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PANAMA C^l CANAL

HevIeV

SPRING 1975
DAVID S. PARKER

Governor-President RICHARD L. HUNT

Lieutenant Governor

OFficial Panama Canal Publication

WILLIE K. FRIAR

Editor, Engli.'ih Edition JOSE T. TU5JON H.

Editor, Spanish Edition Writers Vic Canel, Fannie P. Hernandez,

Franklin Castrellon, Dolores E. Suisman AND Pandora G. Aleman

FRANK A. BALDWIN

Panama Canal Information Officer

Review articles may be reprinted without further clearance. Credit to the Review will be appreciated.

The Panama Canal Review is published twice a year. Yearly subscription: regular mail $1, airmail $2, single copies 50 cents.

For subscription, send check or money order, made payable to the Panama Canal Company, to Panama Canal Review, Box M, Balboa Heights, C.Z.

Editorial Office Is located In Room 100, Administration Building, Balboa Heights, C.Z.

Printed at the Panama Canal Printing Plant, La Boca, C.Z.

Contents

In the Wake of Drake 3

Transit of "Golden Hinde"

revives interest in the audacious Elizabethan.

Some Fancy Shirts From

Far-off Shores 9

A short shirt tale.

The Age of Aquarists 13

These fishermen give them an

aspirin and bring 'em back

alive.

A Horse in the House 19

B[i hand or icith net, feeding

a seahorse requires finesse.

More Than A Book of Numbers 22

Phone directories reflect changing times from construction

days to present.

Culinary Capers

A riot of rice recipes.

Shipping Notes

26

29

Nata 32

Oldest totvn on the Isthmus

enters the industrial age.

Credits: Photos by Don Coodc (p. 5 "Colden Hinde" and p. 11 traffic controllerj, Kevin Jenkins

(p. 6), Mike Goode (p. 11 Panamanian dancing

couple). Sketch p. 4 by Capt. Adrian Small.

Our Cover

Photographing a galleon under full

sail might sound simple but getting the

shot of the Golden Hinde, which appears on the cover, was not an easy task. Intent on capturing the ship with her

sails unfurled, the photographer fol- lowed her on a launch as she left Balboa on her way to California. As soon as she was free of the tug, which had towed her through the Canal,

her crew set about the task of putting up

the sails. But there were no strong winds and

the sails hung limply. Capt. Adrian

Small, master of the ship, decided to

start the small engine to help maneuvei

the vessel into a better position to catch the wind. Of course, with the first throb

of the motor, the 16th centuiy atmos- phere vanished in a puff of grey smoke

from the exhaust.

Finally, after much e.xertion on the

part of the captain and crew, the ship was in just the right position, the wind

filled her sails, the engine was shut down, the scene was perfect, but only

for a moment. The 20th century in- tervened again when a small plane

began flying back and forth directly

above the ship. At last, the plane flew out of sight but

a tropical rain shower caused another

delay.

The Isthmus was fast fading into the background as the ship moved along

under full sail. Hurriedly the photographer focused the camera just in time to spot several small boats sailing in be- tween the Golden Hinde and the launch. Responding to much yelling and waving

of hands, the small boat owners moved

out of range and the photographer cap- tured the scene on the cover onlv

seconds before an ominous black cloud

appeared overhead.

The cover photograph, as well as all others in this issue, unless otherwise

credited, are by Arthur L. Pollack.

2 Spring 1975
In ike

of

Dtaktf

WilUe K. Friar IT WAS A STRANGE SIGHT-A

small 16th century galleon sailing

serenely past the modern gargantuan

tankers and container ships lying at anchor off Balboa waiting their turn to

transit the Panama Canal. The small sailing ship, her sails set

taut, was the Golden Hinde, a replica

of the ship on which Sir Francis Drake

circumnavigated the globe.

From the time the Golden Hinde

anchored off Portobelo early in December 1974 until she completed transit of the Canal, she attracted unusual interest on the Isthmus, where Drake has always

been an important part of the local

history. Drake's victories over the Spanish

along the Las Cruces Trail are well known and a lively interest in locating

the lead casket in which he is supposed

to have been buried at sea near Portobelo has continued through the years. An island in the vicinity is still known

as Drake's Island.

