Gift ofthe Panama Canal Museum

THE.

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Vol. 4 No. 1 BALBOA HEIGHTS, CANAL ZONE, AUGUST 7, 1953 5 cents

"THROW ME A QUARTER, MAMA"

HAITIAN DIVING BOYiS in their burnboats full of native goods or fruit are about the first people a Panama Line passenger sees as his ship nears the Port-au-Prince pier. Canal Photographer

C. S. La Clair took this photograph on a recent vacation trip.

Plans Proceeding For Conversion

Of Zone Electricity To 60-Cycles

Conversion of the Canal Zone electrical system to 60-cycle current will begin on

the Atlantic side of the Isthmus and

work south if plans which are being

developed by the Electrical and Engineering Divisions are followed. The actual work of conversion would not start until

fiscal year 1957. The conversion of the locks to 60

cycles is still questionable. Work on the

locks will not begin until the latter part

of the conversion project, if the final decision is to change the lock current. The conversion project is, and will be for at least 12 months, still in the planning stage. Funds are included in

this year's program for a continuation of the studies through fiscal year 1954. When the plans are completed, they

will have to be approved by the Board of Directors and then funds will have to be

allotted for the actual conversion, which

will take several years to complete.

This year's planning will be devoted to several phases of the work. One of these is the preparation of plans and

specifications for the equipment which

will be ordered at the start of the next

fiscal year if the work of conversion is authorized. Another item in this year's planning

is the evaluation of the manpower which

will be needed for the conversion work

and the preparation of schedules for the

hiring of additional personnel as extra manpower becomes necessary. The additional manpower requirements

are expected to include technical as well as clerical personnel and, for the period

when the actual conversion would be under way, various types of electrical and

mechanical craftsmen. The question of the current frequency

for the Canal Zone dates back many

years to the first overall electrical system

here. At that time (See page IS)

FEATURES FOR AUGUST

# For more about Shipping, see pages 16-19 # Interested In Tidts, then see page 4 • The License Section, see page 8 • Another Picture Page, see page 20

Main Routes Gain

As Canal Shipping

Has Record Year

Between 17 and 33 percent more shipping moved over the three main trade

routes through the Panama Canal last

fiscal year than during the previous year.

This, and an increase of almost 50 per- cent for the group of smaller, miscellane- ous routes, accounted principally for the

all-time high in traffic through the Canal

in the fiscal year 1953. Almost 7,850,000 long tons of cargo were shipped last year over the trade route between the east coast of North

America (United States and Canada) and

the Far East, an increase of more than

1,500,000 tons over the figures for the preceding fiscal year. The gain in net tonnage for this route was 32.9 percent.

The amount of shipping on the United

States intercoastal route increased last year 22.3 percent in net vessel tonnage

over the fiscal year 1952, while an increase

of 17.4 percent was shown in the trade

route between the east coast of the United States and the west coast of South America. Cargo shipped over the United States intercoastal route totalled 4,871,000 long tons, an increase of slightly over 1,500,000 tons or 13.8 percent over

the previous year. The heavy gain in shipping over the miscellaneous routes last year, 49.4 per- cent over 1952, was accounted for chiefly

by increased tanker traffic. This traffic totaled 4,450,000 net vessel tons last year, an increase of 89 percent over 1952. Dry cargo shipments also increased over

the miscellaneous routes by 21.4 percent

with a total of over 4,000,000 net vessel tons last fiscal year. Shipping over the other main trade

routes in the past fiscal year was at near

the 1952 levels, with a 3.5 percent loss on the Europe-Australasia route and a five percent gain on the route between Europe

and the west coast of South America.

Cargo shipments between the Far East and the east coast of the United States and Canada were heavier last year in both directions, although the movement

from east to west represented nearly

three-fourths of the total. Coal was the most important commodity, in tonnage,

moved from the Atlantic to the Pacific over this route. It represented nearly

half of the total tonnage with over

2,750,000 long tons. The further development of the banana

trade between the east coast of the United States and the west coast of South

America was largely responsible for the

increase in shipping over this route. The

banana carrier tonnage on this route was

1,700,000 tons last year, as compared

with 1,260,000 tons the (See -page 18)
THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW August 7, 1953

Panama Canal Force Drops Below 17,000

Mark For First Time In Almost 14 Years

4 2000

35000

26000

21000

14 000

7000

mUS -RATE LOCAL-RATE

34700

24200

30000 —31000

27800

2 4700

13800

22700

21400

I H

18800 18700 IS250 J 4$'Ot% [4200

ll : rrrrrn n 104001 1I200J M890

1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953

The Panama Canal's working force on

the Isthmus in June dropped below the

17,000 mark for full-time employees for the first time in almost 14 years. The force report for June showed a

total of 16,317 full-time employees, of which 3,938 were employed on the U. S.-rate rolls and 12,379 were on the

local-rate rolls. These figures, for the U. S.-rate and total force, include 185

school t3achers on leave, not indicated on the accompanying chart. The force at the end of the past fiscal year was 1,900 under that of the previous

year, with a cut of 400 in the U. S.-rate and 1,500 in the local-rate force. The

decrease in employment over the 12- month period was the heaviest since the

fiscal year 1950 when there was a net loss of 2,500, resulting primarily from the

closing of the Industrial Bureau shops in Balboa and major reductions in several other of the larger Canal units. The accompanying chart of the force

level graphically indicates the rise and

decline of the Canal force over the past

15-year period when the force was almost

tripled during the early war period over

the peace-time level of 1938. The 1953 level is quite comparable to 1938-39 when the Canal was operating on

a maintenance basis as it is today. Force Reductions

Several units were affected by force reductions during the past year which were too sizable to be accomplished by

normal attrition. These included the

Industrial Bureau, and the Engineering,

Maintenance, and Storehouse Divisions. The biggest drop of any bureau force was

that of the Engineering and Construction Bureau which showed a net loss of 720

employees, with all but about 50 being in the Maintenance and Engineering Divisions. The Industrial Bureau showed a

loss of nearly 150 employees, caused

chiefly by a curtailment early this calendar year in commercial ship work. One of the principal reasons for the drop in employment in the Canal organization during the past year was the contracting of major items of construction. With the exception of the heavy

grading in the new Corozal townsite done

by the Maintenance Division forces, practically all of the new construction

projects were handled by contractors. Contract Maintenance

In addition, a number of major

maintenance projects were let on contract. These included exterior painting

and major roof repairs to a large number

of employee quarters. This change to contract work affected

principally the units in the Engineering

and Construction Bureau. Another unit which showed a large decrease in force during the past year was the Railroad and Terminals Bureau.

This decrease was primarily in dock

workers, with that force being approximately 500 less at the end of this fiscal year than one year ago. This decrease

resulted from a drop in the amount of cargo handled over the piers. The total cargo handled or transferred over the

piers during the past fiscal year was

approximately 200,000 tons under that

of the previous year, a 15 percent decrease. Connected Losses Although the principal reductions were made in the units mentioned, many

other units showed lesser losses for the

year. Most of the latter were "sympathetic" losses in service units caused by

major force reductions elsewhere in the

organization. Although no accurate fig- ures are available, it was one time esti- mated that one "service" worker was

required for every five employed in operating units. Although the force level at the end of the past fiscal year was lower than at any time since 1939, it was expected that the force would drop still further during

the month of July when the reductions

resulting from cancellation of the water management contract and garbage collec- tion work in the cities of Panama and

Colon would be reflected in the monthly

force report. A further reduction was

also being made in July of the Locks

overhaul force, since there were still 85 employed on this work at the end of June. The net loss in the force as a result

of the cancellation of the water management and garbage collection work was

expected to exceed 300, as about 80

employees in the Maintenance Division and over 200 in the Health Bureau were employed in this work. It was errone- ously stated in the July issue of the Review, because of a typographical

error, that about 700 Health Bureau

employees were engaged in garbage and

trash collection.

Safe Driving Awards Given

To 253 Canal Chauffeurs

Safe driving awards have just been

presented to 253 U. S. and local rate chauffeurs of the Motor Transportation

Division. All of those to whom the awards have gone operated official vehicles during the past fiscal year without

any accidents causing personal injury or property damage.

Ninety-five of the chauffeurs have

continuous service and received certifi- cates for eight years of accident-free

driving. Many of the 95 have a longer

continuous period of safe driving but

complete accident records were not kept

and the safe driving certificates were

not issued until eight years ago. The remaining drivers received certifi- cates covering periods ranging from one

to five years. There were no fatal accidents during

the past fiscal year. What accidents did occur were generally of a minor nature, but any accident or violation of traffic regulations, no matter how small, pre- vents the issuing of the certificates. The number of certificates earned

during the past year is considered out- standing, especially since each Motor

Transportation Division chauffeur drove an average of 12,000 miles during the

year.

The radio station at Balboa, operated

by the Navy Department, opened for commercial business in 1913.

A plan for a tunnel to cross the Canal,

which was at one time under consideration, was abandoned in 1913 because of excessive cost.
August 7, 1953 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW

Hospital Insurance, Quarters Assignments

Discussed At July Employee Conference

Plans for hospitalization insurance and

a new method of quarters assignment were discussed at length in the Governor- Employee Conference held July 22 in the Board Room of the Balboa Heights

Administration Building. In the absence of Governor J. S. Seybold, who was in Washington attending the Board of Directors' meeting, the Acting Governor, Col. H. 0. Paxson,

conducted the conference. He told the employee representatives that the administration has been working

on plans for some sort of hospitalization insurance and that progress is being made.

Extension by the Senate-House conferees on the Civil Functions Bill of so-called "free hospitalization" for employees until December 31—this hospitalization had

been removed by the House and restored by the Senate—gives additional time to work out a suitable plan, he said. The Panama Canal Company, Colonel Paxson said, is not in a position to deal

directly with an insurance company but

can authorize payroll deductions for hospitalization insurance for such an employee organization as the Canal Zone

Credit Union. Preliminary plans call for the Company-Government to collect—by

payroll deductions—insurance payments

from employees who sign up for hospital insurance; these payments will be remit- ted to the Credit Union which, in turn,

will deal with the insuring company.

The situation is somewhat different, he

told the conferees, in regard to local-rate employe 3S. The five local-rate credit unions are Federal organizations and not

in a position to deal with an insurance company. One way in which this could be worked out, he said, would be to form

a sort of Mutual Benefit Association which

would be made up of representatives of the credit unions, lodges, churches, etc. This organization could deal with the insurance companies, and to it the Company-Government could turn over insur- ance payments collected by payroll

deduction from those subscribing to the plan.

Group Plan Not Prejudiced

Any such plan, the Acting Governor

emphasized, would not prejudice any

group health insurance, such as the Blue

Cross or similar organization, in which

employees might become interested. He

assured the employees present that the administration stands ready, through the Labor Relations Counsellor and the General Counsel's office, to help in putting some hospitalization insurance plan across and said further that employees should not do too much speculating over future

hospital rates since the Governor has not

as yet worked out a tariff. In answer to the subsequent questions, Colonel Paxson and Norman Johnson,

Labor Relations Counsellor, said that an employee need not be a Credit Union

member to participate in the Credit

Union Insurance; that the proposed

insurance would cover employee and family; that employees are covered by the

"free hospitalization" until December 31; and that in setting new hospital rates full considsration will be given to Workman's

Compensation and similar provisions.

Henry L. Donovan, Community Services Director, joined the group to outline

for conference consideration the proposal

for a new method of quarters applications. Since there had been considerable objection to a proposal that applications be

limited to three choices—by type, street, or areas—a plan has been developed similar to the postings of real estate offices in the United States, he said. Each Wednesday, on glass-enclosed

bulletin boards placed in all Housing

Offices, Clubhouses, Post Offices, and

Commissaries, Housing Division employees would post a list of all quarters

which had become vacant for the week

ending the previous day. The posting

would be done by district; i. e., quarters

in Gamboa would not be posted in the southern district (Pedro Miguel, Corozal,

Diablo, Balboa, Ancon) nor would southern district quarters be advertised in the northern district (Gatun, Margarita, Old

and New Cristobal).

Each advertised set of quarters would

be described by type of construction

(frame, composite, masonry), house and

apartment number, the number of families in the building, the number of bedrooms, baths, whether or not the quarters have a garage, maid's room,

maid's toilet, storeroom, paved basement.

The rent, per week, would be listed. Available For Inspection

During this advertising period, which

would close six days later, the quarters

would be available for inspection on

application to the district housing office concerned, and during this same period

applications would be accepted for any of the quarters advertised. The number of applications an employee could file would not be limited.

If he considered several houses equally

desirable, he could apply for them all; since the purpose of the plan is to have

employees apply only for houses in which

they are definitely interested, there should not be any large number of such multiple

applications.

The advertising period would close at noon each Tuesday and assignments for the quarters advertised during the pre- vious six days would be made at 1 p. m.

that day to the senior applicant—from

point of service—on the list. He would

have until 4:15 p. m., on Thursday of that same week to accept or decline the assign- ment. If the senior applicant declined the assignment, the next employee in line for the quarters would be assigned, etc., until the house is accepted.

Applications would be held until the apartment is accepted, and then would be

voided. Apartments advertised for four consecutive weeks with no applications

would then be withheld and used for immediate assignments.

Penalty Planned

The AFGE, Mr. Donovan said, has

already accepted the plan but several other organizations to which it was sub- mitted are still to be heard from. Employee representatives at the July conference appeared not only receptive to

the idea but to endorse it, and insisted that the acceptance time be cut from the

original proposal of five days.

