T7- I 7 J c* Gift ofthe Panama Canal Museum

^_

THE

Vol. 3, No. 10 BALBOA HEIGHTS, CANAL ZONE, MAY 1, 1953 5 cents

Lock Gates, As They Are Seldom Seen

TOWERING 79 feet above the lock floor, a pair

of miter gates stand partly open for overhaul. The

more-or-less triangular object between the gate

leaves is a shackle which is suspended by cables from two tuwing locomotives. Directly below, in the floor, are culvert openings.

The gates have been repainted. The dividing

line, between what appears to be a smooth and a roughened section, is roughly the level of Gatun

Lake. The top, smoother portion is never under

water. The lower part is here covered with a

special protective coat of hot plastic enamel.

Extensive Overhaul Of Pacific Locks

To Be Completed By Third Week In May

A force of some 750 extra workers is now on the last lap of the overhaul of the Pacific Locks, a job lasting over

four months. The work is scheduled for completion by the third week of this month after which normal transit operations will be resumed. The work has progressed ac- FEATURED FOR MAY

# The Governor's House and some of its history —page 8. • Community probler

Shirtsleeve Confe

ns top all others at page 6. # International Scout

anniversarie organi2 s—page

ations: their

2. # Termites—they eat the parlor floor— page 4. 6 Canal Zone teacher has never missed a day—page 13.

cording to a carefully detailed schedule prepared well in advance of the start of the job at the first of January.

This year's overhaul has been accomplished during a period when Canal

traffic was at the highest level in its nearly 39 years of operation. A new

record for the daily average number of transits was set in February and all for- mer monthly records for the total number

of commercial ships were broken in March.

Despite the heavy flow of traffic there have been no appreciable delays in the handling of shipping. This was made

possible by the close cooperation of the various units concerned with handling

shipping, the use of time-saving methods, and the fact that the (See page 16]

New Rents

Effective

On July 5

Rental on U. S.-rate quarters

will be increased effective July

5 to cover interest charges on

the Government's capital in- vestment. The increases will vary, dependent on the type

of house, date of construction,

and other factors. No increase will be made in rents on more than 40 percent of the quarters. These

will include all of the 12-family apart- ment buildings, and, generally, those houses built prior to 1927 which have

been fully depreciated. The following table indicates the

general range of increases and the per- centage of all units now occupied in each

category: No increase—41 percent

$1 to $5 a month—23 percent

$5 to $10 a month—23 percent $10 to $20 a month— 12.5 percent Over $20 a month—.5 percent The application of an interest charge on Canal quarters is in conformity with

a policy established by the Bureau of the Budget. Originally interest was included when the rental revision was made last October, but the effective date was post- poned until the beginning of the coming

fiscal year. The postponement of inter- est charges until July 1, 1953, was one of four recommendations for adjustment of rental rates made by the Rent Panel.

All occupants- of quarters will be

notified individually of changes in their

rents. The computation of new rents on individual houses was being completed

this week in time to notify (See page 18)
THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW May 1,1953

International Girl, Boy Scouts Celebrate Anniversaries

Things buzzed, Scoutwise, in local-rate communities last month. Two Scout

organizations were celebrating their anniversaries. For the International Girl Scouts, who

were 2 years old, the day's celebration, on April 11, took the form of a day-long

observance. The International Boy

Scouts, older by 4 years, spread their anniversary celebration over a full week, from April 12-18. Much water has run over Madden Dam since the International Boy Scouts

of the Canal Zone were formally organized

in April 1947. Today hundreds of boys and girls who

had had no supervised organization in which to blow off "growing-up steam"

have had their energies directed into wholesome, worthwhile channels. The International Scouts, boys and

girls together, now number close to 900. The boys have 511 members in 32 regis- tered units; the girls have 378 members

in 23 registered units. Working with them are approximately 300 adults who

serve as council or executive board members or as troop leaders. Units In Every Town

Each of the Scout organizations has

units in every Canal Zone colored community except Red Tank. Red Tank

boys and girls belong to troops at Paraiso. The two organizations have much in common. Both are Community Chest

agencies, and, except for some troop fund

raising activities, derive their incomes from the Chest. Both are proud of the support they have had from their community leaders. Many busy men and women serve on the councils, executive

boards, and troop committees. For the Boy Scouts, the Atlantic side troops are the most active and have the

largest memberships, but Girl Scout

troops are about the same size and

equally active on either side of the Isthmus. Boy and Girl Scout troops are both hampered in their expansion for lack of troop leaders.

BADGES for photography arc treasured by International Girl Scouts. Marcia Oakley, standing

at the left, and Lidia Caballero, seated, think it pretty funny when Donna Davis tried to get. a closeup

shot. Miss Mabel McFarquhar, leader of Troop 8 at Paraiso to which all the girls belong, helps Donna.

Mrs. Alda Hutchinson who, as professional worker, supervises the Girl Scouts says that one of their biggest needs

is for more home-makers to interest themselves in Scouting. And Raymond George, Boy Scout

director, says his problem is similar. Except for this problem which the

leaders hope will soon be solved, both Scout organizations are flourishing and

filling a needed place in local rate communities. On the principle of "ladies, first,"

let's talk about the girls. Scouting For Girls Plans to develop Scouting for girls of the colored communities were underway

in early 1950. A major problem was the

OVIDIO GONZALEZ, International "Bey Scout of the Year," shows CBS president Ellis Fawcett how to tie knots. A member of Troop 11 at La Boca, the Scout won praise last fall when he assisted

in flood rescue work near Chilibre.

nationality of the girls and, consequently, the Scouting organization with which

they could be affiliated. Four Scout leaders visited the Isthmus and discussed the organizational plans. In April 1951, it was decided that

International Troops under the juris- diction of the World Bureau in London

would be formed in local rate communities. The first Girl Scout leader, Mrs.

Valentine Baptiste, received her World

Pin that month and the first troop, at Rainbow City, was formed. That sum- mer Mrs. Hutchinson and Miss Ana

Baptiste were given scholarships to study Scouting at the Edith Macy Training School in New York. In February

1952, Mrs. Hutchinson was appointed

professional worker. The IGS movement grew rapidly. Last month the Girl Scouts awarded their

first group of second-class badges. These went to eight Senior Scouts at Chagres, each of whom had completed at least one

project in the 11 program fields: Agriculture, Arts and Crafts, Community Life, Health and Safety, Homemaking, Inter- national Friendship, Literature and Dramatics, Music and Dancing, Nature, Outof-doors, and Sports and Gaines.

Activities Vary

Activities vary with the age group. A recent project of the Brownies was that

(if Troop 23 at La Boca which collected $10 for the March of Dimes Fund. Other community projects are selling Christmas seals, collecting for the Red

Cross and sewing for local hospitals. So far, the girls have done no summer

camping. They have no place for an "away from home" camp. During the summer of 1954 they hope to try day camping at Santa Cruz and Paraiso gymnasiums, with overnight camps for the older girls. The president of the local council of the International Girl Scouts is Miss

Eneida Hamlett, of Colon. <,sve page. W)
May 1, 1953 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW

Governor Seybold

Meets With Employees

At April Conference

One of the shortest Governor-Employee

conferences ever held took place last month when Gov. J. S. Seybold met in the Board Room with representatives of labor and civic groups. The conference, which produced no matters for long

discussion, lasted only 35 minutes. Under the heading of "old" businessquestions raised at previous confer- ences the Governor told the conference: That a change in the hour of blowing

the air raid siren was still under consider- ation by the joint Civil Defense Council; That difficulties in obtaining dental appointments are not exclusive to the Canal Zone, but that an attempt will be made to have the Health Bureau keep

"comparatively up" with its dental workload; That locks security patrolmen and

police officers may have their uniforms

returned from the laundry on hangers if such a request is made when the clothing

is sent; That DDT spraying is normally

discontinued during the dry season but

that it was resumed in Gamboa on April

13. earlier than usual this year, because

of complaints about mosquitoes; And that placing an additional stop

sign at the Ancon laundry crossing is

still under study. New Business Under new business the Governor told the group that Mrs. Ethel Hoover (of the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Department of Labor) had been brought

here at his request "to discuss labor

policies." He had "no comment" when asked if she were going to establish a "cost of living" index or to a remark that she should meet with labor groups. Rufus Lovelady of the AFGE asked

if new rental rates had been calculated. The Governor answered that prelimi- nary figures had been compiled and that

it was hoped that the figures will be completed so that householders would

have 60-day notice on the new rent rates. He answered affirmatively when asked

if the new rents would differ from the

first schedule. Conferees also discussed, briefly, operations of the Panama Line. Governor

Seybold said that the Company's Board

of Directors has considered other ports of

call than New York but that none have

been "looked upon with favor." This was in answer to a question from Mr. Lovelady as to the possibility of one

of the ships running into New Orleans. The Governor also commented that the run to California appears "too long," and

would not be a paying proposition. Question as to the California route was

brought up by Robert Daniel of the Railway Conductors. Other matters raised during the conference included: Panama's requirement

for blood tests .for drivers' licenses; several minor commissary problems; the nuisance of barking dogs and noisy cats and what can be done about them; women being accosted on Tivoli Avenue; some way in which children can be prevented from getting into (SeepagelS)

CHS Future Teachers Of America

Learn By Hearing, Seeing, Doing

READING, seeing, and doing give the FUTURE

TEACHERS a good idea of the meaning of the

profession they now think they'd like to follow.

Left to right the Cristobal High School girls are: Seated: Maricha Tagaropulos, Diane McLaren,

and Carlene Taber:

Standing: Judy Ramirez, Arline Lim, Ann Maccubbin, Barbara Egolf, Nancy Kariger, Henrietta

Cristobal High School graduates who

become teachers will never be able to

say: "No one ever told me teaching would

be like this!" For, through a school group known as the Future Teachers of America, they get a pretty good idea of what teaching is like. Started in 1948 at the request of a student who thought she'd like to be a

teacher (she got married instead), the Future Teachers attracted 1 1 students to

their first meeting. This year they have

31 members, all girls. There have been boys in other years and their sponsor, Miss Adamary Anderson who teaches

Social Studies at the High School, would

like to see boys as members again. She

thinks they may have been frightened away by the sheer number of the girls. The Future Teachers, famibarly known

as the FTA, meet twice a month during

the noon hour in the Household Arts

Balboa Housing Office

Discontinues Switchboard

Effective with the opening of business hours next Monday, May 4, telephone

calls to the Balboa Housing Office will be made by direct lines, instead of through a private telephone switchboard. The conversion from PBX operation

to the individual phones is being made

over this week end. The new telephone numbers are: Chief, Housing Division 2-3395 Housing Division Accounts 2-1600 Work Order Desk (with extensions to Maintenance and

Inspection Desks) 2-2121 Propertv, Transportation, and

Keys 2-2122

U. S. Rate Quarters Assign- ments Unit . 2-2123 Local Rate Quarters Assign- ments Unit 2-2124 Timekeeper . . . 2-2124 Quarters Cost Clerk 2-2124 Housing and Assistant Housing Managers 2-2125 Quarters Record Clerk - 2-2125

Ferri, Rosa Santos, Yelvia Bringas, Mary Fernandez, Donna Geyer, Joan Holgerson, Arlene Yandergrift, Third row: Betty Tarr. Paula Holgerson. Joyce Cookson, Sylvia Mann, Sheila McNamee, Muriel Morland, Diane Hannigan, Alice Chambers, Nancy

Montibello, Carol George, Alice Hannigan.