It was on the Isthmus that Drake,

after climbing to the top of a tree and

viewing both oceans, fell on his knees

and asked God to give him "life and

leave to sail an English ship in the South

Sea." His prayer was answered later when he succeeded in circumnavigating

the world on the Golden Hinde.

On his trip in 1577, Drake took the Golden Hinde through the treacherous waters of the Strait of Magellan and

harassed Spanish ships along the Chilean

and Penivian coasts before arriving in California. The replica of the ship, en- route from England where she was built.

The Panama Canal Review 3

The "Golden Hinde" lies at anchor off Portobelo in the area where it is believed that Drake was buried. The galleon also stopped briefly at Nombre de Dios.

Drake s Drum

Drake he's in his hammock an' a thousand mile away,

(Capten, art tha sleepin there beloiv?)

Shmg ativeen the round shot in Nombre Dios Bay,

An dreainin arl the time d Plymouth Hoe.

Yarnder lumes the Island, i/arnder lie the ships,

Wi' sailor lads a-dancin heel-an'-toe.

An the shore-lights fiashin, an the night-tide dashin.

He sees et arl so plainly as he saw et long ago.

Henry Newbolt

to San Francisco where she will be on permanent exhibit, took the short cut through the Panama Canal. The in- surers of the ship, which is valued at a million dollars, took a dim view of

havinCT her go through the Strait of Magellan.

Plans are to berth the ship at Fisher- man's ^Vharf in San Francisco to com- memorate Drake's voyage and his land- ing on the west coast of America in 1579. The Golden Hinde replica was de- signed bv Chris Norgaard, a Califomian,

for a consortium of San Francisco busi- nessmen including Albert D. Elledge,

president of a tugboat and harbor tour

line, and Art Blum, public relations consultant. The idea to build such a ship for San

Francisco germinated in the mind of Art Blum, at least 10 years ago. Preliminary designs were produced about

5 years later following considerable re- search. Although often reported in the

press as "an exact replica," this would

be impossible as little is known about

the original Golden Hinde.

After studying every scrap of historical evidence available, including

manuscripts which described Drake and

his ship and viewing paintings of the

period, Norgaard came to the conclusion that the Golden Hinde was a classic example of a mid 16th century warship.

It is i)elieved that the ship was built in France and was bought by John Hawkins, Drake's uncle. Norgaard was greatly influenced by

Nuiio da Silva, the Portuguese pilot

captured bv Drake, who became his na\igator, He had a high opinion of the

ship and wrote: "The Capitana (flag-
The replica was

built to

commemorate

Drake's landing

on the coast of

California

in 1579

ship) is in a great measure stout and

strong. She has two sheathings, one as perfectly finished as the other. She is

fit for warfare and is a ship of the French

pattern, well fitted out and furnished

with \er\' good masts, tacke and double

sails. She is a good sailor and the rudder

governs her well . . . She is. water-fast when na\igated with the wind astern and not \-ioIent but when the sea is high

she labours and leaks not a little . . ."

It is interesting to learn that the new

Golden Hinde had the same problem.

(From the Captain's Notes a short time

after leaving England: "We have been

pestered with small leaks at bow and

stem, only apparent when the ship is in a heavy sea.") Since no detailed records of the design of the original ship existed, Norgaard relied to some extent on the ratios of lengths to depth and width, which is the way shipbuilders of the 16th century

worked. Matthew Baker, an English

shipwright, working some years after the supposed date of the construction of Drake's ship, explained the process in a unique manuscript preserved in the Pepys Library at Magdalene College,

Cambridge:

Proportiones for shippinge The hredth is arbitrarie, ye depth must never

be more then 1^ ye bredth, nor less then 1/^, The length never less then double ye bredth nor more then treble . . . The size of the Golden Hinde was

determined to a certain extent bv the known size of the dock at Deptford,

England, where the original vessel lav

for almost a century before she rotted awav. A brick wall was built around her on the orders of Queen Elizabeth I to help preserve her as a museum piece.

There was a somewhat whimsical

proposal at that time that she be hauled

to the top of the tower of the old

St. Paul's Cathedral and kept there per- manently as a "reminder and treasure

for all Englishmen."