The conferees discussed what penalty

could be imposed on an employee who

had accepted a house and then declined

it without adequate reason when told the house was ready for occupancy. All agreed that a money penalty should not

be imposed but that it would be fair to bar him from applying for any quarters

for a specified period, possibly two weeks. George Cassell, Acting Chief, Housing

Division, said that during the previous

week, nine out of 31 (See page 19) Our Civil Defense Responsibility

Civil defense is based on the principle of

self-protection by the individual, extended

to include mutual self-protection on the part

of groups and communities. It is a way

of protecting all of us arid our families,

either in case of an enemy attack or during

natural, peacetime disasters.

Civil defense is the responsibility of all

of us. It is the responsibility of our families, from whom will come our volunteer workers. It is the responsibility of our

Police and Fire Divisions; our Electrical and Maintenance Divisions; and others. In case of an emergency they will all be

called upon to shoulder their share of

civilian defense work.

It can be effective here only if all members

of our community are so solidly behind it

that they are willing to give time and effort

to make it work. The variety of volunteer jobs in civil

defense provides everyone of us with an

opportunity to serve on the civil defense team. We are, of course, thankful for the Korean armistice. But the signing of that armistice does not mean that our civil defense responsibility has ended. When President Eisenhower announced

that the Korean truce had been signed, he

said: "We have won an armistice on a single

battleground—not peace in the world. We

may not now relax our guard nor cease our quest." Since September 1949, when Soviet Russia exploded her first atomic weapon,

the need for the development and mainte- nance of an adequate civil defense program

has become as important as a strong

military defense. Lost January in his State of the Union

Message—and the Korean armistice has

not changed the meaning of this—President Eisenhower said: "Because the building of a completely

impenetrable defense against attack is still not possible, total defense strength must

include civil defense preparedness. Because we have incontrovertible evidence that Soviet Russia possesses atomic weapons, this kind

of protection becomes sheer necessity."

Therefore, I urge every resident of the Canal Zone to accept the moral obligation

to assist in the development of our civil

defense program. This program, properly

manned and organized, could reduce

casualties and property damage as much

as 50 percent in the event of a catastrophe, which we fervently hope may never come,

but which we cannot ignore.

H. 0. PAXSON,

Lieutenant Governor.
THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW August 7, 1953

When Sea Level Is Not Sea Level

And Why The Tides Are Different

Visitors to the Canal Zone almost in- variably express amazement over four natural features: the hills; the fact that Balboa, on the Pacific, is farther east than Cristobal, on the Atlantic; the rising

of the sun from the Pacific ocean; and the

great difference in the tides in two bodies

of water which are separated by only a

40-mile-wide strip of land. Of the four features, the tides have

played a most important part in Isthmian

history although the location of the Isth- mian canal was determined largely by the narrow isthmus and lowness of the Continental Divide in what is now the Canal

Zone. Old Panama, where mud flats stretch out to sea for a long distance at low tide, never had a harbor worthy of the name,

even for ships of its day. Cargo had to be

lightered ashore, just as it is today in many Central and South American ports.

All important Isthmian ports were on the Caribbean where the tidal range is much

less than it is in the Pacific. During the days of the Gold Rush,

ships anchored either far out to sea, off Panama City, or made their port at the

island of Taboga although there, also, they could not dock at low tide.

Affected Canal Construction

The variation of the tides in the Carib- bean and the Pacific caused many heated arguments among experts in the past and

had considerable influence on the decision

to make the Canal lock type rather than

sea level. During the Isthmian Canal

studies in 1946 and 1947 an elaborate tidal machine was constructed in the flats below Miraflores Bridge where tidal currents were simulated by machine and

their effect on a possible sea-level canal

studied. Canal files are studded with corres- pondence from such widely scattered

places as New York, Massachusetts,

Washington, Germany, Mexico, and

England, asking about the tides at the Canal terminals. People who ask about the tides fall generally into two classes: those who

want to know if it is true that there is a difference in sea level in the Pacific ocean and the Caribbean sea—there is; and

those whose questions have to do with the

tidal fluctuation at Balboa and who are puzzled over Balboa's high and low tides where there is almost no appreciable tidal change at Cristobal.

Sea Levels Differ Mean sea level on the Pacific side of the Isthmus, at Balboa, averages 0.767 foot—

or about nine inches—higher than mean

sea level on the Atlantic side at Cristobal. This has been determined by studies over a 19-year period. The fact is a lot more

definite than the why of the fact, sea

level to the average person being the same the world over. A lengthy report of tidal averages pre- pared in 1949 by Leslie T. Chapel, who

was then Assistant Chief Hydrographer

and who is now retired, says in part: "A change in the level of the sea may

be due to a variety of influences, such as temporary or long period variations in climate of a nature to cause variable melting of the polar ice caps or changes in controlling ocean currents. A comparison

of the 1916-34 and 1927-45 averages at the Canal Zone stations shows an appar- ent rise in sea level during the 11-year

interval of .085 foot at Balboa and .062

foot at Cristobal. Both of these changes

are small, equivalent to 1 inch and -V

inch, respectively.

"As a small rise in mean sea level has

occurred in recent years along both the

Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the United

States, the condition is assumed to be

general and of no particular significance

to the Canal Zone area. Whether the

rising trend will continue in years to come or prove to be of only a temporary

nature remains to be determined by

comparison with future averages."

Sun and Moon Tides

School children learn that tides, which

Webster's dictionary calls the "alternate

rising and falling of the surface of the ocean" are caused by the attraction of the sun and moon, acting unequally on the water in different parts of the earth. Since the moon is closer to the earth than

the sun, the tide-producing force of the moon is a little more than twice that of the sun. When school children come to the

Tidal Troughs

Oceans, he says, are divided into a number of such troughs. Balboa is at the extreme end of one such body; the sawhorse is off the Mexican coast in the

vicinity of Manzanillo and the opposite

end off lower California. Consequently

the rise and fall of water is great at Balboa

and very slight near Manzanillo.

The Caribbean, on the other hand, sep- arated as it is from the Atlantic by a

ring of islands, is almost an inland lake

cut off from the oscillating system of the greater ocean. But the Caribbean and

the Gulf of Mexico make up their own

trough and, being smaller and shallower than the Atlantic or Pacific, the range of

their tides is much smaller.

Statistics obtained from years of local observation show that it is possible to have a tidal range, between high and low

water, of 22.7 feet at Balboa; the extreme

variation possible at Cristobal is only 3.05

feet. Tides at Balboa are regular, with two highs and two lows a day, approximately an hour later each succeeding

day. Cristobal tides are irregular.

Lifts at Locks

The matter of tides, of course, had

much to do with the way the Canal was

constructed. The approach channel of the Canal on the Pacific side is deeper

than the approach to the Atlantic Locks,

to allow for the tidal difference. There

TIDAL REGULATING STRUCTURES which would be part of a sea level canal were built

in model form during the Isthmian Canal studies several years ago. Here a group of consultants and ( 'anal officials of those days watch the model in action.

Meteorological and Hydrographic Branch

at Balboa Heights for further information, T. C. Henter, acting Chief Hydrographer,

has a simple and easily understood ex- ample of the twice-daily lunar tides to give them. The same information, in more complex form, is in a pamphlet

called Panama Tides, which was pre- pared by H. A. Marmer of the Coast and

Geodetic Survey and printed in the U. S. Naval Institute Proceedings for November 1930. Take a trough filled with water and

balance it on a sawhorse (the nodal point)

like a teeter-totter, Mr. Henter tells his young questioners. Then rock the trough

back and forth. The water, of course, runs toward the lower end of the trough

but its level varies only slightly at the point where the trough rests on the sawhorse.

are times when a northbound vessel is raised, at Miraflores Locks, approximately 1 1 feet more at extreme low water

or approximately 1 1 feet less at extreme

high water than a southbound vessel is raised at Gatun Locks although both

then cross Gatun Lake at 85 feet above mean sea level. Elaborate observations made during

the period of the Isthmian Canal studies established that if a sea-level canal were

built here, there would be a maximum

current of about 4

: -2 knots due to tidal fluctuation. The flow would change di- rection with high and low tides on the

Pacific side. The current could be controlled by a tidal lock near the Pacific end of the Canal. There would also be a navigable pass, with a 750-foot wide channel closed by

a pair of large rolling (See page 17)
August 7, 1953 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW

FOR YOUR INTEREST AND GUIDANCE

LML £JL

INWACCIDENT PREVENTION

Safety Message To Foremen

When something has gone wrong, it is most necessary to know what it was and

what caused it to go wrong before it can

be corrected. An accident is a very good

example of something gone wrong—the man, the material, the machine, or the method. Somebody or something failed; otherwise the mishap would not have

occurred. Since an accident is evidence of something gone wrong, it follows that you must

get to the bottom of "why" and "how"

to prevent things going wrong again.

There must be a best way for doing this. Let's just make a list of what we want to

find out and then see how we should go about it. It has been shown that the man

is the most important thing on any job.

Buildings, machines, and tools are lesser things because they have been developed

to help the man produce more faster, better, and safer. So maybe we had

better start with the man first.

1. Is this his first accident?

2. If not, how and when did the others occur?

3. What could he himself have done to avoid having this accident?

4. Did he take an unnecessary chance

and bring the accident on himself?

5. Has there been a job study made

and a safe efficient way developed

for doing this job?

6. Had he been informed as to the

dangers involved with instructions and drilling as to the safe working practices?

HONOR ROLL

Bureau Award For BEST RECORD

JUNE

CIVIL AFFAIRS BUREAU

INDUSTRIAL BUREAU

AWARDS THIS CALENDAR YEAR

Industrial 5

Civil Affairs 3 Health 2 Community Services 1 Engineering and Construction 1 Marine

Railroad and Terminals

Supply and Service

Division Award For NO DISABLING INJURIES

JUNE

DREDGING DIVISION

MOTOR TRANSPORTATION DIVISION

DIVISION OF SANITATION

AWARDS THIS CALENDAR YEAR

Motor Transportation 5 Sanitation 5 Dredging 4 Grounds Maintenance 4

Electrical 3 Hospitalization and Clinics 3 Clubhouses 2 Maintenance 2 Railroad 2 Storehouses 2 Navigation 1 Commissary

Locks

Terminals

7. Did he follow instructions?

8. Just who was at fault? Was it the

injured workman, a fellow worker,

or you, his foreman?

9. Was he "hurried" on this job?

10. What action did you take immediately to prevent a recurrence? Have you done this?

11. Are other employees also following

the same practice that caused

this man to have an accident?

12. Was the safe practice, which had

been taught and in use, mostly

depending upon the employee

learning and continuing to duck

in time?

A check on layout, material and equipment is less involved. You naturally want to know:

1. If tools, machines, or equipment

being used were defective or in need of repair.

2. If adequate working equipment and

safety guards were provided.

3. If the necessary protective equipment and safety devices were

available.

4. If so, were they being used and in the right way.

5. Was lighting and ventilation adequate.

When is the best time for you to investigate an accident? It appears to be

as soon after it occurs as you can get to where it happened. If you are going to get the information necessary to prevent

future accidents, and you might as well not start unless you get the correct and

complete story, you are going to have to:

1. Go to the scene of the accident and

check the physical things in- volved.

2. Get the full story from the man

who caused the accident.

3. Get the full story from others working near and with him.

4. Take the necessary corrective measures to prevent a recurrence

before you leave.

5. Make out the report at once while

all facts are fresh in your mind.

6. Get professional advice from your

Safety Inspector.

Whenever you have made up your mind

to inquire as fully into the "whys and

"wherefores" of your accidents as you do

into getting other parts of your job

done—then and then only will you start getting results in accident prevention, for you cannot intelligently proceed with

righting something wrong until you have

the correct and complete facts in your

possession.

SAFETY BOARD

The Canal Zone Government-Panama

Canal Company Safety Board as re-established by Executive Regulation No. 32, which outlines the Safety Program and

Organization, is now composed of the

following members:

G. O. Kellar, Chief, Safety Branch,

Chairman

L. W. Chambers, representing Marine

Director M. F. Millard, representing Engineering

and Construction Director Cmdr. W. M. Vincent, representing

Industrial Director W. F. Russon, representing Railroad and

Terminals Director

E. E. Trout, representing Supply and

Service Director

K. O. Zemer, representing Community

Services Director

E. L. Farlow, representing Civil Affairs Director

J. P. Smith, representing Health Director H. D. Raymond, representing Comptroller

L. B. Burnham (Acting), representing Personnel Director H. L. Anderson, Recorder, representing Executive Secretary

JUNE 1953

Civil Affairs Bureau

Industrial Bureau

Supply and Service Bureau

Engineering and Construction Bureau

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

C. Z. Gov!.—Panama Canal Co. (This month)

Health Bureau

Marine Bureau

Community Services Bureau

Railroad and Terminals Bureau

Number of Disabling Injuries 34

Disabling Injuries per 1,000,000 Man Hours Worked

(Frequency Rale)

o 10 20 30 40 5l

'

•

ZJ Mi

1 c^i

7 1

12

1.'

13

14

14

""•"•"•""

iZ 1 ::::::: -il

23

:•::::::

1

•

:;-;-;-;-;l

10 20 30 40 50

Man-Hours Worked 2,653,225 LEGEND

Amount Better Than Canal Zone Government—Panama Canal Company Beat Year

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

Accumulative Frequency Rate This Year
THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW August 7, 1953

New Paraiso Buildings Near Completion

As School Begins In Local Rate Towns

PART of Paraiso's modern, new school plant is pictured above. Only one room deep, the new

Paraiso school is on-the-ground masonry construction. A feature of the building is the wide awningtype windows, divided into horizontal panes, each set of which opens like jalousies. Wide vertical sun vanes provide shade and help in preventing sound from one classroom bothering students in another. The main building of the new Paraiso school will house elementary grades. It is connected by a covered walk-way to a two-room building, also new construction, which will house the kindergarten. The third building of the group is the remodeled older building, in which will be the junior high

school, with space for a library, music room, shops, and the principal's office in the basement.

