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FEBRUARY 1968

Pfro
W. p. Leber, Governor-President

H. R. Parfitt, Lieutenant Governor

Frank A. Baldwtn

Panama Canal Information Officer

Robert D. Kerr, Press OflBcer 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 pa\able to the Panama Canal Company should be mailed to Box M, Balboa Heights, C.Z

Editorial Offices are located in the Adn^inistration Building, Balboa Heights, C.Z.

cTfbout Our Cover

EIGHT FAMILIAR highlights of the Canal Zone scene, from the Atlantic to the Pacific and points between,

grace the cover of this issue of The Panama Canal

Review.

The townsites of Balboa and Gamboa, Summit Gardens,

Gaillard Cut, Gatun Dam and the lockage of a ship all represent integral parts of the work and play on the

Isthmus. The two photos taken at night showing the

Thatcher Ferry Bridge and a hghted ship in Canal

waters also fit into this overall pattern.

On the facing page is an article dealing with the

U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, many of whose graduates perform vital roles in the Canal operation. According to a recent survey of approximately half of the

academy's 12,913 graduates, 2,806 are in the maritime

industry, including 1,511 men who are currently sailing

as licensed officers in the U.S. Merchant Marine or serv- ing as officers in the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard. A total of 205 American vessels have Academy graduates.

One company. United States Lines, employs almost

as many as the Academy now graduates in a year

33 shoreside employees, including 3 vice presidents and

132 licensed mates and engineers at sea, many masters and chief engineers.

The Federal Aviation Administration's task of keeping

the airways safe throughout the Panama area is discussed

in words and pictures starting on page 10. For sports fans, we are previewing the 1968 Panama

Open Golf Tournament which is to be held this month.

It will be the 14th renewal of the Open, a tourney

that has earned popularity with the visiting and local amateurs and professionals.

A pair of Canal employees who made a 10,000-mile

economy tour of South America returned with interesting

experiences. An article beginning on page 19 describes

their trip and has a few words of advice for anyone

considering a similar journey.

Other articles in this edition pertain to: the Panama

Guardia Nacional Highway Patrol, a relatively new

organization of highly trained men whose job it is to aid the motorist; a multi-talented Canal Zone art teacher; and reports on shipping activities.

Sndiex

Kings Point Academy 3

Artist-Sculptor-Teacher 6

Panama Open Golf Tournament 8

Federal Aviation Administration 10

Anniversaries 13

Container Ships 14

Shipping Statistics 14

Guardia Nacional Highway Patrol 16

Canal History 18

Economy Tour of South America 19

Shipping Notes 22

Abandon ship! It's only a drill at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy

where midshipmen are being prepared for their lifeboat certificates issued by the U.S. Coast Guard. This is part of the extensive training of midshipmen. An article begiiming on page .3 gives a closer look

at the education of the young men who attend the Academy.

February 1968
Kings Point

Builds Men

And Mariners

THE PANAMA CANAL, the U.S. Government in general and the Nation's

shipping industry are harvesting rich crops annually from a 65-acre plot of land on the north shore of Long Island, N.Y. This is the site of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, provider of highh -trained men who look to the sea

for their careers. Frequently called Kings Point after

its location name, it is one of the five Federal academies and is operated as part of the Maritime Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce. In

short, it is to the Merchant Marine what

West Point is to the U.S. Army and

Annapolis is to the U.S. Navy.

Kings Point is a degree-granting

institution fullv accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and

Secondar\- Schools. Though a relatively new school, the Merchant Marine Academy has graduated men destined to be

high ranking officers of the U.S. Navy,

commanding officers of merchant vessels, presidents of shipping companies

and many in other equally prominent

positions.

More than two dozen Kings Point

graduates are filling key positions with

various units in the Panama Canal

organization. The largest concentration

serve as pilots—the registered ship masters who take command of transiting

vessels and guide them through the waterwav. Others have been in management positions in the organization's

shipyard facilit)', the Executive Plan- ning Staff, on the General Counsel's

staff and in the Safety Branch.

The attractive campus with 38 buildings and marine facilities is situated on

the former Walter P. Chrysler estate where the Chrvsler mansion, renamed

Wile\- Hall, serves as the main administration building.

Dedicated in 194.3, the academy was made a permanent institution bv Congress in 1956. Kings Point rapidly matured into a school that has earned the

respect of educators, U.S. Navy officials and the country's shipping industry.

Many of the accolades won by Kings

A regimental review at the Merchant Marine Academy is a colorful event, llie academy

flags are lowered in salute as Vice Admiral Harold T. Deutermarai, Commander, Eastei^ Sea Frontier and Chairman, United States Delegation to the United Nations MiUtary Staff Committee, passes the color guard

Point can be traced to the efforts of

its superintendent. Rear Adm. Gordon

McLintock, USMS, who has been at the academy's helm for the past 20 years. The atmosphere at Kings Point is one

of military discipline. The regimental

Shooting the sun. A midshipman uses his sextant to observe the altitudes of the celestial bodies to find his ship's position at sea. This is the classic method of obtaining a

ship's position at sea.

life is designed to instill the students with the standards of efficiency, leader- ship and skills needed aboard ship.

These are essential for both the welfare

of the crew and the effectiveness of the

ship's operation.

Each 300-man entering class is made

up of voung men between the ages of 17 and 22 who are in excellent ph>-sical

condition and who have completed high

school with sufficient credits in English,

mathematics and science. Nominating

authorities—members of the U.S. Congress, governors of the Canal Zone,

American Samoa and other areas—sub- mit names of youths to be considered

for admission. Quotas of appointments

are assigned each region. For example,

the Canal Zone has a quota of t^vo. In addition, all applicants are required to qualify in the College Entrance Examination Board tests. No waivers

are granted for the general, scholastic or ph\sical requirements. Candidates

are carefully evaluated so that the most promising )-ouths are awarded

appointments.

Once admitted, the young man is designated a cadet-midshipman and for the first year is considered a plebe. He

learns military' courtesies, marches to

class, practices close-order drill, stands watches and has daily inspections. He

is expected to keep his uniform and

(See p. 4)

The Panama Canal Review
MIDSHIPMEN

ENJOY SPORTS,

HOBBY CLUBS

(Continued from p. 3)

room, which he shares with another

cadet-midshipman, in a high degree of neatness. He is, however, free from hazing.

The pace at the academ\' is a stren- uous one. The day starts at 6 a.m. with

reveille and ends with taps at 11 p.m.

Classes run from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., allowing 1 hour for lunch. From 4 p.m. to dinner time at 6:30 p.m. the midship- man ma\' engage in athletics or extra- curricular activities; the evenings are reserved for study. A welcomed change

of pace comes after the noon meal on

Saturday when the academic week ends. A wide range of intercollegiate and

intramural sports gives a needed extra dimension to this routine. Also, there

are numerous extracurricular activities such as publications, glee club, debating

team, hobb\' and special interest groups

plus social affairs. Chaplains attend to

spiritual needs. The academic curriculum emphasizes

technical subjects essential in the atomic age but is well balanced with

humanities. As a plebe, the midshipman

is provided with the basic skills in sea- manship, navigation, boat handling and

Lt. Commander A. Stwertka, Professor of Nuclear Physics, demonstrates a problem patch

bay on one of the two analog computers associated with the NS Savannah main control console simulator in the Nuclear Engineering Laboratory.

related subjects. He studies college level English, mathematics and .science. His second or sea year is spent aboard

a merchant ship, with a classmate, gaining practical experience in the operation

of ships. It is during this phase of his training that he is given a sea project, a manual with assignments concerning

the ship's structure, equipment and

practices. At the end of each 3 months

of shipboard training, his assignments

are sent to the academy for grading.