It was reported that she was also used

as a restaurant and Pepys wrote of

visiting the ship in 1662 and noting that the timbers were rotting. About this time the decision was made to break up

the ship. The only relics remaining

today are a chair of polished oak made

from the ship's timbers, which is in the Bodleian Library at Oxford, and a table

in the Middle Temple in London.

From the information concerning the Deptford berth of the original ship,

Norgaard estimated the Golden Hinde's

dimensions to be 75 feet on the waterline; 102 feet overall (not including the bowsprit); maximum breadth 20 feet; extreme draft 13 feet, her mainmast

80 feet tall, her foremast 71 feet and

her mizzenmast 36V2 feet. The replica

carries a total of 4,150 square feet of

sail and displaces 290 tons.

and transfer it to the hold of the Golden

Hinde while the ships stood off the coast

of Peru. When Drake released the captain, he gave him a number of gifts in- 1 eluding a gilt corselet and 600 pounds

of iron as well as a letter of safe conduct ^ in case he should encounter other | English ships. Drake's cabin is the most uncomfortable part of the ship during rough

weather. Beneath it is the Great Cabin,

complete with a beautifully carved oak

table capable of seating 10 people. Since

the furniture was recorded as being the

finest of the period, hand-carved replicas

in English oak were commissioned for the ship.

On the poop deck is a "round house"

in which Drake spent many hours painting with his young nephew, John Drake. The main deck, in front of the Great '

The planning of other aspects of the construction also required much attention to detail. The lower deck has 14

long-barrelled cannon, typical of a ship

of the period, complete with loading

and priming gear at each gun station. Lanterns and small arms racks are also

fitted on this deck. In the hold are shot and powder-kegs along with a store of small arms, cooking utensils, barrels, and tools of the period.

Beneath the afterdeck of the ship are two cabins. First, Drakes, where he

"entertained" San Juan de Anton, the captain of the famed treasure ship, Nuestra Sehora de la Concepcion (Our

Lady of the Conception) which was

called bv the crew the Cacafuego. Drake

treated the captured captain in a gentlemanly manner while he held him aboard

the Golden Hinde for the 3 days re- quired to remove a fortune in gold,

silver, and jewels from the Spanish ship

Cabin, where Drake was knighted by

Queen Elizabeth I following his circumnavigation of the world, has a crucifix and a grog cask and on the fo'c'scle forward of the main deck are two small cannon. Carving on the ship is limited to a

gilded figurehead representing a hind

(hind is spelled with an e in the name of the ship because research revealed that was the way it was spelled in Elizabe- than times) and a gilded lion mounted

on top of the rudder-post.

Once the designer had completed his plans, the search began to find someone ^ to build the ship. The owners finally settled on J. Hinks & Sons, of Appledore

in North Devon, England. Hinks had

recently built a replica of the 17th century ketch Nonsuch, the ship of the Hudson's Bay Co., which is now in a museum in Canada. The Hinks family has constructed wooden sailing ships

Spmng 1975
since 1844 and the policy of the shipyard has been to continue the methods

of wooden shipbuilding that have been

used for hundreds of years. They used old fashioned tools includ- ing chisels, augers, and adzes for much

of the work but they also used modern

saws and electrical tools on some

structural features. For rigging the ship, Hinks called on two retired craftsmen, Joe and Oswald

Bennett. Both are over 70 and had

worked on some of the last square-rigged

ships sailing out of Appledore, the last port in England to operate commercial

sailing ships.

It was decided that the timbers used

in the original ship were probably

English oak, elm, and pine and a search

, for the right timbers included visits to timber yards throughout the country.

Finding the tree for the mainmast of the Golden Hinde involved visits to

estates as far afield as Scotland before a

suitable one was found on an estate in Devon. The keel was laid September 30, 1971

with the keel bolts driven home by the Mayor of Plymouth and the Earl of Mount Edgcumbe, the present owner of Buckland Abbey, Drake's countiy home.

Two months later, the Duke of Edinburgh came by to watch the men at work

on the laying out of the ribs of the ship.