Above, left and right: Lorna Stone and Mary Lou

Allen.

room. They may be from any one of the High School's four grades. This year

there are two freshmen in the group. Whenever possible, a speaker addresses them. Members of the FTA now customarily

plan and present the Assembly for visitors during National Education Week each

Fall. One of their most successful pro- grams was in 1950 when they depicted "Education—On Both Sides of the Iron Curtain." Teach Classes

In the Spring they have an "FTA

Day" at the Junior High School when

they teach classes for a day under the supervision of the regular teacher. They

frequently sit in as observers in elementary school classes and take part, at times, in class-room activities. On the theory that a teacher's work

is closely tied in wr ith activities of her community, they get credit for such outside interests as singing in their church

choirs, teaching Sunday School classes, or working with civic organizations. Some of the Future Teachers helped out

in the Crusade for Freedom Drive and

in the recent Woman's Club campaign

for absentee voting. On another theory, that a teacher must

have social as well as professional poise, the Future Teachers have occasional supper parties or other gatherings. FTA members give varied reasons for

their interest in teaching. One girl, who

thinks she would like to teach elementary

grades, says she likes to be around young

children. Another, a possible high school

teacher, says she likes to "mix with

people." Miss Anderson does not know just how many of her Future Teachers have actually become real life teachers. But

whether they have chosen teaching, some

other profession or the life of a homemaker

she feels that they have all benefitted from their part in the FTA.
THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW May 1,1953

New Offensive Undertaken In Long War

Against Canal Zone's Hungry Termites

The old Canal Zone wisecrack that the "house will fall down if the termites stop holding hands" isn't funny to the Housing

Division.

It's too close to the truth to be comfortable. No houses have as yet fallen down and

if the Housing Division has its way they

won't. But it wasn't too long ago that an Ancon couple was wakened rudely when two legs of their bed went through

the floor. They spent an uneasy night with the resurrected bed resting on

planks laid across the hole in the flooring. Locally, war was declared against termites many years ago and the state

of war still exists. There are no readily available current figures, or even an esti- mate, of the amount of damage done

annually by termites to Canal buildings. In 1938, according to official records, $21,500 was estimated as "the probable annual share of Gold quarters maintenance in the Balboa-Ancon District which might be laid to termite action." This figure is now believed to be a gross underestimate, in light of current knowledge. And the Department of Agriculture has figures estimating the cost of repair- ing buildings in Canal Zone military

installations damaged by subterranean

termites alone as $500,000 per year. This

estimate was for about the year 1948, before effective control measures were

developed. Housing officials unhesitatingly declare that the termite is public enemy No. 1, as far as they are concerned; this busy

little wood-eating insect causes more

deterioration to wood buildings, or to the wood in concrete buildings, than all other causes put together.

1,717 Species Of Termites The Department of Agriculture's Year- book on Insects, 1952 edition, lists 1,717

species of termites. Of this number,

however, only 56 species are known in the Canal Zone.

RAPACIOUS termites can make a shambles of a window frame in no time at all. Fourteen of the fifty-six Canal Zone

species come under the tongue-twisting name of Kalotermitidae. These are the dry wood termites, which nest in window

frames and other such likely places and

which do not need moisture to exist. The other 42 varieties, which do need

water, are members of the Rhinotermiti- dae family. These particular villains are the termites which live in the ground or

in trees, making forays from their nests or — more properly — termitariums through covered runways to attack and consume almost any cellulose material they consider edible. They have been known to destroy books, clothing and

shoes; they have ruined rugs; they turned up in a drawerful of lingerie; and they have absolutely no respect for official records or correspondence, which they seem to find especially tasty.

Little stops them. They have gone

through gutta percha, rubber, glass wool,

DDT IN DIESEL OIL, poured into a triangular trench, i« of thi control adopted by the Canal organization, wrr methods of termite

and the insulation on electrical wiring. They have destroyed jackets on fire hoses and have, eaten through lead sheathing on electric cables. One of their most spectacular local exploits was to get through 5 inches of concrete (that particular concrete was

loaded with shells) and into the stationery

storage room at the Mechanical Division (now Industrial Bureau) building in Balboa. Undoubtedly a good many Canal Zone

families have been disturbed at this time

of year by flying termites which have an unhappy faculty of making a mass appear- ance just about dinner time. One local family, so disturbed, had to transfer an

anniversary dinner party—food, flowers, guests and all—to the termite-free home

cf a neighbor.

If the termite is the No. 1 menace to Zone housing, these omniverous pests have theirown particular rankingenemies. Heading the termite list for early elimination undoubtedly are two men, Dr. James Zetek and Robert Morris. Dr. Zetek is entomologist here for the U. S. Department of Agriculture with his work

centered at Barro Colorado Island. Mr. Morris, also an entomologist, heads

the comparatively new Forest Insect Laboratory at the entrance to Curunau.

This is a substation of the Forest Insect Laboratory at Gulfport, Mississippi, and was established by the Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine of the Department of Agriculture. It was made

possible by a joint agreement between

the Departments of Defense and Agricul- ture and consequently Mr. Morris'

findings are available to the Canal organization as well as to the military services

in the Canal Zone. Both men know enough about termites

to make the termites thoroughly uncomfortable. Need Not Be Menace

Several years ago Dr. Zetek, speaking

before a group of Canal Zone engineers, declared that the termite need not be the menace which everyone considers. Dry wood termites which do not need

water will not attack wood treated with

certain chemicals. Extensive tests carried out at Barro Colorado Island, where

43 of the Canal Zone's 56 termite species are found, show that termites do not

attack lumber which has been pressure

treated with creosote or zinc chloride. One building, of treated lumber, has stood

at Barro Colorado for 29 years without

termite damage.

Another, built of lumber treated with

zinc meta arsenite and built without

termite guards, not only has no termite damage but also has never been infested with cockroaches. House 585X in Ancon

is of this construction and is holding up

well. An even newer method calls for the use of pentachlorephenol, which

termites do not care for. At his laboratory Mr. Morris has samples of treated wood fastened to heavily termite infested wood to see if the termites will pass over into the impregnated material. The tests were

started too recently to lie Conclusive

as yet, Some years ago attempts VSespageli)
May 1,1953 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW

FOR YOUR INTEREST AND GUIDANCE

LML UL !£CCIDENT PREVENTION

Accidents Are

Symptoms

When an accident occurs, it is not the

fact you have had an accident that is wrong; it is the things that have led up

to the accident that are wrong. If you

have a headache, the pain can be dulled by taking a sedative, but as it wears off the headache returns. Nowadays, we

recognize headaches as symptoms pointing to something else gone wrong, so we

consult a doctor who determines the reason for the pain. Accidents are headaches in more ways than one, but

primarily they are symptoms. Some foremen think an accident is so important to their safety record that it becomes necessary for them to minimize

the resultant investigation and tone down the following publicity, thinking

their accident record will not suffer. Actually, they are like the fellow with the headache who is only dulling the pain with aspirin. This type of foreman may do other

things to dull his accident headaches. He has been known to tell his men not to bother him to make out minor injury

reports for small cuts and bruises. Other

times, he may send them home as being

sick, when actually they have strained a back or experienced other serious injury. HONOR ROLL

Bureau Award For BEST RECORD

March HEALTH BUREAU COMMUNITY SERVICES BUREAU

CIVIL AFFAIRS BUREAU

INDUSTRIAL BUREAU AWARDS THIS CALENDAR YEAR

Civil Affairs 2 Health 2 Industrial 2 Community Services 1 Engineering and Construction 1 Marine

Railroad and Terminals

Supply and Service Division Award For NO DISABLING INJURIES March

HOSPITALIZATION AND CLINICS CLUBHOUSE DIVISION ELECTRICAL DIVISION DIVISION OF STOREHOUSES MOTOR TRANSPORTATION DIVISION

DIVISION OF SANITATION GROUNDS MAINTENANCE DIVISION AWARDS THIS CALENDAR YEAR

Motor Transportation 3 Clubhouses 2 Dredging 2 Electrical 2 Grounds Maintenance 2 Hospitalization and Clinics 2 Maintenance 2 Storehouses 2 Sanitation 1 Commissary

Locks

Navigation

Railroad Terminals...

In addition to these practices, he has

other tricks to make his accident record appear good. He may hold up an injury report on a disabled employee, so the report will not be recorded within the month in which the accident occurred.

If his luck holds, a "carry-over" may

not make so much difference to his next month's safety record. This type of foreman is entirely missing

the point on why he should keep an

accurate record of his accident experiences. In addition to his efforts in trying

to keep his true accident record dark, he

says that he is a field man who gets

things done, therefore making out reports

is a measly desk job for others. He claims he has 20 years experience running a job

in safety. More than likely he has had

one year's safety experience repeated 20

times. He tells everybody, not working

in the same trade, that they cannot understand the hazards and risks of his job. He builds these up as something

only he and his men can avoid by their superior skill. The efficient foreman realizes that his "accident headaches" are an indication that his unit is not functioning properly. When he has an accident, he knows it is too late to prevent that accident, so he

salvages all he can. He makes sure the

injured person gets immediate medical

attention, and by a prompt investigation prevents a recurrence by taking the

indicated measures. If he cannot find a remedy he seeks help from others. This wise foreman knows that his Safety Engineer also has an interest in these

accidents, so he makes a complete report on the forms provided for that purpose. Then his Safety Engineer, or Inspector, can study the symptoms, determine the

true causes, and be able to assist him in working up ways to prevent future

accidents.

It is evident that accidents are symptoms. It is by investigating and reporting every one, regardless of its severity, that causes can be studied for ways and means to reduce or eliminate accidents. Some companies hire safety engineers

to personally investigate and report on

every accident. It is more usual, as in the Canal Zone Government- Panama

Canal Company, to have the supervisors, foremen, and bosses investigate and make

reports on the accidents within their

units. A good reason for this, according

to the National Safety Council, is that more accidents are prevented when the

bosses, high and low, are familiar with

all phases of safety work. The better bosses know that safe operation is a vital part of good manage- ment and efficient production. The gain

in good-will and respect from his men is not the least of the advantages of safety. A "minor injury report" is not only a

report of an accident, but it is also the

injured employee's notice that he has

received an injury in "line of duty."

If a minor injury develops into a more

serious injury and time is lost, an employee will not appreciate the neglect

of his boss in not having made out a minor injury report. When the men feel that their boss is looking out for their interest by doing

everything possible to prevent accidents; and helps them when they do have an

accident, by providing prompt first aid, or other necessary medical treatment, and sees that compensation requirements

are met for those entitled to compensation; then the workers are more apt to give their full cooperation in trying to prevent all accidents, with the healthful

result of a safer and better place to work,

with a minimum of lost-time injuries.