Reports from the ship's officers concerning his work are also taken into account. The last 2 years of study at Kings

Point are devoted to extending practical

experience in the laboratories as the midshipmen further their knowledge of

theor\ in professional subjects.

Navigation, marine electronics, as- tronom\ , meteorology, oceanography,

hydraulics, economics, labor relations and marine machinery repair are a sampling of the courses taught in classrooms

miih
at the academy. The undergraduate nas

a wide range of electives to choose from

as well. Numerous laboratories used to simulate actual working conditions

aboard ship contribute greatly in pre- paring the future officers. A few of these are for firefighting, cargo handling,

diesel, electrical, steam laboratory and

boiler room, and meteorology.

The academy boasts a Nuclear Study

Center with a Nuclear Reactor Simulator Laboratory. The simulator is almost an exact duplicate of the control console

of the Savannah, the world's first nuclear commercial vessel. The academy is closely linked to the Savannah in other ways. The school has

lent personnel to the Savannah project

and several groups of Savannah trainees,

all with at least 3 years of sea time, have

taken nuclear training at Kings Point. Normally upon graduation, the midshipman receives a Bachelor of Science

degree and a license either as a third

officer or third assistant engineer,

depending on whether he has selected the nautical science course to be a deck officer or the marine engineering

curriculum.

I The academy has installed a pilot, dual license program under which se- lected midshipmen take a combined

(See p. 9)

Capt. Julius Grigore, Jr., USNR, left, Assistant Chief of the Industrial Division, completed his studies at Kings Point in 1946. With him is David Miller, class of 1962, and a plant engineer.

Panama Canal pilot Capt. J. J. Bonanno, class of '43, issues instructions to a tugboat captain while berthing a ship at Balboa.

Capt. Bonanno is president of the Canal Zone Chapter of the

U.S. Merchant Marine Academy Alumni Association.

Attorney J. W. Mitchell, who was graduated with the class of '46

at Kings Point, serves in the Canal organization's Office of the General Counsel where his knowledge of admiralty law is used

in many types of litigation.

The Panama Canal Review
Local Teacher

Is Artist of

Many Talents

STARTING BACK vWth a grandfather

who was a jewelry designer in Austria,

artistic talents seem to have no hmit in the Sprague family. One of the descendants who has been particularly blessed bv this heritage is Alw^n Sprague, a Curundu Junior High School teacher who lives in Balboa with his wife and

young son. His paintings are found in North America, South America, and

South Africa. Sprague was bom in Colon and

attended Canal Zone schools, graduating from Balboa High School in 1956. He received a bachelor in arts in 1962

and a master's degree in 1966 from

American Universitv, Washington, D.C. He teaches art, English, and shop at Curundu Junior High School and drawing, painting, water color design, and

art historv' evenings at Canal Zone College. During his spare time he paints, carves in wood, writes, makes ceramics,

turns out toy soldiers for son Mark,

makes chessmen and has time left over for gardening, bottle-collecting,

and karate. The multi-talented young man who

looks even younger than his 29 \ears,

has an extraordinarv sense of realism in his art. Paintings in his home and at the Panama Canal Housing Office are tes- timony of his high artistic abilitv. Sprague, who is writing a book about

his happy childhood in the Canal Zone,

shous his love for the area in his paintings of Canal Zone scenes.

Favorite subjects are the old wooden

houses whose charm and warmth he

captures in simple pure tones. One,

among several attractive paintings at the Housing Office, shows an old French

Canal U-pe house built in 1907 which

is still standing near Gorgas Hospital.

His art works include landscapes,

seascapes, and portraits.

Sprague's art works grace the homes

of art lovers on three continents. His

paintings and carvings have been disWorking with chisel and mallet, Alwyn Sprague follows a drawing as he sculpts a woman

in mahogany. Note the perfect balance of the head which gives an impression of life.

played at the Smithsonian Institution; the Eric Schindler Callers', Richmond,

Va.; Channel Gallery and Art of All Nations Gallery in Washington, D.C. and Emerson Galler\- in McLean, Va.. where art critics praised the qualitv of

his work. His paintings mav be found

at Amherst College, Mass., and in private homes in the United States and the Canal Zone.

His painting of the V^enado Mud

Flats has recently been piuchased

through the Eric Schindler Gallery by

Dr. Linda Proctor, an art collector from

Johannesburg, South Africa. Dr. Proctor

is a good friend of Dr. Christian Barnard who has performed the world's

first heart transplants in Cape Town,

South Africa. Sprague's sculptures in wood have

the same realistic quality as his paintings. A bowed head, a bent arm, the curve of a smile are as natural as on

the living model. For these near life size wood carvings, Sprague prefers the beautiful native hardwoods. Trunks

of teak, mahogany and ilang-ilang are found in his workshop waiting to be

turned into works of art. As a model for his wood sculpture he

follows a drawing he has designed. After studying the shape and form of his

6 February 1968
subject, he begins the "cutting away"

with chisel and mallet. He also makes

the caiA-ing tools, the chisels and mallets

of hickory, lignum vitae and almendro,

in different sizes and weights. Of special

sentimental value is a mallet he made

from an old mule bumper.

When he isn't painting or car\ing,

Sprague may be working on a set of chess pieces he is making as a gift for

his father-in-law, or he may employ his

skill in ceramics. Aside from the book

he is wTiting, Sprague and a friend have

collaborated on a comic strip which he

feels sure will one day be purchased

bv a publishing firm.

Sprague's wife, Barbara, also is a graduate in arts and is a talented artist

in her own right. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Howard Sprague of La Boca. His mother is well known in the Canal

Zone community as an artist and

designer. His father is a super\'isory auditor in the General Audit Division. Sprague is about to begin work on

jungle paintings and paintings of native fishermen and shrimp boats. Sprague and his painting of the French Canal t>pe house built in 1907 and still standing near Gorgas Hospital. The work hangs in the Panama Canal Housing Oflice.

A favorite subject for Spragues paintings are Canal Zone houses and streets such as these two shown at the Panama Canal Housing Office.

Virginia A. Peterson, secretary to the Housing Office Chief, is at the desk.

The Panama Canal Re\iew
Panama Open, February 22-25

SHflRPSHOOieRS, DUfF€RS

UUILL TRY RUGG€D COURSe '

OUTSTANDING PROFESSIONAL

golfers from at least nine countries plus

dozens of Isthmian amateurs will pit skill— and perhaps luck—at the Panama

Golf Club later this month in the 15th annual Panama Open Golf Tournament. The more than 60 pros expected to participate will compete for a total of $15,500 in prize money with $3,000 and

the \'iceroy Trophy going to the winner

of the 72-hole match. For the amateurs,

it means an opportunity to play alongside the professionals and to share in non-cash prizes and trophies. Social events and a show by trick-shot artist Paul Hahn will round out the program. Tournament Director Dick Dehlinger

reports that club pro Alberto Serra has

the course in excellent condition. The

6,600-yard layout is regarded as one

of the toughest courses in Latin America

and offers as much of a challenge as most courses in the United States. Local amateurs will tee off Sunday,

February 18, for the Shotgun Tournament, a friendly, get-acquainted type of match enjoyed by duffers and sharpshooters alike. A shotgun will be fired

to start and to end the tourney so that

all golfers begin and finish together. A

total of 18 players from each participating golf club will be competing, each to tee off at a different hole when the shot- gun is fired. That evening there will be a cocktail party featuring the rhythms of Panama's Mr. Music, Lucho Azcanaga.