Under the watchful eyes of their 160

teachers, some 4,300 boys and girls from

the Canal Zone's colored communities

trooped into their classrooms last Monday morning in the 14 schools which make

up the local-rate school system.

The exact number of students will not

be known for several days, until figures

from all the schools are checked, but an opening day estimate indicated that the number would be well above the 4,156

who were registered the first school day

of 1952. Boys and girls at Paraiso were especially interested in their modern new school which will be ready for occupancy within a short time, and grade-school students

at Rainbow City were eagerly waiting

completion of the addition to their school, now expected about the end of the first semester. The outstanding change in the Canal Zone colored schools this year is the coming transfer from Red Tank to Paraiso

of the Junior High School for the Paraisc- Red Tank area and the expansion of the Paraiso school plant by the addition of a new 12-classroom elementary building, a two-room kindergarten building, and a remodeled basement area under the former elementary school building.

Junior High In Remodeled School

The elementary grades will occupy the new buildings when they are completed in about a month and the remodeled building

will be reserved for Junior High School

use. Classrooms will fill the upstairs area and a library, home economics labor- atory, woodworking shop, clinic, music room and the principal's office will be

in the new basement area. The transfer to Paraiso of the Junior

High School will bring a shift in school

principals. Ellis L. Fawcett, formerly

principal of the Red Tank elementary

and junior high schools, has been transferred to Paraiso where he will be in charge

of the school units. Miss Julette Carrington, formerly principal at Paraiso, will be teaching principal of the six-classroom elementary school at Red Tank.

Until the addition to the Rainbow City

elementary school is completed about

the middle of the school year the school- housing problem there continues to be

acute. Present plans call for 16 classes to share eight classrooms until the new

addition is finished. The addition will provide space for eight elementary school

classes. Summer Institute During the past summer approximately

160 teachers from the colored schools attended the annual month-long Summer

Institute at La Boca and Rainbow City.

The staff of the Summer Institute is made

up of teachers from Balboa High School and the Canal Zone Junior College.

The work of this summer's Institute was largely revision of the curriculum in the elementary, junior, and senior high

schools. In the summer of 1952 the students at the Institute made "working

copies" of 37 courses; these were studied,

in the light of classroom use, during the past school year and 26 of the 37 were

put into working shape this summer.

During the Institute, elementary teachers took the Workshop in Arithmetic and

had a choice of a course in Children's

Literature or a methods course in the teaching of Spanish.

Teachers from the secondary schools studied Evaluation of Secondary Schools and one of five electives: Workshops in Mathematics, English, Spanish, Social

Studies, and Industrial Arts.

Social Studies

In the elementary schools, a new social studies handbook is in use this year. These tentative courses of study which

are the joint product of Canal Zone

elementary school teachers are organized

around six themes for the different grade

levels. The themes progress from the immediate, for the youngest child, to the

distant, such as world problems, for the

older children. Kindergarteners and pupils in grade

one, for instance, will study "Home and

School." Second graders widen their horizon with a study of the community

in which they live. By {See page 12)

**& ;

, x3 % sin

They Head Canal Zone Schools

SIGURD E. ESSER ROGER W. COLLINGE CHARLES A. DUBBS

A NEW SUPERINTENDENT for the Canal Zone schools and two

top Schools officials were appointed early last month. As Superintendent, Mr. Esser succeeds the late Dr. LawTence Johnson who died suddenly early

in June in Minneapolis. Mr. Esser has been with the Canal Zone Schools

Division for almost 20 years. Mr. Collinge, Director of Elementary Education since 1948, retains that

position but becomes in addition, Assistant Superintendent of Schools, His

service with the Canal Zone Schools is also about 20 years. Mr. Dubbs, who came to the Canal Zone in 1946 ns Principal of the Rainbow City Occupational High School, has been more recently Training

Officer for the Personnel Bureau. He returns to the Schools Division as Director of Secondary Education.
August 7, 1953 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW

i-*g-L

Official Panama Canal Company Publication

Published Monthly at BALBOA HEIGHTS, CANAL ZONE

Printed by the Printing Plant Mount Hope, Canal Zone

John S. Seybold, Governor-President

H. 0. Paxson, Lieutenant Governor

J. Rufus Hardy, Editor

Eleanor H. McIlhenny

Oleva Hastings

Editorial Assistants

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—lOcentseach

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.

Railroad And Terminals Head

Will End Lengthy Service

A. C. "GUS" MEDINGER will end 38 years of Canal service at the end of this month by voluntary

retirement. Although most of his service was with

the Dredging Division, which he headed for several

years, he has been Railroad and Terminals Director

since last October. Mr. Medinger has lived most of his life in the Canal Zone and has the distinction of being the

first high school graduate of Canal Zone schools to be named a bureau director. He and Mrs. Medinger plan to leave early in September to make their home in New York. He

has accepted the position of Assistant to the Chief Engineer of the Orinoco Mining Company, a subsidiary of the United States Steel Corporation. He served with the Dredging Division for 35

years before his transfer in July 1950 to the position

of Deputy Marine Director, which he held until his appointment to head the Railroad and Terminals

Bureau. Mr. Medinger has received high praise for

his outstanding work as head of the Railroad and

Terminals Bureau.

OF CURRENT INTEREST

Two Of A Kind

A BROTHER ACT, for a fact, is that of Canal Zone Fire Sergeants James V. and Frank J. Bartlett. James, the elder by five years, is at the wheel of the fire engine. Born in Wisconsin, they were both employed as probationary firemen here on August 12, 1942, promoted to firemen on November 10, 1942, and again promoted, this time to sergeants, on July 5

this vear. . Sergeant James is on duty at the Gamboa Fire Station; Sergeant Frank is stationed at Pedro

Miguel. David W. Massingham of San Rafael,

Calif., has been appointed Assistant

Manager of Hotels for the Panama

Canal Company; he will be in direct charge of the Hotel Washington.

Born in Melbourne, Australia, where

his American parents were living, he

attended school in California and has

spent most of his adult life in California. For the past 15 years he has been

engaged in restaurant or cafeteria work and has had considerable experi- ence in industrial cafeterias such as those of the Kaiser Shipyards in Richmond, and the Kaiser Cement Plant

at Permanente, Calif. From 1946 until 1949, when he opened

his own restaurant in San Francisco,

he assisted in opening new dining halls

for Stanford University students, pro- viding meals for 1,500 students three times a day and operating a commissary for the University's 35 sororities and fraternities. Mrs. Massingham and their three

sons, 12, 10, and 2, will arrive here

later.

Canal Zone team in action. This film will be narrated and will be shown in all Zone

Clubhouses to promote disaster preparedness.

Automobile tires now may be pur- chased unmounted from Section K of the Balboa Storehouse, the Cristobal

Storehouse or mounted on wheels at the Motor Transportation Division on

either side of the Isthmus.

Tires formerly were required to be

mounted on wheels at a cost of 35 cents each, by the Motor Transportation Division. Some of the tires now available for

sale have been reduced slightly in

price. Lists of the types of tires available and the prices have been posted on

bulletin boards throughout the Canal

organization, at the Balboa and Cris- tobal Storehouses, and the Motor

Transportation Division.

A team from . the Canal Zone Civil Defense organization will take part in "Operation Jackpot II," a Disaster Control

exercise which will be conducted by military

organizations here later this month.

In addition to members of the Civil Defense Advisory Committee and the Chief

of Civil Defense, who will be official observers, the Canal Zone Civil Defense group will be represented by three first aid teams and 18 Boy Scout volunteer

"casualties." The first aid teams will be made up of 10 women each and will come from Gamboa,

Pedro Miguel, and Margarita. Their supplies will be provided by the Canal Zone

Chapter of the American Red Cross. Arrangements are being made to take a 500-foot, 35-mm motion picture of the

A new system for the handling, assign- ment and property accounting for office furniture used by units of the Company

and Government has recently been adopted.

Under the new system, office furniture and equipment pools have been established and the equipment is rented by the various

units at established rental rates. The rates are set at levels considered sufficient to cover depreciation, maintenance, transportation, and administrative costs and bills are submitted quarterly in advance. The pools are administered by the Superintendent of Storehouses and separate

pools are being maintained for the Company

and Government. Prior to the adoption

of the new system, all capital item equip- ment of common usage, such as desks,

chairs, typewriters and other office equip- ment, was transferred on inventory records

to the Storehouse Division.
THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW August 7, 1953

LICENSE PLATES from all over the United States and old Canal Zone licenses are appropriate mural decorations for the License Section. Mrs. Mary Hollowell hands George Pervin a sample 1953

license plate from Wyoming.

Cars, Drivers, Dogs, Vendors And PeddlersAll Are Licensed By Canal License Section

Black and orange will be the colors for 1954, take it from Leslie R. Evans, Chief

of the Canal's License Section. As long ago as March Mr. Evans, with

his top boss, Col. Richardson Selee, Civil Affairs Director, and Colonel Selee's right-hand man, E. L. Farlow, agreed that

black letters on an orange background

would be a good combination for private

automobile licenses for 1954. There was no particular reason for their choice, Mr. Evans said. Black and

orange is an easily-read combination, had

not been used for some time, and could not be confused with the black-and-white

of official plates.

The license plates are to arrive by

September 1. By mid-November, the License Section will be accepting applications for them and at the end of the year

all Canal Zone-licensed cars will have

the plates in place—or else. Selecting license plates and issuing

them is an important part of the License

Section's work, but it is not all, by any

means.

Licenses And Licenses At its offices on the ground floor of the

Civil Affairs Building on Gaillard High- way, one can get a license establishing

ownership of a vehicle and the right to

drive, transfer, or junk it; a vehicle record card, which is the first step toward

allowing a U. S. employee living in Panama to buy gasoline in the Canal

Zone; a license—if the applicant is a

welfare or fraternal organization—to vend

food or drink; or a peddler's license which

gives an individual the right to sell such

things as fruits, vegetables, and soft drinks in Canal Zone towns. Just last month the License Section had a new

duty: The licensing of the 3,000 dogs

which make the Canal Zone their home.

Issuing licenses which have to do with

the ownership or operation of motor

vehicles is a major part of the business

of Mr. Evans and the five men and women who make up his regular staff. Extra help is hired for the annual rush

period but the addition of two new valid- ating cash registers last year cut this need in half. On December 31, 1952's peak day, more than 700 customers were

handled; almost twice as many as when

licenses had to be written out on typewriters. As of June 1 of this year, the section had licensed 11,632 personal automobiles, 284 commercial vehicles, 313 motorcycles,

and 185 trailers. The 11,632 personal

vehicle licenses do not include some 75

special plates which go to the members of the Amateur Radio Association and which

bear the "ham's" call letters. These

plates, which cost $1 extra, are issued only to those designated by the Radio

Association and are not transferable with a car. This year's figure is well below that of 1950 when 23,101 private cars were

licensed. That was the last year of dual

plates, when Canal Zone cars had to carry Panama plates as well as those of the Canal Zone and vice versa. Although the Canal's License Section does not issue plates to U. S. Government

employees who live in Panama—such

cars, of course, carry Panama plates of

the "Z" series—the section at Ancon still has a record of a majority of the cars owned by such people. This is provided

by the vehicle record cards. To buy gasoline in the Canal Zone an owner of a Panama-licensed car must

have a special card, which he obtains by presenting his Panama car registration, his operator's license, and his authority card. So far this year, the License Section has on file 3,132 of these

vehicle record cards.

Lotteries And Lines

The sequence in which automobile

license plates have been issued has been

determined, in the past, in several ways. Mr. Evans recalls that when the License

Office was on the third floor of the Administration Building, the waiting line of applicants sometimes stretched the length

of the hallway, and down the stairs to the front entrance. After the present License Section was

formed in 1942, a lottery for low numbers

was instituted. Pretty girls drew numbers out of a globe to determine low man

in the license bracket. Then came a

policy of first-come, first-served. Competition for the No. 1 plate became so

intense that one year the winning appli- cant waited in line —or had stand-ins wait—for two days. Last year the Section returned to the drawing system,

with the lottery supervised by the Civic Council which had proposed the plan.

The first 20 numbers were not assigned

to the lottery, being reserved, as is the accepted policy in most States, for

officials. The Governor's personal car

carries the No. 1 plate.

Licensing of drivers is another responsibility of the License Section, although

the qualifying examinations are given

by the police. The triennial job of reissuing some 6,000 operators' licenses has just been completed. At one time

there were several classifications of these:

For operators of passenger cars, official cars, industrial trucks, commercial vehicles, motorcycles, etc. Since 1950 there have been only two categories: Roughly

people who drive for fun and people who

make their living by driving, although

separate tests are given operators of motorcycles and motorscooters by the two police examiners.

People visiting the Isthmus with their cars may drive for 90 days with U. S. license plates and drivers' licenses, if they do not intend to remain here. Those

expecting to make their home here must

get both Canal Zone car and operator's

licenses within 15 days.