The launching, by the Countess of Devon with a bottle of mead, took place

April 5, 1973. During the ceremony an engraved Devon cider flagon containing water drawn from the River Tavy near

Drake's former home was presented to the owners to be carried to California on the ship.

r After being on display in England,

the ship, with Capt. Adrian Small as

, master, sailed from Plymouth, September 29, stopping at Falmouth, England;

Lisbon, Portugal; Bridgetown, Barbados; Cartagena, Colombia; Nombre de

Dios and Portobelo, Panama; before

. arriving at the Canal. Drake's ship sailed out of Plymouth,

December 13, 1577. She was at that time named Pelican, but Drake changed

the name to Golden Hinde at the eastern entrance to the Strait of Magellan to honor his patron and good friend, Chris-

^ topher Hadden. The figure of a hind or deer was a part of his crest. (While

( transiting the Canal, a Panama Canal

launch carrying a photographer ap- proached the ship, the crew noted with

amusement that the name of the launch was Pelican. )

• Most of the crew of 18 are seasoned

square rigger seamen, having sailed with

"> Captain Small on the replica of the Nonsuch during her voyages around the

south coast of England and the Great Lakes of Canada. Chris Daniel, the first mate, of the National Maritime Museum

in London, is an expert in old navigational instruments and carried out a number of experiments with old period

instnmients during the voyage. Talking with the captain and crew of the Golden Hinde about their crossing

of the Atlantic and walking through her narrow low passages one can well imagine what life was like on the original

ship when Drake and at least 80 other men were packed aboard her during the circumnavigation. Records show that they negotiated the Strait of Magellan

in a raging storm with at least 90 men

aboard since they had collected crew members from other of Drake's ships.

Most of the men huddled together

in complete darkness below deck while

others lay on deck between the cannon

with the icy sea sloshing back and forth o\er them with every roll of the ship.

They were a discontented lot, having

already spent more than 7 months away

from home and found no treasure, only

half naked nati\'es who ate bloody raw

seal meat. They had resorted to eating

penguins themselves. The stout little ship, however, was a match for the raging storms in the Strait and was able to make its way around the

world, after the historic landing on the

coast of California, and return to Plymouth September 26, 1580, with what some have estimated at today's valuation

as .$50 million in silver and bullion taken

from Spanish ships. An exact accounting was never made public so no one can be

sure of the value but all historians agree

it was a fortune. Sixteenth century ships, like the Golden Hinde, were not built with the comfort of the crew in mind. The men

were expected to find places to hang

their hammocks among the guns and the

cargo. The new Golden Hinde has narrow wooden bunks built-in but because of the dark cramped quarters below many

of the men prefer to sleep on the deck. A few other modem additions in- clude a generator to provide electric

lights and a radio as well as a small

auxiliary engine for maneuvering in and

out of harbors. Living conditions aboard

the ship, however, are Spartan and

everyone must be capable of performing

all the necessary tasks including climbing

the rigging.

There is little leisure time for the crew

while at sea. Much of the time during

the crossing of the Atlantic was spent

in maintaining the sails and wood

structures. One of the worst jobs on a sailing ship

Oswald Bennett, who is 77 years old, one of the riggers for the "Golden Hinde,

binds a rope-end.

A shipwright tightens a clamp on the planking near the stem.

ritthing the seams to make

them watertight.

The Panama Canal Review
I

Gov. and Mrs. David S. Parker welcome the ship's owners and officials of

the San Francisco Convention and Visitors Bureau who, accompanied by

a group of other California businessmen,

flew to the Isthmus to transit the Canal

aboard the ship. Left to right are: Albert

Elledge, co-owner, Mrs. Parker, Dick

Buxton, Governor Parker, Harry Orchard,

and Art Blum.

Keeping alive

sailing ship

traditions

is tarring down the rigging. Along with

this hot and dirty work, there was also the chipping off of old varnish and the revamishing of masts and other wooden

parts. Although food on the ship includes

much of the type that Dralce carried such as salt pork and beef, corned beef,

and dried fish, this is supplemented by

canned food. Throughout the voyage it was the cus- tom of the master to muster all hands on

the quarter deck for "divine services to give thanks to the Almighty for a safe passage." This was also a custom of Drake, who was a devout Lutheran.

Captain Small noted that on the ship

they are trying to keep alive sailing ship

traditions, not specifically those from

Elizabethan days.