All contestants are invited to the 6-8 p.m. social affair.

Many of the professional participants

will arrive February 19, and the next day they will be practicing for the Pro-Am Tournament, scheduled for February 21. This is the highlight of the tourna- ment from the standpoint of the amateurs. Besides competing for $1,500

in merchandise prizes, it will give them

a chance to play next to visiting, topflight professionals. The 18-hole Pro- Am is a best ball tournament in which

two amateurs will join forces with one

pro to form individual teams. Full handicaps are to be taken into account when

figuring scores. Canal Zone Gov. \V. P. Leber, Lt. Gov. H. R. Parfitt and high ranking

(See p. 23)

Winning trophy for the 1967 Panama Open Golf Tournament is accepted by Bert Weaver, extreme right, who also collected a check as the victor s share of the purse. Presenting the trophy is GeoJFrey Lee, general manager for Viceroy cigarettes in Panama,

the sponsors of the tourney. Others are, left to right: Billy Booc, tournament director of the Professional Golfers' Association; Creasey, executive director of the PGA; and Dick Dehlinger, director of the tournament.

$3,000 one of Robert

8 February 1968
Cxecutwe3 cAldo

c4re Tjrained

cAl King^A point

(Continued from p. 5)

deck-engineer course that qualifies them

for both hcenses. Academy oflBcials feel

this voluntary program will form the

basis for a broader technical education

while allowing more flexibility for future emploxment.

The Kings Point graduate is obligated

to serve at least 3 years as a licensed

officer in the Merchant Marine. At

graduation also, the new officer ma)' be

granted a commission as an Ensign in the U.S. Naval Reserve. The U.S. Merchant Marine is not a component of the Armed Forces but is composed of the ships and men engaged

in the Nation's waterborne foreign and

domestic commerce. However, the Merchant Marine is justly referred to as the

"fourth arm of defense." Graduates and

midshipmen alike gave their lives during World War II, thereby adding

even greater meaning to the Kings

Point motto Acta, Non Verba, deeds,

not words.

The 1966 class was graduated

2 months ahead of time because of the shortage of trained officers to take

ships to Vietnam. Last year's class was graduated 4 months ahead of the standard June graduation to help meet

this growing need. A newer and lesser known educational activitv carried on at Kings Point

invol\-es the training of mid-level U.S. Government executives through the Executive Seminar Center Program.

The center was established in 196.3 by

the U.S. Givil Service Commission with

the assistance of the Interagency Advisorv Group as Interagency Training

Facilities of the U.S. Government. A

similar center was set up at Berkelev.

Calif., in 1966. So far, the Kings Point center has graduated more than 2,000 persons, all of whom were selected by their agencies

to attend. They represent a cross section

of Government agencies and several Panama Canal organization officials are numbered among graduates of the 2-weck course. Kev Government officials and leaders

of the business and academic worlds appear at the center to deliver talks

A

Sister ships T/V Guglielmo Marconi (above) and T/V Galileo Galilei (below), of Lloyd

Triestino of Trieste, are scheduled to transit the Canal this year. The 27,900-ton vessels

are usually operated on the Italy/ Australia ser\'ice but are making special trips and returning

to Europe via the Canal. They will visit Acapulco, Kingston and Lisbon on the way home.

The Guglielmo Marconi is expected to arrive in Balboa February 23 and the Galileo Galilei will arrive at Balboa October 26, according to their schedules.

\

and to engage in freewheeling question- answer sessions. The "students" are housed at the Merchant Marine Academy and take

their meals in the cadet dining room. The library and other facilities of the academv are placed at the disposal of the student executives. Student bodies are broken downi into teams assigned hypothetical govern- mental problems based on authentic

information. Members of the groups must develop programs to resolve the problems and as part of the

exercise are expected to make a convincing, oral presentation of the programs. The center encourages the pupils to explore and to challenge existing concepts and policies; it urges them to search creatively for solutions to problems facing their particular offices and

agencies.

The seminar center is directed at improving the Govemment's service

to the Nation in general while the Merchant Marine Academy concerns

itself specificallv with shipping. But

both are designed to meet the in- creasinglv complex challenges of the modern world.

The Panama Canal Review
^et cAg.e cAlr Safety.

Sd CkaUenc^e o/ 3c4cA

THE ARRIVAL of the jet age fulfilled predictions of aviation pioneers whose

vision once was looked upon as mere

daydreams. Huge planes whisk travel- ers over continents and oceans at speeds once thought impossible; the number

of airplanes, commercial, military and

private alike, is greater now than

ever before. But as the improvement and greater

popularity of the auto led to traffic- choked highways, so has advances in a\iation meant crowded skies. Air safet)' has become a pressing issue with eveiyone from the casual airline passenger and the commercial pilot to the businessman who flvs a small plane

of his own. It is this subject of safetv

in the air that is the main concern of the Federal Aviation Adminisbation.

The FAA operates primarily in the United States but under the terms of

a series of bilateral agreements with the Republic of Panama, the FAA handles

ail- traffic control, radio aids to navigation and aeronautical communication

functions in this area. The best evidence

of the results of the accords is that the Panama Contiol Area has the finest air safety record in Latin America. Panama's strategic location, noted in

its motto "Bridge of the World, Heart

of the Universe," means that the Isth- mus is a busy north-south link bet^veen

the Americas in addition to the nautical gateway bebA'een oceans as provided

by the Panama Canal. Through long range, and terminal, radar facilities, navigational aids, radio,

teletype and other highlv technical apparatus, FAA serves local militan,', commercial and private aircraft that traverse the Panama Area. It is in direct communication with all aviation facili- ties in the area including Tocumen

International Airport, Paitilla, David

and, in the Canal Zone, Howard and

Albrook Air Force Bases.

Aircraft from some 3.5 nations are served by the men and machines of the FAA in Panama whose responsibility covers an area of 240,000 square miles-400 miles north and south of Tocumen and just wide enough to in- clude the entire Republic of Panama.

Planes entering this area are given in- structions and information needed for

safe flying. Those lea\ing this region

are "passed off" to agencies responsible

for the respective adjacent area. The 7-day-a-week, 24-hour-a-dav

operation of the FAA is di\'ided into categories or t)'pes of help designed to provide a safe and efficient service to the flying public.

An ultramodern building in Ancon

has served since 1963 as the FAA's

headquarters in Panama and is the workshop for most of the more than 170

FAA employees on the Isthmus. This

building houses the offices of the FAA

area manager, James S. Beasley, the Air Route Contiol Center RAPCON,

Airways Facilities Branch, and Inter- national Flight Service Station. Much of the precision communications and air navigational equipment

essential to effective air safetv is found

in the headquarters building. Installa- tions representing a considerable portion

of FAA's $15 million investment in Panama are maintained by personnel

of the Airways Facilities Branch.

This branch, employing the largest

number of FAA personnel in the Balboa

Area, is comprised of highly skilled specialists including electronic engiJames S. Beasley is the FAA area manager.

neers, a civil engineer, electionic technicians, logistics personnel, mechanics

and clerical staff. Of equal importance to the safety

of the flying public is the work these

specialists perform. Outages of equipment ai'e minimal through a constant

evaluation and preventive maintenance

program. Working directlv under the branch

chief aie the sector chiefs, who are responsible for one or more facility's safe and reliable operation. These ex- tend from the Atlantic to the Pacific and

include air ground transmitter-receiver

facilities on Ancon Hill and Cerro Galera; a transmitter site at Telfers Island

At work in the Air Traffic Control Center are, left to right, Joe Bosley and John McClure.

