPLY AND COMMUNITY

SERVICES BUREAU

Stephen McBean

Leader Laborer—Cleaner

Wilfred White

Sales Store Department ManagerSundries CIVIL AFFAIRS BUREAU

George V. Richards

Principal—LA Schools HEALTH BUREAU

Stella I. N. Frampton

Personnel Clerk—Typing

Alec Lampee likes

Dottie Denzler. And when

he takes her for a drive Alec watches

Dottie more than he watches the traffic. So you'd better be watching out for Alec! Watch out for the other guy!

Published to save lives in cooperation with The

Advertising Council and the National Safety Council.

ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES

DIVISION

John G. Bing

Head, Composing—Printing Plant Stephen W. Thorne

Compositor—Hand

MARINE BUREAU

Edgar E. Peterson Leader Seaman

Lothan R. Raphael Leader Linehandler— Deckhand

K. R. Shepherd

Leader Linehandler—Deckhand

Boatswain Samuel A. Williams Seaman

Alejandro Gerald

Teletypist Cecil C. Williams Helper Lock Operator

Anthony J. Zablocki Master—Towboat

Roberto C. Mitchell Leader Linehander—Deckhand

Boatswain

Jose D. Sandino

Helper Lock Operator William F. Young

Foreman—Lock Operati

ENGINEERING AND COTs BUREAU

W. A. Brathwaite Water Tender—Floating

William I. HoIIowell General Foreman Pipe

Allen K. Miller Supervisory General EngineerSpecifications

Sylbert A. Bowen

Guard

Victor A. Cisneros Centrifuge Operator Harold M. Cooper

Motor Launch Operator Lawrence W. Matthews

Oiler—Floating Plant Bindley B. Tappin

Launch Operator—Motor Leon W. Warren

Engineering Technician Bob D. Maynard

Lead Foreman Plumber

Henry F. Scott Seaman

Mario Torreglosa

Helper Electrician—Power Plant

SUPPLY AND COMMUNITY

SERVICE BUREAU

James S. Raymond

Lead Foreman—Cemetery

Leonard I. Sealey

Supply Clerk Ronald V. King

Supply Clerk Mary N. OnAdministrative Assistant

Juan Santana Grounds Maintenance Equipment

Operator—Small

Castell D. Alleyne

Electrical Equipment Repairman

Herbert Johnson Time and Leave Clerk George S. Kirton Meat Cutter Berta J. Materon

Seamstress Darrington A. Moss

Lead Foreman—Grounds

PERSONNEL BUREAU

Clarence H. Browne

Staffing Clerk

CIVIL AFFAIRS BUREAU

Joseph W. Coffin, Jr. Fire Lieutenant

Alfonso C. Greaves Teacher—Senior High, LA Schools Adolph Kapinos

Police Sergeant

Charles A. Mockus

Finance Branch Superintendent

pley

Division dwell

nt ood

d

1

Re^ken^I^^^vy

Detention Guard

John Kozar

Police Private Richard B. Simpson

Fire Sergeant

Matthew J. Wilder

Fire Lieutenant

TRANSPORTATION AND TERMINALS

BUREAU

Carlos Ballou Leader Liquid Fuels Wharfman

Gerald S. Parris Lead Foreman—Dock Stevedoring John F. Anderson Cargo Checker

Samuel Bradiel Boilermaker—Maintenance

Lewis S. Brown

Clerk—Checker

Allie W. Bruno

Clerk Raphael L. Esteban Leader— Dock—Stevedoring

Joseph N. Greenidge

Guard

Allan Logan

Railroad Trackman— Mainline Joseph B. Reid, Jr. Truck Driver

22 November 1967
Transit in a Torrent

A driving rainy season downpour greets the French flag ship Cetra Carina as she moves southbound through Pedro Miguel Locks during

her first transit of the Canal. The 835-foot vessel, en route from Newport News, Va., to Tobata, Japan, was loaded with a cargo of coal at

the time. Notice how the force of the wind and rain caused the metal cones on the left to lean. The cones indicate the number of pairs of

locomotives required to bring the ships following the Cetra Carina through the locks. In this case the two cones at the top indicate two

pairs of locomotives are being used for one ship, the single cone at the bottom means that another ship, a small one, is coming through on

the same lockage but without any locomotives. When ships require locomotives, or "mules," as most do, a minimum of two pairs are used.

The Panama Canal Review 23





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