Gift ofthe Panama Canal Museum.

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Vol. 5, No. 1 BALBOA HEIGHTS, CANAL ZONE AUGUST 6, 1954 5 cents Quartermasters Meet

CHIEF QUARTERMASTERS, and the modern equivalent thereof, met last month when General R. E. Wood paid a brief visit to the Canal Zone. Former Chairman of the Board of Sears, Roebuck, he was Chief Quartermaster from 1913 to 1915; his Canal service, however, dates back to 1905. With him

are two of his successors in office, F. R. .Johnson, kft, present Supply Director, and R. K. Morris, Chief Quartermaster from 1917 to 1928. They posed, appropriately, at the Goethals Memorial, since General Wood had been chairman of the first committee to erect a memorial to Col. George W. Goethals.

Classes Start Next Week For 4,000

Students In Latin American Schools

Next Monday wOl mark the beginning

of a new school year for some 4,000 stu- dents in the Canal Zone's Latin American

schools. Registration for first graders, kinder- garten pupils and newcomers to the Canal Zone schools was done late last month;

next Monday all students in the Latin

American schools will report to the 11 schools in the system and receive their assignments to classes. Actual class- room work will not begm until the following day.

All classes in grades one through six

will be taught in Spanish this year, although English will continue to be

taught as a subject. Text books and

classroom material have been obtained

in Spanish for the new program. As nearly as possible the curriculum

wOl be patterned after that of the Panama

schools. Temistocles Cespedes, Chief of the Technical Service Section, and Miss

Zoraida Brandao of the Technical Department of Panama's Ministry of Education

have been assisting the Canal Zone school

officials in this. Walter Oliver, formerly of the faculty of the Balboa High School, is coordinator for the changeover to the Spanish-language teaching program. He recently headed the Pan-Amerjcan Institute in Panama City. Instruction in grades seven through 12

will continue to be predominately in English this year although some classes may be converted to Spanish if this proves feasible as the school year progresses. By next year it is expected

that classes in all grades in the Latin American schools will be conducted in Spanish.

While the transition to Spanish is the major change in the Latin American

schools this year there have been a few

physical changes. Red Tank School is, of course nonexistent, and the old school

at Chagres has been replaced with a two- room school which will (See page 15)

HEALTH OFFICIALS

BUSY WITH PLANS

ON CONSOLIDATION

August will be a busy month in the Health Bm-eau while pi-eparations are in progress for the expected increase in work

resulting from the consolidation of hospital facilities in the Canal Zone.

Six wards at Gorgas Hospital which

have been closed for the past few years

are being readied for use again, and

expansions will be required in practically

all departments and services at the

hospital. A considerable increase in the

staff is planned and a recruitment program

has already been initiated both here and

in the States. Legislation passed by Congress this year provides for the transfer of the Naval Hospital at Coco Solo to the Canal Zone Government. This will per- mit the closing of Colon Hospital and the operation of only one general hospital on

the Atlantic side. No change is presently

planned in the dispensary and mortuary

services on the Atlantic side. Tariff Distributed

Meanwhile, printed copies of the

revised medical tariff of the Health Bureau containing changes required as a

result of new provisions in the Civil Functions Appropriation Act have been

received and distributed to interested

agencies. In the main, the changes are

technical in nature. They provide for the admission of and establish rates for persoimel'of U. S. Government agencies other than the Company-Government

and for dependents of such personnel.

The revised tariff provides for no in- crease in charges for medical services and

hospitalization of Company-Government

employees.

"The extensive changes in the hospital

and medical services furnished by the Canal Zone Government are made neces- sary by provisions in the Appropriations

Act. In addition to requiring the consolidation of hospital facilities, the legisla- tion provides for the reimbursement of the Canal Zone Government by other U. S. Government agencies (See jmg? w)

Change In Sailing Days

Of Panama Line Planned

A change in the sailing schedule

of the Panama Line will be made

about November 1, details of which

are now being made. A full an- nouncement of the changes will be

made in the September issue of THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW.

The principal change will be in the days of arrival and departure at both New York and Cristobal. The

sailing schedule will also be slightly different in the winter months from

the summer months, because of the preponderance of employee travel from April through September.
THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW August 6, 1954

Up And Down The Banks Of The Canal

Governor-President's Office

All Selective Services ;u'ti\ilii'.s ul Local Board No. 1, Balboa, and Local Board No.

2, Cri-^tobal, \v>re coisolidated last monlh

aid the healqiiiirter.-; are i.\ Room 267 ot the .V'liiii ii.*tr.ilio:i Biiil li.iR. However,

registrations lor .\tl mtic side residents will onli.uie to bz h.uidled i.i the Magistrate's

Office i.i the .Xdniinistration Building; in Cristobal. The two Local Bo.irds will continue to handle classificatio.i of registrants as before. Mrs. Frances E. Hunniciit who \vas

employed in the Local Board Office in Cristobal has transferred to the position of derk-ste lo-jrapher in the Police Division in the Ci\il Affairs Bnilding in .\nco.i.

• • •

C. S. Riibinsoii, former Executive Planning

Staff employee, is now employed as an elec- trical fore. nan with the Saudi Arabian

f^overnment-owned railway which runs from

Kiaydlh. Capital of .Saudi Arabia. to Damnum.

• • • Paul A. Bentz left July 12 for an official business assignment in Washington for a period of about three tveeks. During his absence, David J. Markunwas ActingGeneral

Counsel.

• • • Maurice M. Morton who recently joined

the staff of the General Counsel was admitted

to the bar of the United States District Court

for the Canal Zone last month.

Personnel Bureau Supply Bureau

Health Bureau

Clifford \V. Russell has been elected a member of the Board of Directors and Mrs. Mary K. Hitchcock has been elected Secretary' of the CHEER CLUB at Corozal

Hospital. They replace Robert C. Cole and Mrs. Elizabeth I. Brown, respectively,

who have been transferred to other units. The CHEER CLUB, organized in December 195.^ is officially tcuown as the Corozal

Hospital Employees Entertainment and

Recreation Club of Corozal Hospital. Its purpose is to improve employee relationships

at the hospital and stimulate interest and

morale.

• • •

Dr. MeshelRice joined the Colon Hospital

Staff late in July. He was horn in Canton.

Ohio, and served his internship and residency

at Providence Hospital in Detroit.

J. P. Smith. Jr., Chief of the Division of Sanitation, has a new kind of vacation story. While trapping rats he inadvertently put his hand on a coiled copperhead. He is still wondering why the snake failed to strike. Mr. Sniiih and his family are spending their vacation at Johns Island, S. C. and expect to return to the Isthmus about the middle of.4ugusl.

New interns and residents of the Gorgas Hospital staff were busy during

July getting acquainted with their new

duties and surroundings. Welcome

and orientation meetings were held

early in the month for the new doctors by Col. Howard W. Doan, Superintendent, and Chiefs of the various

services.

Washington Office

Miss Margaret M. Neumann, who has

been employed for many years in the Washington office, has been appointed "Canal

Review" correspondent for the office of the Secretary.

W. M. Whitman. .Secretary of the Panama

Canal Company, spent several days on the Isthmus during July to attend meetings of a subcommittee of the Board of Directors for a budget review. Mr. Whitman was formerly employed as Assistant General Counsel and lived several years on the Isthmus.

DAMEL .J. P.'iOLUCCI, above, is the new

Training Officer for the Canal organization. He comes

from Cornell University, from which he holds two

degrees and where he was a research associate. He

has had extensive teaching and practical e.xperience

in training and education, especially in the develop- ment of executives and managers.

The Central Labor Office Division has had a bus\' few weeks lately because of the Contractors Hill project. Between 3,000

and 4,000 applicants for local-rate jobs have

already been .screened and referred to the Tecnn Corporation. A total of 1,55 qualified

applicants were sent to the contracting firm

for consideration for employment. .-Xbout 60 local-rate employees with special skills will be used. These include heavy truck

operators, greasemen, drillers, powdermen,

and a small number of watchmen, dumpmen,

and flagmen. With the exception of drillers and powdermen, at least two eligible appli- cants were referred to Tecon for each avail- able position.

• • • Brodie Burnhani, who has been acting as Training Officer for several months, attended

the fourth annual Institute for Training

Specialists at Cornell University. He and

Mrs. Burnham will be on leave until the middle of September and are visiting relatives in California and Louisiana.

John F. Oster, Chief of the Wage and

Classification Division, returned early in July from a five-week leave in the States, of which 15 days was in active training at Lowry A ir Force Base in Denver. Following

his military leave he attended the Rescrj'e

Officers annual convention in Omaha and

later visited his mother in Cleveland, Ohio.

New York Office

Edward H. Harms, .Manager of the A'nc

]'ork Office, spent a week on the Isthmus

during July to confer with Canal officials on various problems relating In operation of

the Panama Line and procurement of supplies. He flew' from New York to the Isth- mus and returned on the S. S. A neon.

Eugene .S. I'. Martin, Executive .Issistant

to the Manager, has been appointed "Canal

Reiiiew" correspondent for the New York

Office.

• • •

R. H. Havenor, .Assistant Chief of the Finance Department, got his first trip to the Isthmus after 25 years of service with the Company. He spent three weeks in the Canal Zone on official business, returning to New

York about the middle of last month. It was

his first glimpse, not only of the Canal and

the Panama Railroad for which he has worked so long, but also of many persons known onl\ to him bv name.

Building 729, opposite the Balboa Commissary annex, which is better known as Section "K" of the Storehouse Division, has been completely evacuated b\ the latter division. The section carried principally

electrical equipment, refrigerator parts, and automobile parts and accessories. The

stock has been moved to Section "B" in the building adjacent to the Storehouse Division office in the Industrial area.

Fellow employees in the Balboa Storehouses

recently responded to a call for blood donors

at Gorgas Hospital for Roy R. Worrell,

local-rate storeman. Volunteers were Vincent

Sealey, Charles A. Alexander and Albert Smith, of Section "B;" Morris L. Brewster,

of Section "C;" and Byron S. Prendergast,

of Section "£."

• • • Cotton bunting and auto compounds

and liquids are no longer being stocked

by the Division of Storehouses, these items being handled exclusively by the

Commissaries.

• * • Moses L. Armstrong, one of the best kncnvn employees in the Commissary Division, recently retired. He was employed in

the Wholesale .Shoe Section on bookkeeping

and accounting work. He was born in Jamaica and had been continuously employed since January 7, 1016.

Earl C. Tarr, Superintendent of the General Products Branch in the Commissary Division,

will end many years of service with the Canal

organization in September when he retires from service. He plans to make his home in

either California or Oregon and will leave

in about ten days for the West Coast.

Marine Bureau

George T. FitzGerald has been reemployed as Chief Engineer of Towboats

in Balboa after a tour of active duty

with the Navy in the Pacific. He left the

Canal service in March 1952 and served

as Chief Engineer on Navy transports

and later as Repair Officer in the

Destroyer Repair Base at the Naval

Station in San Diego. At the latter station he served under Captain Marvin

J. West, who was his former boss in the Canal Zone as Balboa Port Captain and

later Marine Director.

The move of the Aids to Navigation

Section from Gatun to Gamboa is expected to be expedited during this month as the renovation of buildings

at the new headquarters is completed.

The former Police Station at Gamboa

will be used as the new headquarters

and two storehouse buildings in the Dredging Division area will be used for the storage and repair of equipment.

A special ceremony marked the 50th

anni\ersar\' of the organization of the

Industrial Division, a brief history of which

is carried elsewhere in this edition of the

C.^N.M, Review.

The U. S. Taboga returned to Balboa on July 20 after a two-week salvage job

at Corinto, Nicaragua. The Taboga

left July 4th in response to a call for assistance from the M. S. "Shoun

Maru" which ran aground about two

miles outside the entrance to Corinto

harbor. The ship was refloated ton days later and the Taboga remained

with the vessel three more days. C. C. Clement, Panama Canal diver, accompanied by Z. Delrozario, diving tender,

flew to Corinto to examine the hull of the "Shoun Maru" after it was refloated and returned on the same date of the

Taboga's return.
August 6, 1954 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW

Transportation and Terminals Civil Affairs Bureau Community Services Bureau

The new Terminal Guard Force has taken

over its duties in the Balboa and Cristobal pier

areas. The guards are uniformed in gray

slacks and shirts, similar to the Canal Zone

Police uniform, the principal differences being no neckties and no Irouser stripes. The Tertninal Guird Force insignia is displayed on

the cap and badge. Eight guards are on duty in Cristobal and

three are stationed in the Balboa pier area. Cristobal guards are: Donald D. Austin. Richard E. Kresge, Ralph C. Stone, Donald W. Wilson, Jack L. Weems, Ewell Knight,

Charles L. Smith, and George F. Burge. The

three Balboa guards are Charles J. Buquet. Wolford W. Foster, and Martin L. Olsen. Seven of the guards transferred from the Police

Division, one from the Industrial Division, and the others are new employees.

The most unwelcome visitor at the Balboa

docks ill the memory of employees there, wis

recently reported. It was a big bushmaster. A Terminals Division employee reported

that while he was working aboard a ship at dock the deadly reptile struck at him but

missed. In a thorough search later the employee was found—but not the bushmaster.

A backlog of about 11,000 tons of freight destined for ports in Honduras

and Guatemala accumulated on the

Cristobal piers during the recent politi- cal trouble in Central America before ships started accepting cargo for those

countries.

Charles E. Davis, local-rate station clerk (J- Pedro Miguel railroad station, began a year's

leave of absence at the first of A ugust to study

for the ministry in the Episcopal Church. He

will take a year's course conducted by the E.xaniining Chaplains at the Cathedral of

St. Luke in-Ancon. He is now a deacon and

upon successful completion of his year of

religious training he wilt he ordained us a

priest and assigned to a foreign mission.

Engineering and Construction

The Engineering Division has completed designs for two covered passage- ways to be built at the Balboa elementary school in the near future. The

passageways will provide shelter from

the school building to waiting vehicles

Two apprentices began their training in

the Maintenance Division last month. They

were Carl T. Tuttle who was selected for an

apprenticeship in plumbing and is assigned on the Pacific side, and Earl .-1. Dyer, II, apprentice refrigeration mechanic, who will be employed on the Atlantic side.