Bosley watches the terminal radar scope while McClure keeps in touch with another

aircraft by radio.

10 February 1968
on the Atlantic side, and a receiver site

at Chiva Chiva. At Semaphore Hill, behind Summit Gardens, is located the big dome housing, a long range radar

site, and in the former gun emplacement

on Perico Island is the sur\'eillance radar equipment. France Field and Ta- boga Island have navigational aids which serve both long range and short range air traffic. The sector chiefs are custodians of all equipment at these

locations and are charged with the re- sponsibility of maintaining it to a high

degree of reliabilitv. It is a tribute to their professional ability that the Ancon

facility reliability exceeds the FAA

national average.

In addition to providing logistic

support and property management to the area, supply persormel of the Air- ways Facilities Branch also handles the Public Information Affairs of the FAA

in Panama.

Its International Flight Service Station (IFSS), known to pilots as "Radio

Panama," gives pre-flight weather brief- ings and in-flight following service when requested, transmits local and

area weather reports and broadcasts in- formation concerning temporary restrictions at airports, changes in radio fre- quencies, and other data of interest to

pilots. Also, direction finding assistance

is given to aircraft uncertain of their position by orienting the pilots and

directing them to emergency airports.

One of the most important functions

is its search and rescue operations put

into effect if a plane is overdue at its reporting station or destination. The IFSS operates an automatic telet)'pe switching system linked to Lima,

Miami, Curacao, Tegucigalpa, plus the major airline offices in Panama, Howard

Air Force Base, and the Panama Government Communications Center at Tocumen International Airport. Radio

telegraph circuits are maintained with

stations in Ecuador.

The work carried out by the IFSS is as impressive in volume as it is in variety. Each month, it averages 3,500

aircraft contacted and 3,000 flight plans handled. The automatic teletype switch- ing center handles about 240,000

messages each month.

The Air Route Traffic Control Center RAPCON is responsible for the operation of all aircraft flying under

Instrument Flight Rules within the Pan- ama Air Traffic Control Area Flight

Information Region.

The Air Route Traffic Control Center,

the nerve center of the FAA operation,

is a large, dimly lighted room where

(See p. 12)

Airway Facilities Branch Chief Hal Culp, third from left, reviews plans with Asst. Branch Chief Clinton Murphy, maintenance representative Frank A. Rybicki and Jim Wilkie,

civil engineer.

Marvin P. Moultrie, operations officer, Air Traffic Control Center, indicates location of the FAA facilities on map. Heavy vertical lines represent boundaries of the 250,000-square mile

area controlled by the FAA.

The Panama Canal Review 11
FAA CONTROLLERS DIRECT

TRAFFIC IN CROWDED SKY

(Continued from p. 11)

radar scopes provide most of the illu- mination. Controllers, administrators and other highly trained specialists

working in shifts form a 25-member

team that keeps the Air Route Traffic Control Center operating day and night,

holidays and weekends. Several of the controllers are bilingual though

English is the universal language used

in aviation. A pilot flying under Visual Flight

Rules when the weather is clear is responsible for the safety of the aircraft and its occupants. This responsibility

lies with the FAA Air Route Traffic Control Center RAPCON, however, for planes proceeding under Instrument

Flight Rules, as do most planes, regardless of weather. The Air Route Control Center 'RAPCON will also provide in- formation and other assistance upon

request by pilots flying under Visual

Flight Rules. The main job of the controller is to provide for each plane its own block

of moving airspace 50 miles wide and

1,000 feet deep with a 15-minute inter- val of separation from other aircraft. Before taking ofi^, the pilot or airline

files a flight plan with the center, giving

such information as the pilot's name,

aviation company, type of aircraft, destination, route, speed, estimated time

of arrival and alternate landing field. Before departing, he must be given

~^
— ANNIVERSARIES

ENGINEERING AND CONSTRUCTION

BUREAU

John F. Hem

Lead Foreman, Sheetnietal Worker

Joseph N. Goddard

Leader Seaman

Zedekiah Henry

Paver

TRANSPORTATION AND TERMINALS

BUREAU

Allan A. Francis Maintenanceman (Docks) Herbert A. Mitej

Ste\edore

DaWd D.

Chaufl

(On the basis of total Federal Servke)

ENGINEERING AND CONSTRUCTION

BUREAU

OFFICE OF THE COMPTROLLER

William G. Guard Su

HEALTH BUREAU

Alexander W. Webster

Supply Clerk

SUPPLY AND COMMUNITY

SERVICE BUREAU

Horace M. Roberts

Teller

OFFICE OF THE COMPTROLLER

Henry L. Rose

Clerk

Roberto B. Castillo Seaman

Walter E. Colclasure Budget Analyst

Harry D. Foster Water System Operator

Elias Rangel

Laborer (Highway Maintenance)

F. H. Smith, Jr. Supervisory Electrical Engineer (General)

Ernest M. Straker Automotive Equipment Operator

T. A. Williams

Painter Gladstone Yearwood

Surveying Aid

Alfonso E. Alexis Clerk (Work Orders) Evance Amantine

Seaman

Ernesto Cacerez

Laborer (Heavy)

Jose R. Gonzalez S. Motor Launch Ojjerator

Golboume Sobers Motor Launch Operator

Eric J. Walton

Painter Ernest W. Zehiick Supervisory General Engineer

Jorge C. Caiiizales Carpenter Richard G. Dinkgreve

Office Ser\ices Supervisi Harold L. Fairclough Clerk

Cornelius B. Gilling Oiler (Floating Plant)

Alfredo C. Newball

Seaman

MARINE BUREAU

Leon S. Drayton

Helper Machinist (Marine)

Alfred Thomas

Helper Lock Operator

George P. Allgaier General Foreman Machinist (Maintenance)

Randolph L. Green

Rigger

Ivan Ashley Sealey Seaman

Daniel P. Kiley General Foreman (Lock Operations)

Julio Magan O.

Linehandler (Deckhand)

Hilary L. Maynard

Maintenanceman (Rope and Wire Cable)

Henry Mc D. Powlett

Oiler

Miriam A. Gittens Card Punch Operator Arch D. Bishop

Auditor

SUPPLY AND COMMUNITY

SERVICE BUREAU

Edgar E. McGiU

Leader Laborer (Cleaner) Dalton A. Robinson

Purchasing Agent

Samuel D. Toppin

Leader Maintenanceman

Hubert A. Mason

Leader (Warehousing—Forklift Operations)

Cyril D. Adams

Leader Ice Cream Maker

Ugent M. Lord

General Foreman Laborer (Cleaner)

Clebert E. Sainten

Sales Store Clerk Rupert A. Shoy

Warehouseman

ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES

DIVISION

_U

erk ON AND TERNHNALS

UREAU

iIKton Kj Biiths Trnin Baggageman

Clifford L. Brown

Stevedore Arthur Frederick Truck Driver

R. C. Wellington Motor Vehicle Dispatcher

Laurie A. Whittaker

Liquid Fuels Wharfman

C. E. Carmichael

Helper Heavy Duty Equipment Mechanic

George A. Douglas

Brakeman

Julio F. Justiniani Guard

CIVIL AFFAIRS BUREAU

Carmen A. Butcher

Teacher, Junior High, Latin American

Schools Wm. T. Halvosa, Jr. Postmaster, First-Class 0£Bce Edward G. Moran

Special Postal Clerk

HEALTH BUREAU

Winnifred E. Seeley

Public Health Nurse

The Panama Canal Review 13
CANAL COMMERCIAL TRAFFIC BY NATIONALITY OF VESSELS
beth Channel, 25 acres of paved upland

area and one small sti-ucture. During

its first full year of operations in 1963,

it handled 1,504,021 tons of cargo on 242 vessels and employed 730 people.