MARCH 1953

Health Bureau

Community Services Bureau

Civil Affairs Bureau

Industrial Bureau

Supply and Service Bureau

C. Z. Govt.—Panama Canal Co. (This month)

Marine Bureau

Engineering and Construction Bureau

C. 1. Govt.— Panama Canal Co. (Best Year)

Railroad and Terminals Bureau

Number of Disabling Injuries 22

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

(Frequency Rale)

8

10

11

13

:u

1 mvm

'W/A

i

i

i ma

::::::-'::vr:-:v:-::::-1 ^—-!

20 30 40 50

Man-Hours Worked 2,926,034 LEGEND

I Amount Better Than Canal Zone Government—Panama Canal Company Best Year

I Amount Worse Than Canal Zone Government—Panama Canal Company Best Year

fyX<: '. ;>'--\ Accumulative Frequency Rate This Year
THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW May 1,1953

Community Problems Are Most Discussed

In Monthly "Shirtsleeve" Conferences

The houses they live in, health problems, and what they buy or what it costs them

to buy in the Commissaries and Clubhouses are subjects uppermost in the minds of Canal employees if a cross section of the topics discussed at the Governor-Employee conferences is an

indicator. The meeting this month will mark the completion of the third year of the

"shirtsleeve" conferences as they are popularly known. The meetings are held monthly in the Board Room of the Administration Building with the Governor, or in his absence the Lieutenant

Governor, acting as chairman or discus- sion leader. Attending are one or two members of the Governor's staff and

representatives of the labor groups and

Canal Zone Civic Councils. The shirtsleeve conferences were initi- ated in June 1950 at the suggestion of a group of American Federation of Labor

officials who visited the Isthmus early that year to discuss employee-manage- ment relations. The basic purpose of the meetings is the same as that of round-table conferences since man first gathered around camp fires—to exchange

information and discuss or debate common problems. The consensus of those attending the conferences is that they have been highly

successful. They provide for the Canal

administration a means of giving detailed explanations of official actions or

policies which affect employees and their

families. It also provides the Governor

and his assistants with a better knowledge

of the views of employees on problems

directly affecting them.

Direct Way To Top On the part of the employees, the

shirtsleeve conferences provide the most

direct means of bringing to the attention

of top Canal administrators matters which

they feel should be corrected, particularly in community affairs. They also provide the most direct means of obtaining correct information for the groups

they represent either on policies or con- templated actions or changes. From an overall viewpoint, the conferences have proved highly effective rumor scotchers. During the period of change which the Canal organization has undergone since the beginning of World War II, rumors of things to come or things which have happened have often grown

to outsize proportions within a short

period. Since the shirtsleeve conferences were initiated, most rumors are quietly put to rest by the simple process of disseminating the correct information on any given subject. Most of the topics brought under

discussion at the shirtsleeve conferences

relate to community affairs, with labor

or personnel problems being secondary

items of discussion. The reason for this

is that well established lines of communication between employee groups and the administration on such personnel prob- lems as rates of pay or conditions of employment were in existence long before the shirtsleeve conferences began and

these still are used almost exclusively. The following compilation of the topics discussed at the Governor-Employee

Conferences from the tune they were

started in June 1950 up through the meeting in February of this year indicates the frequency of subjects under discussion:COMMUNITY PROBLEMS: Housing, 107; health problems, 82; traffic and safety, 89; Commissaries, 78; schools, 47; Clubhouses, 21; civil defense, 14; and grounds mainte- nance or trash and garbage collec- tion, 9. MISCELLANEOUS: Rates of pay and hours of work, 31; Income tax, 22; relations with Panama, 22; check payments, 14; force reductions, 10; Panama Canal tolls, 9, and Panama

Line ships, 6. Few problems are too small and none

are too intricate to come up for discussion

at the conferences. The meetings are usually opened by a review of the questions which have been brought up at previous meetings on which reports are made. Following this, each group repre- sentative is requested in turn to bring up for discussion any question or questions in which his organization is interested. Very often when these subjects are introduced they are of such general

interest that a round-table discussion fol- lows. The extent of these general debates

or discussions depends on subject matter and amount of public interest in the problems at the time. Sometimes—One Subject On many occasions, most of the time

at the meetings is devoted almost exclusively to one subject. This has been

true in the case of the housing program,

the rental increases last year, and income

tax when it became effective. Many of the subjects introduced are under continuing discussion while others

are purely topical. Among the former

are questions relating to health, schools, commissaries, or clubhouses. "Topical"

subjects in which intense interest was shown for a time and then dropped have

been income tax, and various operations

of the Panama Line ships. The shirtsleeve conferences are "give- and-take" affairs in which each group

representative has ample opportunity to ask questions or express his own views

or those of the organization he represents. No attempt is made to evade questions and in practically all cases direct answers

are given when they are introduced, although there are times when one or more are deferred to later meetings for more complete information. The round-table conference plan has

long since passed the experimental stage and although there are occasional meetings at which only problems of a minor

nature are discussed there is general agreement that the system has produced

highly satisfactory results.

BOYS OUTNUMBER GIRLS IN GRADUATING CLASSES

Boys outnumber girls in the graduating

classes of the Canal Zone secondary

schools, according to figures compiled by The Panama Canal Review.

Late this month 205 capped and gowned young men and 178 young women, also wearing caps and gowns, will attend baccalaureate services. By June 3

all graduation exercises will be over. In addition to the 383 students who

will receive their diplomas from the Canal Zone Junior College and the four Canal Zone high schools, 307 students in the Balboa and Cristobal Junior High Schools

will hold Class Day exercises indicating

their transfer to Senior High School. This year's total of 383 graduates is well below last year's record figure of 550. There is no graduating class this year from the La Boca Junior College from

which 40 students were graduated last year. While the number of graduates

for the Canal Zone Junior College and

Balboa and Cristobal High Schools are higher than they were last year, there is a

decrease this year in the number grad- uating from the Rainbow City and La HOUSE OF IDEAS

A "House of Ideas" —a demonstration of tasteful, economical house furnishing is to be presented

this month as a joint project of the

Schools, Housing, Grounds Maintenance, and Commissary Divisions. Also cooperating with Home Eco- nomic classes which are working out

the display are three Panama stores and the Pacific Evergreen Garden

Club. The display house will be one of the new apartments at Paraiso. It will be open from 5-9 p. m. daily, May 3-10. Sunday hours will be 2-9p. m.

Boca Occupational High Schools. A brief resume of the commencement

schedule follows, with the schools listed alphabetically: Balboa High School, with 182 grad- uating— 10 more than last year, will have

its baccalaureate services at 2:30 p. m. May 31 in the Diablo theater. Graduation exercises will take place at 8 p. m.

June 2 in the Balboa theater. Canal Zone JuniorCollege baccalaureate and graduation are both to be

held in the High School library; the baccalaureate at 4 p. m. May 31 and graduation

at 10:30 a. m. June 2. Thirty students

will be graduated. Cristobal High School will grad- uate 62, five more than last year. Baccalaureate is scheduled for 5 p. m. May 31 and graduation for 8 p. m. June 1, both to take place in the High School auditorium. La Boca Occupational High

School has 59 graduates this year. Baccalaureate will be held at 10 a. m. May

24 in the School's Study Hall; graduation

exercises will take place at 10 a. m. May

31 in the La Boca Clubhouse theater. Rainbow City Occupational

High School, which is graduating 50

students, will have baccaulaureate services on May 24 and graduation on May 31. Both will be held at 2:30 in the afternoon

at the Camp Bierd Clubhouse theater. In addition to the college and high

school exercises, there will he Class Days

for the Cristobal and Balboa Junior High

Schools, as follows: Balboa Junior High School:

1 p. m. May 29 for its 220 eighth grade

students, at the Balboa theater. Cristobal Junior High School:

5 p. m. May 29 in the school auditorium

for its 87 eighth grade students.
May 1,1953 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW

Official Panama Canal Company Publication Published Monthly at BALBOA HEIGHTS, CANAL ZONE

Frinled by the Printing Plant Mount Ilopf, Canal Zone John S. Seybold, Governor-President

H. 0. Paxson, Lieutenant Governor

E. C. Lombard, Executive Secretary

J. Rufus Hardy, Editor Eleanor H. McIlhenny

Oleva Hastings

Editorial Assistants LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Letters containing inquiries, suggestions,

criticisms, or opinions of a general nature

will be welcomed. Those of sufficient interest

will be published but signatures will not be

used unless desired. SUBSCRIPTIONS—$1.00 a year SINGLE COPIES—5 cents each On sale at all Panama Canal Clubhouses, Commissaries, and Hotels for 10 days after publication date. SINGLE COPIES BY MAIL—lOcents each BACK COPIES—10 cents each On sale when available, from the Vault

Clerk, Third Floor, Administration Building, Balboa Heights.

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

Canal Review, Balboa Heights, C. Z.

Ex-Governor Heads

Export-Import Bank

Major General Glen E. Edgerton, Governor of The Panama Canal

from 1940 to 1944,

last month was named Chairman

of the Board of Directors of the Export-Import

Bank. The former Governor is also a Director of the Panama Canal

Company. He is the second member of the Canal Company's Board to be named to a high Government position this year. T. Cole- man Andrews, a Company Director since

1951, was recently appointed U. S. Commissioner of Internal Revenue.

Present at the ceremony when General Edgerton was sworn in as an Export- Import Bank Director was Edward S. Conger, the Bank's Assistant Secretary who is well known on the Isthmus. Mr. Conger's mother is a member of the Shuber family of Panama City. He

has visited the Isthmus several times, once comparatively recently. General Edgerton saw his first service with the Canal organization in 1908-09, immediately after his graduation from the Military Academy at West Point. He

returned to the Canal Zone in 1936 as Engineer of Maintenance, succeeding

Col. Clarence Ridley as Governor in 1940.

OF CURRENT INTEREST

FAULT FINDING by machine is a new wrinkle

for the Electrical Division.

William Dorgan, left, and Frank Cunningham

from the Balboa Field Office have hooked the Fault Finder—that's it's real name, but they call it the "Firecracker"—to a defective cable. It immediately

begins to pop. Manholes along the route of the

cable are then opened. Where a similar popping is heard, the trouble is located. Recently the Fault Finder located, within 5 minutes, a break in 500 feet of cable buried in the ground and serving the area around the Panama City

railroad station.

About 50 young men are expected to make application for the apprentice

training program in the Canai organization which will start in July. Applicants were to be accepted up

to the close of business today, May 1

;

examinations will be held May 9 at the Diablo Clubhouse. The apprenticeships will provide

training in four crafts in the mechanical and electrical fields: Machinists, auto repair machinists, plumbers, and

powerhouse operators. The first two

years of the apprenticeship for power- house operators will be served in train- ing as wiremen. The training provided by the apprenticeships extends over a period of four

vears.

The late starting dry season had some

advantages; there were fewer grass fires this year than last. Last dry season the first fire was reported on December 31, 1951. Between then and March 31, firemen answered alarms for 103 grass fires. During the dry season which is just coming to an end, the first fire was not reported until January 29. Up to March 31 there had been only 67

grass fires.

Fourth of July is more than 2 months

away but plans for the annual Inde- pendence Day celebration are already under wav. On the Pacific side, the Pacific Civic Council is in charge of the July 4 cele- bration. Sam Roe, council president, and Emmett Zemer are co-chairmen,

with Mrs. Bronson Rigby as secretarytreasurer. Present plans call for a dance at the American Legion Club the evening of July 3, a Friday. A day of athletic and

patriotic events is scheduled for July

4 with the climax of the celebration the night fireworks display.