Character References

Drivers' licenses have been required in the Canal Zone since 1911. Those old- time drivers, provided they satisfied an examining board as to their knowledge

of "gasoline and electrical motors and

machinery and operation of automobiles," were of proper age (18), and were vouched

for "as to sobriety and trustworthiness by two reputable citizens" were given metal

badges certifying their fitness to drive. Until comparatively recently, 18 was

the lowest age at which anyone could

drive in the Canal Zone anything but a

motorscooter. In 1950 a change was made

to allow the licensing of high school seniors who were at least 17 and who had passed

the schools' driver-training courses. The License Section also deals with

three other types of licenses. This month

for the first time in many years all dogs

in the Canal Zone will be licensed after they have been vaccinated against rabies. The other two types of licenses go to vendors and peddlers. Vendors are groups and stay put; peddlers are indi- viduals and move around. Vendors, such as veterans' clubs, the YMCA's or the JWB, pay $2 per month

for licenses to sell tobacco, soft drinks (which can include 3.2 beer) and ice
August 7, 1953 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW

cream, if they want the latter. Some 24 such groups are licensed each year. No Sandwiches

Peddlers' licenses are issued to an aver- age of 21 people a month for a period not exceeding six months. Peddlers must

have physical examinations and a police check. Most of them handle native

fruits and vegetables. Applications for

licenses to sell fresh fish, meats or meat

products of any kind, sandwiches or cooked foods of all kinds are uniformly

disapproved, for strict health and sanitary

reasons. Peddlers are licensed without cost unless they wish to sell ice cream or soft drinks, or both. In such case a peddler pays $2 a month, and if he sells tobacco an additional $2 monthly.

Occasionally a peddler is licensed, as one was recently, to sell such things as pocketbooks, baskets, and other native straw products. The $2 monthly fee applies here, also. The License Section is a direct descendent of the old Revenue Department of construction days. The Isthmian Canal

Commission had established a system of licensing coaches and carriages in 1910

but, as the motor population increased,

Canal authorities began to worry about

road upkeep. If motorists wanted to use

the highways, they should pay for the

privilege, the Commission felt.

$150 For A License ! The first fees were eyebrow raising:

$150 a year for commercial vehicles of any sort, $25 for cars "operated for pleasure," and $10 for motorcycles.

The first automobile license issued in the Canal Zone went to Natalio Ehrman

of Panama, on December 3, 1910. Unfortunately, old records do not show the make of his car. The first license to a Canal Zone resident was No. 5, issued a week later to a "Capt. C. Nixon of Cristobal." Oldtimers believe this was

Capt. Courtland Nixon, Depot Quarter- master at Mount Hope.

In 1916 the fee for licensing personal

automobiles was reduced to the present

$5, and motorcycle licenses dropped to the present $2. Owners of commercial

vehicles who today pay between $13.50

and $16, paid from $20'to $40.

From the Administration Building,

Good Community Housekeeping

Can Reduce Fly Population

Flies are everybody's business, first, because they are a potential health menace to every member of a community

and, second, because everyone is responsible for the kind of good community

housekeeping that keeps them from

breeding.

Flies, like a lot of other potential

problems, are best nipped in the bud. It

is easier to prevent them from breeding

in the first place than it is to get rid of them after they are grown. DDT used to work like an atom bomb

on the adult fly population. It doesn't work so miraculously any more; flies are getting used to it. Furthermore, flies are mobile. If they

are any place in a community, they can

be all over the place. An adult fly will travel several miles to find his own kind

of filthy environment and from there, possibly, into the food you eat. The biography of a housefly might

begin like this. One little housefly, for instance, might have been born, together

with 99 to 149 brothers and sisters, in a

nice little nest of mouldy mashed potatoes

down in an overlooked cranny in a garbage

can.Mama Fly, with fine feminine instinct, may have flown from miles away to find

this fine home for her brood. Of course, she might just as well have picked any

where it was located for many years, the License Section, then a Bureau of the old Executive Department, moved to the old Balboa police station, opposite the present

Balboa school. The location was good

but it had some drawbacks. For instance one day two not ordinarily timid clerks took to their desk tops when a large and

dignified iguana paid an office call. The License Section, under its present

organization, came into being in April

1946, following the war. It was headed

then as now, by Mr. Evans, a native of Wisconsin, who came to the Canal Zone

in 1936 to work with the then Civil

Affairs Division. All of his service with

the Canal has been with the License

Section in its present or former forms.

AUTOMOBILE LICENSES and transfers are the bulk of the License Section's business. Rhoda Fox helps out her boss, Section Chief Leslie Evans, with two customers.

Mrs.

one of a number of other places, all of them repulsive to tender human

sensibilities. She could have stopped to lay her eggs

in a cozy thick blanket of damp commercial fertilizer around a firecracker bush; a rotting remnant of cabbage slaw slopped

around a garbage can; a nice mouldy

mess of garbage disposed of as trash and

put on a trash dump; manure in a riding

stable; a rotting potato—or any other kind of fermenting organic matter. A housefly lives a very fast life, growing

from egg to full-fledged adult in eight to 20 days. In Isthmian warmth and

dampness, the life cycle is short. The eggs that Mama Fly lays in mashed potatoes or elsewhere hatch in eight

to 30 hours into larvae or maggots.

The hungry little maggots have a mashed potato diet (our little flies from

the garbage can) for 5 to 14 days, then

they migrate to drier material and turn

into dark brown pupas that look like

little seeds. Then in three to ten days (the pupa

fasts during this period) a grown-up fly emerges, to go around spreading germs

for the 30 days of his adult life. Flies are nasty little creatures. No one

likes them very much, but some of the grade school health lessons about the germs they carry can stand repetition.

The deposits flies leave on the things

they touch may contain millions of dis- ease germs. They are at least suspect

in transmitting bacillary and amoebic

dysentery, cholera, typhoid fever, tuberculosis and other "filth diseases." The

virus of poliomyelitis has been recovered from flies. There are simple things that everyone

can do to help keep flies from breeding

the only really effective way to keep them

out of a community:

1

.

Report to the Division of Sanitation any conditions you see that may induce

fly breeding. The Pacific side number is 2-2463. On the Atlantic side, call 3-2576. A great deal of time is lost trying to track down breeding places after flies are on the wing.

2. Report to the Grounds Maintenance

Division any holes in garbage cans, missing covers, or any accumulation of garbage left in or dribbled around the

cans. The Pacific side telephone number

is 2-1801. On the Atlantic side, call 3-2373. The cans will be replaced or cleaned as soon as possible. Some residents even wash their own garbage containers.

3. Keep covers on garbage cans and

don't spill garbage around them, or at

least, if you do, clean up the mess you

make.

4. Place garbage only in garbage cans; do not use cardboard containers for this purpose.

5. Do not put garbage in the large

uncovered chums that are intended for dry trash only.

6. Drain, wrap or enclose garbage in double paper bags or newspapers before putting it in garbage cans.

7. Use only thoroughly composted manure or commercial fertilizer on

shrubbery, lawns, and flowers. Keep it dry until it is used and use it very soon. Spread it on the ground thinly or work

in into the soil.
10 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW August 7, 1953

Payne & Wardlaw And W. Andrews & Co.

Handle Fifth of Canal Ship Traffic

Suppose you're an exporter and have a cargo of wool to be sent from NewZealand

to England; possibly you're shipping sugar from Cuba to Japan; or you might

be concerned with lumber from the

Pacific Northwest to an East Coast

U. S. port. Perhaps you're a potential passenger from the Canal Zone to England or Australia or Curacao or Brazil. Could be you're a ship owner whose

vessel has gotten into trouble in the Caribbean and needs: a tow into port by a

Merritt Chapman salvage tug; or your

ship may have damaged a propeller or been in some mishap which should be

reported to its insurance underwriters. Your ship might catch fire, like one

recently which was carrying fish meal

through the Canal to South Africa. Much

of it had to be discharged onto the

Cristobal docks so it could cool, the holds had to be entered and the smouldering

fire completely controlled. There was another ship fire, too, not

long ago, in which underwriters were

interested. Fire broke out in a ship

which was carrying phosphorus from

Japan, in tin cans. Canal Zone firemen wet the cargo down but it re-ignited, as soon as the phosphorous dried out. The

dissolved phosphorous got onto cargo-nets

and onto the decks. Men walking through

it tracked it onto the dock where it could be ignited just like the matchheads it was

eventually to become.

Andrews, Payne & Wardlaw

In any of these cases and a great many

others, it would be quite likely that you'd be dealing with W. Andrews & Co.

or Payne and Wardlaw, either as shipping

agents or in their capacity as Lloyd's

agents. Because they are headed by the same

man, big, booming-voiced Capt. Clifford Payne, many people confuse the two

agencies. But actually they are as separate as any other two agencies.

Reporters covering the waterfront in- variably have trouble at first straightening out the difference between the two

and more than one has had to be re- minded, repeatedly, that Payne and

Wardlaw handles the Bank Line, for instance, while Shaw, Savill & Albion is represented by Andrews.

The difficulty is understandable; Andrews men and Payne and Wardlaw men

(there is only one woman on the two

staffs and she is a newcomer to these male precincts) work side by side in the

big offices in. the Balboa Terminal Building and the Cristobal Masonic Temple.

Even a frequent visitor does not know

who works for which, but accounts and

all business matters are handled completely separately.

Handled 110 Ships

Last May, a typical month, 110 of the 650 commercial vessels which transited the Canal were handled by boarding

officers from the two firms. Seventy per- cent of the 110 ships were of British or United States registry. Thirteen of the others flew the Norwegian flag and the

rest were mostly singles or doubles, from

the merchant marines of Panama, Spain,

('APT. CLIFFORD PAYNE

Japan, the Netherlands, Greece, the Republic of China, Denmark, Sweden,

Honduras and Germany.

The cargoes were as varied as the

ships which carried them. A cargo of

fish meal went through the Canal from

South Africa to San Francisco. There was bulk wheat from the Pacific Northwest and soya, several loads of it, from

United States East Coast or Gulf ports

to Japan.

The P. & T. Voyager, transiting on May 10, carried fireworks from a Pennsylvania port to the State of Washington,

presumably to help some one celebrate the Fourth of July. Other ships carried

steel girders, automobiles, machinery,

coal, oil, cotton, phosphates, and dozens

of other items, in quantities large and

small. Queen's Ships

In addition to handling commercial

traffic, Andrews acts as agents for the

British consul for all British and Commonwealth Navy ships. The firm will handle the 15,900-ton Gothic when she

transits the Canal late in November,

carrying the Queen of England to Australia. Regardless of what festivities are prepared ashore, the Canal transit of the liner is expected to be routine. For most of the lines which the two

firms handle, the Canal Zone is the half- way port and shipping agents the world

over are firmly convinced that things

PERRY FRAXCEY

happen at halfway ports.

If deck cargo on a lumber ship is going

to shift, it usually shifts between the

Pacific Northwest, from which most of it originates, and the Canal Zone. More

than one such ship has had to tie up in the Canal Zone to have its lumber cargo

restowed, to correct a dangerousflist. Parts break, and if there are no re- placements aboard or they cannot be made locally, the agents usually have to radio to the United States to have a new

part sent to the Isthmus by plane.

War Days

War days had nothing to do with the halfway point, but they brought all sorts

of problems. Boarding officers remember

the days when Cristobal harbor was full of convoys of big gray ships, all without

identification and all much alike. The only way an agent could find his ship was to cruise among them byr launch, calling to each ship as he passed

it. When he had boarded one of his vessels he would mark an X on the gang- plank so that he wouldn't repeat his

efforts. Provisioning ships of the varied nationalities the two agencies handle presents some problems but not as many as might

be expected. Most ships provision staples

in their home ports and take on only

perishable items here. But there are times when live goats

have to be provided as food for Hindu

seamen on some of the ships, or beef has

to be slaughtered in accordance with the

religious rites of other crewmen. Once

one of the agencies rounded up a dozen

goats, on the hoof, and presented them

en masse to a transiting ship so the cook

could take his pick. Goats used to be

easily available in La Boca, but they

have disappeared and a request for goats now usually means that some one

has to make a trip to the Interior.

Operate Here Most of the shipping agencies here

are branch offices of parent companies

established elsewhere, but Payne and

Wardlaw and W. Andrews operate only

at the Canal. Captain Payne, a towering man whose

vigor and energy belie his years, still keeps in touch with operations, although

he will tell anyone who asks: "I really don't do anything any more. The boys

handle everything these days." By

"boys," he means the agency people, some of whom have been with him for 30 years or more. A visit to his office, however, is usually

interruped by numerous telephone calls. Some are from his managers, to discuss a

ship in trouble, a vessel in need of special

attention, or some other shipping problem. Some of the calls quite likely are from people whom shipowners or personal

friends have commended to Captain

Payne's personal attention during their Isthmian visits, or from other people he may have met some time or another

somewhere in the world. Born In India Born in India, w

r here his father was in the Colonial service as a railway man,

he was sent when he was only five years
August 7, 1953 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW 11

TYPICAL of the ships handled by W. Andrews & Co. is this 624-foot Norwegian tanker, Dalfonn, shown in Pedro Miguel locks. She was en route from San Pedro to Bergen with a load of fuel oil.

old, as were all young colonial boys, to boarding school in England. Colonial

girls stayed in India until they were 12. He went to sea when he was 17 years

old. The first ship on which he sailed was the Sierra Blanca, one of a fleet of 12

fine clippers which ran between Liverpool

and Rangoon. Captain Payne got his master's license under sail at the end of a harrowing trip aboard another clipper called the Oread. The story of that trip

would fill a book; its highlights were a shipwreck off the Peruvian coast, a 30- mile trek by burro across the Peruvian

desert, and the discovery, in an isolated Peruvian town, of a schoolmate, when an

interpreter was needed. When the Oread was finally abandoned,

Captain Payne joined the Pacific Steam

Navigation Company, serving with PSNC

from 1899 until 1910. His last PSNC

command was the Taboga which ran in Panama's coastwise service with its sister ship, the Chiriqui. In 1910, Panama passed a cabotage

law, which banned foreign flag ships from

the coastal trade and the Taboga and

Chiriqui were withdrawn. Captain Payne

left PSNC and went on the Almirante- Bocas del Toro run for the United

Fruit Company.