Today, 10 deep-sea vessel berths and 158 acres of paved upland area have been completed with another 10

berths and 185 acres of land under

construction. There are 12 cargo dis- tribution buildings with more than a million square feet of space for handling

of waterbonie cargo. Cher the past 5

years, tonnage at Elizabeth has increas- ed b\- nearly 75 percent. The 919-acre

terminal is to be completed in 1975.

Six of the ten completed berths at the showcase of the world's maritime

industry are occupied by Sea-Land

Service Inc. Recendy, Atlantic Container Line Ltd. began Transatlantic containership operations from Elizabeth w ith the MS Atlantic Span, the first ship

built from the keel up for Transadantic

container service. It will be followed by

three other new ACL containerships

operating on a 28-day round h-ip be- tween seven U.S. and European port

cities. At each port unloading of cargo

containers, trucks, autos and rolling stock will be accomplished in one-fourth

the time require by conventional vessels. The Atlantic Container Line Ltd. is

a consortium of six major steamship

lines including Cunard Steamship Co.,

Ltd., the French Line, Holland America

Line, Swedish American Line, Swedish

Transatlantic Line and Wallenius Line, most of whom ha\e ships which use the Panama Canal. While Elizabeth is gi-owing on the

east coast, the port of Los Angeles has launched a $5,500,000 modernization

program to accommodate containerized

cargo. This initial phase of a long-range

expansion program calls for construction of new wharves and the development of 94 acres to ser\e as container

terminals. The need for special pier areas and

port facilities to handle container ships

and their cargo may limit the number

of container "ships in operation for

awhile. But if the method of ti-ansporting cargo, as it seems at present, continues to be cheaper, safer and faster,

piers will be buOt to accommodate them.

There ma\- be changes in trade routes

as indicated by talk in Japan of sending

containers from the U.S. west coast to the Midwest or Adantic States by trans- continental railroads and Japan-London

shipments via the U.S. continent, thus avoiding the Panama Canal. Containerships are presenting a problem to all ship operators, especially

(See p. 23)

PRINCIPAL COMMODITIES SHIPPED THROUGH THE CANAL

(All cargo figures in long tons) Pacific to Atlantic

Commodity

Second quarter, fiscal yearOres, various Sugar

Boards and planks

Lumber, miscellaneous

Iron and steel manufactures,

miscellaneous Fishmeal Petroleum and petroleum products- Bananas

Iron and steel plates, sheets Metals, various Food in refrigeration

(excluding bananas)

Wheat

Pulpwood

Canned food products

Pl>'wood

.\I1 others

TotaL

1968 1967

1,295,859

676,042

524,580

471,851

446,435

382,822

353,722

301,498

293,529

292,038

284,032

247,860

207,069

190,408

149,541

2,308,991

8,426,277

1,422,663

463,471 N.A.

N.A.

N.A. 290,632

208,968

300,527

N.A. 311,987

2.32,633

77,.361 151,303

217,819

N.A.

4,814,175

5-Yr. Avg.

1961-65

8,491,539

237,482

541,267 N.A.

N.A.

N.A.

N.A. 533,748

291,123

N.A. 291,740

198,438

356,743

119,233

263,845

X.A.

4,706.219

7,539,838

Atlantic to Pacific

Commodity

Petroleum and products (excluding asphalt )_ Coal and coke

Phosphate

Metal, scrap Soybeans

Metal, iron Ores, various Corn Sorghum

Rice Sugar

Chemicals, miscellaneous

Iron and steel manufactures, miscellaneous- Paper and paper products

Wheat

All others TotaL

Second quarter, fiscal year—

1968

4,084,479

3,102,185

972,826

710,453

667,517

603,087

564,528

483,219

301,864

287,156

232,790

198,511

182,614

180.522 178,190

17,268,546

1967

3,441,944

2,093,692

940,131

880,515

665,690

90,070

274,989

462,750

44,504

39,411

120,446

237,797

N.A. 201,929

523,593

2,796,939

30,018,487 12,814,400

5-Yr. Avg. 1961-65

2,636,007

1,403,636

548,653

715,256

455,708

51,753

77,317

337,509

N.A. 27,625

148,570

157,413 N.A.

117,455

156,103

2,275,252

9,108,257

CANAL TRANSITS - COMMERCIAL AND U.S. GOVERNMENT

Commercial vessels: Oceangoing

Small"

Total commercialU.S. Government vessels: ** Oceangoing

Small"

Total, commercial and U.S. Gov- ernment

Second quarter, fiscal year—

1968

Atlantic

to

Pacific

560

22

582

56

1

639

Pacific to Atlantic

540

16

556

58

4

618

Total

1,100 38

1,138

114

5

1967

Total

2,977 120

3,097

209

27

1,257 3,333

Avg. No.

Transits 1961-65

Total

2,814 140

2,954

6744

3,065

• Vessels under 300 net tons or 500 displacement tons. •• Vessels on which tolls are credited. Prior to July 1. 1951, Government-operated ships

transited free.

The Panama Canal Review 15
Panama High\vay Patrol,

A Friend of Motorists

THE JANUARY-April dn- season, with

its sunny and breezv days, beckons

motorists on the Isthmus of Panama to

hit the open road. It's the time of the year when the Panamanian section of the Inter-American Highway, traversing the interior of the country from the Costa Rican boundary to Panama City,

is most traveled. Because of the lure of the road, the dry season is also the time when most

motorists are apt to become aware of Panama's Highway Patrol—the elite unit of the National Guard charged

with keeping the highways safe. Under

studv since 1957 and organized March

19, 1964, it is among the first units of

its kind created in a Latin American

country, according to its commanding

officer. Captain Luis O. Nenzen, who

trained with the California, Oklahoma,

Arizona and Texas Highway Patrols. This dry season, the Highway Patrol force is being increased to extend its operations along the entire length of the Inter-American Highway in Panama.

The Patrol's present force of 70 men

and 29 cars is deployed from Panama

Cit)' westward to Rio Vicjui, on the boundary of Veraguas and Chiriqui

Pro\inces, and northward to Sabanitas, near Colon. Forty men and 16 radio

patrol cars are being added to the

Patrol to reach as far as Paso de Canoa.

the Panama-Costa Rica border crossing

point for vehicles. The image of a tough traffic cop. hiding behind a billboard to pounce

upon motorists, is anathema to the men

of Panama's Highway Patrol who are

proud of their role as the motorist's

friend, not his nemesis.

Every member is representative of the new breed of National Guardsman

—trained, efficient and aware of his responsibilities to the public. Personalh

selected by Capt. Nenzen from among

National Guard trainees, the patrolmen

are required to take intensive special courses in police operations, criminal and accident investigation, contraband

control, radio communications, personal

defense, fire control, motor vehicle maintenance, basic English and—believe

it or not—public relations and tourist orientation. E\erv patrol car carries a first-aid

kit, a CO2 fire extinguisher, a full 5-gal- lon gasoline container (to assist cars

that have run out of fuel), pick, shovel

Outside the Chame station of the Panama Highway Patrol, Sgt. Juan Esteban Lasso, right, and C^pl. Teudolo (.onzalez check a patrol car assigned to District 4. The building, wliich serves as offices and living quarters, was constructed by men of the Highway Patrol.