It is not possible to reprint the log,

which is beautifully written in Captain

Small's Spencerian script, but these brief notes (printed at right) which he hurriedly made for the Review while he was in Panama give a first hand account

of what it was like crossing the Atlantic

A crewmember holds "Snatch" who joined the ship in England as a newly bom kitten.

on the Golden Hinde. The log will be

turned over to the owners at the end of the trip just as Drake presented his log

to Queen Elizabeth I. Unfortunately that

log, which covered the voyage of circumnavigation, a great historical document, was never seen again. Because the Golden Hinde required

the service of a tug throughout the transit of the Canal, she paid $6,000 in tolls. After spending almost 2 weeks in Bal- boa, she left December 20 for Acapulco,

arriving there January 5. The ship will be opened to the public in San Francisco

sometime in the spring.

Spring 1975
Cio^Hn^ the

A I6tlt Cmi

Captain Small's notes

Sailed Plymouth 29 September. Put into Falmouth as did Drake's

small fleet of five ships. Sailed Fal- mouth 1 October with fresh northerly

wmds increasing to gale force. Vessel ran before the gales and made very good time, 130-150 miles per day.

Reached Lisbon in 6 days and 3 hours

(a total of 824 miles). Anchored at Cascais Bay at mouth of Tagus River

as Drake had done on earlier voyages. W'e spent 5 days in Lisbon taking on provisions and water. Sailed Lis- bon October 1 1 for the Atlantic cross- ing for Barbados. Took the southern

route towards the Canaries and Cape

Verde Islands as the winds were still strong from the north. Blew strong

gales as we approached Palma about

12 days out. Palma is the westernmost of the Canary Islands and was our last sight of land for several weeks. It served to establish our position from

which point we steered westwards.

Heavy seas and strong winds con- tinued putting a great strain on the hemp rigging and wooden masts. About the 18th day, the weather improved and the ship settled down to a steady 3-4 knots in the northeast trade wind. Everyday progress was made towards our destination. Had

only two days of complete calm and

even so made about 40-50 miles. Towards the West Indies, the trade winds increased in strength and we

sighted Barbados 33 days out from

Lisbon ... all hands in good health,

ship undamaged, still plenty of drinking water left. The water ration started with

about 15 gallons per day for all hands

and for cooking but was later in- creased to 20 and 25 as we were making good time. It was November 13 when we arrived Barbados.

The only port is Bridgetown where we tied up along with the luxury

cruise liners. The island is green and

beautiful. Watered ship and took on

fresh provisions (including 100 co- conuts) and sailed after .5 davs. Enjoyable visit, very friendly people. Next day we sailed close bv St. Lucia Island and into the Caribbean

U1U Gail

ic on

con

Aboard the ship. Captain Small, dressed in Elizabethan costume, talks with Rev. Edwin C. Webster, Dean

of the Cathedral of St. Luke in Ancon. Dean Webster is recognized as an

authority on Drake's local exploits.

THE MASTER OF THE "GOLDEN HINDE"

One of the few experienced sailing ship captains still active today, Capt. Adrian

Small, with his full red beard and pipe, dressed in Elizabethan costume, looks the part of a 16th centurj' sea captain.

Captain Small, who is 44 years old, began his career as an apprentice aboard

the Finnish four-masted Passat during her voyage around the world from 1946 to 1948 which included an eastward rounding of Cape Horn. After brief service in the British Merchant Marine, he spent se\'eral years employed bv the film in- dustry, sailing the ships featured in "Billy Budd," "Damn the Defiant" and

Hawaii" among other productions. He was introduced to the movie business by

Capt. Alan Villiers in 1954 and served with him aboard the Pequod, the ship

used in the Hollywood version of "Moby Dick." He also served with Villiers in 1957 as his second mate on the Mayfkuver replica. At the time that he was selected as captain of the Nonsuch, the replica of the Hudson's Bay Co. ship, he was already one of the most experienced square-rig

sailors in the world. When it was time to choose a master for the Golden Hinde, Captain Small, of Brixham in Devon, was the obvious choice. In addition to his other qualifications, some insisted he even looked like Drake and the British thought it was

appropriate that he came from Drake's own part of the country.

Sea. Coasted the Spanish Main and

after 10 days put into Cartagena . . . a short visit of 'IVz days . . . incredibly

ancient walled city with modem

Miami-type city spreading around the

shores of the Bay. After Admiral

\'emon's attack, the Boca Grande was

closed with a submerged breakwater.