Sent to Europe

The following year he was sent to Europe by a Panamanian firm to order, oversee the building of, and bring to Panama a coastal craft which, appropriately, was christened the Panama.

Captain Payne was her master until she was sold to the French Government

about the time of World War I. Formation of the shipping company

with the late Robert H. Wardlaw, who

had been local treasurer of the Panama

Railroad, followed soon after the opening

of the Canal. Except as a passenger, or

as the master of his own fishing boat, the Pescadora, Captain Payne has not

been to sea since.

W. Andrews & Co. is much older than

Payne & Wardlaw. It was founded

during the 1890's by William Thomas

Andrews who represented the West India

Mail Company in Colon. The original

offices of the agency were in the Fort DeLesseps area, in an old wooden

building which was demolished during the

1920's when the Army wanted room for expansion.

When Mr. Andrews returned to England about 1920, he left his business in Captain Payne's charge and on his death

in 1926, he bequeathed the good will of the firm to his old friend and associate. Agency Managers

At the present time the operation of the organizations is under the general

managership of Perowne Francey, who

was with the White Star Line in Liver- pool before joining Captain Payne in 1925. His office is now located in Cristobal. The Cristobal office is managed by

C. 0. Kelly, who has worked on both

sides of the Isthmus during the past 26

years. People who may not know him

personally are familiar with his fine photographs which have been exhibited

in several local shows. At Balboa, James P. Roberts is in charge. He is well known in local Little Theater circles and has been with Captain

Payne since 1927. He was born in England and like Mr. Francey was with

White Star Line staff before he joined the shipping agency here. The Cristobal office is located in the Masonic Temple Building; the office in the Terminal Building at Balboa has been occupied since the building was

opened to tenants in July, 1916.

An order was issued in 1913 prohibiting

the turning over of seats in any of the Panama Railroad first class coaches south

of Gorgona, unless the seats were occupied

by at least three passengers.

Forty Years Ago

In July

Municipal Engineering Division forces began clearing the site for Miraflores Pump Station No. 1, one of the first steps

in the construction of the water works for the southern end of the Canal.

It was planned that water would be taken from the Caimitillo arm of Miraflores Lake, pumped to the purification

plant "to be located on the top of the

Miraflores Hill immediately above the

Miraflores spillway," and from there, by

gravity flow, to a pump station at Ancon

where electric pumps would force it into mains leading to Panama.

Paraiso was selected as headquarters for

all dredging operations for the Canal. A

plan approved by the Chairman and Chief Engineer Ifi years ago in July provided

that repair work on dredges then made at shops at both ends of the Canal would also be centralized in shops at Paraiso after water was turned into Culebra Cut.

Construction work was started on the permanent electrical transmission line across the Isthmus. The system, described in the Canal Record as "simple

and straightforward," provided for the transmission of electrical energy from "a

source of generation at Gatun" to load

centers at Miraflores, Balboa, and Cristobal. The transmission line, which was

to parallel the Panama Railroad rightof-way, was to run from Cristobal to Balboa, permitting distribution of energy

both ways from Gatun.

Applications were received for the rent of Panama Railroad lots Nos. 1 and 2

on the waterfront at Cristobal. The United

Fruit Company planned to build an office on one, the Canal Record stated, and th; Hamburg-American Line proposed to erect a two-story building on the other.

The last of the three sluices through the ogee of Gatun Spillway Dam was closed and Gatun Lake started its final rise to

its permanent level. A schedule was

announced for the transfer of permanent

buildings and the Canal shops from the town of Gorgona, one of the sites to be inundated as the lake stretched out to assume its final form.

The concrete penitentiary building at Culebra, intended orginally as a laundry, was demolished because slides on the west bank of the Cut had menaced its stability. Convicts had been transferred to a stockade near the Mandingo River on the line of the Empire-Chorrera Road after they were moved from the building in 1911. They

had been moved to a stockade at Gamboafor

work on the Gamboa-Empire highway in January 1918.

In an attempt to reduce the unofficial use of telephones installed for official business, the Panama Railroad Company

installed automatic pay telephones at

16 clubhouses, commissaries, hotels, rail- road stations and other points.

The Panama Canal-Panama Railroad

Company in 1943 led all United States Government agencies in the purchase of War Bonds, with 95 percent of the employees subscribing an average of about

15 percent of their salaries.
12 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW August 7, 1953

Money Brought Him To Panama;

He Counted It For 36 Years

Hundreds of thousands of dollars passed through the hands of Edward

Howell in the 47 years he worked for the Canal before he left the organization at the end of July. He had been a clerk and money counter in the Treasurer's

Office at Cristobal for 36 of those years. Unlike most amateur money handlers and self appointed financiers, the longtime clerk believes that he has made very few mistakes.

"If I had made many," he explained

realistically during the last month of work, "I probably wouldn't still be

around."

His supervisors use such terms as "accurate, honest, responsible, and de- pendable" to explain the employee and

the caliber of his work.

He frequently found around the office money a caller dropped from a billfold, perhaps, in the process of cashing a

check. Once he discovered $50 neatly

hidden beneath a blotter near the cashier's cage. In that case, the cashier remembered having paid someone that amount

during the day and, with a little detective work, found the rightful owner.

Cashiers in the Canal organization also have had reason for gratitude to the long

time money counter. The bags of money

that they send to the Treasurer's office sometimes contain a few pennies or a few dollars more or less than they have

accounted for. Of course, that's Mr.

Howell's job—to catch and rectify such

errors. Like Apples on a Tree

It was money that attracted Mr.

Howell to the Canal Zone when he first came in 1906. He heard the stuff was

"growing on the trees like apples" and came to see for himself. He was a

bellhop in the Marine Hotel at home in Hastings, Barbados, when he made the

great decision. He assumes he missed the money trees; the main things he remembers seeing when

he got to the Isthmus were mudholes and

mosquitoes "so big that when they stuck

you, you saw blood." He first lived in a tent city labor camp, Otro Lado, on the "other side" of the Canal from Paraiso. He started to work digging holes, first for tower construction at Red Tank, then on a powder

gang in the Mining Division, he said, where the holes he dug were filled with

dynamite for the charges that blasted away the earth to dig the Panama Canal. His hands were soft and "peeled up"

easily, he said, and he and his bosses decided that he wasn't husky enough

for that kind of work. So he became a water boy, lugging big buckets equipped

with drinking dippers to and from a spring in Paraiso, up hill and down hill, over the railroad tracks in the Canal

prism and on slippery boardwalk "streets"

in the towns. Rain—By Bucketfulls

He explains that the boards used for walkways later were equipped with

wooden cleats to make them a little less slippery after tropical rains. And it seemed to him that rain fell in those days

continuously for two weeks— at a rate

of about a bucket a drop.

That job wasn't easy either, but it had its special compensations. He liked

EDWARD HOWELL

the foreman and the foreman liked liquor

and paid the water boy from his pocket to bring Scotch as well as water on his rounds. On Sundays the men in the labor camps shared their "bathroom" with

alligators, making use of the Rio Grande

River for baths and weekly laundry.

The old timer also recalls that in those early days the laborers were given

lodging checks after a day's work in the Canal. If they didn't work, they didn't get a check and couldn't sleep in the camps. If they weren't in camps, they were picked up by the police and were

provided their night's lodging in jail.

Clearances Unnecessary

In 1907, he quit his water-carrying

job and decided to try working on the other side of the Isthmus. " 'Clearances'

for jobs weren't necessary then," he says. "No one checked up on you."

On the Atlantic side, he went to work

for a Health Department sanitary in- spector. The inspector condemned old rotten buildings in the town and his helper pulled them down and burned

them.

That work wasn't easy either, and one Saturday when his bones ached he stayed

home to rest up for Monday. He rested, but had no job when he returned to work. So he went to work for somebody else, this time the District Quartermaster at Cristobal and served as janitor and night

watchman at the old Lincoln House from

1914 to 1917. Working on so-called "scavenger gangs," which cleaned Canal

offices and quarters, he also did some of the cleaning work at the Cristobal Treasurer's office. Someone there became

acquainted with the janitor and when

the office needed a money counter, he was

given the job that he held for the next

36 years.

New Paraiso Buildings Near Completion

As School Begins In Local Rale Towns

{Continued from page 6) grade three the students have advanced enough to be

interested in the problems of simple communities, and fourth graders will learn something of the problems of complex

communities like the Canal Zone. By fifth grade they go farther afield and study "Panama and the Western

Hemisphere," and sixth graders will devote their attention to "The Panama

Canal and the World."

Only a few changes have been made

in the teaching staff for the colored

schools. Gilberto Perez, who is well- known in local musical circles, will teach instrumental music this year at La Boca

junior and senior high schools. Reginald

Prescott, who in past years divided

his time between the two colored high schools, will teach at Rainbow City

this year.

~%e most welcome

kind of musical irij,

years.'/

-88 v

^ ftotertt, ROBERT BASSLER Z.(\ toecedt, RICHARD SALE

• '" sc.e«npi.»o, 1S0BEL LENNART HNlCOy

Starts

BALBOA THEATRE

August 22, 23, 24
August 7, 1953 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW 13

Veteran Employee Completes

42 Years With Panama Railroad

When Enrique de la Ossa entered the

service of the Panama Railroad on July

12, 1911, he was assistant freight clerk in the Receiving and Forwarding Agency at

the French pier in La Boca (now Balboa).

Now, after 42 busy years in many

positions of trust and responsibility, he has been assigned to still another new

job. Effective this month he became

Special Agent for the Panama Railroad.

In this new post his long and thorough

knowledge of the Railroad's relations with business activities in Panama can

be of great value. Mr. de la Ossa's service was commended

in a recent letter from A. C. Medinger,

Railroad and Terminals Director, when

he said: "Effective August 1, 1953, you will be appointed to the position of Special

Agent for the Railroad Division. This

position has been authorized by the President in recognition of your long and

loyal service to the Railroad. The posi- tion of Special Agent is also a very important one and while the duties are not so arduous, it is expected that your knowledge of local conditions and railroad

freight operations will be of special value

to the Railroad Division. "Please accept my congratulations on your having completed 42 years of service on July 12th, and of course, the best

satisfaction we get out of a life-long

ENRIQUE DE LA OSSA

careeristhe knowledge of a job well done.' Old Isthmian Family

Enrique de la Ossa's family is well known in the history of the Republic

of Panama. Born in Panama City on February 23, 1888, he is the nephew of Dr. Manuel Amador, who became Panama's first president, and son of J. F. de la Ossa, Alcalde of Panama. His

Restrictions On Commutation Of Leave

Will Become Effective On September 1

Restrictions on the amount of leave which Canal employees can commute to cash on leaving the service become effec- tive after the last day of this month.

The new rule on commutation of leave was contained in legislation passed by

Congress at this session amending the

general leave laws applicable to all Federal Government employees.

The new legislation does not affect the method of accruing leave nor the amount

of leave which may be accumulated.

The restrictions on leave commutation

for Company-Government employees are:

1. A maximum which may be com- muted of 720 hours for U. S.-rate employees and 416 for local-rate employees.

2. A limitation of 240 hours (30 work

days) which may be commuted within

the first year of employment.

3. A limitation of 324 hours (40K

work days) for U. S.-rate employees

and 208 hours (26 work days) for local- rate employees which may be com- muted on leaving the service within two years of employment.

Some examples on how the rule on commuted leave will operate are given below: Mr. A., a U. S.-rate employee, was

employed July 1, 1953. If he leaves the

service 12 months later on June 30, 1954, he will have earned 324 hours of leave but only 240 hours of this may be com- muted to cash. If he leaves the service 20 months later, February 28, 1955, he

will have earned 540 hours but only 324

hours may be commuted to cash. In both instances, leave earned above the amount which may be commuted can be taken by Mr. A. before leavingthe service. Mr. B., a U. S.-rate employee, was

employed January 1, 1950, and had 720 hours of accrued leave at the beginning

of this year. If he leaves the service at the end of October of this year, he may

take leave earned since last January but

it may not be commuted on leaving the

service. The same system will apply to local- rate employees but it will require the establishment of leave service dates which

heretofore have not been required. In the past Canal U. S.-rate employees

could commute to cash all accumulated

leave up to the accrued maximum of 720 hours plus the amount that might have

been earned in the service year following

accumulation of the maximum.

Aside from amending the leave rules on commutation, the new legislation also bars the commutation of leave for any

employee when transferring to another

Government agency. Leave earned by

the employee at the time of the transfer

will be transferred on an adjusted basis when the leave systems of the two

agencies differ. The new rules also provide for the payment of holiday time when accumulated leave is commuted to cash, a provision not hitherto provided in Canal

leave regulations.

father later became Supreme Court

Justice, a post which he held until his death in 1936. In his honor Panama

City named one of its busiest streets,

J. F. de la Ossa Avenue, which most

people know as "Automobile Row."

Although he was very young, the younger de la Ossa fought for his country's independence. Then, with Panama

safely a sovereign nation he was sent to complete his education in the United

States where he quickly had to learn a language he had never spoken before. After finishing his schooling in 1908, and

in order to have a practical knowledge of commercial activities, he worked at the Panama Consulate in New York City

and then for two export firms. In 1911 he returned to the Isthmus where he

entered the service of the Panama Rail- road. He had then, and has since, many

opportunities to work elsewhere but he turned down all offers, to continue his railroad service. Gold Over the Piers

In his first job as way-bill clerk, he was closely in touch with the thousands

of tons of cargo which were discharged in Balboa each month from South or Central America or the Far East for transshipment across the Isthmus by rail. For some time he was specie clerk, responsible

for gold or other precious material which came in cargo. Day after day, he took part in the cargo movements on the pier, receiving

and forwarding freight as the Canal

neared completion. In 1911, 1,871,076 tons of freight crossed the Isthmus by

railroad; the following year the figure was well above the two million mark.