16 February 1968
and axe (to remove obstructions from

the road ), at least one stretcher, and

blankets ( for accident victims in shock)

E\erv man knows when and how to use each piece of equipment.

One Rile constantlv impressed on the patrolman is never to conceal himself. He is instructed to choose a parking

station that will make his grey patrol vehicle with its bright orange winged

wheel insignia plainlv \isible from afar. And he knows the reasoning behind this practice: the best way to make the roads safe is to prexent accidents and

nothing will restrain a restless motorist

as the presence of a highway patrol car. Some mav be surprised to learn that the widespread practice of blinking the headlights to warn of a patrol car ahead

is welcomed by the Highway Patrol. The warning serves to slow down traffic. The Highway Patrolman also learns that it is his duty to assist the public,

both drivers and pedestrians. Many a stranded motorist has been put back on

his wheels by the helping hand of the Highway Patrol, changing a flat tire, providing gasoline (which is returned

at the nearest service station), making

minor repairs, or getting help when the

trouble is serious. And many an eager

driver, caught in a minor traffic violation, has been pleasantly surprised hv

being released with a firm but courteous admonition, instead of being slapped

with a ticket.

In their daily rounds, the patrolmen

assist Interior residents. Their cars carry

children to school, particularly on rainv

days; take the sick to medical attention; transport health teams to outlying communities; and, through their radio communications system, summon help

quickly in case of a major emergency.

Assisting women at childbirth is commonplace for men of the patrol. Thev

have saved lives through mouth-tomouth resuscitation. And once a patrol- man prevented disaster in an Interior town by putting out an incipient fire in a 2,500-gasoline tank truck which

had struck a power line. The patrol is on duty 24 hours a day.

Generally, each car is assigned a 10- mile section of the highway and, de- pending on the location, carries one or two men. The patrolmen cruise back

and forth on their sector for one hour, then rest for ten minutes at a parking

station at the road. Each shift lasts eight hours. On weekends and rush

hours, the number of patrol cars is

j^M^ HJJ^pPP^i^'

^^^ 4

Highway Patrolman Clementino Becerra, on station on the Inter-American Highway, talks by

radio with his district headquarters. The patrolmen cruise their sectors for 1 hour, then

take a 10-minute break at a parking station in full view of drivers.

increased on accident-prone sections of the highway.

In case of accident or trouble, the Highway Patrol advises: stay put be- cause sooner or later a patrol car will come by; and if possible, send word

with a passer-by.

The Panama Highway Patrol is or- ganized into a headquarters in Panama

City and control points in Sabanitas near Colon; in Arraijan and Chame in Panama Province; in Anton, Cocle Province; and in Divisa, serving Veraguas

and Herrera Provinces. With the pro- posed expansion of the patrol, control points will be set up also in David,

Chiriqui Pro\'ince, and Paso de Canoa,

on the Panama-Costa Rica boundary.

Each control point is responsible for one or more traffic districts.

Capt. Nenzen takes pride in the fact that the Patrol, which started from

scratch in regard to facilities, now has comfortable station buildings at four

control points (Arraijan, Chame, Anton and Divisa), all built by men of the Patrol.

At each control point there is an

administrative office which handles the paper work for the traffic districts, including the processing of tickets issued

to violators.

As it nears its fourth anniversary, the Panama Highway Patrol already is look- ing upward. It has begun studies for patrolling traffic from the air in preparation for the time when funds and

equipment become available.

The Panama Canal Review 17
CANAl HISTORY

50 yiearJ c4g.o

THE PANAMA Canal Commissary

Division was affected by the German

submarine war at sea. A note appearing

in the Panama Canal Record advised

that a large shipment of Royal Doulton

China consigned to the Commissary

Division had been lost at sea, presumably torpedoed. On the same boat were several thousand dollars worth of notions and a shipment of khaki cloth.

The last traces of the Gamboa dike disappeared when 6,400 cubic yards

of rock were removed from the site by

the dredge Marmot in October. The

dike was blown up in October 1913

and the greater part of the material re- moved bv dredges as soon as possible

to open the Cut to navigation.

Fiftx- cans of food and game fish minnows, supplied by the Bureau of

Fisheries, were liberated in Gatun Lake.

They were black bass, sunfish, carp and

bullhead.

Press reports state the establishment

of a new record for quick passage from Liverpool to Callao, Peru— 19

da\s— bv a ship which passed through

the Canal. The distance of 5,936 miles was said to have been covered in 19

da\s, a rate of 312.4 miles a day.

The record for length of ships transiting the Canal was broken in December with the passage of a vessel having

a length of 655 feet.

25 yiearJ c4§o

EMPLOYMENT OF women as Canal

Zone Customs guards for part-time

work was authorized b\' C. H. Calhoun,

Chief of the Civil Affairs Division, at Balboa Heights. Duties performed by

these women, especially at the airport,

permitted regular customs officers to be

assigned to more arduous work.

More than 350 Balboa High School

students were emplo\ed in work contributing to the war effort during the

last summer vacation. Their total earnings were more than $50,000, most of which was invested in war bonds.

A total of 6,000 magazines for the Red Cross, 1,200 bottles for the Health

Department and hundreds of coat hangers for the Ancon Laundry were among items collected by Balboa High

School students in their eflFort to save,

serve, and conserve. And Canal Zone

Boy Scouts salvaged more than 11 tons

of material valuable to the war effort. Outside Christmas lighting was

banned because of blackout regulations.

10 yiearJ c4^o

Recognize anyone? These budding scientists are recording what they find under the lenses of their microscopes in biology laboratory at Canal Zone Junior College in 1936.

THE OCTOBER 1957 Panama Canal

Review cover featured Grace Line's Santa Mercedes, which won the numerical honor of making the 200,000th

transit of the Canal by an oceangoing

commercial vessel.

Canal Zone hospitals celebrated, on November 17, the 75th Anniversary of the founding of Gorgas Hospital. It was

the first time in the history of the Canal

Zone that a general observation of Hospital Day was held.

Several million dollars worth of Pa- nama Canal property on the Atlantic

side was transferred to Panama in accordance with the 1955 Treaty. • The Mandinga, a midget shallowdraft dredge, the first dredge ever built bv the Canal organization, was christ- ened, launched, and put to work on

its first job in the East Diversion on

the Atlantic Side.

One yiear c4^o

THE CROWNING of Lucy Benitez as 1967 Pacific Side Canal Zone Carnival

queen highlighted the social activities

in the first week of February last year. •

Isthmian residents were impressed

by the sight of the stately 27-year-old

Queen Elizabeth, the largest passenger

liner in the world, and the U.S. flag

United States, called the fastest ship

in the world, docked at Cristobal at the same time. •

"I am glad to be back and highly

honored bv this appointment," said Gen. Walter P. Leber as he was sworn

in as the 15th Canal Zone Governor

February 21 in a brief ceremony in the Administration Building at Balboa

Heights.