The suction dredge Mindi, which was moved from Mirafiores Lake to Cristobal harbor early in July has started dredging in the west Limon Bay anchorage.

It was used for about three weeks on maintenance dredging in the Atlantic entrance channel.

Ten new apprentices have been employed

in the Electrical Division as a result of examinations given earlier this year. The follow- ing lists the names and apprentice courses: John D. Delany, John F. Brennan, Kenneth

R. Atkinson, and William J. Nickisher, wiremen; .4 Ifred J. Lombana, Jr., and Leslie W. Croft, Jr., pmverhouse operators: Wade

Huffman, cablespticer; Richard R. Mallett and George K. Ford, automatic telephone switchmen; and Lionel L. Ewing, III, telephone installer and maintainer.

Power System employees are engaged

in the periodic overhaul and inspection

of the 10,000 KVA generators and tur- bines at Madden Dam. Work has

been completed on one unit and is in progress on a second.

JAMtS i:. .McUAXIKL, nuMiiber ..f i'.w L'anal Zone Fire Division, is congi-atulated by Capt. A. J. Troup on his one-step pay increase given for "meritorious performance of duty during the Lisholi ship

fire on February 6." Mr. McDaniel was badly burned during the subsequent e.vplosion and is still on the inactive list.

Lieutenant Kenneth T. Duly, of the Gatun

Fire Station, will attend training school for

fire extinguishing equipment this month

conducted by the Ansul Chemical Company

in Marinette, Wis. He is the second Fire Division employee to attend the school this year during leave of absence in the States. The other was Lieut. James V. Bartlett, of Margarita, who attended the three-day school

in June.

Lieutenant Perc F. Graham, of Balboa

Fire .Station, is attending the New York

Fire College this summer. He has been assigned to one of the busier ladder companies

in the metropolitan area and works along with

the New York fire fighters after attending

daily schoo' sessions.

Orchids were presented to the first women customers at the new postal

banking center of the Balboa Post Office when it opened in the Civil Affairs Building. James E. Harrell, who was

presiding at the stamp window, brought

several sprays of yellow and brown

orchids which he grows on a mango

tree in his back yard and presented nosegays to women stamp customers on the first day of business.

George R. Reel, clerical assistant in the

office of the Chief of the Postal, Customs and

Immigration Division, resigned last month

after five years of service with the Canal

organisation. He is well known on the Isthmus for his participation in civic and

theater work. He has returned to his home

state of California and will be employed in real estate business in Oakland.

Three local-rate postal employees with

long service retired at the end of July.

They are Walter Dacres, of Balboa Post

Office; Samuel E. Colbourne, of .Ancon Post Ofifice; and Joseph C. Cox, of Cristobal Post Office.

The Canal Zone Library will observe the 40th anniversary of its establish- ment just one day before the 40th

anniversary of the opening of the Canal

occurs on August 15. Special displays are being planned for the Library and

Museum for the occasion.

A Branch Library was opened to the public in Margarita on August I. It is located ou the second floor of the Margarita

Service Center and will be opened from

2 to 6 o'clock Monday, Wednesday, and

Fridav afternoons.

Cristobal mo\ie-goers will be seeing

"wide screen" pictures within a few days.

Delivery of the second wide screen to be

installed in Service Center movie halls is expected earh- in .August and its installation

is scheduled to be completed b\' the middle

of this month. Orders are also being placed

for wide screens for the theaters in Diablo

Heights and Margarita but no firm deliver\- date can be announced at present.

• • • Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin .S. Chisholm

recently returned from a trip by air around

the world. Mr. Chisholm is Manager of the Balboa Service Center and Mrs. Chisholm is employed in the Motor Transportation Division.

• • • Diablo Bowling Center is to be re- opened August 23. The bowling alleys at Balboa, Diablo Heights, and Margarita Service Centers have all been completely reconditioned during the sum- mer vacation period to meet American

Bowling Congress specifications.

• • •

.1 series of illustrated lectures is being given

by Jack Clarke, of the Grounds Maintenance

Division during his vacation in his home

state of North Carolina. A selection of 100

slides showing plants, flowers, and general

scenes of the Isthmus was mailed to him by

Walter R. Lindsay, Division Chief.

• • •

.-1 remarkable service record of more than 40 years of service without a day of absence for

sickness was piled up by Chester Headley,

local-rate foreman in the Grounds Mainte- nance Division, before his retirement at the end of June. He was one of three old-time foremen to retire; Clifford Steward and Foster Eastman, both with long service records, also

retired.

• • • "Moving days" have started in earnest again with the completion of the

first of the two-family houses in Diablo

Heights. The first assignments made

last tnonth set off a round of posting

and assigning vacant quarters for the

Housing Division. The process will be

a continuing one for several months as the remaining new houses in Diablo and

in Balboa become available.

• • • Mrs. Rebecca L. Halten. clerk-typist in the Cristobal Hoicsing Office, who was born

in Panama, is now a United States citizen, having recently completed all the necessary

formalities for her naturalization while on

leave in Detroit.

• • • Interior painting of quarters is now

being performed by contractors on a

"short form" contract. The new ar- rangement eliminates much accounting and paper work for the interior painting jobs and expedites the handling of the work.

Office of the Comptroller

Philip L. Steers, Chief of the Accounting

Systems Staff, und Leroy B. Magnuson, of

the Budget Staff, attended the Board of Directors meeting held in Washington last month.

• • • The Customers Deposit Unit has been

transferred from the Claims Branch of the Fiscal Division to the Accounting

Division and the office has been moved

from Diablo Heights to Room 101 in the Administration Building. The six employees of the unit are: Elmer B. Orr, Supervisory Fiscal Accountant; Ralph E. Harvey and James D. Herblin,

fiscal accountants; Samuel R. Cunningham, supervisory cash accounting

assistant ; Mrs. Alice H. Roche, accounting clerk; and Mrs. Anne A. Lawson,

voucher examiner.

• • • George T. Darnell, Jr., a University of Mississippi graduate in civil engineering, has transferred from the Hydrographic Surveys Branch of the Engineering Division to the Plant Inventory and Appraisal Staff as

general engineer. His first assignment is the valuation of the entire Panama Canal Company water supply system. Mr. Darnell was with the Bureau of Public Works in Florence, Ala., before his employment with

the Canal organization in 1V40.
THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW August 6, 1954

Subcommittee Of Board Of Directors Meets Here

COMPAXY OFFICIALiS met in the Canal Zone last Imonth .with a subcommittee of the Board of Directors of the Panama Canal Company to discuss budget matters. The meeting here preceded the meeting

of the Board held later in the month in Washington.

Left to right are: M. W. Whitman, Secretary, Panama Canal Company; Lindsley H. Noble, Comptroller; Governor Seyhold, President; Edward A. Bacon, Assistant to the Secretar>' of the Aimy; Ralph Cake, who

was appointed to the Board last December; Charles S. Reed, a new Board member wiio replaces Matthew

Robinson; and Maj. Gen. Julian L. Schley. Shown in the one-column picture on the riiihl is George H.Roderick, Assistant Secretary of the Army, who

was appointed last month a Director and Chairman of the Board of the Panama Canal Company. He succeeds

Earl D. .Johnson. Mr. Roderick spent several days in the Canal Zone 1 ast March at the time of the Goethals Memorial Dedication ceremonies.

CanaFs Disability Relief Payments

Amount To Almost Two Million Yearly

Between 1,300 and 1,400 local-rate employees of the Companv-Government

have been placed on disability relief rolls within the past year, according to figures

just released by the Personnel Bureau.

This brings the total on the rolls to 4,200; annual disability relief payments total about $1,860,000, with an average per person of a little over $38 per month.

Within the next three months practically all local-rate workers over the age

of 65 will have been removed from active

service. In addition, Local-Rate employees between the ages of 62 and 6.5 will be retired, as their services are no

longer needed, because of physical or mental condition requirements. This

policy is similar to that for U. S. citizen employees whose retirement is mandatory

at age 62. The completion of the program of the

past year will end the heaviest load which was ever placed on the Disability Relief Section of the Personnel Bureau and the

Disability Relief Board. The work of processing applicants for disability relief, moreover, was interrupted by the passage

of the law increasing annuities for dis- abled local-rate workers to $1.50 per year of service and providing a maximum

of $45 monthly, instead of the previous

$25. This required recomputing all earlier cash relief cases. Tracing Service The greatest part of the work of processing the disability relief cases is tracing the ssrvice which the applicants claim. C. A. Schecker, Secretary of the Disability Relief Board which passes on all

applications, told The Panama Canal

Review that several days are sometimes

necessary to trace the service for one

individual. Canal records of local-rate service

since 1939 are excellent; for the years between 1920 and 1939 they are very

good; from 1914 until 1920 they are fair; and for the years before 1914 are unsatisfactory, Mr. Schecker said. All service must be proved to be credited. Inadequacy of the records and of the memories of the people applying for

disability relief have complicated the work

of the Disability Relief Board in many

cases. Unless an applicant can tell definitely

where and when he worked, he is of little help to those who are attempting to verify his service. A number of appli- cants remember the names of their fore- men but neither the dates when they

worked, nor, in some cases, the employing

divisions. Inadequate Data

More than one old timer has said he "worked along the line," which could be anywhere from La Boca to Cristobal; others have proferred, as proof of employment, shoe boxes full of old lottery tickets or tickets on horse races, the idea being

that they must have been working or they

could not have bought the tickets. Sometimes the record searchers have

gotten leads by associating a particular

date—such as that when King George V

died or when the S. S. Luaifania sankwith a man's service. Mr. Schecker says

that qyite frequently the {See page le)

GEORGE H. RODERICK

One-time Zonian Appointed

To Canal Board Of Directors

The son of a one-time employee of the Isthmian Canal Commission and himself

a resident of the Canal Zone during the

early part of the construction period has been appointed to the Board of Directors

of the Panama Canal Company.

The new Director is Theodore H. Maenner, Omaha real estate executive. He is an uncle of Maenner B. Huff, of the Accounting Division. Mr. Maenner's father, the late Ludwig

T. Maenner, was Chief Draftsman for the Isthmian Canal Commission between

.July 1906 and August 1909. The new

Director lived with his family in Culebra

for a little over a year in 1906 and 1907. A graduate of Washington University, he practiced architecture in St. Louis

from 1914 to 1917. After service in World War I, he entered the real estate business in Omaha, designing and build- ing hou.ses for 10 years. Since 1930, hp

has been in the general real estate business, sales management, and insurance

in Omaha.

He is married and has three children.
August 6, 1954 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW

Balboa Heights Administration Building

Begins Fifth Decade As Zone's Capitol

31111

BUILDING workers begia to straggle out to waiting busses and cars when the day ends at 4:15.

Can you imagine a place wiiere, 40

years ago, there were: a reading room

for women employees, pool and billiard tables for the men, a library, a restaurant and a cigar counter, all under one roof with a multitude of offices? No? There was, and right here, too

the Administration Building at Balboa

Heights.

First it was officially known as the "permanent administration building at Balboa." then as the "new administration building." Today it is the "admintration building," numbered 101 among

Canal structures. Once people who

worked there called it the "Ad Buildiag;"

today when you ask someone where he works he usually says just "The Building."

Forty years ago last month the first of the Canal force moved into the BuOding.

The pioneers were about .50 members of the timekeeper's office, from Culebra,

Balboa, and Cristobal, and an unnumbered complement of office helpers and

clerks. They must have had some difficulty

concentrating on their jobs, those first days, for they were surrounded by the construction buzz of flooring, roofing, and

wiring. Outside, the grounds were a mess

of sticky mud; temporary wooden steps

led downhill to the level of the Prado.

First Visitors Despite all this, the Building must still have been impressive. Nine days after the timekeepers set up shop, 300 grade

school pupils from Panama visited the

Building, toured the finished parts and

staged a snappy bit of calisthenic drill outside, as a thank-you for their hosts. Gradually the Building began to fill up. By mid-September the old administration

buildings at Culebra and Ancon had been

emptied and their former occupants

transferred to Balboa Heights; by June

30, 191.5 the Building housed—or officed- 424 persons, of whom 39 were women. Today some 500 employees work there. In the past 40 years Building offices have been shuffled and re-shuflled, cut

up, and rearranged but a number of them

remain in their original locations. The

offices of the Governor, Lieutenant Governor (formerly the Engineer of Maintanance), their secretaries, and of the Executive Secretary are where they have

always been in the north second floor front corner, overlooking Balboa. While the Health Department's office has been enlarged, it is still in its first location as is the office of the Meteorology and Hydrographic Branch. The

Engineering Division's big room on the

third floor was designed as a drafting room; live Canal records have always

been filed in a big room on the second

floor, directly under the Engineering Division, and, except for a few weeks when

the Building was first opened, the Post

Office has always been on the first floor, just ofi' the Rotunda.

The original library was on the Building's third floor, where the office of the Engineering and Construction Director

is located. The Canal Record commented

LOUIS L. MOOLGHAN has worl<ed in the Administration Building longer than any other employee. He was with the Paymaster's Office when that unit moved to Balboa Heights from Empire in September 1914. Mr. Moolchan is now

with the .Administrative Branch.

that it was so filled with reading material

there was little room for readers. There was a photographic studio, just

under the roof, and the little room on

the landing between the first and second

floors was a cigar and candy stand for many years. The restaurant originally was in the basement of the west wing.

"

Housekeeping Is Big Job

Housekeeping in the Building is just

about as big a job as one would imagine.