Shipments from the Pacific side out- weighed those southbound.

The year after the Canal was opened,

slides blocked it completely for several months. Shipowners nastily arranged for a transfer of bottoms; cargo which had

been destined for transit through the Canal was transshipped by rail and

reloaded into ships on the other side of the Isthmus. Pier and shipping facilities were strained.Moved to Pier 18 When Pier 18 was opened, on April 1, 1916, Mr. de la Ossa's office was trans- ferred there and in 1922 he was made

cargo clerk in charge of the piers. His

job also involved boarding and doing agency work for all lines for which the Panama Railroad was agent.

In 1928 he was promoted to stevedore foreman and in 1934 was made head

stevedore foreman. He held this post

only a few months when he was made

Assistant to the Receiving and Forwarding Agent. Early in 1941 he was transferred to Panama City as Local Agent

at a time when the Panama terminal was

completely congested. He succeeded in relieving this situation, and maintained it. "I've been through two wars with the Panama Railroad," Mr. de la Ossa said the other day. "World War I came along

while I was at Pier 18; I served the second

World War in the Panama freight yards."

Busy years they were too, then and

afterward. In 1941, when he was trans- ferred to Panama City, trans-Isthmian revenue freight was 1,073,767 tons in a

year, almost double normal shipments.

In all these busy years, Mr. de la Ossa

has handled all of this volume of freight.

Now, after 42 years, he will have a chance

to take things a little easier.
14 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW August 7, 1953

AUGUST SAILINGS PROMOTIONS AND TRANSFERS

From Cristobal

Panama August 7 Cristobal August 14 A neon August 2

1

Panama August 28 From New York

Cristobal August 4 Anion August 11 Panama August 18

Cristobal August 25

(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.)

June 15 through July 15

ANNIVERSARIES

Employees who observed important anniversaries during the month of July are listed alphabetically below. The number of years

includes all Government service with the Canal or other agencies. Those with con- tinuous service with the Canal are indicated with (*). 45 YEARS

Joseph C. Hannigan, Lockmaster, Atlantic Locks.

42 YEARS

*Enrique de la Ossa, Local Agent,

Panama City, Railroad and Terminals

Bureau.

41 YEARS

George H. Cassell, Housing Manager,

Balboa.

40 YEARS

•Emmett Zemer, Safety Inspector, Community Services Bureau.

35 YEARS

Hans P. Pedersen, Foreman, Barge

Repair Station, Dredging Division.

30 YEARS

H. Conrad Dodson, Supervising Accounting Clerk, Comptroller's Office. Frank W. Hohmann, Cash Accounting

Clerk, Comptroller's Office. John R. McLavy, Chemist, Health

Bureau. Alan S. Wallace, Pilot.

25 YEARS

John M. Fahnestock, Captain of Police, Cristobal District. Beatrice S. Gardner, High School

Teacher, Balboa. Frances M. Grigge!, Supply Assistant (Drygoods), Commissary Division. George A. Halloran, Heavy Labor

Foreman, Maintenance Division. Russel J. Jones, Chief, Cost Accounts

Branch. George O. Lee, Instructor, Jr. College.

William F. Mornhinweg, Jr., Electrical Supervisor, Pacific Locks.

20 YEARS

*Harry F. Butz, Superintendent, Atlantic Area, Water and Laboratories Branch. James O. Catron, Policeman. "Frances A. Hunter, Clerk, Plant Inventory and Appraisal Staff. Guy R. Lord, Chief Sr. Engineer (Towboat), Ferry Service. William G. Rowe, Chief Sr. Engineer

(Towboat), Navigation Division. John P. Smith, Jr., Chief, Division of Sanitation.

15 YEARS

Elmer G. Abbott, Assistant Port Captain, Balboa. Glenn H. Burdick, Clerk, Electrical Division. Charles E. Chase, Cribtender Foreman

and Gauger, Terminals Division. John W. Dwyer, Jr., Fireman, Fire

Division. Philip A. Hale, Jr., Storekeeper, Pacific Locks.

*J. Rufus Hardy, Press Representative.

*David W. Hawthorne, Supervisory

Coffee Specialist, Commissary Division. Anita H. McKeown, Accounting Clerk, Comptroller's Office. Walter M. Rader, Guard, Pacific Locks.

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

listed below. Regradings and within-grade

promotions are not listed. ADMINISTRATIVE BRANCH

Mrs. Beatrice E. Lee, from Records

Administrator, Records Section, to Passenger Traffic Clerk, Transportation Section. CIVIL AFFAIRS BUREAU

Billy W. Cole, from Property and Supply

Clerk, Commissary Division, to Postal Clerk. Mrs. Eileen M. O'Brien, from Substitute Teacher to Physical Education Teacher. Earl R. Hatten, from Policeman to Fireman.

Richard B. Hoard, from Guard, Atlantic Locks, to Fireman.

Donald H. Boland, from File Clerk, Personnel Records Division, to Postal Clerk. Carleton F. Hallett, Frank J. Bartlett,

Kenneth T. Daly, James V. Bartlett, from Fireman to Fire Sergeant.

Chester W. Pearson, from Fireman to Policeman. Jay L. Pittington, from Guard, Pacific Locks, to Policeman. Sigurd E. Esser, from Director, Secondary Education, to Director of Schools. Roger W. Collinge, from Director, Ele- mentary Education, to Assistant Superin- tendent and Director of Elementary

Education. Charles A. Dubbs, from Training Officer, Personnel Bureau, to Director, Secondary

Education, Schools Division. COMMUNITY SERVICES BUREAU

Mrs. Annie R. Rathgeber, from Clerk- Stenographer, Clubhouse Division, to Clerk- Typist, Office of Director. Beauford J. Hartley, General Operator,

from Division of Sanitation to Grounds

Maintenance Division. OFFICE OF COMPTROLLER

Mrs. Marion E. Troup, from Time,

Leave, and Payroll Clerk, to Retirement

Clerk, Payroll Branch. John W. D. Collins, from Timekeeper,

Pacific Locks Overhaul, to Construction Cost Analyst, Plant Inventory and Appraisal Staff. Richard M. Coy, from Accounting

Clerk, Electrical Division, to Accountant,

Internal Audit Staff. ENGINEERING AND CONSTRUCTION

BUREAU

Frank H. Robinson, from Policeman to Engineering Aid, Meteorological and Hydrographic Branch. John W. Short, from Powerhouse

Operator to Senior Powerhouse Operator,

Electrical Division. David V. Kennedy, from Hydraulic

Engineer, Meteorological and Hydrographic

Branch, to Civil Engineer, Maintenance

Division. Robert Van Wagner, Administrative

Assistant, from Maintenance Division to

Office of Maintenance Engineer.

Robert F. Ausenmer, from Policeman,

Police Division, to Apprentice Powerhouse

Operator, Electrical Division. Mrs. Barbara G. Aycock, Clerk-Stenographer, from Division of Schools to Electrical Division. William G. Mutnmaw, Anthony J. Kucikas, from Carpenter Leader to Leader, Quarters Maintenance, Mainte- nance Division. Mrs. Marian M. Langford, from Clerk- Typist to Accounting Clerk, Electrical Division. Verna E. Kelly, from Student Assistant

to Clerk-Typist, Electrical Division. William J. Leddy, from Plumbing In- spector, Contract and Inspection Division,

to Plumber, Maintenance Division. HEALTH BUREAU

Mary L. Azcarraga, Clerk-Stenographer, from Administrative Section to Gorgas

Hospital. Mrs. Esther V. Swift, from Medical

Technician (chemistry), Board of Health

Laboratory, to Medical Technician (general), Colon Hospital.

Maj. Charles G. Kendall, from Pacific Dental Clinics to Gorgas Hospital. Dr. Michael J. Takos, from Resident to Medical Officer, Gorgas Hospital. Dr. Virgilio Peralta P., from Intern to Resident, Gorgas Hospital.

Dr. John L. Winkler, Dr. Robert V. Balfour, Dr. Ernest O. Svenson, from

Intern to Medical Officer, Pacific Medical

Clinics. Col. Merrill C. Davenport, from Medical Officer to Chief, Medical Service, Gorgas Hospital.

Donald N. Zeese, from Superintendent,

Street Cleaning and Refuse Collection, Division of Sanitation, to Medical Equipment

Repairman, Ambulance Service. INDUSTRIAL BUREAU

David A. Hope, from Student Assistant,

Dredging Division, to Apprentice Welder,

Industrial Bureau. MARINE BUREAU

George E. Riley, Jr., from Signalman

to Supervisory Signalman, Navigation

Division. Kenneth L. Bailey, from Dock Fore- man to Shipbuilding Inspector, Navigation

Division. William T. O'Connor, from Supervisory Signalman to Dock Foreman, Navigation Division. John M. Klasovsky, from Lock Operator Leader Wireman to Control House Operator, Atlantic Locks. Merrill T. Webster, from Lock Operator Wireman to Lock Operator Leader Wireman, Atlantic Locks. Ralph W. Henderson, Joseph Quintal,

from Machinist, Locks Overhaul, to Lock

Operator Machinist, Pacific Locks. James P. Johnson, Norman R. Hutchinson, from Pilot-in-Training, to Probationary Pilot, Navigation Division. Henning J. Spilling, from Stevedore Foreman, Terminals Division, to Towboat

Master, Navigation Division. James A. Schofield, from Machinist,

Industrial Bureau, to Lock Operator Machinist, Atlantic Locks. Eugene White, from Gauger and Crib- tender Foreman, Terminals Division, to Signalman, Navigation Division. Everette N. Clouse, Combination Welder, from Maintenance Division to Dredging

Division. William E. Johnson, from Third Assist- ant Marine Engineer, U. S. Taboga, to Chief Towboat Engineer, Navigation Division. Anthony J. Catanearo, Machinist,

from Industrial Bureau to Dredging Division. Harvey B. Trower, Towboat Master, from Dredging Division to Ferry Service. John A. Taylor, from Maintenance

Mechanic, Colon Hospital, to Guard,

Atlantic Locks. RAILROAD AND TERMINALS BUREAU

Edward H. Bensen, from Junior High

School Teacher, Schools Division, to Gauger and Cribtender Foreman, Terminals

Division. Henry C. Freeman, from Public Works

Foreman, Maintenance Division, to Steve- dore Foreman, Terminals Division. SUPPLY AND SERVICE BUREAU

Leo J. Krziza, from Accounting Clerk to Administrative Assistant, Motor Transportation Division. Michael I. Crooks, from Supervisor,

Light Equipment, to Supervisor, Motor

Transportation Division. William A. Cawl, from Commissary

Assistant, to Storekeeper (Shipping-Receiving), Commissary Division. George E. Lowery, from Meat Cutter to Meat Cutter-in-charge, Commissary Division. Charles P. Shay, from Commissary

Manager to Assistant to Chief, Retail

Stores, Commissary Division. Ralph A. Nelson, from Lock Overhaul Foreman, Pacific Locks Overhaul, to Gauger, Division of Storehouses. Stanley M. Hamilton, from Supervisory Clerk, Hotel Tivoli, to Supervisory Administrative Assistant, Hotel Washington. Bart J. Elich, from Assistant to Chief, Retail Stores, Commissary Division, to Assistant to Supply and Service Director. Paul H. Friedman, from Assistant to Supply and Service Director to Assistant

Director. Joseph H. White, from Car Loading

Foreman, Commissary Division, to Supervisory Storekeeper, Division of Storehouses
August 7, 1953 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW 15

Security Check Of Sensitive Positions

Will Require 12-18 Months To Complete

The security review check of all employees of the Canal organization, now being

conducted by the Internal Security

Branch, is a normal, routine check of all employees of the U. S. Federal Government. It is not a "witch hunt" or something new and menacing.

It is required by a recent Executive

Order, establishing security requirements

for government employees, and setting up

"sensitive" positions in the Federal service. A "full-field investigation," which means that a thorough check is made of sources furnishing background on the employee's activities, must be made of every employee occupying a sensitive

position.

The order, dated last April 27 and

numbered 10450, is designed to weed out from government positions everywhere

all persons not suited for government

employment. This would affect not only

those who might traffic with or be sympathetic to an unfriendly nation but also those who for such reasons as mental or moral instability are poor security risks. Between 12 and 18 months will be

required to complete the investigation of occupants of "sensitive" positions in the Canal organization, according to word

from the Internal Security Branch which

is handling the Company-Government's

Security Program.

"Sensitive" positions, generally defined, are whose whose occupants:

1. May have access to security information classified as "confidential," "secret," or "top secret," or

2. May have the opportunity to commit

acts which directly or indirectly could have an adverse effect on national

security.

The local action is in accord with that taken in all government organizations,

in the United States or overseas, and is required by Executive Order No. 10450. The somewhat complicated forms which

employees in positions considered as

"sensitive" are now filling out are similar to those used in the other government

agencies.

A sheet of instructions accompanies

each form and personnel of the Internal Security Branch stand ready to assist employees by answering special questions

which may not have been covered by the general instructions. A large number of employees have already been assisted in

filling out their questionnaires.

Every employee of the Canal organization is subject to a security investigation

in one form or another. For those in nonsensitive positions, this usually consists only of employee personnel and

record files being reviewed and reevaluated.

All investigative reports containing

derogatory information on Canal employees are evaluated in the office of the

Chief, Internal Security Branch. If the derogatory information is verified, the

report is given further administrative review by the Lieutenant Governor to determine if the employee concerned is to be suspended or removed from work of any sort until his case has been finally decided. Such an employee will be notified in writing of the reasons for the suspension.