All of the schools will have programs for the occasion, some including children in only one school room, others for two or more school rooms and some that will be

given for an entire school or school building. Parents have been invited to attend many

of the programs. Road gangs from the penitentiary at Gamboa are just completing the clean- up of the old Paraiso cemetery. Grass

has been cut, rocks removed and fresh white paint placed on all of the crosses as well as on the fence around the

graves of French engineers Parazols and Vignol. The cemetery predates the construction of the Canal by American forces.

It was in existence well before 1905 and was used as recently as 1937. Between 1932 and 1937, 80 burials took

place there, most of them relatives of people whose graves were in the old cemetery.

Effective May 1 residents of New Cris- tobal and Colon Beach will be liable for a

clog licensing tax, according to a letter received bv Canal authorities from Colon

Alcalde Jose D. Bazan. The tax will be

$3 per year. In his letter Alcalde Bazan said that the tax is payable only at the office of the Municipal' Treasurer. There will be no

special collectors this year. He warned

that anvone representing himself as a col- lector for the dog tax should be reported

at once to the Colon or Cristobal police or

to the Alcalde's office.

Five municipal districts created in the Canal Zone October 24, 1904, were located

at Ancon, Empire, Gorgona, Buena Vista, and Cristobal. They were administered by an appointed council of five. Each

had a mayor, a judge, a secretary, and

treasurer.

Music week will lie observed in the Canal Zone schools from May 3 to 10. The theme

of this year's observance is "Enrich Your

Life with Music."

On October 9, 1906, an invitation was

issued by the Isthmian Canal Commission

for proposals to complete the construction

of the Canal by contract.
THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW May 1,1953

BUILT at Culebra in 1906 as the Chief Engineer's residence, quarters 159 was moved in 1914 to Balboa Heights where it has served since that time as the Governor's house.

THE GOVERNOR'S HOUSE—

of three stories with a kitchen and

servants quarters in a separate building.

It was to have had 15 bedrooms, each

with its own bath, a roof garden and a

55- by 48-foot drawing room. It was

estimated that between 12 and 15 serv- ants would be necessary to keep it up

and that its completed cost would be

in the vicinity of $200,000. In late 1906, before anything but its exterior was completed, Mr. Stevens

ordered that it be converted to an

Administration Building and this it be- came about a year later, housing offices of the Sanitary Department, police headquarters, schools, the collector of reve- nues the paymaster, etc. About 1915 a considerable portion of the building was turned over for use by

the District Court, which is still located

there, although some Army offices and some units of the Canal remained in the

building for a while. Goethals Lived in 159 But back to Culebra. When Lt. Col. George Washington Goethals succeeded Mr. Stevens as Chief Engineer he moved

into the residence at Culebra. This was

in March 1907. Since Colonel Goethals was also chairman of the Isthmian Canal Commission his home became the Canal

Zone's ranking quarters. Altogether, at Culebra and at Balboa Heights, the Goethals family occupied building 159

for 10 years. In the early part of 1914, with the Canal nearing completion, its headquarters were transferred to Balboa Heights. Along with the moving of offices and

files, desks, and people, came the transfer

of some of the old houses. The quarters of the present Lieutenant

Governor, and Marine Director, as well as the Balboa Clubhouse and the now- non-existent Pedro Miguel Clubhouse

were among those brought in from

"along the line." The buildings were dismantled in large

sections, the sections carefully numbered,

loaded vertically onto flat cars and moved

the 10 miles—as a buzzard flies—to their new locations. The present Governor's house cost $19,773.18 to build, according to old files. That isn't much as houses go these days

but it was quite a lot for a residence almost 50 years ago. The cost of moving

the house from Culebra to Balboa

Heights -including its re-erection—was

approximately $16,300. Housed 11 Governors

Including Goethals and the present Governor, Brig. Gen. John S. Seybold,

11 Canal Zone Governors have occupied the residence. Each, in some way or another, has left his imprint on

Building 159. The second Governor, Col. Chester

Harding, had a porte-cochere added at the front, entrance over the circular drive. (This circular drive led to complaints from a later Governor that the motoring

public was using it as a turn-around

place.) During the administration of Col. Meriwether L. Walker, 1924-29, some

general alterations were made, the principal one being the widening of the side veranda to 15 feet, almost double its original width. This screened veranda,

A POKTE COCHERE and widened porches have altered the appearance of the one-time Chief Engineer's residence, now' the home of the Governor of the Canal Zone.

Forty-seven years ago John F. Stevens, famed railroad executive and Chief Engineer for the Isthmian Canal Commission, packed up his belongings and moved from Panama City into his new home in Culebra. The house he left became the United

States Legation building; the house into which he moved is now the residence of the Governor of the Canal Zone. Although it now stands some 10 air miles from its original location, the big frame building which is the Governor's

house has not changed a great deal since

it was built. Porches have been widened, a porte- cochere and carport added, and some

modernization done. But basically the building is the same as that which was

constructed in Culebra in 1906, when,

according to a report of the Isthmian Canal Commission, "in addition to the Administration Building there were erec- ted residences for the Chief Engineer and

the Master Builder and 13 other houses

used for quarters for bachelors and

married employees."

Inevitably the location of these build- ings at Culebra was known as "Brains

Hill." Built as a residence for the Chief

Engineer, the building which is on the records as "No. 159" was not at first intended for use as the Governor's House. The same report of the Isthmian Canal Commission which reports the erection of the buildings at Culebra says: "The work

of the construction of a permanent resi- dence for the Governor of the Canal Zone

was begun during the year. This building is being constructed of concrete blocks which are made in a plant in Ancon, and

is intended as the permanent residence of the Governor of the Canal Zone not only during the construction of the Canal but

afterwards." The site for the Ancon building, known

as Santa Rosa, was selected after long

deliberation. Originally the house was

to be of brick with a marble stucco, and
May 1,1953 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW 41 YEARS OF LOCAL HISTORY

which runs the full 80-foot depth of the house and which overlooks the trim, well-shrubbed lawn where large receptions are often held, is one of the beauty

spots of the house. After Governor Walker, succeeding

(lovernors turned their attention to the

furnishings. Much of the original equip- ment and furniture was replaced during

the administration of Col. Harrv Burgess, 1928 32. The greater part of the furniture had

been used since L906 and included some

pieces which had been in the Chief Engineer's House in Panama City and

presumably were of French origin. Much

was neither traditional nor beautiful. The only old pieces now remaining are a marble-topped console in the living room which dates back to Goethals' day,

the rectangular mahogany dining table and its 36 reed-seated chairs, which are between 35 and 40 years old, and two mahogany armchairs of uncertain age which were left by previous occupants.

Silver and China

During the Burgess period the Governor's house acquired its first official china. For family use there is a service of Rose

Minton, but for official entertaining there

is another Minton pattern. This has a wide colored band, a narrow gold border and the Canal Zone Seal in gold. Flat

silver bearing the Canal Zone Seal was also added at this time, as was new table and

bed linen, all woven with the Canal Zone Seal. During the next administration, that of Col. Julian L. Schley, five great silver punchbowls were purchased and between

1936 and 1940, when Col. Clarence S. Ridley was Governor, two huge candel- abra were purchased. No structural changes of any importance have been made since the midtwenties, but the interior decorating has changed with practically every family. The panelled walls of the "public rooms"

downstairs, which for several years were

painted the pale green known throughout

the Isthmus as Governor's green, are now

a cool off-white. The number of rooms in the residence

COOL GRAYS and blue-greens, with tropical plants and flowers, bring the outdoors indoors in *he

living room at the Governor's House.

is surprisingly small, considering its over-all size, but almost all of them are

larger than average. The first floor contains a library, a large hall, the living room, the big formal dining room, the

porches, a guest suite of bedroom and

bath, and the large kitchen and serving

pantry. The Governor and Mrs. Seybold

their only son, Jack, is in college in California—do most of their family living upstairs where there is a library, a long porch and five bedrooms and four baths. Mrs. Seybold hopes to have pictures of her predecessors as First Lady hung in the upstairs library. Servants' quarters and the laundry are

in a small, one-story building adjacent

to the main house. Most Governors have brought with them their own furniture, at least their favorite pieces, and the Seybolds are no

exception. Mrs. Seybold has wrought

ORIGINALLY PLANNED as the Governor's house but never used as such, this is now the District Court building at Ancon.

iron chairs, with glass topped tables, in the living room, where there is also a handsome Frencl Provincial cabinet. Cushions are covered either in blue-green, almost an aquamarine, or in pearl gray. Chinese rugs, and a few smaller orientals, cover the floor. As in a good many houses here there

are no window draperies, but baskets of ferns hang in the window openings. The furniture on the porch is wicker, painted a soft French gray with cushions covered in figured and plain material in which green, brown, coral, and chartreuse predominate. The household staff is headed by Norman Vincent Fraser, who has been at Building 159 since 1927. His position

is officially described as that of "Custodian," but his duties are myriad at the

big house. He learned the duties of butler at a school conducted by the Reverend Arthur F. Nightengale in Ancon during the early 1920's. He is a walking encyclopedia of Governor's House

history. He thoroughly enjoys taking people through the house and recalling the long

list of distinguished guests who have

visited the Governor's house. They

include President Franklin D. Roosevelt,

a guest there twice during the late 1930's, and Mrs. Roosevelt who stayed for several days at the Governor's House in 1944. Over the years the guests who have

been entertained at the Governor's house make up a long list of presidents, generals, cabinet members, diplomats,

authors, and scientists. Formal dinner parties and luncheons

are limited by space to 24, although 36 have been fitted in now and then. Big

parties, like the large official receptions which overflow onto the lawn, run to as many as 600 guests. The biggest party which Fraser recalls was for the officers of the visiting U. S.

fleet, during the Burgess days. He can't remember just how many there were,

but, he says, "There were three bands and it looked like the whole fleet right out on our lawn."
10 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW May 1,1953

They Won— international Girl, Boy Scouts

Celebrates Anniversaries

_ PRIZEWINNERS in the annual Police Pistol Shoot pose with their winnings.

Left to right are: Paul S. Stewart, Cristobal license examiner, first; Sidney Hayes of the Balboa station, second; and Howard J. Toland of the Pedro Miguel

station, third. Mr. Stewart is a two-time winner; he placed first

in the 194S shoot. Last year, as this year, he tied

for first place but this year he was high on the "dead

range"—the 25- and 15-yard and the bobbing tar- gets—and in case of a tie, high score on the dead

range determines the winner. This year's scores were: Stewart, 194; Hayes, 194; Toland," 191.

ELECTRIC HAIR DRYERS that work on 25-

or 60 cycle current would make a practical present for Mother's Day, May 10. They

are available in the Commissaries, of course, and cost $17.50. Mothers would also be pleased to receive one of the folding umbrellas that are

For expected in the stores about the first Rainy of May. They are in plaids and Days solid colors and fold to a convenient

half size of the usual umbrella. They

cost $5.85. New nylon umbrellas of the conventional type will also be arriving in the stores about the same time. They will

cost about $4.35. FATHER will have his day on the calendar on June 21. Forward looking shoppers might consider getting him a Black & Decker

electric drill or one of the saw attachments for

it that are new in the Commissaries. The saw

for the 1 4-inch portable electric drill is complete with four chrome alloy blades and costs $7.65. The drill costs $22.75.