The "domestic staff" includes four dayjanitors, an elevator operator, a maid,

and 14 night-janitors. Fitz Barton, who

began work at the Building in 1935, was

recently promoted to the post of head

Day-Janitor. The three men and eight women who staff the cafeteria are not

technically part of the Building Staff. The day-janitors, who come to work at

6 a. m., do the hundreds of chores, like polishing woodwork and brass, which

keep the Building shining. They are on

call for all sorts of odd jobs like changing

light bulbs, moving furniture, carrying

heavy packages or using DDT sprays under desks when mosquitoes and sandflies become nuisances. They must dash to close hallway windows in a sudden downpour; during a heavy rain one of the men is assigned to mop around the porte cochere entrance

to keep people from slipping on the wet

floors. When the night-janitors come on at

3 p. m. they pitch into such outside work

as verandas and front steps until the

offices are emptied. A floating gang then

starts on the third floor, emptying wastebaskets, sweeping floors, cleaning the ubiquitous spittoons which are holdovers from less inhibited days, and doing the

general housekeeping. Anyone who has

ever tried to work overtime can testify to the thoroughness of their advance,

t Occasionally they have minor adventures, like finding a batch of discarded but winning lottery tickets in a waste- basket or $5,000 in currency which had

been left on a ledge in the Paymastei-'s

oflice. In both these cases the finders were suitably rewarded. How Many People?

The Building was a long time in the making and seems to have been beset with difficulties. It was designed in New

York and, according to old files, Canal

officials were perturbed because the architect, Austin Lord, preferred to work

there rather than on the spot. He, however, was having his own troubles. He asked repeatedly for some indication of office layout and the number of

peo])le who would be working in the Building but was told, as repeatedly, that

the permanent Canal force had not been

decided upon and that the information he wanted could not be provided. In this connection, the Record later commented: "The entii-e building was

planned without any definite knowledge

of what offices were to occupy it, how

much space they would require or how

they would be correlated . . . Just before

the new organization went into effect on

April 1, 1914, it became better known

what departments were {See pags i3)
THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW August 6, 1954

FOR YOUR INTEREST AND

t.„§tf

GUIDANCE

LA

IN ACCIDENT PREVENTION i^

BOOBY-TRAPS

'Phis vvDi-cl was givcMi a new niL-aniiig 1)>

(jiir sLTviiemeii in World War II who used

it to describe the devices left by a retreating

e.iemy to kill or main unsuspecting soldiers. In these cases our men were the boobies and the enemy devised the trap. .\ simple

trap usualh' used something having sou-

\enir appeal which exploded a mine when

KiiK'hed. .\ particularly heinous "boob\' trap" was a w-onaded eaemy soldier left as

I he trigger to set off the mines, whe i anyone

allenipted to give him first aid. Usually it killed both the Good Samaritan and the

alreach' wounded enemy. Whereas trained and expert soldiers had

to be used to locate and deactivate these

cle\erly desig.ied traps, almost any worker

can locate the industrial "booby traps"

left b\- fellow workmen. It is odd that a workiiian will lea\e a "booby trap" for a

fellow workm.tii. who is usually a friend.

1 here is no malicious intent as with soldiers, but the result is often the same. Let us look at some typical examples of "boob\

traps" experienced by the employees ol the Canal Zone Government-Panama Canal Company within the last year. I'ndcr the heading of "poor housekeeping," many "booby traps" are creited for the

careless workman

:

a. A lock guard, turning away from

a telephone, stepped in some grease,

slipped, and fell into an unguarded

locomotive pit. b. .X canal seaman, descending a ladder to the deck of a ship, stepped on

a protruding nail in some debris which had been left there.

c. .\ luggcrman fell over the handles HONOR ROLL

Bureau Award For BEST RECORD

JUNE

COMMUNITY SERVICES BUREAU

HEALTH BUREAU

CIVIL AFFAIRS BUREAU

AWARDS THIS CALENDAR YEAR

Community Services 4

Civil Affairs 2 Health 2 Supply 1 Engineering and Construction

Marine

Transportation and Terminals

Division Award For NO DISABLING INJURIES

JUNE

HOSPITALIZATION AND CLINICS

DREDGING DIVISION

INDUSTRIAL DIVISION

SERVICE CENTER DIVISION

ELECTRICAL DIVISION

GROUNDS MAINTENANCE DIVISION

MOTOR TRANSPORTATION DIVISION

AIDS TO NAVIGATION

SANITATION DIVISION AWARDS THIS CALENDAR YEAR

Aids to Navigation 5 Sanitation 5 Service Center 5 Motor Transportation ^ 4

Electrical 3 Grounds Maintenance 3 Hospitalization and Clinics 2 Dredjiing . Industrial Maintenance

Navigation

Railroad

Storehouses

Commissary

Locks. Terminals

of a haiul truck left prolru<ling into an aisle. d. An electric drill lell Irom an

overhead shelf of a cabinet, hitting a mechanic on the head when he closed a drawer.

These accidents are typical of many

caused by someone not cleaning up after himself, or a supervisor not keeping his job and storage areas in proper order. Many employees will go to work in an

inisafe area without first learning if there are any "booby traps." Look at the

following examples:

a. .A group of employees, working in a ship which previously was on fire, were severely burned when confined

gases aboard exploded. Some other workmen were overcome b\" c\anide

gas when they entered the hold ol a ship to unload cargo.

b. A surveyor's chainman received

a severe electric shock, when he tos.sed his chain over an electric wire.

c. .^ lock employee fell backward

into the lock chamber, when the wrench

he was using came in contact with a

live feed wire nearby.

d. A janitor, receixing an electric shock when he started to change a

light bulb, fell from the stepladder,

injuring himself.

e. A luggerman was injured when a box, called a sleeper, fell on his leg as he started to remove merchandise from

a railroad car. Many workmen, creating their own

"booby traps," step into them and are

injured.

a. A laborer, failing to block a large

pipe in place, was injured when it rolled back, pinning him against the next pipe.

b. A stevedore failed to step back

in the clear of a sling which he had

just loaded with steel bars. When it was hoisted a piece fell on him.

c. An employee seated himself on an empty box in the body of a pickup

truck. When the truck turned sud- denh' he fell out on his head.

d. Setting up a machine to grind

large steel blades, a machinist bumped

the control lever which started up the machine, cutting a large gash on his leg.

e. A stevedore, pr\ing up a hatch

cover, fell through the open part of the hatch to a deck below when the cover suddenly came free.

- f. A grass cutter, throwing gasoline on a smoldering fire to make it burn

faster, was burned when the resulting

explosion set his pants leg on fire where

he had spilled some of the ga.soline.

It is evident that these accidents could have been avoided if the employee had used some common sense. By far the largest group of "booby

traps" are set up by someone's carelessness and neglect.

a. .A "cowboy" industrial truck

operator, who took a corner too fast and wide, tore the clothing from the back of a woman whom he sideswiped

in passing.

b. A pile of coffee sacks, carelessly stacked, fell over on a workman when

he attempted to remove a sack.

c. \n emploxee fell, injuring his leg, into a manhole which had been left uncovered in a fog-filled tunnel.

d. Tree trimmers left a severed limb

lodged in a palm tree; it became dis- lodged and fell on a workman sent to clean up the debris.

e. A hand truck, pushed by a stevedore, fell on his leg, because a dock

plate to a railroad car was left unsecured.

f. A mechanic put his finger into a valve to feel the condition of the valve

seat. Just then, a fellow worker

closed the valve, cutting off the end of the mechanic's finger. After looking over our past record there appear to be two ways to pre\-ent "booby

traps;"

1. If all you workmen will take the time to look over your job before >'ou start to work, then protect yourself by

wearing protective clothing from those hazards which you are unable to avoid

or remove, you will help prevent

accidents.

2. It is the responsibility of every employee, from the common laborer up to the foreman and supervisor, to

see that no "booby traps" are created and left on the job for your fellow workmen.

JUNE 1954

Communlly Services Bureau

Health Bureau

Civil Affairs Bureau

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

Supply Bureau

Engineering and Construction Bureau

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

Transportation and Terminals Bureau

Marine Bureau

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

( Frequency Rate)

20 30 40 50

Man-Hours Worked. 2,372,500

10

Number of Disabling Injuries 23 LEGEND

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

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

p;:;:.-.::;^ Accumulative Frequency Rate This Year
August 6, 1954 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW

Official Panama Canal Company Publication

Published Monthly at BALBOA HEIGHTS. CANAL ZONE

f'rinled by the Printins Plant Mount Hope, Canal Zone

John S. Seybold, Governor-President

H. 0. Paxson, Lieutenant Governor William G. Arey, Jr. Public Information Officer

J. RuFUS Hardy, Editor

Eleanor H. MclLHE>fNY

Editorial Assistant

SUBSCRIPTION—$1.00 a year SINGLE COPIES—5 cents each

On sale at all Panama Canal Service Centers, Commissaries, and Hotels for 10 days

after publication date.

SINGLE COPIES BY MAIL—10 cents each BACK COPIES— 10 cents each On sale when available, from the Vault

Clerk, Third Floor, Administration Building, Balboa Heights.

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

Canal Review, Balboa Heights, C. Z.

New Military Assistant

Arrives From California

MAJOR UAVID H. smith, new Military

Assistant to the Governor, arrived last month to take

over his new duties. He was accompanied by Mrs.

.Smith and their two daughters. A native of Pennsylvania, Major Smith was

graduated from the United States Military Academy

in 1940. He has just completed work at the Cali- fornia Institute of Technology for his Master's Degree in Civil Engineering. He se;ceeds Lt. Col. David S. Parker, who has been reassigned to the Portland Engineer District

in Oregon.

OF CURRENT INTEREST

Safety Award Presented—

F0RM.4L PRESENTATION of the National Safety Council's Award of Merit was made to Governor

.J. S. .Seybold last month at a brief ceremony at the Administration Building at Balboa Heights. The

presentation was made by Maj Gen. Julian L. .Schley, member of the Panama Canal Company Board of Directors. The following day the Award of Merit flag was raised on the Building's flagstaff. After the presentation. Governor Seybold posed with Safety Representatives and .Assistants on the Administration Building steps. M. F. Millard, Engineering and Construction Bureau, left, and Emmctt

Zemer, Community Services Bureau, hold the Safety Flag. Others, left to right, are: J. D. Tate, Aids i. . Navigation Section; W. F, Russon, Transportation and

Terminals Bureau; Lt. Com. R. C. Rice, Indusuiial Division; M. R. Hart, Supply Bureau; G. 0. Kellar, Chief, Safety Branch; C. J. Genis, Supply Bureau, northern district; Governor Seybold; Otto Helmerichs, Personnel Bureau; L. W. Chambers, Marine Bureau; R. H. Greene, Office of the Comptroller; Carl G. Brown, Health Bureau; and E. L. Farlow, Civil Affairs I5urcau.

Retail prices of coffee in the Canal

commissaries will be increased approximately three to six cents a pound the middle of this month.

The price increase is necessary be- cause of the higher cost of coffee obtained from producers. Commissary

officials said. Bids for a supply of Boquete coffee, which is used as a blend with other

coffees, were advertised recently. The

lowest bid received was about four cents higher per pound than bids received

for coffee purchased last March. The

March coffee, in turn, had been pur- chased at a considerably higher price

than previous lots of coffee.

Sales personnel in the shoe sections at Balboa and Cristobal Commissaries are being given a course in shoe-fitting, under

the direction of Fred N. Dahl, Commissary

1 >ivision training director. The course is based on material obtained by the Commissary Division from a firm

of shoe machinery manufacturers in the United States. On completion of the course, the sales- people will be given certificates suitable

for framing. The shoe-fitting course will be extended to other retail stores after its success has been shown at Balboa and

Cristobal Commissaries.

The first sixteen apartments in the new

(|uarters at Diablo Heights were assigned

I his week. All are near the Diablo Commissary and the site of the old dispe.isary

Iniilding. The eight houses, each with two apart- ments, were transferred by the contractor

the last week in Juh'. The apartments

were ad\ertised on the July 28 housing vacancy bulletin for assignment .August 3. Additional houses will be turned over

to the Canal Company by the contractor each week until the contract is completed.

The Northern District Sanitary Office on Bolivar Highway in Cristobal is now

being used as impounding station for dogs picked up on the Atlantic side of the Canal Zone.

Until the latter part of July, dogs

which were impounded were held at the Humane Society Kennels at Brazos

Brook.

Canal Zone residents who hold

drivers' licenses in the Republic of Panama are reminded to check the

expiration date on their licenses,

many of which expire this month.

One photograph and a $1 stamp, which

can be obtained near the Panama

Traffic Office or at other places where

"papel sellado" is sold, are necessary

for renewal.

Drivers' licenses in Panama were renewed in 1950 for a four-year period.

Most renewals took place in August of that year and the licenses consequently

are expiring in August of this year.

The formal dedication of the new Rain- bow City gymnasium took place July 20,

in the presence of Canal officials and community leaders. The gymnasium had been

located at Chagres and was moved recenth'

to the new site adjacent to the playground

area opposite the High School Building. rhe gymnasium was immediately put

to the community use for which it is intended. The day after the formal dedication. Canal Zone children who had partici- pated in the Local-Rate Summer Recreation program showed some of the products of their handicraft classes and later in the day

gave an exhibition of square dancing.
THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW August 6, 1954

Main Work On Contractors Hill Project

Will Be Started By Tecon This Month

The familiar face of Contractors Hill

will begin to change its appearance

within another few weeks when the blasting and hauling of rock gets into full swing. Between 25,000 and 30,000 cubic yards

of material have already been moved by

the Tecon Corporation, contractors for

the big project. This, however, is in the nature of preliminary work for the main

job which involves removing some 2,000,- 000 cubic yards of rock to stabilize the

hill slope, facing the Canal, which has been endangered by a crack along the rocky hill crest. The first phase of the job is the clearing

of all material on the hill, down to the

3"0-foot elevation. This work is now

wtII advanced and it is expected to be completed during August, following which

the main job of removing the mass of rock will be started. From elevation 370

feet down to elevation 150 feet, or 65

feet above water level in the Canal, the

hill will be cut away in a series of wide

berms or benches.

MEN and machines start taking off the Uip uf C'untracturs Uil!.

A bit of history is usually dug up

whenever any extensive excavation

is done in the Canal Zone. The Contractors Hill project is no

exception to this general rule. A

wealth of old bottles which would

have delighted any bottle collector, of which there are many on the

Isthmus, was found near the top

of the hill. Bottles of all sizes and descriptions were uncovered by the blade of one

of the big bulldozers, but only a f2w

were intact after the blade cut through the cache. According to local historians, one

of the French Canal Company offi- cial residences was built atop Contractors Hill and the bottles are

believed to have been castaways

from parties of three-quarters of a century ago.