He has the right to submit, within 30

days, through the Chief, Internal Security Branch, statements and affidavits refuting the charges on which the suspension is based. These statements will be reviewed and a recommendation for dis- position of the case will be submitted to the Governor, who may then:

1. Restore the suspended employee to duty; in such case the employee will be compensated for the period of suspension.

2. Transfer the employee to another

position within the Company-Government.

3. Terminate the employment of the suspended individual. In addition to the foregoing protection,

which is guaranteed to all CompanyGovernment employees, United States

citizens, who have completed the probationary period in permanent or indefinite appointments, are entitled to:

1. A written statement of charges.

2. An opportunity to answer charges.

3. A hearing before an impartial board.

4. A review by the Governor of the board's findings.

Ten Years Ago

In July

Captain George Herman was named

Assistant Chief of the Police and Fire

Division. The new Police Chief A. O. Meyer, named a month before, was given

the rank of Major.

A new regulation was placed in effect providing that persons employed by The

Panama Canal in the United States for

service on the Isthmus would be required

to agree to remain in service for a full year

or reimburse the organization for travel expenses.

The new Canal Zone Air Terminal was

formally opened. The first plane to use

the new airport was a Panagra airliner, southbound for Lima. The terminal

building had been completed about a month earlier but the opening had been

delayed because of faults in the air conditioning system.

W. M. Whitman, Attorney in the General

Counsel's Office, was named Assistant General Counsel of The Panama Canal and

Assistant Counsel for the Panama Rail- road Company on the Isthmus.

WELL DRESSED BABIES no longer wear

only pink or blue. Dame Fashion has decreed and the clothing industry has deferred to baby clothes of maize and mint or almost any

other light color that appeals to mothers. Following the little fashion lead, the Commissaries have new infants' dress and

slip sets trimmed in maize and mint and

colored gripper diaper pants and shirts of yellow.

A SEVEN-MINUTE Huffy frosting mix is one

of the new kitchen time and labor savers coming to the Commissaries this month. A

six-ounce package will cost about 30 cents.

"RediTall and

Cool

ounce

about

or mor

tea of

Tea," expected in the stores in August,

will eliminate the boiling, steeping, cooling and sugaring involved

in serving iced tea. It is a liquid

to which you add only water to make this cooling drink. An eightbottle, White Rose brand, will cost 23 cents. The directions say "use two

e teaspoonsful to make a glass of iced

the desired strength."

A new shipment of Heywood-Wakefield

New furniture, of Monticello cherry

Furniture and maple, is now in the stores. GOOD GOLF OVERSHOES with steel spikes are now in the stores. They cost $4.75.

"NYLAST," also expected this month, is a new "shampoo" for nylon hose which the manufacturer says will double their wearing

time. DuPont makes the vital ingredient in the washing fluid.

Aficionados of Italian food—and who isn't?

will be glad to know there is a

Pizza new pizza mix. It comes in a

Pies package that includes the sauce and is expected during August. A 125^-ounce package will cost about 50 cents. "WHITE SHOULDERS" perfume and co- logne will be in the stores in August.

An upright barbecue grill, expected soon in the Commissaries, provides not Charcoal one, but three cooking sur- Broiled faces, one on top in the conventional style and two vertical cooking surfaces on the sides. Those on the

sides keep grease from dripping on the fire and can also be used as a windbreak if it's that kind of a day or night. The vertical grills, that barbecue, broil, and fry, are of two sizes, 24x30x12 '4 and

12 x 30 x 24 inches. BROWN 'N SERVE SAUSAGE is a new

purchase cold storage people are crowing

about. It will cook in three minutes without

the waste that usually characterizes frying sausage. It is a Swift product, packed in one-half pound packages that will cost about 50 cents, and is expected in the stores in August.

Men's underwear shorts of dacron, one of the new fabric "miracles" that is Dacron long wearing and needs no

Shorts ironing, are expected in the

stores late in August. They will cost about $3.50.

Car pens for babies, new in the stores, can be used either as the usual baby

Safe car seat or, with the seat Riding dropped down, form a pen in which baby can stretch and

stand, held securely where he belongs.

LOWRY'S seasoned table salt is another new product that will arrive soon in the grocery sections. It contains spices, sugar, monosodium glulamale, onion, garlic, herbs, cornstarch, and artificial flavoring. A four- ounce tin will cost about 30 cents. Deductions Authorized

For Eye Glass Purchases

The purchase of eye glasses at the Commissaries may now be made by

payroll deduction. The plan was recently

approved by the Office of the Comptroller.

The purchase of eye glasses by payroll

deduction was suggested in a letter to R. L. Sullivan, General Manager of the Commissary Division, from H. W. Rerrie,

Second Vice President of Local 900, CIO.

Mr. Rerrie called attention in his letter to the desirability of such a plan for

local-rate employees.
16 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW August 7, 1953

STATISTICS ON CANAL TRAFFIC

For the purpose of the fiscal year 1938

comparison between pre-war and post-war traffic through the Panam:

are used in this section, as being more nearly normal for peace time

i Canal, statistics for than those for 1939.

1929

FREE

616

[XSMALL 292;

i OCEAN -GOING,

. COMMERCIAL

6289

1952

•••••• small :•:•: ;COMMERCIAL'

^ < > N> J

I A l* A A

h TOLLS- s

' r CREDITS

> r l203 ' r 'A I , A J

OCEAN-GOING

COMMERCIAL -.

;/.y:V6524V;y;':

1953

K-. •:• small :• ^COMMERCIALS

:: .1294 •:••

v TOLLS s r CREDITS r

, a 1466 ' . w

AN-GOING.

TRANSITS

1929 1952 1953 1929 1952 1953

OCEAN-GOING

lCOMMERCIAL

27585 000

:OCEAN-GOING

•.COMMERCIAL'.

:-30 674 302

> r- _ h > .y r* -i -J r .TOLLS » < J CREDITS <\ $3,413,728

.TOLLS

CREDITS J n $5,526,038

• small and

ocean-going; •commercial

'$26 995'772

SMALL AND

,OCEAN -GOING ^COMMERCIAL

P. C. TONNAGE

LARGE COMMERCIAL

TOLLS COLLECTED

Transit, Tolls, Tonnage

Comparisons Tell Story

A GRAPHIC STORY of the upsurge

of shipping through the Panama Canal

is told in the chart above showing comparisons of transits, tolls, and net tonnage

of vessels for the three peak years in the Canal's 39 years of operation.

The number of ocean-going commercial

transits exceeded 600 in ten of the months

in the past fiscal year and complete new

records were set in both monthly and

annual traffic statistics. The records for Canal traffic and tolls S3t in 1929 were unbroken until 1952 when the increase in shipping established new high marks in ocean-going commercial transits and net vessel tonnage. A

new record in tolls was set in the past

fiscal year, exceeding the previous record

of $27,128,000 by more than $4,750,000.

Tolls and tolls credit for the past fiscal year were approximately $7,135,000.

The fiscal years 1952 and 1953 were the

first in which credit for tolls on U. S. Government shipping has been shown in the financial statistics of the Canal.

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 103S

July. _ 529 463 457 $2,343 $1,981 $2,030

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

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

October 673 544 461 2,910 2,230 1,981

November 620 502 435 2,611 2,053 1,893

December . 626 550 439 2,679 2,347 1,845

January . . 632 522 444 2,690 2,121 1,838

February .. .. __ 616 507 436 2,597 2.IIS2 1,787

March 678 613 506 2,884 2,512 2,016

April 628 601 487 2,733 2,423 1,961 May 650 622 465 2,861 2,481 1,887

June _ . . 610 594 445 2,686 2,401 1,801

Totals for fiscal year 7,410 6,524 5,524 $31,918 $26,923 $23,170
August 7, 1953 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW 17

-, -,-' .--"' ,--

-~

(/) 1947 «*&

z ,, tot*.

l/>

1 o r k _-/-l»t»^-, ." K TOTAL TPANS/TS fc

i ** co^S^"

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fjwiPi or on" jog nrr

rfiiit rofi} /

jf -—

FISCAL YEAR

CANAL'S BANNER YEAR EXCEEDS FORECASTS

MADE BY SEVERAL WELL-KNOWN ANALYSTS

No soothsayer ever had a more trouble- some time with his predictions than the many experts for the past half century in forecasting Panama Canal traffic for any

appreciable period. Because of the extreme fluctuations in the number of ships moving through the Canal as reflected by world changes of an economic or political nature, the long-range traffic trends are all but

unpredictable. The past fiscal year, however, since the number of transits and total net tonnage figures far exceeded

former records, was a banner one for all forecasters except the most optimistic.

The accompanying chart above shows

the prediction of Dr. Roland L. Kramer

in 1947 on Canal transits for the last half

of this century. Dr. Kramer, Professor

of Commerce and Transportation at the Wharton School of Finance and Commerce of the University of Pennsylvania, was employed as a traffic consultant for the Isthmian Canal Studies of 1947. Kramer Estimated Low

As indicated on the chart, the number

of ocean-going commercial transits and

total transits both exceeded his predic- tions for the first time. In making his estimate of future traffic trends, Dr. Kramer added 7.4 percent to cover the

factor of through or partial transits for Panama Canal equipment. Since the

lines indicating traffic from 1947 through

1953 show actual transits, his prediction on total traffic for the past year was well under the actual number.

The first of many forecasts of Panama

Canal traffic was made about 50 years ago for the first Isthmian Canal Commission by Dr. Emory R. Johnson, also Professor of Transportation and Commerce at the University of Pennsylvania.

His estimate was contained in reports

prepared on the industrial and commercial

value of a canal. His second forecast, and one which was remarkably accurate, was prepared

shortly before the Canal was opened in 1914 while serving as Special Commissioner on Panama Canal Traffic and

Tolls. Suez A Factor

Since the Canal was opened, numerous

predictions on traffic have been made

which were based on long range studies of world trade trends and other factors known to affect the movement of inter- oceanic shipping. In most cases, the prognosticated took into consideration the movement of traffic through the Suez Canal because the many years of its operation made possible a study of long- range trends in sea-borne commerce. Most of the predictions dealt with

tonnage figures rather than the number of

transits. Without a careful analysis of each forecast separately it is difficult to make comparisons between predictions

and actual statistics. However, the

following summarizes some of the predictions of expert analysts in comparison

with figures on traffic during the past

fiscal year. All figures are in round

numbers and predicted tonnage is approximate, since estimates were made in

» ' . , _ , , .. *\ essels under Jut) Panama Canal net tons or 500 displacement tons. five-year periods. Dates of the predlC- "Vessels on which tolls are credited. Prior to July 1, 1951, Government-operated

tions are shown in parentheses. ships transited free.

Net tonnage, commercial

vessels over 300 tons, fiscal year 1953 __ 3<>, 500, 000 Net tonnage, tolls credit vessels, 1953 _ 6,500,000

Total net tonnage, fiscal year

1953 43,000,000

C. S. Ridley (1923) .41,200,000 Harrv Burgess and R. A. Wheeler (1929) 50,000,000

Sydney B. Williamson (1929-

31) 51,900,000 Grover G. Huebner (1936) 37,500,000

Roland L. Kramer (1947) 36,600,000

The forecast made by General Ridley,

former Panama Canal Governor, was made while serving as Assistant Engineer

of Maintenance. His estimate was based on 1924 figures projected to 1925 which

failed to materialize and therefore his forecast is somewhat higher than it would have been had he used the actual 1925 traffic figures.

The estimates prepared by Governor

Burgess and General Wheeler when the

latter was serving as Assistant Engineer

of Maintenance were based primarily on

a review of traffic statistics for both Suez and Panama Canals. The figures used

were based on measurement rules in effect prior to 1938 and therefore the total

figure of 50,000,000 net tons is somewhat

higher than if the estimate were trans- lated to present rules of measurement. Mr. Williamson's estimate of future Canal traffic was made while serving as

the Officer-in-Charge of the 1929-31 Nicaraguan Canal Survey. It was based on the interrelation of world shipping,

Panama Canal traffic, and Suez Canal

traffic over the years 1890 to 1930,

inclusive. Dr. Huebner, another Professor of Commerce and Transportation at the University of Pennsylvania, prepared his estimate

while employed by a special committee

to report on Canal tolls and rules of measurement. It was based on tonnage

of Suez traffic from 1870 to 1935 and

Panama Canal general cargo tonnage

figures from 1923 to 1936.

When Sea Level Is Not Sea Level And Why The Tides Are Different

(Continued from page 4) gates. The tidal lock would be on a channel by-pass; oper- ated much as are the present locks, it would have a chamber 200 feet wide and

1,500 feet long. In the normal operation of the tidal regulation structures, the navigable pass would be open when the Pacific tides are near mean sea level, and during these

periods traffic would be routed through

the pass. During tidal stages which would pro- duce channel currents over the limited current velocity, the navigable pass would

be closed and traffic routed through the

tidal lock.

CANAL TRANSITS—COMMERCIAL AND U. S. GOVERNMENT

• Fiscal Year

1953 1952 1938

Atlantii to

Pacific

Pacific to Atlantic Total Total Total

Commercial vessels: 3,674 3,7.56 7,410 6,524 5,524

Small 656 638 1,294 1,401 931

Total commercial.. 4,330 4,374 8,704 7,925 6,455

**U. S. Government vessels: Ocean-going . ... 698 366 1,064 774 f

i 441 Small 201 201 402 429

Total commercial and U. S. Government.

.