We went in by Boca Chica . . . same

as Drake did. Three days after leaving Cartagena we dropped anchor at Nombre de

Dios. It was not a safe anchor- age and I can well understand why

the Spaniards shifted their base to Portobelo. The shore looked inviting, green

hills and thick jungle I suppose, but we had not time to explore. We

anchored at dusk and sailed at dawn.

No one, I think, Jiad seen us.

Half a day's sail took us to Portobelo. We fell in love with the place

and did explore the town and ruined

forts. It reeks of history—the ghosts of Spaniards and heaps of silver bars. Anchored off the town, we used our

boats to explore the shore. Regretfully we weighed anchor

and stood out of Portobelo on the morning of December 5. Carrying a

fresh east wind we sailed along the

coast and shortly after noon were off Cristobal harbor. We sailed through

the breakwater in fine style with all

sails set and Elizabethan banners

flying (also Stars and Stripes)

.

On the 7th of December we were

towed through the Canal to the Pacific shores. Sailed approximately 5,300

miles from Plymouth, England to Panama in 53 days.

Fhe Panama Canal Review
Drake's Golden Hinde

Visited California

Almost 400 Years ago

The replica of the Golden Hinde was

built to commemorate Drake's landing in California, June 17, 1579, where he spent

5 weeks overhauling his treasure-laden ship. Several historical reports state that he

ordered "a plate of brass" (one report said

it was lead) to be engraved with a record of

his taking possession of the land for England

and naming it Nova Albion. Albion, white

land, was a Roman name for England.

While the extraordinarily friendly natives watched, the plate was nailed to a post along with a sixpence placed so that Queen

Elizabeth's head, which appeared on the

coin, showed through a hole that had been

made in the plate. In 1936, a brass plate that fits this description was found near San Francisco but although studied by many ex'perts, its authenticity has never been fully proved or disproved.

A subject of controversy also is the exact

location of Drake's anchorage. Historians, geographers, and anthropologists have atmTHE ^^ACE DfCoDAnD .n THE n^^^^

t jrnawnE vrrm ah men As novf\ALffiforT.,

.

r

The "Plate of Brass" now displayed near the entrance to the Bancroft Library

at Berkeley. A facsimile hangs in Drake's ancestral home, Buckland Abbey.

tempted to solve the problem. The sites considered most likely are the areas now known

as Drake's Bay and San Francisco Bay.

Heated debates on the location of the

anchorage and the authenticity of the plate continue. Probably onlv Drake's long-lost

logs of the circumnavigation could settle the arguments.

Exploration of Drake's Burial Site PlannedThis spring, the Marine Archaeological

Project Panama will begin a search at Porto- belo for several shipwrecks of great historical importance.

Sidney Wignall holds the Duke of Edinburgh Gold Medal awarded to him

by Prince Philip for his expedition's excavations of Spanish Armada ships. His current expedition will work

off Portobelo for 6 months.

In the course of this exploration, Sydney

Wignall, the leader of the expedition, a his- torian and marine archaeologist from CoKti

Bay in North Wales, will also search for the

lead coffin in which Sir Francis Drake was

reported to have been buried. Drake's burial has been described as follows: "His interrment was after this manner:

His corpse being laid into a coffin of lead, he was let down into the sea, the trumpets

in doleful manner echoing out this lamentation for so great a loss, and all the cannons

in the fleet were discharged according to the custom of all sea funeral obsequies."

Wignall believes it is possible that the

senior surviving officer, Col. Sir Thomas

Baskerville, scutded English and Spanish

ships in the area where Drake was buried in the bay and that the expedition, while

searching for these ships, might locate his

coffin. Wignall savs that he knows the exact weight of the lead sheathing and the location of the Drake burial site within a margin

of error of not more than 300 meters.

If the coffin is located and it contains human remains, a detailed anatomical examination will be carried out b\' Professor

R. G. Harrison, of Liverpool University. He

is one of Europe's leading anatomical scientists, whose examinations and blood tests of the Pharaohs, Tutenkhamen and Smenkare,

recently aroused great interest. The expedition is supported by the Council for Nautical Archaeology of Great

Britain and will operate in Panamanian

waters for 6 months with permits issued by

Panama. The M.A.P.P. will search for a caravel

possibly abandoned at Portobelo in 1503 by Christopher Columbus, two Elizabethan

ships, the Delight and the Elizabeth and

several Spanish frigates scuttled by Drake's men following his death. The expedition will work under the super-

\ision of the Panama Government. A conservation laboratory, the first of its kind in Central America, will be set up by the ex- pedition and after completion of the project,

it and all recovered objects will be turned

over to Panama. The project is designed for scientific and

historical investigation only, with no interest

in treasure wrecks. None of the ships the expedition seeks contained treasure. Wignall

.said that the goal is: "To strive to enrich the sum of man's knowledge of his great maritime historical heritage."