Some minor blasting has been done by Tecon forces during the past ten days.

This was necessary to break up some of the rocky ledges and ridges which pro- trude above the 370-foot elevation.

Night Shift

Until no.v ths work has been done on

a 10-hour work shift a day. Another

10-hour night shift will begin work sometime later this month when the top of the hill has been cleared. Leroy Ramer

is General Superintendent of the project,

and John Austin is foreman of the day

shift which is now engaged.

Big floodlights are to be installed at the top of the hill before the night shift

is added; they will provide a spectacular

sight for several miles around. Most of the material which has already

been removed has been used for the construction of a haul road to the spoil area which was formerly the Rio Grande

water reservoir, about a mile from

Contractors Hill. Equipment Here Most of the Tecon Corporation equipment for use on the project has already

been received. A second large shipment

of equipment received during the latter part of July was unloaded and assembled

in Balboa. It consisted of heavy earth- moving machinery and auxiliary equip- ment. The company now has nine of the big Euclid hauling units ready for work.

Some additional machinery is to be

A. SHO\'EL talies a big bite.

brought for the job later when the work

is more advanced, probably about the beginning of the next dry season. Meanwhile, preliminary work of other nature is well advanced. The work of sinking a shaft into the face of Contractors Hill from the Canal side is nearing

completion. This job, as well as the removal of the Gaillard plaque from the

face of the hill, is being done under a subcontract by the Bildon Corporation.

The tunnel is nearing completion and

the work of lowering the plaque was

scheduled to be completed this week.

The tunnel is being driven into the hill for two purposes: To relieve hydrostatic

pressure in the crack, and to install instruments to measure any movement of the hill. The tunnel intersects the crack about 125 feet in from the face of the hill. Other auxiliary work in progress

includes the construction of a warehouse

and repair shop by Tecon Corporation.

The shop will be fully equipped to do all types of repair work which may be

required on the machinery in use.

Complete Turnover Made

Of Gorgas X-ray Equipment

A complet(> turnover in heavy equipment in the X-ray Department of Gorgas

Hospital has been made within the past

few* months, in line with the policv of providing modern, up-to-dafp medical

care in Canal Zone medical facilities.

All major equipment is now operated on 60-cycle current on a special line from

Quarry Heights. There are now two

combination fluoroscopic - radiographic

units of late design and other new items

of diagnostic equipment have been added

to facilitate special studies on the head

and brain. A large combination superficial and

deep X-ray therapy machine has been

installed in the treatment section, enabling hospital therapists to treat by X-ray

anything from the most superficial skin

lesions to the deepest cancerous growths.
August 6, 1954 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW

Tarpon Is Still King

In Waters Of Chagres

NIAGARA whirlpiiiils ha\e iKithmg mi thi' L'hafjies Kiver when the Gatun spillway gates are open. Members of the Panama Canal Tarpon

Club, which has its headquarters on the brink of Gatun Spillway within sight of the Gatun Locks, claim that their club is the third oldest organized fishing club in the world and the first chartered fishing club on the Isthmus. These claims are possibly true since the Tarpon Club was first organized in 1914 by a group of Panama Canal employees who called themselves the Gatun

Fishing Club.

First record of the activities of this club was in 1915 when P. R. Joyce, rep- resenting members of the organization, wTote a letter to Gov. George W. Goethals

asking permission to buy a small building

formerly used as a dynamite shed and

relocate it in a spot west of the railroad siding below the hydroelectric station at Gatun. This building, he said, was to be used for the comfort of the club members.

•" Permission was granted and the build- ing was bought for $6. Later the Governor granted the club certain privileges

such as the right to purchase equipment

from The Panama Canal, supplies for the refreshment counter at the Canal Zone

Commissary, and permission to have their printing done at the regular surcharge

rate. He, however, refused to grant them

such luxuries as free water and electricity,

which in those happy days were provided

without charge to the Canal residents. Famed Fishermen

By 1916 the officers of the Tarpon Club

had the club in such smooth running

order, and the clubhouse itself such a comfortable place, that they sent letters to the managers of th? Hotel Washington

and Hotel Tivoli asking them to send

them all tourists who might want to be taken on angling trips. The fame of the elusive hard-fighting

silver tarpon was spread by the many

visitors who either came to see the wonderful new canal or who arrived here on

official business and then relaxed between

conferences. One of these was energetic

Teddy Roosevelt, one of the world's best known sportsmen.

The old club records show that Roosevelt and a party visited the club and

stayed overnight and went fishing. He

became one of the early honorary members as later did his famous cnisin Frankling D. Roosevelt who paid a visit to the club in 1934 when he was President of the United States. In addition to the two Roosevelts, other well-known personages whose names appear on the club gu^?t book in- clude William Vanderbilt of New York;

ex-King Leopold of Belgium, and Harry

F. Sinclair of the Sinclair Oil Company.

Charter Members

The list of charter members of the Tarpon Club reads like an Isthmian

Who's Who with a few Stateside millionaires thrown in for good measure. The

records list William D. Taylor, then Post- master at Gatun; Dow R. Walker; David

Westman, now head of the Westman

Brothers Accounting firm, then a clerk

at Ciatun; W. E. Minnix, later Chief of the

Cristobal Fire Department; Sir Claude

Mallett, British Minister to Panama;

T. B. Monniche, designer of the Canal

emergency dams and former engineer of docks in Cristobal; Dr. Herbert C. Clark, then with Gorgas Hospital; Fred G.

Whaler, Panama Canal employee who

later became world-known as a fishing

guide; Captain Charles B. Fenton of Cristobal; David T. Abercrombie, well-known

New York sporting goods merchant;

George G. Hamilton of Kentuckj'; Edward Leavitt Howe of Princeton, N. J.; and A. B. Legare of Washington, D. C.

In later years, members and guests in- cluded the late Monnett Davis, U. S. Ambassador to Panama; Murray Wise,

Councilor of Embassy; C. S. Adams, Secretary and Treasurer of BranifT Airways;

General Horace McBride, former Commander-in-Chief of the Caribbean Command, as well as a number of well-known

fishermen from the United States who

came to Panama to try their luck with

the elusive tarpon.

In the early days as now, the members

brought the family out to the club for the week-end, and sometimes there was

a bang-up party such as the one given

by R. K. Morris, then Chief Quarter- master of the Panama Canal, who do- nated a shesp for a barbecue.

Alligator Trouble

Around 1922 the Tarpon Club members

had a little trouble with 20-foot alligators

which hung around the spillway apron and kept the members from going into the water to fish. Calls for help were

sent to C. A. Mcllvaine, Executive Secretary, who gave instructions to the Canal police to get rid of the pests. Wading into the water at the foot of the spillway to fish was a thrilling but

dangerous sport even without alligators

and there were several fatal accidents,

when fishermen were swept off the cement

apron into the swirling waters of the Chagres. In 1934 rules were made which

prohibited fishing alone and required the use of cleated shoes, shorts, and life pre- servers when fishing from the spillway apron or off shore when standing in the waters of the Chagres.

Although some fishing is {See page is)

THESE TWO Tarpon Clul. members look as ji River. E. C. Stern, /(//, is the club's dockmaster;

fishermen.

if they were about to have a fine time on the Chagres Henry R. C'henavert is one of the club's most ardent
10 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW August 6, 1954

THE GOTHIC, a yacht for a Queen

THE STUYVESANT, a Dutch dredge

THE NEVADAN, the Canal'

1

1914 • THE PANAt

At 7:10 a. m. on August 15, 1914, i Pier 9 in Cristobal to begin the Canal .r guests, including the President of PanarrI, Bolboo. Nine hours and 40 minutes \a> the dredged channel at Balboa and the b commerce.

The next day six ships, three north)

Canal. They were the beginning of a si; yachts and monstrous battleships, whalin'i' pamled fruit boats, and passenger ship;': Under."

From the day when the "Ancon" ml: 228,881 vessels of all sizes, shapes, t\!( the Panama Canal. Of these, 172,762\

over. The rest were smaller commercia v bian or Panamanian government ships t under tow or under their own power.

Tolls, collected or credited, during - 385,794; cargo carried totaled 845, 3C|, ore, bananas and beef, and the thousanl-i the busy Panama Canal, day after day!

A FLOATING DRYDOCK, on its side A POLAR SHIP, City of New York
August 6, 1954 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW 11

),000th commercial customer A CANAL • 1954

5. S. "Ancon" slipped from its berth at

isit. Aboard the ship were some 200

nd a quantity of cargo for dispatch at he "Ancon" had reached the end of ima Canal was officially open to world

d and three southbound, transited the

/ flow of traffic which has included tiny

its and rusty merchant tramps, trim whiterying immigrants to new homes Down

the first trip until June 30 of this year, and nationalities have gone through e large commercial craft —300 tons or

sels, U. S. government vessels, Colomssels which were transiting for repairs,

e almost 40 years amounted to $749,-

'8 tons of oil and wheat, lumber and

d-one Items which ore shipped through

THE ANCON, she opened the Canal

A CARRIER, air power at sea

A BATTLESHIP, a lockful DESTROYERS, a multiple lockage
12 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW August 6, 1954

ANNIVERSARIES

Emmett Zemer, Safety Inspector for the Community Services Bureau, heads the

list of those cele- brating anniversaries in July. He has

41 years of con- tinuous Canal ser- vice and has never worked for any

other organization. Mr. Zemer has ta- ken an active part

in so many com- munity activities, especially Pacific

side Independence

Day celebrations, that the youngsters are inclined to think of him as "the man with the flags." His first job was as a wrapper and checker

at Gorgona Commissary, .\fter serving in a mnnber of commissaries, he worked at the Hotel Washington and at the Tivoli, and

then spent the next 26 years in what used

to be known as the District Quartermaster's

Office at Balboa. He has been at Balboa

Heights since 1953.

Incidentally, his unusual lirst name is the

last name of the famed Irish patriot, Robert Emmett.

30 YEARS

Four employees, one of them a woman,

and two of them brothers-in-law, start their fourth decade of go\ernment service this month. 'l"he\- are: Florence G. Kelly, T. E. Engelbright, Roger H. Greene,

and Nelson W. Magner.

Miss Kelly, who was born in Red Bank, N. J., worked for the Canal first in 1920.

.All of her service has been in accounting

work. She is now a Time, Leave, and Payroll Clerk in the Payroll Branch. Mr. Engelbright, a police officer in the

Cristobal District, is an old artilleryman.

He first came to the Canal Zone with the Army and was stationed at Fort .Amador. He spends his spare time fishing or hunting. Mr. Greene, a native of Washington, D. C, came to the Canal Zone as a boy. .After a hitch in the Navy and college in California, he returned to the Canal Zone to work. He is a Claims Examiner in the Claims

Branch. Nelson W. Magner, this month's other 30- year employee, is Mr. Greene's brother-inlaw. Born in Indiana, he first worked for the Canal in 1920, and is now chief of the Maintenance Division's Northern Branch.

25 YEARS

Everett L. Farlow, one of the four 25- ycar employees, is the only one with con- tinuous Canal .service. .A clerk with the

Police Division for 14 years, he is now Administrative Officer in the office of the Civil

.\fTairs Director. The other quarter centurions are: Miss May B. Dodson, a staff nurse at Colon Hospital, all of whose Canal

service has been with the Health Bureau; Robert J. Brady, Guard at the Pacific Locks, who had held summer jobs as a boy;

and Claude E. Campbell, foreman in the heavy equipment section of the Mainte- nance Division's Southern District, and, in- cidentally, the recently elected Department

Commander for the .American Legion.

20 YEARS

Of the 12 20-year people, ten ha\e con- tinuous government service. They are: Emmett W. Argo, General Foreman, .At- lantic Locks; Harold H. Feeney, Chief, Contract and Inspection Division: Gardner

Hayes, Supervisory Sanitation Inspector, Health Bureau; Lucille Hearn, Assistant Director of Nurses, Gorgas Hospital; John

J. McConaghy, Gas Plant Operator, In- dustrial Division. Milton L. Nash, Lock Operator Machinist Leader, Gatun Locks; James H. Sel- by, Plant .Accountant, Plant Inventory and

Appraisal Staff; Mrs. Mary E. Specht,

Supervisory Fiscal .Accountant, Mainte- nance Division; Albert G. Turner, Machinist, Industrial Division; Allen B. Ward,

Teacher of Spanish, Balboa High School. The two with 20 years of goveniment

service but broken Canal service are: Mrs.

SCHOOL BELLS will be ringing soon. With

the Latin American schools opening next Monday, the U. S. -citizen schools and the Canal Zone Junior College on September 9, and Slates colleges starting almost anytime

in September, there is not much more time

to get school outfits. Here are a few of the

items the Canal Commissaries have for kinder- garteners to collegians.

Clothes, of course, are all-Important. Take

those for little school belles first. In the 7

to 14 size group and selling for only

Very $2.65, there are dresses which

Junior should charm any small boy into Misses offering to carry his girl's books. Many of the dresses have contrasting blouses and skirts. One little honey is sleeveless with a 'V'-neck and a big sailor collar; the top is of red and white striped

cotton, as are the big pockets, and the skirt

is crisp white embossed cotton. Another

dress, of yellow plisse, has a scoop neck, three-tiered skirt, a trim of black crochet and a snappy black patent belt.

WILD RICE, believe it nor not, is a new color

for girls' loafers. It's a light, pearl gray in smooth-finished leather. Still the leading

school shoe, the loafer is a moccasin-type

shoe and also comes in black and brown. In sizes 4 to 1 0, it sells for about $4.50. Cotton

anklets, in plain colors or with fancy cuffs, are available to go with the loafers; 25 to 38

cents a pair.