5,229 4,941 10,170 9,128 6,896
18 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW August 7, 1953

Governor Receives Letter

From Panama Landlords

High praise for the efficiency of the personnel connected with the water management contract and the garbage and

trash collection in Panama City has been

publicly expressed by the Panama Proprietors Association. Both the water management contract administered by

the Maintenance Division and the gar- bage and trash collection work of the Health Bureau in Panama and Colon

terminated at the end of June. Appreciation for the manner in which

the work was done was expressed in a

letter to Governor Seybold from Carlos

A. Patterson, Secretary of the Panama

Proprietors Association, who said in part: "The Panama Association of Proprietors, in the name of all the landlords in Panama, is pleased to acknowledge publicly in writing the

sincere appreciation felt toward the heads and personnel of the Water

Office and the Garbage Collection Department, who worked so faithfully and efficiently until June 30. "The high spirit of justice which

beats in every Panamanian breast moves us to make public acknowledgment and, in a very special way,

to all Canal Zone resident citizens, of the just recognition of the work of these services as performed by the American personnel for the Republic

of Panama over a long period of years."

Plans Proceeding For Conversion Of Zone Electricity To 60-Cycles

(Continued from page I) proponents of the

60-cycle idea obtained medical opinion

that the 25-cycle current would produce

eye strain, while 25-cycle advocates

held that excessive reading, by any

frequency, would be detrimental to

eyesight.

The question arose again at the time

Madden hydroelectric station was built

in the early 1930's, and serious thought

has again been given to the matter since about 1950.

Main Routes Gain As Canal

Shipping Has Record Year

(Continued from page I) previous year. Both dry cargo tonnage and tanker

traffic increased last year on the United

States intercoastal route, with the former

making up 81 percent of the total tonnage

during 1953. Mineral oils, coal and coke, and manufactures of iron and steel were the three leading commodities shipped through the Canal last year from the Atlantic to the

Pacific. The three principal commodities in the

Pacific to Atlantic trade were various

ores, lumber, and wheat. The gain in commodity shipments

through the Canal last year over 1952

fiscal year was principally in the trade moving from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Commodity shipments in this direction totaled 17,329,000 long tons in 1953, an

increase of 2,200,000 tons over 1952. Only a slight gain was shown in the tonnage of commodities shipped through

the Canal from the Pacific to the Atlantic, the total amount in 1953 being 18,766,000

tons, as compared with 18,482,000 tons

in the previous year.

TRAFFIC MOVEMENT OVER MAIN TRADE ROUTES

The following table shows the cargo shipments in thousands of long tons, of commercial vessels (300 net tons or over) segregated into eight main trade routes:

FISCAL YEAR

1953 1952 1938

United States Intercoastal ______ 4,871 4,279 6,395

5,176 5,098 2,652

East Coast of V. S. and Central America 552 528 46

East Coast of U. S., Canada, and Far East__ 7,848 6,283 4,912

U. S. /Canada East Coast and Australasia 1,456 1,634 992

Europe and West Coast of U. S./Canada__ _ 4,036 5,970 4,237

1,491 1,706 9 974

Europe and Australasia __ 2,137 2,478 1,251

All other routes 8,528 5,635 3,927

Total Traffic _ _ _ 36,095 33,611 27,386

Canal commercial traffic by nationality of vessels

Fiscal Years

Nationality

1953 1952 1938 Number of transits

Tony, of cargo

Number of transits Tons of cargoNumber of transits Tons of cargo

3

2 13,67010,300

2 18,507

7 1,267

49

24 109

10

6,319 7.967.866

209,541

211,855

115,389 36.370

British _ 1,36559

37 144

9

7,877,279

322.415 291,480

144,654

57,651

1,281

9

2

6,417,016

28,787

13.113 Colombian-.

Costa Rican.- - 2 206 223

152 884 , 888 88,305

206

143 978,969

98,104

865 , 235

2 4,695

23 141 230

92

2 400

1,000

15.177 566,524

352,899

829,097

1 ,860 570,321

2 13430

89

2 476

7,680

559,073

105,632

814,429

3,152

575,457

1 105 357

94

4,021

567,288

1,518,593

Greek 525,351

Houduran 22

5 8,47824,411

326

1 86

105

746 15,164

9,220

462,451

696 , 794

Iri^h 28

1 141 320

21,181

9,700

677,501

2.113,273

Italian 52 300

3

153,417

1.877,502

4,900

131104

112

17 877 444

22

25

930.937 34,078

25.672

4i)5,387

7,571

3,303.375

2,592.208

50.159

145.044

106

7 337,271

19,916

Netherland Nicaraguan

Norwegian

Panamanian

106

2 850

352

1727

5

566,607

1,027

3,067,799

1,858,041

15,788

159. 2')') 21.167

285 749,012

667

182

53

3,433,571

415,561

7.151

Philippine- __ 8,441

5

2 110

10,419

35

182

6 2,165

43

154.251 755.324

44,753

12,661 .041 66.376

22

165

11 2,084

19

130.992

761,701 58.567

13,693,521

30,095

15,280

Swedish _ 763,049

United States Venezuelan.

1,780

4

14

9,892,619

3,971

73,413

Total 7,410 36,095,349 6,524 33,610,509 5,524 27,385,924

CARGO HANDLED OVER PIERS (In Short Tons)

Fiscal Year 1953 1952 1938

Cristobal Balboa Total All Piers All Piers

1 ,'« .il cargo received 282,745 118,349 401,094 425,912- 363,699

Local cargo forwarded . 43,108 85,612 128,720 158,884 52,081

Transfer cargo received 270,427 12,209 282,636 359,890 555,725

Total incoming cargo handled. 596,280 216,170 812,450 944,686 971,505

Reh. milled cargo _ 11,709 1,073 12,782 12,979 8,683

[i.in-Ui i argo forwarded. _ 285,053 11,658 296,711 362,451 550,099

Total cargo handled and transferred..

_

895,0-12 228,901 1,121,943 1.320,116 1,530,287
August 7, 1953 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW 19

Hospital Insurance, Quarters Assignments

Discussed At July Employee Conference

{.Continuedfrom page 8) assignments in Bal- boa had been so declined. Other subjects brought up in the conference were: A change in the swimming pool schedules from that originally announced;

Balboa pool will be opened seven days

and other pools six days weekly;

Discontinuance of the Diablo rubbish

dump and inauguration of a new dump

in the hills behind Red Tank;

The expected demolition of all buildings

in Red Tank by Christmas, 1953; Proposed transfer to Margarita of the

Atlantic side drivers' license examiner,

who is a police officer and whose presence could give Margarita a more personalized

service than it has at present as a call station (This proposal was objected to by

several Atlantic side conferees, and is being studied further);

Service Credit

A renewed request that part-time or

"Silver Roll" service be credited toward

U. S.-rate housing assignments; and an

estimate that 100 to 150 employees would

be affected by this change; the Personnel

Director will undertake a study;

Quarters maintenance, to be reported

at August conference; Reduction of hours and cooked food

service at the Gamboa Clubhouse, now

contemplated instead of closing the club- house as originally proposed; this will be

discussed further by the Lieutenant Governor with a delegation from Gamboa;

Parking at the Balboa post office, where the number of parking spaces was

recently curtailed; accidents in this area have dropped sharply; the administration

feels return to angle parking would be a

step backward;

Anniversary Stickers

A protest that residents of New Cris- tobal have to buy Panamanian 50th

anniversary stickers before their cars can

be given the required semi-annual inspection; the Lieutenant Governor as matter

of priority is investigating legality and

possible relief; New regulations on commutation of leave pay when an employee resigns or

retires (covered elsewhere in this issue); And a general round-table discussion,

with a basic explanation by Colonel Paxson, of Company-Government financing.

New Representatives

Attending the July conference were:

Col. H. 0. Paxson, Acting Governor;

F. G. Dunsmoor, Administrative Assist- ant to the Governor; E. A. Doolan,

Personnel Director; Norman Johnson,

Labor Relations Counsellor; Mr. Donovan, Community Services Director, and

Mr. Cassell, of the Housing Division; Sherman Brooks, the Rev. Raymond A. Gray, Sam Roe, Jr., Carl Nix, and Elmer

Powell, all from Civic Councils; Chester

Luhr, Pacific Locks Employees; H. C. Simpson, Marine Engineers; Robert Daniel, Railroad Conductors; F. L. Wertz,

Railroad Engineers; for the Central Labor

Union and its affiliates: Walter Wagner,

E. J. Husted, Rufus Lovelady, Carl F. Maedl, J. P. Boukalis, Sam Garriel,

Henry Chenevert; Mrs. H. T. Longmore,

Citizens' Association; Captain Fred M.

Weade, Pilots (both of the latter organizations represented for the first time).

Here's Where

They Moved

A series of changes in Canal office assignments which began early in May

is now nearing completion. The principal changes and new office locations are summarized as follows: The Treasurer's Office, Claims

Branch and Agency Accounts Branch,

all of the Comptroller's Office, have

moved to Building 5142 in Diablo

Heights.

The Supply and Service Director's

Office is now in Rooms 262 270 while

the Comptroller and his immediate

staff, as well as the Accounting Systems

Staff, now occupy all offices on the second floor of the west wing of the Administration Building. The Management Staff of the Comptroller's

Office has moved to Room 112. The Locks Division headquarters are now located at Pedro Miguel Locks. The Wage and Classification Division has moved to Room 102 of the Administration Building with other Personnel

Bureau units. The Internal Security Branch has

moved to the former Treasurer's office on the first floor. The rooms vacated

by this office on the third floor of the Administration Building are now occupied by the Community Services

Director. The Real Estate Unit has

been transferred from Diablo Heights

to the third floor of the Administration

Building. The Survey Branch is now

located in the former Diablo Heights

Fire Station.

RETIREMENTS IN JULY

Retirement certificates were presented

the end of July to the following employees

who are listed alphabetically, together with

their birthplaces, titles, length of service and future addresses: Mrs. Mary L. Clements, Ohio; Commissary Assistant, Ancon; 32 years, 3 months, 10 days; Lutz, Fla. Ross H. Hollowell, Ohio; Estimator and

Planner, Industrial Bureau; 34 years, 2 months, 16 days; Hendersonville, N. C

Robert W. Hutchings, Mississippi; Assistant Auto Repair Foreman, Motor

Transportation Division; 30 years, 8 months,

1 day; San Jose, Calif. Yard A. Kerruish, Missouri; Steward, Clubhouse Division; 22 years, 10 months,

24 days; St. Petersburg, Fla. Godfrey B. Pacetti, Florida; Fleet Machinist, Dredging Division; 23 years,

5 months, 13 days; Panama. Norman E. Rocker, Nebraska; Administrative Assistant, Office of Engineering

and Construction Director; 34 years, 6 months, 27 days; California.

Irl R. Sanders, Kentucky; Control House Operator, Atlantic Locks; 25 years, 8 months, 12 days; Glasgow, Kv. William C. Smith, Kentucky; Control House Supervisor, Atlantic Locks; 30

years, 2 months, 22 days; Miami, Fla. Frank Turman, Connecticut; Plumbing Inspector, Contract and Inspection

Division; 12 years, 10 months, 9 days;

Lorain, Ohio.

Principal commodities shipped through the Canal

(All figures in thousands of long tons)

Figures in parentheses in 1938 and 1952 columns indicate

relative positions in those years ATLANTIC TO PACIFIC

Commodity

Mineral oils Coal and coke Manufactures of iron and steel Sugar

Soy beans and products

Phosphates

Sulphur

Paper and paper products

Cement

Barley

Machinery

Automobiles

Rice

Tinplate

Raw cotton

All others

Total

Fiscal Year

1953

4,936

2,996

1,501 780 475

433

387 354

325

305 300

266

257 229

207

3,578

17,329

1952

3,704 (1) 2,061 (2) 1,635 (3) 476 (5) 181 (16) 777 (4) 309 (9) 453 (6) 296 (10)

(*)312 (8) 345 (7) 243 (13) 246 (12) 271 (11) 3,820

15,129

1938

907 (3). 137(15)

1,859 (1) 57 (31)

328 (6) 297 (7) 423 (5) 154(11)

(*)168 (10) 208 (9)

238 (8) 142 (13) 4,771

9,689

(*) Included with miscellaneous grains in 1952 and 1938.

PACIFIC TO ATLANTIC

Commoditv

Ores, various Lumber

Wheat

Canned food products

Nitrate Sugar

Metals, various Bananas

Refrigerated food products (ex cept fresh fruit) Mineral oils Coffee. Wool

Copra

Iron and steel manufactures

Dried fruit

All others...

Total

Fiscal Year

1953

3,472 3,307

2,228

1,317

1,222 1,104 822

790

653 326

255 246

241 233

195

2,355

18,766

1952

3,574 (1) 3,466 (2) 2.105 (3) 1,127 (5) 1,239 (4) 955 (6) 659 (8) 758 (7)

612 (9) 481 (10) 280(14)

227 (12) 277 (13) 288 (11) 144 :i7) 2,290

18,482

1938

2,127 (3) 2,851 (2) 706 (7) 991 (6) 1,401 (5) 1,487 (4) 698 (8) 53 (29)

335 (10) 2,875 (1) 175 (16) 123 !21) 164 (18) 13 (*) 291 (12) 3,407

17,697
20 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW August 7, 1953

PICTURES OF THE MONTH J= <*>===fc

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• w% ©=-, *ss

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"

JULY brought a number of new

"firsts" to the Canal Zone—first occasions

or first visits. Shirley Million, Governor of Girls'

State, said goodbye to Acting Governor

H. 0. Paxson just before she left on her

first visit to Girls' Nation in Washington.

Hundreds of midshipmen, on summer

cruises from Annapolis or Naval ROTC

units in States colleges, made their first

trips to the Panama Canal locks. Under Secretary of the Army Earl D.

Johnson, new chairman of the Panama

Canal Company, took his first look at the

controls which operate the locks, and

Pete, pet of the piers, was first in line when dog licensing and inoculation of Canal Zone dogs against rabies began

here.