A ONE-POUND package which contains about five kinds of cold cuts is being added

to the line of Commissary pre-packaged meat

items. The "party-paks" of lunch meat will cost about 54 cents.

Fresh frozen beef pies, ready to heat and serve, ry have been ordered as a novelty

item and will be available —probk.. ably for a short time—in the frozen food sections. The beef pies are

a Swanson product.

There is now Irish Beef Tenderloin in the Beef from Commissaries that costs 98 cents

Ireland a pound whole or $1.10 sliced. SOMETHING NEW and terrific in the field of silver cleaners is expected in the Commissaries about the first of May. It is Wilbert's No-Rub Silver Dip and it means just what the name says. You dip silver in it (or, for large

pieces, apply a light coaling), rinse off the

polish, dry the silver and it's polished

without elbow greasel And it cleans the toughest tarnish in the same fast and certain way.

Copper-Brite Cleaner is another one you

For the should know about. It does a

Brass quick and good cleaning job on copper and brass.

TOMAHAWK BOOTS by Trimfoot, avail- able in the shoe sections, will enchant the small fry. Black ones, for instance, for in- fants, children, and teenagers, are black

leather with moccasin type toes, red and

white decoration around the tops and big

bright sur-nuff boot straps the kind you pull yourself up by. In sizes for infants and

children, the boots are also available in apache red, golden wheat, and choctaw

brown.

Pasta Fazool, as the Italians make it and like

it, is .now sold in cans in the Something Commissaries. It contains macar- New oni, beans, tomato paste, onions, olive oil, spices and pure creamery butter. Il is all ready to heat and serve and a can, enough for three to five people,

costs about 26 cents. The pasta fazool is Torino brand, the same

as the lentil soup, continental style, that is also available in the Commissaries. The

soup has lentils, carrots, chicken fat, onions, potatoes, celery, and seasoning. COMMISSARY PEOPLE recently returned from markets in the United States report that

terry cloth is the thing for sports clothes for men, women and children. A few terry cloth sport shirts for men were purchased and

will be arriving on the Isthmus soon.

(.Continued from page 2) Mrs. Hutchinson, the director, is a graduate of the La Boca Normal School. While she was

teaching, she started a baby-sitting club

for junior high school girls at Santa Cruz.

Later, in Paraiso, she became interested

in working with a group of sixth-grade

girls. Through Mrs. Will Pence of Ancon

she learned—and passed on to the girls

such crafts as making bags from coconuts and temblequcs from fish scales. Boy Scouting

Like the Girl Scouts, the Boy Scouts have grown, and still are growing, rapidly. Within a few months after the IBS was

organized in 1947 its membership was some 200 boys, working with 75 adults. Today that number has almost tripled. At the present time particular emphasis is being laid on the program for Cubs who, aged 8 to 11, are the youngest

of the three Scout groups. A new Cubbing Committee has recently been organized. It is headed by Harold Rerrie of Rainbow City, with Daniel T. Foster, also

of Rainbow City, as Cub Commissioner. The biggest project which the IBS now

has on hand is securing a permanent camp

site for all year round camping. Much stress is laid in the entire IBS pro- gram on good citizenship and brotherhood. Toward that end, 10 boys and a leader attended the First Caribbean Jamboree

in March of last year in Jamaica. This

year the Canal Zone International Boy

Scouts have been invited to the Boy

Scouts of America National Jamboree in California but lack of funds will probably

prevent them from going. Boy Scout Week

During Boy Scout week last month,

the International Boy Scouts had as their theme: "Helping others, That's Scouting." They attended church in uniform;

raised flags at their schools, held "Cuberees" at Paraiso and Rainbow City; observed a Community Service Day and

a Loyalty Day; and climaxed the week

by awarding honors to the Outstanding

Leader, Senior and Intermediate Scout and Cub of the Year. Next year these Scouts of the Year will appear on posters during Scout week, as

last year's honorees did this year.

Ellis L. Fawcett, principal of Red Tank school, is IBS president. He

headed the committee which drew up the

organization's bylaws. Last year he was awarded a "Thank You" badge and was named "Councilman of the Year." Mr. George, whose 4-year-old son, Tony,

wears a junior size replica of his father's uniform, is a native Zonian. The Scout

Director was born at Gorgas Hospital. He began Scouting in Panama in the

British Baden Powell movement, when

he was between 7 and S years old. He

had only one achievement to complete

for the King Scout badge, highest awarded, when the movement disbanded.

Later he was Canal Zone Commissioner

for the Panama Boy Scouts, his territory covering La Boca to Gamboa. He served as International Boy Scout Commissioner from January to June 1947, when he was appointed IBS director. By December 1, 1906, quarters were

available for all bachelor employees of the Isthmian Canal Commission. Only 375

family quarters were available at that

time.
May 1,1953 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW 11

The Panama Canal is nearing its half century of existence as an American

enterprise. Next Monday one of the most important anniversaries of a long

list of great events will take place. It is the anniversary of the transfer of the

rights and properties of the second French Canal Company to the United

States Government. The transfer took place at 7:30 o'clock

in the morning of May 4, 1904, in the

building then known as the Hotel de la Compagnie. The building, which fronts on Cathedral Plaza in Panama City, now

houses the Panama Post Office. The ceremony was brief and simple.

It consisted chiefly of the transfer of keys to the various French Canal Company properties, the signing and delivery

of a $40,000,000 receipt in Spanish,

English, and French, and raising the United States flag over the building. Entrusted with the important mission was Lieutenant Mark Brooke, a young

officer of the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, who had been designated to act for the United States Government in the absence of his commanding officer. The

ceremony was witnessed by only a few

spectators, including officials of the Government of the United States and Panama.Began Construction Period The event signaled the opening of a

10-year period of intense activity on the Isthmus of Panama which resulted in one

of the great sagas of man's achievement. Only a few years remain until the events of the stirring Canal construction

ADRIEX M. BOUCHE

period will be told only in history books

or recounted by second generation employees in the organization. Among the tens of thousands of men

and women who came from the United

States to help build the Panama Canal,

only 33 who were employed during that

period remain in service. Several of these are scheduled to retire during the coming year and by 1900 all employees

with construction service will have

1906

•Vincent G. Raymond December 10 1907 Florence E. Williams—March 1 1908

•Charles P. Morgan—October 26

1909 Adrien M. Bouche—July 2 1910 *George H. Cassell—January 29 •Raymond B. Ward—June 13 •Raymond A. Koperski—June 27

1911 •ERNEST C. COTTON—February 20 Lea K. Dugan—June,

6

•GEORGE N. ENGELKE—September 5 •Bernard W. Mclntyre—September 28 *Gregor Gramlich—October 14 •Berney J. Robinson—October 30

1912 Samuel J. Deavours—March 1 •Robert W. Hutchings—April 26 Thomas J. Breheny—November 1 George C. Orr—December 5 ARTHUR MORGAN—December 16 1913 Otto A. Sundquist—January IS Bernard J. McDaid—February 19 Leonidas H. Morales H.—March 1 David W. Ellis—June 11 Arthur J. Farrell—June 28 Edward P. Walsh—July 1 EMMETT ZEMER—July 10 Harold P. Bevington—August 16 Eric E. Foreman—November 4 Bert G. Tydeman—November 22 Mai LeRoy Dodson—December 10 William V. Brugge—December 17 1914 LEON F. HALLETT—February 14 Clarendon Sealy—March 6 Samuel L. Souder—March 24

reached the age of compulsory retirement- The list of old timers still in service has rapidly decreased within the past few years. There were nearly 400 just eight years ago but the list had shrunk

to 106 names when it was printed in the

first issue of Thk Panama Canal Review,

of May 1950, as an honor roll of the organization. There were .">:', in service

last May on the Canal's birthday. Twelve Hold Medal

Of the 33 still in service on the 49th

anniversary, only 12 are holders of the coveted Roosevelt Medal awarded to those employees with two or more years

of continuous construction service. Five

of the old timers have continuous service records with the Canal organization. In this issue of the Review are carried the pictures of the "Class of 1960," the baby members of the now small and select

circle of old timers. They are the ones who, if they choose to remain until their retirement age, will be the very last construction day workers in service. Not

strangely, all five are the sons of men

who worked for the Isthmian Canal Commission and all began work in their 'teens. The complete list of the men and women who began working for the Canal

while it was still being built and who are

still in service to help run it on the 49th anniversary appears here. The names

of those with continuous service are

indicated in capital letters, and holders

of Roosevelt Medals are indicated by (*).

ROBERT W. HUTCHINGS

HAROLD P. BEVIXGTON WILLIAM V. BRUGGE
12 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW May 1,1953

Highest Draft Quota

Set For Canal Zone

A draft quota of 60, the highest set so

far for the Canal Zone, has been established for the month of May by Selective Service headquarters in Washington. The Canal Zone quota for April was

45, compared with former quotas that have ranged from 10 to 15 monthly since the establishment of the local Selective Service organization in June 1951. The higher quotas, coupled with a

decrease in the backlog of non-citizen volunteers for Army service, increased

the possibility that U. S. citizen regis- trants might be drafted for the first time by local Selective Service boards.

All those inducted so far to fill Canal Zone quotas have been volunteers, a

total of 291 since June 1951. Only five of that number were United States

citizens. As of April 25 there were about 45

volunteers on Selective Service lists; this number, however, changes daily as others

volunteer, some are inducted, and some

are disqualified for service on the basis

of pre-induction physicial examinations. On the same date there were 469 United States citizens in the Canal Zone

registered for selective service, 164 of whom were classified 1-A.

41 Cents Hourly Minimum

Becomes Effective May 3

Approximately 400 local rate employees—160 of them full-time workers—will receive pay increases of two

to four cents an hour effective with the pay period beginning next Monday. The pay increase is the result of a new minimum wage of 41 cents an

hour which was announced April 15 at Balboa Heights. It will total about

$25,000 a year and will affect the lowest- paid employees in the organization. The increase in the minimum wage

scale is the fifth since the present local rate wage schedule was established in February 1948. At that time the minimum wage was set at 22 cents an

hour. Later the minimum was raised

to 26 cents, then to 33 cents, and

finally to 37 cents an hour.

New Piece Of Fire Equipment

Ready For Shipment To Zone

Another new piece of fire equipment

for the Canal's Fire Division is due to leave New York next week via the Panama

Line for the Canal Zone. Last year the Division's equipment was augmented by the addition of the

first aerial ladder truck to be stationed in the Canal Zone. This year's purchase, which will be assigned to the Balboa station, is a

Seagrave "Triple Combination," which

consists of a 1,000-gallon pump, a hose

carrier and a booster tank. The booster tank is used in extinguishing small fires which do not require the laying of hose from a hydrant. The truck is 24 feet over-all in length.

It will replace one of the 11-year-old Fords which are simply trucks equipped

with a fire pump and a compartment for carrying about 1,000 feet of hose.