18 February 1968
Sudaet ConAciouA Canal Cmploy^eed

M^ake Qrand ZJour o/ South c4merica

TRA\'ELING BY air, land, water and

sometimes on foot, two Panama Canal

employees covered 10,339 miles on a a recent journey through South America. Their goal was to see as much as possible while keeping a sharp eye on

the finances. Walter Bottin, Wage and Classification specialist in the Personnel Bureau,

and William Andrews, Gamboa School

principal, visited Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador on the 51-day tour. George Rahn, instrument

machinist in the Water and Laboratories

Branch, started out with Bottin and

Andrews in Panama and \'isited most of countries but ended his trip earlier after reaching Peru. Their travels took them to many of the most scenic areas of South America.

They were awed bv breathtaking sights as they bussed along cliff-hanging roads

in the Andes and bounced over trails never meant for man or the vehicle carrying them. They sailed on Lake

Titicaca, the highest navigable lake in the world. They rode on the world's highest railroad system, crossed the vast expanse of the Argentine pampas and

walked to the equator.

Transportation costs for getting there and back, and for side trips to special

places of interest in each country ranged

from 250 for a bus and foot trip in Ecuador to $179 for the air fare from

Panama to Santiago, Chile. With economy in mind, they shunned

the luxury hotels and restaurants, stopping at modest establishments which

usually were clean and comfortable. Overnight accommodations ranged from

900 in Mendoza, Argentina, to $3, a day (with meals) in Riobamba, Ecuador, to $3.92 for a night in La Paz, Bolivia. First class accommodations on an

overnight trip bv river steamer from

Lima to Guayaquil cost $1.25 including

a hammock for sleeping. A stateroom was 750 additional. By eating the food of the localities they visited, meal expenses were kept

at a minimum and amounted to approximately S123 per man for the 51 davs. Daily food costs ran from 670 for a four-course meal in .Andahuaylas.

Peru, to a $2.25 table d'hote in Tucu- man, Argentina. The table fare in Argentina and Uruguay often consisted

of 2-inch thick "baby beef" steak with

all the trimmings, wine included—all

for $1.25.

The variety of climates they encountered ranged from hot and muggy in the lowlands of Guayaquil to cool chills which became frigid at night in the highlands of Bolivia and Peru. They

encountered no rain during the trip. The first leg of the trip—Panama to Santiago—3,110 air miles, was the longest and most expensive, $179. A 116-

mile train trip, Santiago to Valparaiso, was $1.35, and the return by bus, 750.

They traveled from Santiago to Mendoza, Argentina, 235 miles over the

Cordillera by car, using the train tunnel

at Caracoles since the road over the mountains was snowbound. From Mendoza, at the foot of the Andes, it was

a 23-hour bus ride across the 638 miles

of flat pampas to Buenos Aii-es. After exploring the splendors of Buenos Aires, the largest city in South

America, they took a side trip to Tigre,

a resort 18 miles from the city. Taking the daily river boat, they

crossed the Rio de la Plata, arriving at

(See p. 20)

Inca ruins of the fortress of Sascuhuaman in the environs of Cuzco, Peru. Stonework

construction in pyramid shape shows the unusual engineering competence of the Incas.

The Panama Canal Review 19
Travel 5/(ow

In Mountains

Of 5. America

(Continued from p. 19)

Colonia, Uruguay, where they caught

a connecting bus for the 110 miles to Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay and

one of the great cities in the southern hemisphere.

From Monte\ideo they traveled by

bus through 254 miles of cattlelands to the industrial cits' of Paysandu on the

east bank of the Uruguay River. They

spent one night there and resumed their journey to Tucuman in the northern

part of Argentina. It was a 39-hour

trip, first by launch across the Rio Uruguay, then bus, launch again across the Parana River and finallv bus. Tucuman, known as the Garden of Argentina, is on a plain, but behind it towers the Sierra de Aconquija. Streams

flowing from this mountain irrigate more than a million acres of sugar cane. After enjoNing the subtropical climate

in the mountainous atmosphere, they

traveled 24 hours to reach La Quiaca, a bleak and barren town on the Bolivian border 398 miles awav. There were water stops for the steam

engine; stops for food; and man\' other

George Rahn, left, and William Andrews

Santiago, Chile. They took a train to \'

interruptions for unknown reasons. As

a respite to the long train ride, the

travelers walked the 2 miles from La

Quiaca, to Villazon, the border town in Bolivia. Here, at an altitude of 11,115

feet, began the high, bleak, windswept

altiplano region of Bolivia. The Indians on the street spoke little or no Spanish, jabbering in their Aymara

and Quechua dialects. The women were

rather comical looking in their peculiar

bowler-type hats. Travelers checks are

of no value here. Only dollar bills and

Argentine pesos are accepted from the

66 hmnph =IQ K l^ from Huancayo to Callao, Peru, snakes through the Andes traversing 66 tunnels 59 bndges and 22 s^v•itchbacks. Snow-capped Andes tower above Galera, the tughest radroad station m the world at an altitude of 15,681 feet above sea level.

pretend to hitch a ride from Valparaiso to alparaiso and returned to Santiago by bus.

tourists who want to buy blankets to keep from freezing on the train to Potosi. They boarded the train for the 438

miles to Potosi, 27 hours away. The 108-mile stretch from Rio Mulato to Potosi took more than 9 hours,

of riding, almost straight up. They

reached Condor at an altitude of 15,70.5

feet, one of the highest points in the

world's railroad system.

From cold and barren Potosi, which

is 13,700 feet up, they saw the awesome

Cerro Potosi looming skyward 15,680

feet above sea level. Once this was known as the foremost silver producing

region in the world. Today the Bolivians mine tin ore here. Next, they took a bus to Sucre, the

official capital of Bolivia. Another bus

took them the 256 miles to Cochabamba, the summer capital of Bolivia and

second largest city. At an altitude of 8,570 feet and surrounded by rolling

hills, Cochabamba has perhaps the most

pleasant climate in Bolivia. From here,

they traveled to La Paz, the capital

280 miles away by ferro-carril, a bus

adapted to the railroad track. After 4 days of visiting the museum,

cathedral, government palaces and the picturesque streets in the Indian sector of La Paz, they took another ferro-carril to Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable

lake in the world at 12,500 feet. It was

a 140-mile steamer trip across the lake and despite the altitude, the weather was mild. The 244 miles to Cuzco, Peni, once

the capital of the Inca empire, was

20 February 1968
leached h\ train. The entire trip from

La Paz to Cuzco, the ferro-earril, the steamer (including cabin and two

meals) plus the train fare to Cuzco was

only S21.26. From Cuzco thev visited the lost

city of the Incas, Machu Picchu, and

explored the remnants of the strange

city between 10,000-foot peaks. The

magnificent 146-mile journey from Cuzco took them through the X'alley of the

Incas and panoramic views of Indian

terraces, fortresses and aqueducts dating

back to the Inca period.

Returning to Cuzco they took a mini-bus to Abancay and the next morning the\' started out for Andahuaylas 90 miles awa\', making the 6-hour

trip bv pickup tnjck. After bouncing

along for 4 hours they could still see

the town of .\bancav as thev spiraled

up through one of the three mountain

ranges between Cuzco and Huanca\o.

They spent 2 days at Andahuaylas

and then took a bus for the 160 miles

to A\ acucho, the colonial cit\' of cobble- stoned streets, numerous churches, and

ruined colonial mansions. A substantial meal in Ayacucho cost them 670. Two

days in Ayacucho and the\' were off on

another bus to Huancayo, an old market town 162 miles a way. The rough roads and other incon- veniences were ignored as they viewed some of the most magnificent mountain

scenery in South America on this trip from Cuzco to Huancayo.