Now for snips-and-snalls boys who

wouldn't be caught dead In anything but dungarees. There are dungar- Those ees with suspenders for pudgy

Dungarees kindergarteners, at $1.35, dun- garees with elastic waistbands

tor boys who hove waistlines, $1.25; cowboy style dungarees with rivetS; and dungarees with double knees for the young man who IS hard on his clothes. These two are $1.90 a pair. There ore Levis, real genuine

ones, bearing the Levi Strauss & Company

label, at $3.55. In case you can persuade

your young man that there are other sorts of pants, too, the Commissaries have cotton

twill, from $1.70 to $2.55 and khakis, at $2.10.

SHIRTS to go with the dungarees, or other

trousers, too, come in a variety of colors and

patterns and a variety of prices: SI .05 to $1.55 for sizes 8 to 18. There are some

exceptionally good looking Spartan plaids

and some altractive seersucker prints. One

of the latter is a diamond pattern of blue and

yellow which should catch the eye of any young male. Colton lineen shirts have a

linen finish but don't muss like linen. Plisse, that high-sounding name for a light-weight seersucker weave, comes in white or solid colors and doesn't have to be ironed. Sports type but o little dressier, if that can be, are nylons in what are known as a "baby pucker

weave," white and plain colors.

For both boys and girls, in the 8K to 3 shoe size range, the Commissaries have a new shoe which should delight mothers. It

is a gore-type loafer, elasticized over the lnstep,and Is made on a child s last Mothers' although It Is a copy of an adult Delight shoe. What mothers will like is that it has a plastic counter which

prevents the back of the heel from breaking

down, and a long-wearing neollte sole.

It sells for about $4. CLEVER MAMAS who sew will be delighted with new chombray for dresses for big and little girls. The plain chombray

comes in delicious sherbet colors raspberry

and lemon and lime, for instance. There are glazed chambrays and chombray with an

iridescent finish; there are narrow stripes and

wide stripes and what used to be called Roman stripes, like neopolitan ice cream

58 to 75 cents a yard.

Now for Tropical Collegians, female. The Commissaries hove a fine assortment of Betty Barclay Junior Miss frocks In Junior sizes 7-15. One which would be

Misses perfect here, or for travelling to the

States, IS a two-piece suit of combed

cotton vj'iih rayon acetate, in a fine pin-strIpe

In pink. The coat is three-button, with

crisp, white, narrow-wale pique collar and

cuffs. The shirt is slim with a kick pleat,

for easier walking: $9.50. A block and

white print has narrow black straps and a

little black lacket, the lapels of which are

faced with the print— $7.95.

TROPICAL COLLEGIANS, male, have a

fine selection of shoes to choose from. Bates

ha.' made a budget-priced moccasin toe shoe

with a neollte sole, especially for the Commissaries. In light ton, sizes 6-12 and in C and D widths, they are $8.50. A loafer, made of shrunken calfskin, in brown only,

with an elasticized gore, is $6.95. New in the Commissaries is another shoe of shrunken

calfskin, in black or brown. It has a twoeyelet tie, is cut much lower than the conventional shoe and gives the appearance

of a loafer. In sizes 6 to 1 2 and C and D

widths, it is about $10.50.

Now, stray items for the off-the-lsthmus student: No one con be expected to make an

eight o'clock class without on alarm

Clocks clock; $2.45 for a sturdy old faithful and with an insistent alarm to $6.85 for Pillows an alarm clock in a travelling case. Foam rubber bed pillows come In two types. Dayton Koolfoom pillows, the plump size, have a sanforized percale cover which is washable and are 18 '4 by 27 by

5 '2 inches —$5.95. Playtex foam rubber

pillows which won't sag or lump or bunch

ore 16 by 24 by 4 Inches and sell for $7.95.

SAMSONITE LUGGAGE will be in the Commissaries in time for the college-bound.

In blue, brown, green, or natural rawhide or saddle ton, the luggage ranges from $15 for a 13-inch train case or 15-inch overnighler

to $32 for a hand wardrobe. Young

males will like the two suiters and will not mind that they don't come in green.

Maxine K. Hitchcock, Clerk- Ivpisi, Corozal Hospital, and Fred S. Baumbach,

Supervisor of Painting, Maintenance Division.

15 YEARS

Seventeen employees completed 15 years

of service last month.

Those with continuous Canal service are: Norman E. J. Demers, .Administrative

Officer, Transportation and I'erminals Division; Rudolph M. Hiter, Floating Crane

Operator, Dredging Division; Truman H. Hoenke, .Superintendent, Pacific Locks; Roger M. Howe, Electrical - Mechanical

Engineer, Engineering Division; Hugh M.

Linn, .\ir Coniprcssnr Operator, Indiislri.il Division; Lambert A. Montovani, .Assist- ant Restaurant Manager, Service Center

Division; George D. Rowe, roolmaker. In- dustrial Division; Louis T. Schuberg, Marine Pipelilter, Industrial Division; Maxwell

T. Smith, Pt-rsonncl .Assistant, Personnel

Division; George A. Tully, Jr., Policeman,

Cristobal; Mrs. Ella E. Wertz, Mail Clerk, .Vdministrative Branch. Those whose serv'ice with the Canal has been broken arc: Glenn C. Dough, .Ship- wright, Industrial Division; Ralph J. Dugas, Pipctitter, Industrial Division; Rex O. Knight, Motor Inspector, Police Division; Oliver G. Paterson, .Auto Repair Mechmic, Mot(ir I'ransportatiou Division; Richard P. Fatten, Policeman, Balboa; Carl

\. Wanke, .Supply Cataloguer, Storehouse

Division.
August 6, 1954 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW 13

Balboa Heights Administration Building

Begins Fifth Decade As Zone's Capitol

(Continued from page .5) to be housed at Balboa."

Five different sites, four areas on or near Sosa Hill and a knoll "west of Ancon cemetery," were considered for the Building. In one memorandum the

last location, which was the one sel^ctsd, was referred to as "30 feet back of the former triangulation station on Lone Tree

Hill." Site preparation was started in March, 1913, and erection of th3 steel skeleton of the building was begun the

following June. "Not More Than $375,000"

In 1911, the estimated cost of the per- manent administration building was given

as $448,750. This apparently was cut somewhere along the line; in October,

1912, Col. Goethals WTote the architect that it was "to cost when completed,

$375,000 and not one cent more, as we

have no more and are going to ask for no more." The final cost of the Building

is not given in very detailed story on

the Building which appeared in the Canal

Record of Dec. 30, 1914, but there are memoranda which do show that its cost "would far exceed the estimates." A number of major changes have been

suggested for the building since 1914. At

one time serious consideration was given

to opening an entrance from the south

side of the building, for easier access to the parking lot. Another plan, considered and also discarded about this same time, was an addition to be built on the site of the parking lot. This was to provide a wing for the library.

One little-known suggestion was made

in 1937, but never got beyond the dis- cussion stage. This called for an escalator between the front of the Building and the Prado level. It would have cost between

$75,000 and $100,000 to build, even in those days, and between $8 and $9 a day

to operate.

Beauties And Interests As far as its exterior appearance is concerned, the Building is the same great

"E" into which the Timekeepers moved

in 1914. It has probably outlived the glowing description in the Record—"Such

a varied collection of functions has seldom

before been assembled under one roof and

the building is probably unique and not

likely to be duplicated until some undertaking as great in magnitude as the Canal is consummated."

But it has its beauties and its interests. The grandfather's clocks, with their great

brass pendulums, in the Governor's Office and in the Executive Secretary's Office date back to French Canal days. One

wall of the Governor's office is lined with

photographs of his predecessors in office. The desk used by the Executive Secretary was that used by Col. Goethals,

at Culebra. Lithographs by Joseph Pennell hang in the Board room, the Executive Suite and

other offices. The Van Ingen murals in the rotunda are famous. Popular subscription raised the funds which b aught

the memorial plaque, honoring th"^ Canal

dead of World War I, near the foot of the flag pole.

There are no reading rooms, pool

tables or libraries in the building now,

but it is still what it was built to be

the capitol of the Canal Zone.

Commissary Division Guard Force

MEMBERS of thr L'cjmmi^sary Divi.ion Guard Force stand regular inspection. The force was

inaugurated June 1. Left to nght. the guards are: Lloyd Hewitt, Ervin D. Hicks, .Mva J. Henry, Henry

B. Thomas, Walwin Hoy, Harold X. Lewis and Willard Archbold. Their supervisor, Julius Szivos, does

not appear here. Tarpon Still King

On Chagres River

{Continued fram page 9) Still done from

the spillway apron, it is no longer the common sight it once was. Trolling on

the seven-mile stretch from the spillway

to the mouth of the Chagres River near

Fort San Lorenzo has become more popular and seldom fails to result in a succession of thrills which brings members

of the Tarpon Club out night after night

as well as over the week-ends.

Silver King

Snook, jack, and snapper also are caught in these waters but the legendary

Silver King is the true lure for most

sportsmen. It is one of the gamest and

prettiest fish knowTi and one of the hardest to land because of the hard bones

in its jaws and head. There are records

of tarpon in the Atlantic as far back

as 1643 but up to the time of the construction of the Panama Canal they did not inhabit the Pacific. In recent years they have been found in Gatun and Miraflores lakes and there is excellent evidence

that they have passed through the Canal.

It is a warm-water fish averaging from

30 to 80 pounds, which retires toward the

tropics during cold weather. Its breeding

habits are unknown but many people

believe that the tarpon follow up the

rivers to spawn. This theory seems likely as at certain times of the year the Chagres

River is alive with tarpon while at other times they are fairly scarce. At Gatun, according to an old newspaper account, the tarpon are caught on

a fly. This method was started about

1916 probably about the time that Governor Goethals issued an official circular prohibiting fishing in the Chagres River

below the spillway at Gatun except with

a rod and reel.

Thrill Of Thrills An angler standing on the bank of the

spillway with a 12-foot bass rod or a 9,'^ foot fly rod, 200 yards of 12- or 13-pound

Ime, small lead wires. Brown Hackle fly and a No. 6 hook can get a thrill that he

will remember the rest of his days, old- timers reported.

Shortly after Pearl Harbor Day, the

Gatun Tarpon Club was closed for the

duration, the locale commandeered for defense purposes and the historic old Tarpon Club demolished as a fire hazard

because of its strategic position near the Gatun Locks.

Since the war, much of the old life has

been resumed at the Tarpon Club with

a transfer of the members and their equipment to three Quonset huts placed

at their disposal by the U. S. Army subject to the right of the Army to reoccupy

the buildings if and when necessary as a

defense measure. " At the beginning of the war in Korea, the Army did just that. They reoccupied four Army buildings in that area and one and a half belonging

to the Tarpon Club. Future Plans

The 138 members of the Tarpon Club,

however, are making plans for the future, and within a few years they hope to have

a new clubhouse constructed which will have all the comforts of the pre-war

fishing headquarters plus a few modern

touches. The site chosen for the new

building is on a hill overlooking both

the Chagres River and Gatun Lake. Meanwhile, a number of the members

have built fishing boats on which they

spend their week-ends. The boats range from 18 to 20 feet in length and have names as ingenuous as their construction.

Visitors should not be misled by the fact that they are homemade, however, for each is a hardy, seagoing craft which

could stand up to a mild buffeting at sea should the owner decide to go fi.shing beyond the mouth of the Chagres River. During the past few years, fishing here

as well as in other parts of the world has become more specialized and there is in- creasing emphasis on the conservation of game fish. It is no longer considered

sporting to catch fish in large numbers.

Experts now use a point system which

takes into consideration the size of the

fish in relation to the size of the line and

equipment used. The point system is a complicated business understood only by

fishermen but on this system trophies are awarded twice each year to the members

with the largest number of points. Usually they go to the anglers with skill rather than luck and with perseverance

rather than brawn.
14 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW August 6, 1954

PROMOTIONS AND TRANSFERS AUGUST SAILINGS

June 15 through July 15

Employees who were pionioted or transferred between June 15 and July 15 are

listed below. Regradings and within-grade

promotions are not listed. ADMINISTRATIVE BRANCH

Mrs. Anita H. McKeown, File Clerk, from Claims Branch to Record Section. CIVIL AFFAIRS BUREAU

Mrs. Suzu K. Kuramoto, from Clerkr\pist, Accounting Division, to Librarian,

Library. . Clarence M. Wilson, trom Junior High

School Teacher to High School Teacher. Galeon M. Jarvis, from High School Teacher to Juiiidr High School Teacher. Mrs. Evelyn D. Engellve, Clerk-Stenographer, from' Internal Security Office to

Police Diyision.

William G. Hoelzle, from Motorcycle

Officer to Motorcycle Officer and I^jliceman,

Police ni\ ision. William T. Nail, James L. Cicero, from Policeman to Policeman and Motorcycle Officer, Police Division.

' Albert B. Cooper, from Police Sergeant

to Police Sergeant and Motorcyle Sergeant,

Police Division. Alba D. Hutchings, Jr., from Laundry

Foreman, Commissary Diyision, to Customs

Guard, Postal, Customs, and Immigration

Diyision.

COMMUNITY SERVICES BUREAU

Wilson H. Crook, from General Manager, Service Center Di\ision, to Community Services Director. OFFICE OF COMPTROLLER

Mrs. Helen R. Hobbs, from Property

and Supply Clerk, Housing Division, to Time, Leave, and Payroll Clerk. Payroll

Division. Bertha I. Frensley, from Stenographer

to Clerk (Stenographer), .Accounting Sys- tems Staff. Mrs. Claire V. Hughes, Clerk-Typist, from Employment and Utilization Division

to Cost Accounts Branch. Robert V. Chenalloy, Irom .Accountant, General Accounts Branch, to Systems Accountant, .Accounting and Classification Section. Howard Lewis, from .Accounting Clerk, General .Accounts Branch, to Accountant.

.Accounting Classification Section. Mrs. Susan M. Magee, from ClerkTypist, Cost .Accounts Branch, to Clerk- Stenographer, Plant Insentory and .Appraisal Staff. Mrs. Adelia J. Shacklett, from lime. Leave, and I^utoII Clerk, Pa\Toll Branch,

to Clerk-Tvpist, Cost Accounts Branch. Mrs. Jean G. Humble, Clerk- Typist, from .Agents .Accounts Branch to Cost .Ac- counts Branch.