Capt. Frank Munroe Due This Month

To Become Canal Marine Director

Capt. Frank A. Munroe, Jr., USN,

has been assigned to duty with the Panama Canal Company and will succeed

Capt. Marvin J. West as Marine Director when he leaves early in June. Captain West, who has been on duty

with the Canal since July 1949, has been

assigned to duty in San Diego, Calif., as commanding officer of the U. S. Naval

Receiving Station there. He served

three years as Port Captain in Balboa and was appointed Marine Director last June upon the retirement of Capt. Robert M. Peacher. The new Marine Director was born in Annapolis, Md., and was graduated from

the Naval Academy in the same class with Captain West in 1925. He resigned

after three years of active duty to enter

private business. He was emploved for 10 years, from 1930 to 1940, with the

Republic Steel Corporation. Captain Munroe was recalled to active duty with the Navy in 1940 and served in the Southwest Pacific Area during World War II. After the close of the war he was assigned to duty with the Bureau of Personnel in Washington as head of the Personnel Plans Branch, and later was

in command of U. S. S. Hamul, a destroyer-tender assigned with the U. S. Naval

forces in European waters. He is presently on duty as commanding

officer of the U. S. Naval Receiving

Station in Seattle, Wash.

Captain and Mrs. Munroe, and their daughter Joan, are expected to arrive on

the Isthmus about May 23. In addition

to their daughter who will accompany

them, they have a married daughter and

a son who is serving in the Navy.

New Offensive Againsl C. Z. Termites

(.Continued from page 4 were made to wipe out termite colonies underground by blowing a small amount of Paris green into a broken tunnel run. The

worker termites tracked through the

poison. Other workers licked the arsenic from the bodies of the first group. They

died, and were eaten by others. Eventually the whole colony—workers, fierce soldiers, and the terrifically fertile kings and queens—became termite ghosts. But sometimes the termites got wise. They might wall off the casualties and

not eat them. And the arsenic was

dangerous to humans and animals if any

of it spilled. Preventive Measures

So now, rather than trying to wipe out

the colonies the entomologists recommend

that they be kept from their tasty morsels

of beams and floors and picture frames and books and furniture. It can be done

in several ways. One method which is now being used by

the Canal organization is poisoning of the ground around houses. Specifications for

all housing being built under this fiscal year's program call for ground poisoning under concrete floor slabs and around the perimeter of all quarters. Sodium arsenite is being used under the floors and

5 percent DDT in a Diesel oil solution around the buildings. Since these termite control measures

are new in housing specifications this year, work is now underway to "termite proof"—as much as possible—grounds around quarters built in the two previous

years. Teams from the Grounds Maintenance Division are working around

45 Pacific side quarters, in Ancon and

Diablo Heights, and 17 in Margarita which were built in fiscal years 1950 and 1951. At the same time these teams are moving to a termite-proof distance from

the houses all shrubbery and vines. Green, growing things which touch the houses are perfect bridges over which

termites can make their way from their underground homes.

Oil Into A Trench

After the too-close shrubbery has been removed and replanted, the Grounds

Maintenance teams excavate a V-shaped

trench, a foot wide at the top and a foot deep. DDT in Diesel oil is poured into

the bottom of this trench. Half of the earth is then replaced and another third

of the DDT solution poured over that. The remaining third is poured over the

refilled trench. Entomologists become impatient when

termites are called white ants. They

aren't ants at all. For one thing, ants have slender waistlines. Termites are

relatives of prehistoric cockroaches. They

have caste systems worked out to a

fine point. Caste System

Dry wood termites have only two

castes: Soldiers, which protect the colony, and a reproductive form, which reproduces. The colony's work is done by the immature young. Colonies of dry wood

termites are much smaller than those of the subterranean variety. The latter have a three caste system: Workers, soldiers, and the nobility which

is made up of kings and queens and their alternates. After the colonizing flight, which occurs

here about the beginning of the rainy

season, a king and queen seal themselves

into their nest. The queen begins to lay eggs. Like most young couples, just starting married life, they have to do all the work themselves at first: The termite equivalent of cooking, cleaning, and

baby-tending. As the colony increases in size the workers take over the eating of the cellu- lose and feeding the predigested material

to the other members of the colony. The queen knows how many soldiers, how many workers to produce. Eventually she settles down to her lifetime job and may produce as many as 30,000

eggs a day. Among these are the eggs of a comparatively small number of the reproductive caste, the winged adults which emerge each year to establish new colonies. Unlike most forms of life, the termites

(at, work, and reproduce 24 hours a day. Ogden Nash says: "Some primal termite knocked on wood And tatted it and found it good. And that is irhy your Cousin May

Fell through the parlor floor today." The Housing Division, the Grounds

Maintenance people, entomologists like Dr. Zetek, and Mr. Morris and other

agencies here are all trying to keep the

parlor floor intact.
May 1,1953 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW 13 Santa Cruz Teacher Combines Love

For Teaching, Baseball, Farming

A. L. B. Morgan, Principal of the Santa Cruz Elementary School, follows

a moderate middle course in his educational philosophy and practice. He has read a lot about the varied ideas

collectively called "progressive education," has observed many progressive changes in the local school system and

combines experience and theory to form

his own educational beliefs. In his opinion, the old time school systems that dealt primarily with dis- cipline and the "three R's" failed to provide students sufficient experiences within which their tastes and talents could be developed. He recalls that when he first taught

in the Canal Zone, starting in 1921, the curriculum consisted of reading, writing, arithmetic, and spelling, which were "doubled up" to fill a full school day. Although he would not choose to take education back to those days, he disagrees

also with the far forward wing of "progressive education" because he believes

it provides educators too little control over the development of students. He thinks children should be guided by educators to many of the "good

things" to provide a background of experience before they can be considered capable ot making their own choices. And on the human side, he adds, "There may also be nice traits of personality you can develop." Curriculum Expanded

Foremost among the improvements in the local school system since Mr. Morgan

has been teaching in the Canal Zone is, in his opinion, the great expansion of curriculum, providing students and teachers a much broader framework within which aptitudes can be discovered and

developed. Equipment and teaching methods also have improved greatly since he first started teaching at Silver City, he says. He had taken teacher's training in Jamaica and served as student teacher but left the teaching profession to enter the Army during World War I. He

served 3

: 2 years with a British West

Indian Regiment in Egypt and Palestine

as a company quartermaster sergeant. Out of the Army, he first came to the Isthmus in 1920 and was employed as an

office clerk in the Gatun Commissary,

where he worked for about six months. Then he passed an examination for teachers and became an instructor in the Canal Zone schools. He taught briefly at La Boca before being transferred during the first term

to the grade school at Silver City. He

remained there for 11 years, teaching at various times in all of the eight grades. He was named Principal of the La Boca

school in 1933 and remained there until 1945, when he transferred to his present

position.Has Never M issed A Day

In all those years he has never missed

as much as an hour of work—a record he attributes to his own formula for life and health "Eat the right kind of food, work hard, and rest well." His interest in "the right kind of food"

served until recently as one of his principal "extra-curricular" enthusiasms. He

raised tomatoes, cucumbers, corn, and

1 43k\

m

mU>**'

' 1 -H^m\

A. L. B. MORGAN', principal of the Santa Cruz

school, has never missed a day in his 33 years of teaching.

other vegetables that could have served

as models for seed catalogs. Mr. Morgan learned some of his agricultural lessons by teaching them,

in the days that school gardens provided

vocational training in the schools. Probably he also absorbed some knowledge of plants and soils from growing up on his father's farm in Jamaica, where he also acquired, by doing a lot of riding, a

lifelong interest in horse racing. A Yankee Fan

Probably his present first sports enthu- siasm is baseball, more specifically, the New York Yankees. He explains he

chose them for his own when he first encountered in the Canal Zone the American institution of baseball. He

learned to root for the Yankees in the Babe Ruth days and has never found any good reason to change his loyalties. The Santa Cruz School, with its 560

students and 18 teachers, is a demanding

full time job but the Principal always manages to find time to take part in many community activities. He was one of the organizers of the Gamboa Federal Credit Union, played

a part in the formation of the Inter- national Girl Scouts in the Canal Zone,

formerly served on the Executive Council

of the International Boy Scout organization and frequently serves as speaker at school and community gatherings. He reads a lot, particularly professional books, religion, and history. He writes poetry; his own favorites are Wordsworth and Emerson. But his real first interest is politics, particularly on the

international level where he can watch,

as he puts it, "statesmen matching wits against each other." Although he is not a teaching principal, he likes to teach and always welcomes

the opportunity to take a class when there

is no other teacher available. His greatest pleasure is the thought of the hundreds of boys and girls he has worked with in the schools, many of whom evince in their own lives his own

most cherished belief that the purpose of

life is service.

Ten Years Ago

In April

April 15, 1943, was really a big day in the Canal Zone.

Right hand driving went into effect. The lights came on again after the long-time wartime blackout. Three new highways or sections of highways were opened to the public: The

Trans-Isthmian Highway north of Madden Dam; the relocated section of Bruja Road on the west side of the Third Locks

construction area and north of Miraflores Locks; and a relocated and paved

road to Gamboa.

The "drastic changes" in blackout

regulations provided that street lights would be on from sunset to 1 1 o'clock at night and interior lights in houses could be used all night long, provided there was

no glare or beam of light cast outside

buildings. The Commanding General

cautioned, however, that the change "in no way means that the Canal Zone is out

of danger of attack nor that there can be any relaxation in the vigilance or alert- ness of our defense."

Formal ceremonies attended the opening

of only one of the new Isthmian roads—

the Trans-Isthmian Highway—"to be known as the Boyd-Roosevelt Highway." Panamanian President Ricardo Adolfode

la Guardia and his cabinet took part in a ceremony in Colon celebrating the event and then drove over the new highway to the Pacific side. The new road to Gamboa shortened the distance by about half a mile and replaced

a "high crown asphalt road too narrow

for modern vehicular traffic." The new

road had been relocated from the Madden

Highway underpass to the Chagres River. Paving was also started in April on a new section of Bruja Road between Cocoli and Thatcher Highway.

New Rents Effective On July 5

(Continued from page I) OCCUpants two months in advance of the change. The application of interest will require the major increases on those houses built within the past five-year period. Within

this group the increases will amount to about $20 a month for composite type

houses, such as those in the San Juan

area in Ancon, and to a maximum of about $15 a month for new masonry

quarters. Increases will be lower on composite- type houses built before the present housing replacement program was begun

in 1948. These will vary widely and will average about $2 a week per unit, with a maximum of about $13 a month. To avoid excessive variations in rents

for any particular type of houses an

average construction cost will be used

within each type. In some instances the

original cost of construction varied as much as 100 percent for houses of the same type and design built over a 20-year

period. Interest charges will be higher in the

early years of the life of the house and

lower in the later years, paralleling the

decline in interest cost as the undepreciated value of the house goes down.

This procedure will, in effect, also recognize the desirability factor in newer

houses.
14 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW May 1,1953

THIS MONTH'S CALENDAR

—Track Foremen, Balboa B & B Shops. —VFW Post No. 3857, Cristobal Veterans Club. 9 a. m.