The 260 miles to Lima, the cosmopolitan capital of Peru, was by train and it was on this part of the journey

that they sped by the highest railroad

station in the world at Galera, 1.5,681

feet. .After visiting the colonial palaces, cathedrals and plazas of Lima, they

took a short, 12-mile ride to San Isidro, one of the beautiful residential areas of suburban Lima.

The trip from Lima to Guayaquil,

Ecuador, a distance of 968 miles, was made \ia bus, taxi, foot and steamship,

all for S18. Spending a full day in Cua\a(juil, the chief seaport and commercial city of Ecuador, they went b>- train to Riobamba, 150 miles away. Riobamba is not far from Cerro Chimborazo, the great snow-capped volcano. Sometimes the streets of Riobamba are strewn with ashes from the volcano. At

9,020 feet abo\e sea le\el, the climate was mild, the food was good and

accommodations inexpensive.

Thev proceeded to Quito, the capital

Bottin and Rahn cannot resist being photographed with these well-preserved oldtimers. Many

such automobiles are seen on the streets of Montevideo, Uruguay.

A bowler-hatted Andean Indian woman drives her llamas to market at Aya\Tri, Peru, a train stop on the Puno to Cuzco railway from Lake Titicaca.

sitting almost 2 miles high and over- shadowed by the sleeping \'olcano Pichincha. They spent 4 days in the city

sightseeing.

The tour ended as they Iwarded the plane at Quito's modem airport for the

6.50 miles to Panama. Bottin and Andrews each had spent $368.46 for

transportation, S 104.80 for accommodations and approximately 8123.13 for food and miscellaneous items. They recommend this trip to the hardy traveler with an open mind and

plenty of patience. Buses never leave on time, trains never arrive on schedule; time is not of the essence.

The Panama Canal Review 21
S H I P ? I N G

New Maersk Customer

A SLEEK 23-knot air-conditioned addition to the Maersk Line fleet made

its first transit through the Panama

Canal December 31 en route from New

York to Japan. She was the Cecile Maersk, recently built by A. F. Moeller

in Sweden and will continue to make

regular transits on her service from the

U.S. east coast to the Far East. The

Cecile Maersk is the first of a series of

six new cargo liners to be built by

Maersk for this trade. They are all 13,000 gross tons, which is somewhat

larger than the usual general cargo

ship. C. B. Fenton and Co., agents for the line at the Canal said Maersk has a

fleet of 90 ships, most of which use the Canal on a regular schedule.

Kungsholm Visit

MORE THAN 400 passengers making

a "Cruise of a Lifetime" to the South

Sea Islands and the Far East, passed

through the Canal January 12 aboard

the luxurious Swedish American Line

cruise ship Kungsholm. This was the second transit through the Canal for the big ship which entered service last year, and her second cnjise to the South Seas. One of the newest of the ci"uise ships

to use the Canal, the Kungsholm is completely air-conditioned. After ciuis- ing more than 30,000 miles, the liner

will return to the Canal in earlv April

and dock in Cristobal before returning

PANAMA CANAL TRAFFIC

STATISTICS FOR SECOND QUARTER

FISCAL YEAR 1968 TRANSITS (Oceangoing Vessels) 1968 1967

Commercial 3,189 2,977

U.S. Government 350 209

Free 28 21

Total 3,567 3,207

TOLLS'

Commercial $20,567,864 $18,278,317

U.S. Government- 2,054,147 1,300,912

Total $22,622,011 $19,579,229

CARGO"

Commercial 23,538,189 20,258,955

U.S. Government 1,779,920 1,612,369 Free 138,306 066,894

Total - 25,456,315 22,038,218

' Includes tolls on all vessels, oceangoing and

small. ** Cargo figures are in long tons.

to Port Everglades and New York. She

is scheduled to leave New York April 10 on a Spring Adventure Ci"uise that

will take her to the Azores and three

ports in Europe. C. B. Fenton and Co.

represents the Swedish American ships

at the Canal.

400,000-Ton Ship

A MAMMOTH 400,000 deadweightton tanker, almost twice the size of the

world's largest tanker, is on the drawing

boards of a leading Japanese shipbuild-

^68
15th Annual

Panama Open

(Continued from p. 8)

military officials will be among the many

Canal Zone residents playing in the tournament. Both the Govemor and

Lieutenant Governor participated in last year's Pro-Am.

The amazing Paul Hahn takes to the course at 5 p.m. that day to entertain the crowd with his precision shoot ing and zany tricks which have as tounded golfers—and non-golfers— in more than 40 different countries where

he has performed.

Another reception in the Club House

and a sport dance featuring Lucho

Azearraga and his conjunto cap the evening.

President Marco A. Robles or his representative will officially inaugurate

the tournament at noon February 22 by

presenting the first ball to defending

champion Bert Weaver who will be

back to seek another victory. Other

Panamanian and Canal Zone dignitaries

will be on hand for the inauguration

and the first 18-hole round will be

' played that day.

Governor and Mrs. Leber will host

visiting golfers and their wives aboard

the Las Cruces, in the evening.

The last three rounds will be played

February 23, 24 and 25 with the awards

to be presented immediately thereafter. As an added attraction of the tourna- ment, high caliber Isthmian amateurs

with handicaps of five strokes or less may play along with the pros for the

four rounds but will be competing only

with other non-professionals.

The Panama Open is sponsored jointly by the Panama Golf Club, Viceroy

Cigarettes and the Panama Tourist

Institute (IPAT). This year, tourna- ment officials have received firm commitments of participation from professionals representing Panama, United

. States, Guatemala, El Salvador, Argentina, Peru, Colombia, Mexico, and

Costa Rica. Besides Bert Weaver, leading pros who will be on hand to compete in- clude former Panama Open winners Art

Wall, Jr., and Antonio Cerda, Florentino

Molina, Dow Finsterwald and Butch

Baird who last year won both the Bogota Open and the West End Classic in the Bahamas.

Canal Zone Govemor W. P. Leber checks his club while he and Lt. Gov. H. R. Parlitt prepare for the next hole in the 1967 Pro-Am. Both are expected to be back again to participate in this year's tournament.

Container Snips

(Continued from p. 15)

those in the United States who are con- cerned with replacing an aging merchant fleet. They must decide now

whether to invest large sums to develop new systems for handling unitized cargo

or to remain with the general cargo

ship utilizing existing facilities. Recently the Lykes Brothers Steamship Co., Inc. of New Orleans made a decision in favor of all-pui-pose barge

carrying ships to be known as the Lvkes

Seabee class. They are to be placed in service between the Gulf and the Euro- pean continent but will be of a size that

will enable them to pass through the Panama Canal. With a length of 87.5 feet and a beam of 106 feet, these ships can carry

either 38 fully loaded barges or a total of between 1,.500 and 1,600 cargo containers of the standard size. They can accommodate special heavy lift cargo of up to 2,000 tons and handle vehicles.

roll-on, roll-off cargo and unitized loads with equal facility. In addition, each

ship can take about 15,000 tons of liq- uid cargo in deep tanks and travel at a speed of 20 knots. Lvkes officials, who revealed that the construction of the Seabee class vessels will represent a total expenditure

of $90 million, said that this is not just

another new ship but a whole new

method of ocean transportation based on a new method of handling shipboard

cargo.

Statistics printed by the Maritime

Reporter and Engineering News show

there are 14 new container ships of 1,000 gross tons or more and 17 partial

container ships under construction in U.S. shipyards as of June 30, 1967. Merchant vessels converting to containerships in U.S. shipyards totaled seven

with two more for Matson Navigation

Company being converted in Japan.

The Panama Canal Review 23
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