Isabel M. Diaz, from Bookkeeping Machine Operator (Typist), Claims Branch, to Bookkeeping Machine Operator, Agents Accounts Branch. Mrs. Jean de la Pefla, Clerk-'I ypist, from Cost .Accounts Branch to Claims

Branch. ENGINEERING AND CONSTRUCTION

BUREAU

Matthew Shannon, Foreman Painter, from Maintenance Diyision to Dredging

Division. Max M. Schoch, Charles H. Bath, Jr.,

frcmi .Assistant Foreman to Public Works

Foreman, Maintenance Division. Anthony R. Lombroia, from Carpenter Leader to Carpenter Foreman, Maintenance

Division. Mrs. Anna D. Thomas, Telephone Operator, from Atlantic Locks to Electrical Division. Ray D. Wells, from Clerical Assistant

('Typist), Fire Division, to Clerical Assistant, Contractors Hill Project. Ernesto A. Quintero, Carlos M. Badiola. General Engineer, from Engineering

Division to Contractors Hill Project.

Harry E. Pearl, from Civil Engineer,

rCngineering Division, to Office Engineer, Contractors Hill Project.

Charles P. Barton, froin Construction Engineer (General). Maintenance T)i\ision, to Field Engineer, Contractors Hill Project.

Jack B. Love, from Guard, Contractors

Hill, to .Apprentice Cablesplicer, Electrical Division. Howard M. Armistead, from Fireman.

Fire Division, to .Apprentice Armature

Winder, Electrical Division. Theodore J. Wilber, from Clerical .As- sistant to Supervisory .Administrative Assist- ant, Electrical Division. HEALTH BUREAU

Dr. Juan L. Correa, Jr., from Hospital

Resident to Medical Officer (Internal Medicine), Gorgas Hospital. Dr. Robert H. Donald, from Intern to Medical Officer (Ear, Nose, and Throat),

Gorgas Hospital. Mrs. Dora J. Coleman, from Histo- pathology Technician, Board of Health

Laboratory, to Medical Technician (General), Colon Hospital. Mrs. Eva W. Phipps, Staff Nurse, from Colon to Gorgas Hospital.

Robert L. Thompson, froni Administration .Assistant, .Administrative Section,

to Hospital Administrative .Assistant, Gorgas Hospital. Clifford V. Russell, from Hospital .Ad- ministrative .Assistant, Gorgas Hospital, to Hospital .Administrative Officer, Corozal

Hospital.

August E. Schuler, Hospital .Administrative Officer, from Colon Hospital to Gorgas Hospital.

Arthur W. Smith, from Supervisory

.Accounting Clerk, Gorgas Hospital, to .Ad- ministrative .Assistant, Administrative Section. Robert Cole, Hospital Administrative

Officer, from Corozal to Colon Hospital. Mrs. Exier J. Hopkins, from .Accounting Clerk to Supervisory .Accounting Clerk, Gorgas Hospital. DV. James A. Schneider, from Intern

to Resident, Gorgas Hospital. Mrs. Mary H. Bright, from Clerk- Typist to Accounting Clerk, Gorgas Hospital. Mrs. Joyce M. Marschel, from Clerk- Typist to Clerk (Typist), Board of Health

Laboratory.

MARINE BUREAU

James P. Johnson, Jr., Norman R. Hutchinson, Ben F. Smith, from Probationary to Qualified I'ilot. Henry G. Tryner, from Pilot-in-'Train- ing to Probationary Pilot. Frank N. Light, from Engineman, Hoisting and Portable, Division of Storehouses,

to 'Towing Locomotive Operator, .Atlantic Locks. Edward L. Stern, from Storekeeper

(Shipping), Commissary r:)ivision, to .Ap- prentice Sheetmetal Worker, Industrial Division. Henry E. May, Jr., Irom Supervisory

and Supply Clerk, Terminals Division, to Refrigeration Machinist Apprentice, Industrial Division. James L. Rinehart, from Commissary

Supervisor, Commissary Division, to Boil- ermaker .Apprentice, Industrial Division. Charles W. Hammond, from Lock Operator to Painter Foreman, Pedro Miguel

Locks. Yane Leves, from Cribtender Foreman,

Terminals Diyision, to 'Towing Locomotive

Operator, Pacific Locks. Milton M. LaCroix, from Motorboat

Maintenance Mechanic, Aids to Navigation,

to Machinist, Industrial Division. Mrs. Dorothy LaCroix, from Clerk- Stenographer to Fiscal .Accounting Clerk,

Industrial Diyision. . Paul Cave, from Lock Operator Machinist to Lock Operator Machinist Leader. Atlantic Locks. ,^. • • Wilfred M. White, Guard, from l)iyision

of Storehouses to Industrial Division. Charles A. Smith, from Student Assistant, Physical Education and Recreation Branch, to .Apprentice Shipfitter, Industrial Diyision. ^ , r- j Daniel J. lanoale, from Guard to Guard

Supervisor, Locks Security Branch. PERSONNEL BUREAU

Jo Ann A. Fischer, from Clerk-Typist,

Employment and Ctilization Division, to Clerk-Stenographer, Office of Personnel Director. ^, , -r- Mrs. Evelyn L. Farbman, Clerk- lypist.

From Cristobal

.4 neon August 6

Cristobal August 1 .? Panama August 20

.-I «(()« .August 27 From New York

Cristobal .August .^ Panama .August 1 Ancon .August 17

Cristobal August 24 Panama August 31

(Northbound the ships are in Haiti from

7 a. m. to noon Sunday; southbound the

Haiti stop is Saturday from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.)

RETIREMENTS

Retirement certificates were presented

the end of July to the following employees

who are listed alphabeticalh', together with

their birthplaces, titles, length of service, and future addresses: John B. Corliss, Indiana; Chief Towboat Engineer, Ferry Service; 36 years and

11 days; Orlando, Fla. Lyiin E. Cottrell, Wisconsin; General Foreman, Electrical Division; 23 years, 11 months, 27 days; Wisconsin. Roy G. Currie, Michigan; Utility Fore- man, Pacific Locks; 14 years, 4 months;

Orlando, Florida. Waldron Francis, St. Francis, British West Indies; Helper Mechanic, Industrial Division; 35 years, 2 mouths, 20 days; Panama.

Florence I. Jacobs, Michigan; Principal, .Ancon Elementary School; 29 years and 10 months; Long Island, N. Y. John R. McLavy, Kansas; Supervisory

Chemist, Board of Health Laboratory; 28

years, 11 months, 22 days; Staten Island, N. Y. Charles W. Meissner, Oregon; L tilit\- Foreman, Miraflores Locks; 35 years, 6 months; Panama. John M. North, Florida; Lock Security

Guard, .Atlantic Locks; 26 years, 1 month,

5 days; Tampa, Fla. Antonio Orsini, Panama; General Engineer, Engineering Division; 27 years, 9 months, 12 days; Panama. Harold J. Peterson, Wisconsin; Pumping Plant Operator, Maintenance Division;

12 years, 5 months, 6 days; L'pper Gloucester, Me. Clarence E. Sherwood, Pennsylvania;

Foreman, .Armature Shop, Electrical Division; 35 years, 5 months, 2 days; Plans uncertain. Solomon Yudin, New A'ork; Senior Maintenance Mechanic, Hospitalization and

Clinics Diyision; 13 years, 5 months, 11 days; Miami Beach, Fla.

from Magistrate's Court to Employment

and Utilization Division. SUPPLY BUREAU

Mrs. Mildred L. Randall, from .Ac- counting Clerk, Commissarv- Division, to Clerk-Typist, Division of Storehouses. Julius Szivos, from Storekeeper (General), Diyision of Storehouses, to Guard

-Supervisor, Commissary Division. TRANSPORTATION AND TERMINALS

BUREAU

Bernhard I. Everson, from Deputy Director to Director. John A. McLain, Jr., from Ganger and

Cribtender Foreman to Cribtender Fore- man, Terminals Division. David A. Redmond, from Guard, Locks

Security Branch, to Ganger and Cribtender Foreman, Terminals Division. Donald D. Austin, Donald W. Wilson,

Ralph C. Stone, Charles J. Busquet,

Wolford W. Foster, Martin L. Olsen,

Richard E. Kresge, from Policeman, Police Division, to Guard, Terminals Division. Lloyd W. Peterson, from Traffic Clerk

(Passenger) to 'Transportation Clerk, Steamship Ticket Office. Mrs. Barbara M. Hutchings, frofti
August 6, 1954 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW 15

Canal Employees

Increase Purchases

Of Savings Bonds

Close to 3,0D9 employees of the Company-Government organization are now

signed up to buy U. S. Savings Bonds

through the payroll deduction plan, as the result of an intensified campaign

throughout the organization. About 1,900

employees, who had not been buying

Savings Bonds through the deduction

plan, were signed up since the drive began.

About 16.1 percent of U. S.-rate employees were buying bonds by deduction

b3fore the campaign; this figure now is slightly over 26 percent. While 3 percent

of local-rate employees were subscribing

before the campaign, this figure has been

very substantially increased to approxiimitely IS percent, according to Norman

Johnson, Savings Bond Officer. The Personnel Bureau, for which Otto Helmsrichs was Saving Bond Chairman,

leads the Company-Government organization with 47.1 percent participation

anong U. S.-rate employees and 79 percent for local-rate employees. Second

place is held by the Office of the Comptroller, where Kathleen McGuigan is Savings Bond Chairman, with 44.2 percent U. S.-rate employee participation

and 43.8 percent for local rate. Third

place goes to the Community Services Bureau, with 43.5 percent *U. S.-rate employee participation and 36.4 percent

for local rate. Savings Bond Chairman was Douglas Johnston. His group also signed up the largest number of new

buyers, a total of 44S. The largest number of employees

participating in any one Bureau is in the Supply Bureau where M. R. Hart is chairman and where 592 employees are now buying Savings Bonds by payroll deduction. At the end of the drive Miss McGuigan,

Mr. Helmerichs, Mr. Johnston, and Mr. Hart were all congratulated by the Governor for the contribution made by

themselves, their committeemen, and

canvassers in the drive. More than 225 chairmen, committee- men and canvassers worked to make this campaign a success. Other Bureau participation follows: Transportation and Terminals, N. E. Demers, Savings Bond Chairman, 20.9 percent U. S.-rate and 24.1 local-rate participation; Engineering and Construction Bureau, Mrs. Teresa G. Wright,

chairman, 15.6 U. S.-rate and 11.6 percent

local rate participation (these returns

Clerk-T\ pist to Transportation Clerk (Typist), Steamship Ticket Olitife. William R. Graham, from Accounting

Clerk to Accounting Assistant, Railroad

Division. Harold G. Crawford, from Guard, Atlantic Locks, to Chauffeur, Car of President, Motor Transportation Division. Robert G. Turner, from Freight Traffic Clerk to Supervisor\' Property and Supply

Clerk, Terminals Division. Sidney Smithson, from Guard to Superyisorv' Storekeeper (Checker), Terminals

Division. Victor T. McGarry, from Supervisory

Storekeeper (Checker) to Freight Traffic Clerk, Terminals Division. John L. Barrier, from Agent-Operator

to Train Dispitcher and .\gent-Operator, Railroad Division.

Top Officials Meet

OFFICIALS of Girls State called last month on officials of the Canal Zone. Jant- Jennisdn, far

right, was Girls State Governor, and Georgia McGinn, between Lt. Gov. H. 0. Paxson and Governor

Seybold, was .\ttorney General. A few days after the official call the girls left for Washington as Canal Zone delegates to Girls Nation.

are not final); Marine Bureau, with

Charles Jackson as chairman, 23.3 U. S.- rate and 6.5 local-rate participation;

Administrative Branch and the Governor's Staff, H. S. Makibben, chairman,

28.6 U. S.-rate and 4 percent local-rate participation.

Figures for the Civil Affairs Bureau,

for which G. C. Lockridge was Savings

Bond Chairman, and for the Health

Bureau, R. L. Thompson, chairman, are not yet available.

Classes Start Next Week For 4,000 Students In Latin American Schools

{Continued from page I) be held in a build- ing on High Street. This two-room

school will accommodate the comparatively small number of Chagres students

in grades one through six. Junior high

school and high school students from

Chagres attend the Rainbow City schools. Although the actual enrollment of the Latin American schools will not be known

definitely for several days after classes begin, school officials estimated that the

total enrollment will be about 400 less than during the last school year when

4,484 students were registered. The

e.xpected drop in enrollment is due to the decrease in the number of families living

in the Canal Zone. Announcement of a

reduction in the teaching staff from 154

last year to about 134 this year has

already been made.

One new principal has been appointed

for the Canal Zone schools -Pablo

liirven, who succeeds Ernest Morris as

principal of the Chiva Chiva School. He

is a graduate of the La Boca Junior

College and previously taught at Santa

Cruz. Late last month Governor Seybold told representatives of the Local Rate Civic Councils that children of employees living in the Republic of Panama who had

previously attended the Canal Zone

schools would be permitted to attend the Zone schools for the first semester only,

if space and the pupil-teacher ratio permit. This will prevent those children who had not enrolled in the Panama

schools from losing a full school year. During the last month of the Institute, the elementary teachers were grouped by

grades—all fifth grade teachers, for instance, working together. They planned their work for the coming year so that all classes in the same grade would

be studying the same books and materials.

Survey To Be Made

Of Local Rate Rents

In order to develop a rental schedule based on comparability with housing in the Republic of Panama, the Panama

Canal Company will review rentals on

local-rate housing in the Canal Zone, Gov. J. S. Seybold announced at his July

conference with Local-Rate Civic Council

representatives.