Postal Employees No. 23160, Balboa Lodge

Hall. 7:30 p. m. Pedro Miguel Civic Council. Girl Scout House. Cristobal-Margarita Civic Council. Margarita Clubhouse, 7:30 p. m. VFW Post No. 727, Fort Clayton. 7:30 p. m. VFW Post No. 3822, Curundu Road. 7:*U p. m. American Legion Post No. 3, Gatun Legion

Hall, 7:30 p. m.

,- Meatcutters and Butchers No. 121, Officers Home. 7:30 p. m. Teachers No. 228, Auditorium. Cristobal High

School. 3:30 p. m. Gamboa Civic Council, Community Center.

; 10 p. m. Gatun Civic Council, Gatun Clubli" i Machinists No. 811, Balboa Lodge Hall. 7:30

i —Isthmian Nurses Association, Building 283. Hospital, 8 p. m. VFW Post No. 40, Wirz Memorial Building.

7:30 p. m.

r- Marine Engineers, Gamboa Goll Club. / p. m. Carpenters and Joiners No. 667, Margarita

Clubhouse. 7:30 p. m.

i Blacksmiths No. 400 with Boilermakers Nos.

263 and 471, K. of C. Hall, Margarita, 7:30

I —Sheetmetal Workers No. 157, Balboa Clubhouse. 9:30 a. m. Plumbers No. 606, K. of C. Hall. -Margarita, 'Mil a. m. I—Machinists No. 699, K. of C. Hall. Margarita,

7:30 p. m. American Legion Post 1, Legion Home, 7:30 >—Pipefitters, Margarita Clubhouse. 7:30 p. m.

Electrical Workers No. 397, Wirz Memorial

Building. 7:30 p. m. VFW Post No. 100, Old Boy Scout Building.

Cristobal. 7:30 p. m. American Legion Post 7, Fort Clayton. American Legion Auxiliary Unit 1, Balboa

Legion Home. 7:30 p. m. 5—Carpenters and Joiners No. 913. Balboa Lodge Hall. 7:30 p. m.

Pacific Civic Council, Board Room. Administration Building. 7:30 p. m. American Legion Post No. 2, Legion Home.

Old Cristobal. 7:30 p. m. 7—CLU-MTC, Margarita Clubhouse. 8:30 a. m. B—Electrical Workers No. 677, Gatun Masonic

Temple. 7:30 p. m.

Truckdrivers, Balboa Lodge Hall. 7:30 p. m.

9—Operating Engineers No. 595, K. of C. Hall. Margarita, 7 p. m. Machinists No. 811, Balboa Lodge Hall, 7:30 0—Teachers No. 228, General Library. Balboa High School. 7 p. m. AFGE No. 14, Balboa Clubhouse. 7:30 p. m. American Legion Auxiliary Unit 3, Gatun

Legion Hall. 7:30 p. m. 1—American Legion Auxiliary L nit 6, Gamboa

Legion Hall. 7:30 p. m. . 5—Machinists No. 699, K. of C. Hall, Margarita

7:30 p. m.

VFW Auxiliary. Post No. 3822 Home. 7:30 26—Operating Engineers No. 595, Balboa Lodge

Hall. 7 p. m. VFW Post No. 100. Old Bov Scout Building.

Cristobal, 7:30 p. m. American Legion Post No. 7, Fort Clayton.

7:30 p. m.

27—Governor-Employee Conference, Board Room.

Administration Building. 2 p. m. American Legion Auxiliary Unit 2. I egion Home. Old Cristobal. 7:30 p. m.

.11 NE

1 Postal Employees No. 23160, K. ol C. Hall Margarita, / :30 p. m, Pedro Miguel Civic Council, Girl Scout House. Cristobal- Margarita Civic Council. Mar

garita Clubhouse. 7:30 p. m. VFW Post No. 727, Fort Clayton. 7:30 p. m. VFW Post No. 3822, Curundu Road. 7:30 p. m. American Legion Post 3, Gatun Legion Hall, 7:30 p. m. 2—Meatcutters and Butchers No. 121, Officer's Home. 7:30 p. m. Gamboa Civic Council, Community Center.

7:30 p. m. Gatun Civic Council. Gatun Clubhouse. 7:30 Machinists No. 811, Balboa Lodge Hall. 7:30 3—Isthmian Nurses Association, Building 281. Gorgas Hospital. S p. m. VFW Post No. 40, Wirz Memorial Building. 7:30 p. m. 4—Marine Engineers, Jewish Welfare Board. / Carpenters and Joiners No. 667, Margarita

Clubhouse. 7:30 p. m. 5—American Legion Post 6, Gamboa Legion Home. 7:30 p. m.

MAY SAILINGS

From Cristobal

Cristobal May 1 Ancon May 8 Pa mi ma May 15 Cristobal May 22 Ancon May 29 From New York

Panama .-May 5

Cristobal May 12 Ancon May 1') Panama May 26 (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.) PROMOTIONS AND TRANSFERS

March 15 Through April 15

The following list contains the names of those U. S.-rate employees who were trans- ferred from one division to another (unless the change is administrative) or from one

type ol work to another. It does not contain « it hin-grade promotions, or regradings. CIVIL AFFAIRS BUREAU

Mrs. Virginia D. Parker, Mrs. Naomi

C. Grothjan, from Substitute to Elementary School Teacher.

Sirs. Ethel P. McDermitt, from Ele- mentary to Substitute Teacher. OFFICE OF THE COMPTROLLER

Ralph K. Skinner, Voucher Examiner

t

\c i ountan! , I ieneral Accounts Branch. Ralph R. Grassau, from Accounting

Clerk, Commissary Division, to Accountant, General Account- Branch. Bertha I. Frensley, from Clerk-S

raphei to Stenographer, Accounting S; -- terns Staff. Robert L. Shirer, from Accounting

Clerk. Dredging I livision, to V< i ounta it, Daniel J. Slater, from V

nstruction Cost

IM.nii Inventor} and \ppraisal

StallCarl M. Pajak, from Accounting I lerk, Payroll Branch, to Accountant, Cost

\i i ounts Branch.

Gerald A. Doyle, Jr., from General

\rchitect, Engineering Division, to Construction Inspi and 1 ;» tion Division,

ANNIVERSARIES

Otis C. Myers, from Construction Engineer to Supervisory Construction Management Engineer. Maintenance Division.

' Nelson O. Williar, from Planing Mill Hand to Carpenter Leader and Planing

Mill Hand, Maintenance Division. Albert N. RuorT, from Machinist, Industrial Bureau, to Diesel Engine Machinist,

Electrical Division. Robert T. Geddes, from Pumping

Plant and Tractor Bulldozer Operator, to Filtration Plant and Tractor Bulldozer Operator. George VV. Mullins, Jr., from Steam

Engineer, Locomotive Crane, Pacific Locks

i Iverhaul, to Pumping Plant and I '. teral Operator, Water and Laboratories Branch. HEALTH BUREAU

Mrs. Elenor T. Russell, from Stan

Nurse, Colon Hospital, to Nurse, Gorgas

Hospital. MARINE BUREAU

Edward G. Anderson, from Wirem in, Industrial Bun. m. to Lock Operatoi Wire- man, Atlantic Locks. Bernard M. Parmentier, Boilermaker, from Industrial Bureau to Dredging Divi- Arthur J. McLean, Arthur L. Logan,

Jr., Clive W. Lewis, from Probationary

i,i < lualified Pilot. PERSONNEL BUREA1

Mrs. May B. Duer, from Clerk, Division

of Storehouses, to File Clerk. I S Rati Records. RAILROAD AND TERMINALS BUREAU

Louis A. Mallia, from Gauger, Division

Employees who observed important anniversaries during the month of April are

listed alphabetically below. The number

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

with continuous service with the Canal are indicated with (*). 40 YEARS 'Thomas M. Kaufman, Steam Engineer, Terminals Division.

Lester F. Bailey, Accountant, Industrial Bureau. Paul M. Disharoon, Chief Engineer

(Floating Crane), Dredging Division. "Lucille A. Waters, Accounting Clerk,

Office of the Comptroller.

30 YEARS

Leo B. Clements, Supervisor, Mainte- nance Division. Tona O. Maas, Accounting Clerk, Motor

Transportation Division. John Hower, Senior Chief Towboat

Engineer, Dredging Division.

25 Y-EARS

C. Roland Jones, Assistant Chief, Surveys Branch, Engineering Division. *Thelma S. Rand, Nurse, Gorgas Hospital.*Carl M. Ruoff, Assistant Supply

Officer, Commissary Division.

20 YEARS

Thatcher A. Clisbee, Organization and Methods Examiner, Management Division. Lois M. Johnson, Clerk-Stenographer,

Personnel Bureau. Harry D. Raymond, Claims Examiner,

Office of the Comptroller. Salvatore Rinaldo, Customs Guard.

15 Y'EARS Spencer M. Anderson, Electrician, Pipeline Suction Dredge, Dredging Division. Charles H. Crawford, Personnel Assist- ant, Personnel Bureau. Jack B. Egozcue, Cash Accounting

Clerk (Teller), Office of the Comptroller. *George A. Martin, Police Sergeant. *Eldon L. Phelan, Policeman. *Marie A. Van Clief, Clerk, Office of the Comptroller.

of Storehouses, to Gauger and Cribtender Foreman, Terminals Division. SUPPLY AND SERVICE BUREAU

Arnold Manning, from Apprentice

Welder, Industrial Bureau, to Storekeeper, Shipping, Commissary Division. Mrs. Gladys A. Conley, from Claims Examiner to Accounting Clerk, Commissary

1 >i\ isii m. Mrs. Lucile M. Flenniken, from

Accounting Clerk to Claims Examiner, Commissar} Division. Daniel B. Rambo, from Painter-Body Repairman to Painter-Body Repairman

and Combination Welder, Motor Transportatii in 1 >i\ ision. Mrs. Glendora A. Dorsey, from Clerk

typist, Division of Storehouses, to Accounting Clerk. Commissary Division.

RETIREMENTS IN APRIL

Employees who retired at the end ol April, then birthplaces, lilies, length or

,, i \ ii e at retirement and their future

addresses, are: Arthur .1. Farrell, New York; Truck

Driver, Heavj Special, Motor Transports Hon Division; 3! years, 10 months, 3 days; Canal / Troy Hayes, Kentuckj ; Sergeant, Police Division; 28 wars. 9 months, and I days;

Florida John Hower, Holland; Senior Chiel [owboat I ngineer, I hedging Di\ ision; 23

. , , in mo uli-. and I days; Mobile Bay,

Ala.Edward R. Japs, Minnesota; Superiu
May 1,1953 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW 15 STATISTICS ON CANAL TRAFFIC

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

High School Students

Take Trip Through Cut

About 400 students from all Canal Zone

high schools and the Junior College

received a first hand view of the Panama

Canal recently on trips through ( Jailbird Cut arranged by the Schools Division. One ferryboat load of about 160 students and faculty members from the La Boca and Rainbow City High Schools and the La Boca Branch of the Canal Zone Junior College made the first trip through the Cut from Pedro Miguel to Gamboa on April 15. The second group of 250 students from

the Junior College and seniors from the

Cristobal and Balboa High Schools took

the trip from Gamboa to Pedro Miguel

on April 24. Max Hart of the Motor Transportation

Division, a frequent lecturer for tourist

parties, spoke to the students as they

transited the Cut on ferry boats.