He will produce a series of documentar\'

films for international distribution and wi'l write a book which will be published simul- taneousK- in England and the United States. With staff members from eight different countries, including a nmiiber of leading

scientists, Wignall regards the project as an opportunity for international cooperation

in the fields of history and science.

8 Spmnc 1975
Some Fancy Shirts

From Far-Off Shores

(and some prefer

the local product)

By Vic Canel

FROM THE PHILIPPINE BARONG

tagalog to the Paraguayan ahoi toi to the African dashiki and the \'enezuelan Hquehque, you're apt to see them all in this tropical crossroads of the world. Of course, there are also the classical guayabera and Panama's own camisilla and montuno, along with shirts from

China, India, Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and many other lands. Social gatherings in the tropics often tend to be informal and men wear fancy

or distinctive shirts instead of coat and

tie. And Panama's centric geographical

location and heterogeneous population

make it a great place for shirt watching.

Most often seen here and throughout

the Caribbean area is the guayabera or

\'ariations of that four-pocket shirt with

vertical pleats at front and back. Derived

from the Spanish word "guayaba" (guava), the guayabera originated in Cuba,

where it was worn chieflv by the "colo- nos" or gentlemen farmers. The original

guayabera was made of fine linen and was worn hea\ily starched and impeccably ironed. It had long sleeves and a

collar that could be buttoned and worn

with a black bow tie, which made it acceptable dress at places where coat and tie were required.

The price of a guayabera was deter- mined bv the number, size, and workmanship of the tucks and the quality of the linen. Even back in the late twenties

and early thirties, when prices were so much lower than today's, affluent colo- nos paid as much as $2.5 or $30 for a

fine guavabera.

In the Philippines, the barong tagalog, an elaboratelv embroidered, long- sleeved shirt with French cuffs and no

pockets, is worn as formal attire. With

open collar, it is equivalent in elegance

to wearing a dinner jacket, but button

the collar and it ranks with white tie and tails.

The Panama Canal Review 9

The elegant barong tagalog conies from the Philippines, while the sophisticated version

of the guayabera, below it, is a product of Puerto Rico.
*» ' ->

"Where did your

shirt come from?'

is often asked

question on the

Isthmus.

Traditionally, the intricate embroidery on the barong tagalog is done by women in the outlying towns or "barrios"

of the Philippines. Embroidering the pre cut lengths of cloth is an exacting

chore, for the women must know exactly

where to place the embroidered designs

so that they are symmetrical when the

shirt is ultimately cut out and assembled. The finer Philippine shirts are made

to order. The customer buys the embroidered material and takes it to a tailor who turns out the finished product.

Some shirts are entirely covered with

embroidery. These are referred to simply

as "all over shirts" and the material alone may cost close to $200.

Similarly, the Paraguayan ahoi toi

( which in Guarani means fine cloth )

,

was originally embroidered in private

homes, then made into shirts or dresses. At first they were made mainly as wedding shirts, with a similar design for the

bride's gown. Today it is a big industrs'. Shirts and dresses, made of new synthetic materials, some even equipped

with the adhesi\'e Velcro closures, are now being exported.

Typical of Venezuela is the liquelique

which is not really a shirt, but a complete costume consisting of a Mao-type

jacket with metal buttons and matching

trousers. The name is belie\'ed to be a corruption of the French word liquette, a synonym of shirt. From Guatemala come brightly col- ored homespun cotton shirts with bold

and distinctive designs woven into the

cloth. A favorite subject is a stylized version of the quetzal, the bird that

serves as the country's national emblem

and lends its name to the unit of currency. The Nicaraguan version of the popular guayabera, produced in many colors, usually features embroidered pastoral scenes paralleling the vertical tucks

in front. The embroidery is most com- monly done with thread several shades

darker than the shirt material. Increasingly popular on the Isthmus,

as with young people everywhere, are

the embroidered, light cotton shirts and

blouses from India. Made in short, long

and three quarter sleeves, they are worn

by both men and women. Most are embroidered with floral designs, some have

tiny mirrors sewn into the embroidery.