He said that the survey would take

foiu- to five months to complete. Any

changes in the rental schedule which

might be made would be announced well

in advance of the effective date. In announcing the review of rentals, the Governor said that it would be similar

to the surveys made between govern- ment-owTied and privately-owned housing

in the LTnited States where houses are compared for space, location, facilities, etc. In addition to the survey to be made

in Colon and Panama City, the Company

will survey the local-rate housing on a

basis of what United States Government

employees residing in the Republic of Panama pay for their living quarters.
16 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW August 6, 1954

Patient Handicraft Exhibited

SCRAPS AND BITS AND PIECES of low cost or no coct material beiome dolls and doll house?,

vases, trays and other sttractive items in the creative hand! 'raft program being carried out by patients

in the Chest Section at Gnrgas Hospital. Here Col. Howard W. Doan, Gorgas Hospital Superintendent, looks over some of the patients' creations with two Gray Ladies, Mrs. H. D. Haskell, left, and Mrs. Salvador Vazquez. A display of the handicraft, representing two months work by 50 patients under the guidance of the Gray Ladies, was e.xhibited last month for a week in the lobby of the hospital.

HEALTH OFFICIALS BUSY WITH

PLANS ON CONSOLIDATION

(Cimtinu'd from page 1) for hospital

and medical care provided for employees

of those agencies "less the amounts payable by such employees and their dependents."

A revision of the medical tariff was

required to cover these provisions. In effect, the new medical tariff establishes both in-patient and outpatient rates for personnel of other Government agencies. It also provides pro- cedures and rules for payment of such

charges whether they are paid wholly

by the agency concerned or partly by the employee and partly by the agency. This type of plan is already in effect for Company-Government employees. Thus,

the difference between what an employee

pays for hospital and medical service and

the actual cost of such services is now

paid by the Panama Canal Company.

In all instances where the plan is adopt- ed by an agency, the same rates will be charged for employees and their dependents as are paid by Company-Government

employees. These charges are on a sliding

scale and are based on the salary of the

individual. They range from $1.00 to $6.00 a day for ward care. Agencies Billed In cases where agencies pay the full cost of hospital and medical care for its employees, as is the case for military

personnel and their dependents, a flat charge will be made for each patient-day

and the agency will be billed the full amount.

Aside from the technical amendments

made to implement legislative action, the

principal change in the medical tariff was

an increase in charges for private pay

patients. These rates for hospital ward

care have been increased from $10 to $15

a day, and obstetrical care from $1.50 to $250. The latter includes all normal

obstetrical services including six days of ward care. The changes which will be required at Gorgas Hospital are still in the indefinite

stage. They will depend, according to

Col. Howard W. Doan, Superintendent, on the increase in patient load which is impossible to determine with accuracy in advance. The changes will be made

consistent with the increased patient load and additional wards can be opened at the hospital if necessary. The renovation of the six idle wards will increase the number of actively available beds from about 400 to approximately 550. The principal increase in the Gorgas

Hospital personnel will be in the nursing

staff. A number of additions will be needed for the medical staff in both the

in-patient and out-patient service, particularly for specialized branches. A number of new employees will be

required to augment the staffs of both

hospitals; many of these will be employed

locally. These include clerical help, ward

attendants, janitors, cooks, and messengers. Doctors, nurses, and technicians

will also be employed locally if available but it is expected that most of these will be new employees from the States.

Canal's Disability Relief Payments Amount To Almost Two Million Yearly

[Cuniinual frnm page I,) oldtimerS Can remember where they were working on

such standout dates. Another difficulty in establishing old

service, he says, is that a good many of the local-rat3 force during construction days were employed by contractors and

not by the Isthmian Canal Commission.

The applicants frequently cannot difl^er- entiate this contract employment from

ICC work and the former is not applicable

for service credit. The rjcord searchers attempt to verify 30 years of the applicant's service—the maximum allowable under the bill providing for increased cash relief. Once they

have established these 30 years, they go no further, although in many cases they

have had to examine 40-year-old records

to arrive at a 30-year total. 80 Percent Maximum

Another problem which arises in connection with the disability relief cases is that of explaining to an applicant that he

is not entitled t,^ mor^ than 80 percent

of his wages at the time he is placed on

cash relief.

If an applicant is earning, as some few

are, $50 monthly at the time he applies

for cash relief, he can be paid only $40

or 80 percent of $50—regardless of the

fact that he may have over 25 years

service. This 80 percent regulation applies also to everyone drawing an annuity

under the Civil Service Retirement Act. Sometimes reductions are made from the maximum allowable because the economic

need is not so great. The Company-Government's cash relief plan is non-contributory; in other words,

the recipient of cash relief has made no payments toward a future pension, during his years of service. It is a stop-gap

plan, designed to provide some measure

of aid for oldtimers no longer able to work, until a full retirement plan can be

passed by Congress.

It has been in effect since 1937; last year, on the recommendation of Governor

Seybold and the Secretary of the Army,

legislation was introduced raising cash

relief payments from $1 to $1.50 per month, for each year of service, with a maximum of $45 monthly. The bill was

passed by Congress in February, 1954,

and immediatelv went into effect. Forty Years Ago In July

The Canal Zone's July 4 celebration was concentrated, 40 years ago, in Cristobal. The speaker of the day was William Jennings Price, U. S. Minister to Panama, and the Chairman in Charge was

C. A. Mcllvaine, Executive Secretary.

There were the usual patriotic exercises, athletic events, a band concert and

fireworks, with an exhibition dive by a submarine, and a fire company race be- tween Empire and Cristobal as highlights

of the day. An unusual attraction was a dance which began in the afternoon and

continued until late at night, on Pier 9. Benches were taken from a recentlydismantled sight-seeing barge, and the

railroad's old sightseeing cars were run in on adjacent tracks to provide additional seating capacity.

The Secretary of War announced that

the Canal would be open to traffic on August

15. Ships would be limited to those drawing not more than SO feet because of conditions at Cucaracha Slide.

Bids for furnishing two steel tugboats,

to be used in handling and docking vessels at the entrances to the Canal, were awarded to the State Island Shipbuilding

Company. The tugs were to cost $152,

000 each and would be 125 feet overall

length.

The pontoons of the Canal's two great 250-ton cranes, Ajax and Hercules, arrived

in the Canal Zone after a long haul across

the Atlantic fwm Germany where they had

been built. Fir.^t to arrive was the pontoon

of the floating crane Ajax, which had been

7J, days on the way. Fifteen days later, well before it loas expected, the pontoon of the Hercules reached Cristobal after a 66-day

Atlantic crossing.
A ugust 6, 1954 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW 17

For the purpose of the fiscal year 1938

STATISTICS ON CANAL TRAFFIC

comparison between pre-war and post-war traffic through the Panama Canal, statistics for are used in this section, as being more nearly normal for peace time than those for 193').

COMMERCIAL TRAFFIC THROUGH PANAMA CANAL

SETS ALL TIME RECORD IN PAST FISCAL YEAR

More larg3 commercial ships transited the Panama Canal during the past fiscal year than in any year of its history.

New records for the Canal were set for

fiscal year 1954 in the number of commercial ships hindled, the amount of tolls collected, and th ^ amount of cargo which was carried through the Canal. Although the total commercial transits for the past fiscal year were 9,006, compared with 8,704, for the previous fiscal year, the decrease in the number of government ships brought the total Canal

transits of all categories to slightly under

last year's overall figure of 10,170.

7,784 Large Ships

Large commercial transits, ships of 300

or more tons, totaled 7,784 for fiscal year 1954, 374 more than the large commercial transits for the previous year. Small commercial transits, however,

dropped slightly, from 1,294 in fiscal year 1953 to 1,222 in the fiscal year just ended. The number of government vessels transiting the Panama Canal decreased from 1,466 in fiscal year 19.53 to 1,139

during the fiscal year which ended

June 30. Tolls collected on commercial vessels

for the fiscal year 19.54 amounted to approximately "$33,302,000, of which

$54,000 was collected on craft of less than 300 tons, compared with $31,972,000

collected for commercial shipping for

fiscal year 1953. In 19.53, also, tolls of small'craft were $54,000. Toll credits, on government vessels, were $3,889,000

for fiscal year 1954, compared with

$5,558,000 for fiscal year 1953. Korean War Effects As in past years, there was little differ- ence in the number of commercial vessels making the northbound and southbound

transits. In fiscal year 19.54, 4,441 commercial vessels made the Atlantic-Pacific

transit, while 4,565 vessels were bound

from the Pacific to the Atlantic. During

the past fiscal year, 580 government vessels transited from the Atlantic to Pacific and 559 government ships transited in the opposite direction. Cessation of hostilities in Korea had a major effect on the number of transits of government vessels. In fiscal year 1953, 899 government ships had gone from the Atlantic to the Pacific and only .567 had

made the Pacific to Atlantic transit. On the main trade routes, cargo ship- ments between the United States East

Coast and Canada and the Far East

continued in the number one spot, with an increase of 123,000 tons over last year's high figure.

The largest single cargo increase in trade on a major trade route, 497,000

tons, was recorded on the fast-increasing

shipments between the East Coast of the United States and the West Coast of South America, via the Canal. This was

due to increased shipments of iron ore from Peru.

A President Visits The Locks

PRESIUENT PAUL M.AGLOIRE of Haiti inspected Miraflores Locl<s during his visit to Panama

last month. Center, hat in hand, and with Mme. Magloire on his left, he listens as Lt. Col. David S. Parker explains how the locks work. Beside Colonel Parker, wearing dark glasses, is Governor J. S. Seybold.

CANAL TRANSITS -COMMERCIAL AND U. S. GOVERNMENT

Fiscal Year

1954 1953 1938

Atlantic

tC) Pacific

Pacific to Atlantic Total Total Total

Commercial vessels: Ocean-eoine: 3,852 3,932 7,784 7,410 5,524

*Small 589 633 1,222 1,294 931

Total, commercial 4,441 4,565 9,006 8,704 6,455

**U. S. Government vessels, ocean- 423 377 800 1,064 441

*Small _ - __. 157 182 339 402

Total, commercial and U. S. Government 5,021 5,124 10,145 10,170 6,896

*V'esseIs nnder 300 net tons or 500 displacement tons. **Vessels on which tolls are credited. Prior to Jul\' 1, 1951, Government-operated

ships transited free.

TRAFFIC MOVEMENT OVER MAIN TRADE ROUTES

The following table shows the cargo shipments in thousands of long tons segregated

into eight main trade routes:

Fiscal Year

1954 1953 1938 United States I ntercoastal 5,017 4,871 6,395 East Coast of U. S. and South .'America 6,673 5,176 2,652 East Coast of U. S. and Central America 531 552 46

East Coast of U. S. /Canada and Far East. _ 8,975 7,848 4,912

I'. S./Canada East Coast and .\ustralasia _ 1,306 1,456 992 Europe and West Coast of U. S./Canada , _ _ 4,379 4,036 4,237

Europe and South ."Xmerica . 2,037 1,491 2 974 Europe and Australasia- -__ .. 2,303 2,137 1,251

.'^ll other routes _ . . 7,874 8,528 3,927 Total traffic 39,095 36,095 27,386
18 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW August 6, 1954

Gaillard Plaque To Be Removed

THE BRONZE TABLET Imnnring the imcmnry

of Lt. Col. David D. Gaillard, which was set into the

face of Contractors Hill 2G years ago, is being removed

in connection with the work on the hill. Above is a photograph of the plaque showing its fine detailed work; at the left are the long ladders with which contractors men are scaling the almost sheer face of the

hill to reach the plaque 103 feet above (iatun lake

level.

Rock is being chipped away behind an eye at the top of the plaque so that a cable can be inserted as support while the 9 by 1 1 foot tablet is being loosened

;

it will be lowered by crane to the base of the hill to

tie crated and removed.

Funds for the plaque were contributed by men of

the Third \'olunteer Regiment of Engineers, of which

Colonel (Jaillard had been an officer, and the Gaillard

family. It is symbolic of the removal of Ihs last

shovelful of earth from the cut and was designed by

•James E. Eraser. It was to have been located on Gold

Hill but this location did not prove to be suitable.

Ten Years Ago

In July

Independence Day speakers, 10 years Ago last month, were looking ahead. At Balboa Stadium, Lt. George H.

Brett told an audience: "Once victory has been won we must not permit our

joy and natural desire for peace to lead

us into the mistake of thinking that war

can be abolished by legislative mandate."

And at the American Society's annual

picnic. United States Ambassador Avra Warren said that by the following July

4 the vision of "allied victory should

surely be clear although the victory itself may not have been won."

There were the usual activities for the day but with a War Bond campaign up- permost in pejples' minds there was an added gimmick: Children who bought

War Savings Stamps got preference for jeep rides.

On July 8 Arnold Bruckner, Chairman

if ike War Bonds Savhigs Committee, was

eonyratulatory and admonitive. In the preliiius month, he said, cash sales (f War

Bonds had amounted to $858,313, exclusive

i:f the $418,000 purchased by payroll de- duction. However, he added, over SO percent cf the bonds bought were being cashed

within two months cf the purchase date.

Two new faces were seen in the Canal's

official family.

Capt. Antonio S. Pitre arrived from the Mare Island Navy Yard to succeed Capt.

Joseph M. Kiernan as Superintendent of the Mechanical Division. Dr. H. C. Waring, who had been with the United States Public Health Service in New Orleans,

succeeded Dr. Henry A. Holle as Chief

Quarantine Officer.

Over 1,100 former Canal and Railroad

employees had entered the Armed Service by July 1944. according to a list compiled

by the Administrative Branch. The Mechanical Division tupped the list with 176,

the Special Engineering Division was next

with 122, and the ilunicipal Division

third with 119.

Samples Of Soil From Canal

Given By Washington Woman

Samples of the different types of soil, taken from the Panama Canal excavation,

in an amazing variety of colors like sands

from the western deserts, have been pre- sented to the Panama Canal Company by

a Washington, D. C. woman.

The soil samples arrived here last month and are now on display in the Canal Zone Library-Museum.

The donor is Mrs. W. G. Alley, of Chevy Chase, Md. Early in May, after reading newspaper stories of the 50th Anniversary as a United States enterprise

of the Panama Canal, she wrote Governor

J. S. Seybold:

"I wonder if you would be interested

in my giving you this souvenir (maybe

you have one!) "One of the engineers working on the Canal brought my father the different stratas of earth dug from same and my

father fitted the earth in glass tubes and

put them in a frame, still in perfect condition."