Governor S

pvbold Meets With Employees At April Conference

Continue! from page 3) abandoned

12-family houses in Diablo which are to be torn down; another reduction in force

for the Industrial Bureau (the Governor

said he knew of none in the immediate

future but that this would depend on the workload); and deferment from Selective Service of boys who have almost completed their apprenticeships. Attending the conference were: The Governor; E. A. Doolan, Personnel Director; and F. G. Dunsmoor,

Administrative Assistant to the GovernorPresident; for the Administration. H. R. Chenevert, Ralph Curies, S. J. Garriel, E. J. Husted, R. M. Lovelady,

Carl F. Maedl, Willard Percy, and Walter Wagner, for the Central Labor Union or

affiliated locals; Elmer E. Powell, Marion

J. Goodin, Sam Roe, Jr., and Carl Nix,

for the Civic Councils; Robert C. Daniel, Railway Conductors; H. C. Simpson, Marine Engineers; F. H. Hodges, Loco- motive Engineers, and Chester A. Luhr,

Pacific Locks Employees.

tendent, Storehouses Division; 36 years3 months, and 29 days; Miami, Fla. Thomas M. Kaufman, Louisiana; Steam Engineer, Terminals Division; 30

years, 4 months, and 24 days; address

uncertain. Tona O. Maas, Illinois; Accounting

Clerk, Motor Transportation Division; 26

years, 9 months, and 15 days; San Antonio, Tex.Greta E. Mann, North Carolina; Nurse, Gorgas Hospital; 25 years. 10 months, and

14 days; Sanford, N. C. Mrs. Anna M. Miller, South Dakota; Supply Assistant, Commissary Division; 33 years, 2 months, and 4 days; South

Dakota. Charles E. Reilly, New York, Super-

\isory Business Accountant, Commissary

Division; 31 years, 6 months, and 2 days; address uncertain. Everett Swinson, Massachusetts; Assistant Port Captain, Balboa; 26 years,

1 month, and 23 days; Gloucester, Mass. Walter D. Williams, New York; Property and Supply Clerk, Terminals Division; 29 years, 7 months, and 4 days; California.

Principal commodities shipped through the Canal

i All figures in long tons)

Figures in parentheses in 1938 and 1952 columns indicate

relative positions in those years ATLANTIC TO PACIFIC

Commodity

Third Quarter, Fisi tl N i ai 1953 1052 1938

( !oal and Coke

Manufactures of iron and steel

1,218,820 1.082.798 387,190

196,184 155,959

110.124 89,180

83.450

75,191

71 ,549

71 . 100 40.704 31,545

22.50(1 20,587 1.005,290

838,471 (1) 587,976 (2) 148,62 58,836 (13) 201,000 ill 79,497 (8) 70,642 (11) 116.138 (5) 40.060 (14) 85,664 (7) 75.452 (0) 62.507 (12) 30.611 (21) 25,809 (28) 39,412 (15) 1.027,901

236,664 (2) 27,867 (13) 502. OOS (11 52.587(11)

07. 5 IS |„| 20,710 il ii 14,830 (9) Paper and paper products.- - 00.27 1 in

25,179(17) Automobiles and accessories To.102 (5) 50,451 (7) 56,323 (8) 52.102 (12) 7,809(28)

10,409(22) 896.752

Total 4,668,591 3,797,471 2.049,654

PACIFIC TO ATLANTIC

Commodity

Third Quarter, Fiscal Year

1953 1952 1938 900,399

704.020 531,872 310,530

299,857 216.656

200,592

197,489

105.065 92.182

82.474

74.017 59,887

51,789

44.289

558,411

825,352 (1) 733.110 (2) 583,416 (3) 358,570 (11 312,537 (5) 183,901 (6) 181,890 (7) 158,633 (8) 156,751 (9) 110,043 (10) 77.565 (13) 78,839 (12) 61,847 (15) 63,830 (14) 91,682 (11) 660,538542,936 (2) 632,901 (1) 267,904 (6) 530,861 (3) 220,124 (7) 20,076(17)

200.404 (5) 165,473 (8) Refrigerated food products (ex- 106,820(10)

498,282 (41 55.170 (13) Wool 37,915(15)

02.570(12)

51,02o (18) Iron and steel manufactures- 2,263 (—)

720.406

Total 4,610,236 4,575,793 4,313,123

MONTHLY COMMERCIAL TRAFFIC AND TOLLS

Vessels of 300 tons net or over By fiscal years

Month

Transits

Tolls

(In thousands of dollars) 1953 1952 1938 1953 1952 1938

July 529 463 457 $2,343 SI, 981 $2,030

533 490 505 2,288 2,103 2,195

615 516 444 2,636 2,189 1,936

673 544 461 2,917 2,230 1,981 620 502 435 2,611 2,053 1,893 December _ 626 550 439 2,679 2,347 1,845

632 522 444 2,689 2,121 1,838 616 507 436 2,597 2,082 1,787 678 613 506 2,884 2,512 2,016

487 1,961 May 465 1,887

I une 445 1,801

Totals for first 9 months of

fiscal year 5,522 4.707 4.127 S23,644 819,618
16 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW May 1,1953

CANAL TRAFFIC EXPECTED TO EXCEED 7,000 MARK A

Commercial shipping through the Pan- ama Canal will exceed the 7,000 mark

this fiscal year for the first time in its history, provided traffic continues at the present—or even a slightly lower—level.

Statistics compiled by the Manage- ment Division show that for the first nine months of fiscal year 1953, the monthly average has been 613.6 ships

of 300 tons or over. Monthly average for the four previous

fiscal years were: 1952, 543.6; 1951, 466;

1950, 454; and 1949, 399.4. The monthly

average for fiscal year 1938, considered

the last normal pre-war shipping year, was 460. In the first nine months of the present

fiscal year, 5,522 large commercial ships transited the Canal. This is an increase

of approximately 17 percent over the number which transited during the first nine months of fiscal year 1952. During the first nine months of the present fiscal year, tolls totaled $23,637,-

000, or approximately 21 percent more

than for the similar period in fiscal year 1952. Tolls for commercial shipping during

the first three quarters of fiscal year 1952 were approximately $19,618,000. In 1938 tolls amounted to only $17,521,000

for the nine-month period. In the quarter which was concluded March 31, the number of large commercial transits totalled 1,926, highest of any

quarter in the Canal's history. To this were added 306 small commercial craft, of less than 300 tons, and 369 large and

small government ships, for which tolls were credited. Management Division statistics re- vealed several interesting trends. The rise

in traffic between the East Coast of the United States and the Far East continued, being 100 more for this quarter than

for the corresponding quarter in 1952. Intercoastal shipping was up over the same quarter in fiscal year 1952, although

it was well below the figure for the pre- vious quarter of this fiscal year. Traffic bstween the East Coast of the United

States and the South American West

Coast also continued to rise, as did

traffic from the United States East

Coast to Central America, via the Canal. Much of the traffic on the two latter routes is banana traffic. By nationalities, the United States held its No. 1 spot during the quarter

just concluded, with 525 large commercial

U. S.-registry vessels transiting. This

figure is 33 higher than for the corresponding period in fiscal year 1952. Great Britain, Norway, Panama, and Honduras followed, in that order. During

the past quarter there were 90 transits of Japanese-flag vessels, 64 more than for the corresponding quarter in 1952. The German flag is also becoming a frequent Canal visitor, 63 German-registered vessels transiting during the past quarter compared to only three in the corresponding quarter in fiscal year 1952. Other noticeable increases, by nationalties, were in Liberian, Ecuadorean,

Italian, and Venezuelan registered ships. During the quarter two South Korean

and two Morrocan vessels transited

TRAFFIC MOVEMENT OVER MAIN TRADE ROUTES

The following table shows the number of transits of large, commercial vessels (300

net tons or over) segregated into eight main trade routes:

United States Intercoastal

Ka>t Coast of I'. S. and South America^

East Coast of U. S. and Central America

East Coast of U. S. and Far East

(J. S. Canada East Coast and Australasia Europe and West Coast of U. S. Canada

Europe and South America Europe and Australasia

All other routes Total Traffic

Third Quarter, Fiscal Year

1953

153

376

1,926

1952

277 1,642

1938

26-1

145

14239

134

65

1,386

Extensive Overhaul Of Pacific Locks

(Continued from page 1) heavy traffic remained at a comparatively level flow. Traffic Governed by Lockages The amount of traffic which can be handled during an overhaul is more than

cut in half of that which normally transits and is governed by the number of lockages which can be made within a giver time period. Throughout the pres- ent overhaul period the daily average number of lockages, both at Pedro Miguel and Miraflores, has been almost at the rated capacity level with one lane of

traffic out of service. Twenty-four is about the maximum

number of lockages possible at Miraflores during a 24-hour period, even using

all time-saving methods devised. The number of lockages has averaged above

22 daily throughout this overhaul period and the daily average for March was 23, which allows practically no margin for peak periods. An indication of the great increase in Canal traffic during the past two years is shown in comparative figures for the number of transits by commercial vessels and the number of lockages at Gatun

during the overhaul there in 1951. The number of transits by ocean-going commercial ships this year is averaging approximately 200 a month more than

during the five-month overhaul period at Gatun two years ago. The daily average number of lockages at Gatun reached a peak in March of that year with 17.7, about one-fourth less than the average during the current Pacific Locks overhaul. Four Main Gate Leaves Removed

This year's overhaul was featured by

the removal of four main gate leaves of the Pedro Miguel Locks which had not

been lifted since they were placed almost

40 years ago. These were the last of the main gates to be removed for overhaul. Two other gate leaves at Pedro Miguel were also removed for the first time since 1929. These were the first to be removed

after the Canal was opened to traffic when the work was done on an experi- mental basis.

The removal of the lock gates, weighing several hundred tons, has become a routine although delicate task, but when

the first gate leaves were lifted at Pedro

Miguel Locks in 1929, many weeks were spent by the engineering forces in preparing plans and doing the work.

Lifted By Jacks The gate leaves are lifted by means of 12 hydraulic jacks, each with a lifting power of 100 tons. The four leaves to the upper Pedro Miguel Lock gates weigh

493 tons each and the two lower gate

leaves which were removed this year for overhaul weigh 745 tons each. Although all of the main lock gates have now been removed at least once, none of the intermediate gates nor the lower guard gates have ever been moved. The intermediate gates are rarely used and the sea gates do not have the stress

of the main gates. Although the four gate leaves at Pedro Miguel have been swinging back and

forth for ships for about 40 years no

unusual weakness was discovered when

they were removed. The nickel-steel pintles on which they swing showed more

evidence of wear than others which had been examined in the past but not

in an unusual or unexpected degree. Clean-Up-Work

Although the main part of the overhaul work which requires the closing of one

set of locks is expected to be completed by May 15 to 20, much work will remain

to be done after water is again let into the west Miraflores Lock chambers. The

clean-up work, including the laying-up of various equipment until the next overhaul

period, will require several weeks for completion and it will probably be the

last of June before the 1953 overhaul can be called a completed job. The extra force of men used in the work this year was somewhat lower than

used in previous overhauls. The force reached a peak during April when approximately 80 extra U. S.-rate workers and

675 local-rate employees were at work.