MONTHLY COMMERCIAL TRAFFIC AND TOLLS

Vessels of 300 tons net or over By fiscal years

Month

Transits

Tolls

(In thousands of dollars)

1954 1953 1938 1954 1953 1938

July - 638 529 457 $2,817 $2,343 $2,030

.\llgllSt 640 533 505 2,778 2,288 2,195

September - - 612 615 444 2,591 2,636 1,936

October - — 654 673 461 2,755 2,910 1,981

November _ . - — - 636 620 435 2,668 2,611 1,893

December 690 626 439 2,963 2,679 1,845

jaiuii-iry 626 632 444 2,726 2,689 1,838

Febriiar\- 592 616 436 2,491 2,597 1,787

March.,_ 693 678 506 2,934 2,884 2,016

.\pril 654 628 487 2,838 2,733 1,961 May 689 650 465 2,923 2,861 1,887

June_ . _ - . 660 610 445 2,764 2,686 1,801

'rotals for fiscal year 7,784 7,410 5,524 $33,248 $31,918 $23,170
August 6, 1954 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW 19

Oil, Ore Continue

To Lead Shipments

Transiting Canal

Old faithfuls fontinued in fiscal year

19.54 to head th? list of commodities

shipped throii£;h the Panama Canal. Just as they have for the past three

years, mineral oils, coal and coke, and

iron and steel manufactures lead the list of cargo shipped through the Canal from

the Atlantic to Pacific, while ores, lumber

and wheat, in that order, were the top

three commodities bound from Pacific to Atlantic. There was a slight drop in the amount

of oil bound from the Atlantic to Pacific, compared to the previous fiscal year, but

the shipments of coal and coke were some- what higher this year than they had been

last year. Iron and steel manufactures, on the other hand, decreased somewhat.

Ore Shipments Up

Ore shipments, however, from Pacific to Atlantic, showed a marked upswing

during the past fiscal year as compared

to fiscal year 1953. This is attributed

to shipments from new ore fields which

have been opened up recently in Peru. Lumber shipments from Pacific to Atlantic, much of this coming from the United States and Canadian west coast, were up over those of the last two years but the amount of wheat shipments, while higher than the 1952 figure, was lower than the amount for fiscal year 1953. Raw cotton, number 16 on the 19.53

list of commodities, and wood pulp, which

had ranked eighteenth last year, moved

into the top 15 items carried from Pacific to Atlantic during the fiscal year just ended. Chemicals and metal scrap were two

commodities which moved up this past

fiscal year into the top 15 shipped in the

Atlantic to Pacific trade. Top Three Continue

Ships of United States, British, and

Norwegian registry, in that order, con- tinued to lead Canal transits, by nationality, although the numbers of all three were somewhat lower than they had

been during the previous year. The number of Panamanian-registered

vessels, which has been increasing steadily, continued on its upward trend; during fiscal year 1954, 612 Panama ships

transited the Canal compared to 444 in

fiscal year 1953, and 352 in fiscal year

19.52.

'

Three other steadily-increasing merchant marines are those of Japan, Ger- many, and Liberia, and their increase is reflected in Canal statistics for the past

fiscal year. Transits of ships of Japanese

registry, for instance, from 21 in fiscal year 1951 to 388 the past year; Liberian

transits have gone from 1 1 in fiscal year

1951 to 224 this year; and German ships,

which did not resume Canal transits until 1952, when 30 ships went through the Canal, totaled 324 in the fiscal year just ended. Some decreases in the number of ships,

by nationality, are shown in the following

registries: Chinese, Ecuadorean, Honduran, Irish, and French. Lowest number of ships transiting, by nationality, were Argentina and Morroco, which had

one each in fiscal year 19.54.

Principal commodities shipped through the Canal

(ah figures in thousands of long tons)

Figures in parenthesis in 1938 antl 1953 cnliniins indirale relatise pcisilions in thcisc \'cars. ATLANTIC TO PACIFIC

Commoditv

Miiieral oils Coal and Coke

Manufactnres of iron and steel. I'hosphates

Soy beans and products

Sngar

.Sulphur

Paper and paper products

Machinery :

Cement

Raw cotton Automobiles and parts —

Rice Chemicals, unclassified Ammomium compounds

All others

Fiscal Year

1954

TotaL

,486 374

,843 813

577 497 417 368

289

283

255

242 218

192 184

,820

1953

4,936

2,996

1

(1)

(2)

(.^) (6)

(.S) (4)

(7)

(8)

501 433

475 780

387 354

300 (11) 325 (9) 207 (15) 266 (12) 257 (13) 163 (17) 90 (23) 3,663

18,378 17,329

1938

907 (3) 137 (15) 1,859 (1) 328 (6) "57 (31) 297 (7) 423 (5) 168 (10) 154 (U)

142 (13) 208 (9)

109 (17)

71 (22) 3,653

9,689

PACIFIC TO ATLANTIC

Commodity

Ores, various Lumber

Wheat

Si^gar Nitrate Canned food products Bananas

Metals, various _--. Refrigerated food products (except fresh fruit). Mineral oils Coffee Cotton, raw Wood pulp

Copra

Wool

.Ml others

TotaL

Fiscal Year

1954

5,053 3,716

2,158

1,404

1,187 1,226 752 663

597

288

238

235

232

207

2,432

1953

3,472 (1) 3,307 (2) 2,228 (3) 1,104 (6) 1,222 (5) 1,317 (4) 790 (8) 822 (7) 653 (9) 326 (10) 255 (11) 182 (16) 138 (18) 241 (13) 246 (12) 2,463

20,717 18,766

1938

2,127

2,851 706

1,487

1,401 991

(3)

(2)

(7)

(4)

(5) (6) 53 (29) 698 (8) 335 (10) 2,875 (1) 175 (16) 127 (20) 314 (U)

164 (18) 123 (21) 3,270

17,697

Canal commercial traffic by nationality of vessels

Fiscal Year

1954 1953 1938

Nationality Number of transits

Tons

of cargo

Number of transits

Tons

of cargo

Number of transits

Tons

of cargo

Argentine 1 10

1,26578

19 20540

7,555 12,733 7,726,640

429,245

130,112 240.640

259,137

3

2 1,36559

37

1449

13,670

10,300

7,877,279 322,415

291,480

144.654

57,651

British Chilean

1,2819

2

6,417,016

28,787

13,113

2 275 223

106

935,878

92,932

20^

152 884,88888,305

865,235

2

1 105 35794

4,695

2 136 323

146

14,828 582,989

708,338

1,246,534

3

141 230

92

2 400

15,177 566,524

352,899

829,097

1,860 570,321

4,021 567,288

German 1,518,593 525,351

Honduran 347 493,260 22

5 8,47824,411

1 28

141 320

2

9,700

21,181 677,501

2,113,273

1,000

Irish 3

211 387

8

17,593 1,159,700 2,481,494

25,125

52 300153,417

Japanese Korean (South)__.

1,877,502

3 4,900

5 224

2

1 130

25 831

611

2527

43,710

1,416,303

2,577

14,401 684,932

26,469

3,484,070

3,666,133 54,907

154,356

131

10

4 112

17 877 444

2225

930,937

34,078

25,672

495,387

7,571 3,303,373

2.592.208 50,159

145,044

Netherland

Nicaragua!!

Norwegian

Panamian

Peruvian

285 749,642

667

182

5

3

5

2 119

3,433,571 415,561

7,151 Philippine 8.441 10,419

41 230

11 2,056

171,304

818,911

92,845

11,867,848

35

182

6 2,16543

154,251 735,324

44,753

12,661,041 66,376

15,280 Swedish - _ 763,049

I'nited States X'enezuelan

1,780

414

9,892,619

3,971

3 31,586 73,413

Total 7,784 39,095,067 7,410 36,095,349 5,524 27.385.924
20 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW August 6, 1954

Canal Industrial Division

Begins Second Fifty Years

FLAGS AND BUNTING decorated the speakers' stand when the Industrial Division cekbiatid

its fiftieth birthday last month. Capt. R. H. Emerick, Division Superintendent, is at the microphone. Most of the Division's force attended the ceremony but was spread in a wide-circle, out of range of the

During two World Wars, the Canal's Mechanical Division- now, of course, the Industrial Division worked day and

night, keeping vitally-needed ships with

vitally-needed cargoes flowing back and

forth from war areas. Today the Industrial Division is leading

a more pacific existence as befits a 50-year

old; but like a good many 50-year olds

it stands ready to turn to again, if the need be, to speed vitally-needed ships and

cargo to their destinations. One day last month, the Industrial Division gave itself a birthday party,

Lieutenant Governor H. 0. Paxson pointed out the important part it had played

during and between two world wars and

cited its "enviable reputation for prompt

I'epairs of the highest quality at an eco- nomical cost." He also made special mention of William Jump, the Division's senior employee from point of service. His service

is only a few months less than the age of the Industrial Division. Constitute A Cadre

The 500 or so men who staff the Industrial Division consider themselves a sort

of cadre, that fine military word which means a highly trained nucleus which

can be expanded rapidly to meet an

emergency. There is only a difference in size and

complexity between overhauling the ferryboat Presidente Porras, which the Industrial Division was doing last month, to overhauling a wartime craft; the work

which went into reconditioning the fire- blackened Lislwlt early this year differed

little from what would be needed to recondition a fire-damaged cargo carrier in time of war. Overhauling and repairing

Navy craft, which is almost a daily part

of the Industrial Division's work, is little different in peacetime than in wartime,

except for the element of speed.

All of these jobs, in peace and war,

require the efficiency and high quality of workmanship which has characterized

the Industrial Division through the 50

years of its existence. A half a century ago, on July 5, John

F. Wallace, Chief Engineer for the Isth- mian Canal Commission wrote C. A.

Strom, the Commissian's Mechanical

Engineer, authorizing him "to establish the principal machine shops of the Canal

work at Bas Matachin," roughly opposite

the present town of Gamboa. The French

Canal Company shops had been located

there, and there the French had left lathes of various sorts, machines for sharpening, bending, shaping, mortising,

punching, shearing, riveting, and bolt- threading, many of thsm in fairly sarvice- able condition. These Bas Matachin shops, which were

later greatly expanded to accommodate

U. S. operations, became the Commission's Gorgona shops. At Gorgona and

later at Empire and Cristobal, the Mechanical Division was responsible for keeping all mechanical equipment during

Canal construction in good condition,

assembling and servicing new equipment,

and finally, packing and shipping all surplus equipment as the Canal work was

completed.

Shops At Balboa

When Gatun Lake began to rise, the shops at Gorgona were abandoned and

their work shifted to Empire or Cristobal. In the meantime the shops at Balboa were under construction and a gradual move- ment to Balboa began during the latter part of 1913 as each new shop building was completed. On June 15, 1915, the Balboa shops were formally transferred to the Mechanical Division. With the Balboa shops in operation, the general character of the jobs gradually changed from construction conditions, under which the majority of the work was on railroad and excavation

equipment, to conditions where the amount of railroad and excavation equipment work was comparatively small and

repairs to floating equipment of all kinds

constituted the majority of the work.

Marine Repairs

The opening of the Canal to commerce

40 years ago was responsible for a rapid

changeover to marine repair work; a few

years later the increased trafiic of wartime

added impetus to this trend. Out of the ordinary war and postwar

jobs included the overhaul of four Hamburg-American Line ships which had

been seized in Cristobal harbor after the declaration of war, overhaul and repair o»i of five German ships which had been j^=

sabotaged by their crews while interned a>\

in Peruvian ports, and overhaul and '^l rebuilding of the old Anmi and Cristobal oo|

which were brought to the Canal Zone 2i

because U. S. shipyards were congested, "^ ^^r The peak force at this time was 972 U. S. .^ :: rate and 2,098 local-rate employees.

Until 1941, approximately 50 percent

of the Mechanical Division's work was

overhaul and repair of Panama Canal

floating equipment, together with the

construction of launches, barges, and tugs. The craneship Atlas and the ferries Presidente Amador and President Roosevelt are Mechanical Division products.

World War II Beginning in 1941, however, there was

a steady flow of overhaul and repair work

on Army and Navy craft of every description, until, in 1945, 85 psrcant of the Mechanical Division's work was of this

sort. In 1945, for instance, 4,377 vessels were repaired at the Mechanical Division. Another urgent demand was made on

the local shops in 1944 when the Mechanical Division was established as the operating repair base for 300 War Shipping

Administration tankers whose job was

shuttling back and forth to the Pacific with loads of gasoline and oil. Expansion Period

During the war period, the operations

of the Panama Railroad also expanded

greatly, although comparatively little equipment was added. This meant

greatly increased maintenance work;

Mechanical Division forces in the roundhouses and car shop worked around the

clock to keep the trains rolling. In order to handle the enormously in- creased workload, facilities and personnel were expanded far beyond the peacetime

establishment. Shop floor space was

increased 40 percent; 54 additional buildings were in use; equipment was added;

60-cycle alternating current was installed

in the shop; the force increased from a peacetime 450 U. S.-rate and 950 local-rate employees to 1,934 U. S.-rate and 3,084

local-rate workers. At the end of World War II, the tanker

fleet which had been based in the Canal Zone was withdrawn. The workload was

reduced drastically and correspondingly

heavy reductions were made in the shop

forces, during late 1945 and early 1946. Move to Cristobal

The downward trend of available work

contmued for the next four years and

reductions in shop forces kept pace. Finally it became uneconomical to continue the operation of the Balboa shops.

In November 1949, it was decided to close the Balboa plant and consolidate at Cristobal all Mechanical Division activities, with the exception of the Instrument

Shop, Foundry, and Gas Manufacturing

Plant. The move was completed in May 1950. At this same time, a reorganization of Canal-Railroad facilities resulted in the

transfer of the Car Shops and Roundhouses to the Panama Railroad. The

Mechanical Division became the Industrial Bureau. Last October it became a

Division and is now part of the Marine

Bureau. But by whatever name it is known, its employees feel that during the past half century it has played an important role in two wars and its forces stand ready to do

so again on very little notice.