Hindu shops in Panama report that they

are currently among the fastest selling items. Also available in Panama shops are

richly embroidered shirts from Hong

Kong. Like the Philippine and Para- guayan shirts, embroidery work is done

on lengths of cloth and the shirt assembled later. In this case the cloth is hand

embroidered in China. The Hong Kong

shirts, still another variation of the guayabera, ha\e only two pockets below

and no breast pockets. Made mostly of polyester and cotton, they come in u'hite and a variety of pastel colors. The advent of black consciousness in recent years has contributed to the popularity of the West African dashiki, a

loose fitting pullover shirt with a deep

slit neck and flowing sleeves. The bold

prints and brilliant colors of the dashiki made their first appearance in the West-

/

At left, from top: Somewhat less formal than the barong tagalog is the short sleeve model,

also from the Philippines. From India, a high collared, intricately embroidered

long sleeve shirt which is available in Panama's Hindu shops. A stylized version of the

quetzal, Guatemala's national emblem and imit of currency, dominates most designs from that country. .\ touch of distinction added to this guayabera is an embroidered

Aesculapian staff to proclaim the profession of its owner, Dr. R. R. Pierson,

of the Panama Canal Veterinary Medicine Division. Above right: Made of unbleached muslin, Panama's montuno shirt is decorated with

a variety of cross-stitch designs.

10 Spring 1975
em Hemisphere when they were adopted

by blacks in the United States, but are now a common sight on the Isthmus and

are worn by all races. The shirt industry in Panama produces

a wide variety of original designs under

internationally known labels. Famous

brands such as Arrow, Jayson, Manhattan and Christian Dior are designed and

manufactured locally under franchise. The Jayson and Christian Dior franchises are held bv a firm headed by

voung Victor M. Azrak, whose late father, Moises Azrak, founded the company in 19.58. His mother is the chief designer. The factory employs nearly 200

people and turns out more than 1,000

shirts a day. Specialized seamstresses work on various components of the

shirts—some models requiring up to 4.5 separate operations.

Azrak obtained the Christian Dior

franchise about 2 years ago. Some of the finer Dior models retail for as much

as $50.

Manhattan shirts are turned out in a neighboring factory which also produces

about 1,000 a day. Here too, though

advice and technical assistance is pro- vided by the parent factory, shirt designs are exclusive. Though Manhattan also has a line

At right: From West Africa comes this

colorful dashiki worn by Edmund F. Johnson, an employee of the Balboa Heights Post 0£Bce. Below left: The traditional Panamanian

camisilla is correct attire for the partner of a women wearing

the classical pollera. Below right: Matching shirt and dress embroidered with local scenes is the pride of this square dancing couple,

.\1 and Anne Richardson,

of Gatim.

.Popular for Work or Play.

\,-\^'^:-'%''^"'"'H^

William Bennett, control house operator at Miraflores Locks, wears the tj-pical Panamanian guayabera, considered by

many ideal for work in the tropics.

Guavaberas for boys also are available locally. Wearing styles

in white and blue, Larry R. Rogers and his son, Larry, Jr., go for an outing in Balboa.

The Panama Canal Review 11
r%s^

At left: Busy seamstresses turn out more

than 1,000 shirts a day at

this Panama factory. Lower left: Expert cutters follow patterns

to produce the components that will

later be assembled by the seamstresses. Left below: Buttons are the specialty

of this operator. Some shirt models

require up to 45 separate operations. Below: Attractive packaging is an

important factor in modem shirt marketing. Each garment is carefully ironed and placed in cardboard-backed

cellophane sheaths.

of women's wear, the local factory pro- duces only men's shuts and trousers. Materials are imported from Europe,

Japan and the United States. As protection for the local industry, manufacturers are exempt from import duty on thread, buttons, snaps and other

accessories. During his most recent visit to the Panama factory, Herb Kay, technical manager for the International Division

of Manhattan, who travels the world

over to oflFer advice and solve technical problems, provided a preview of things

to come in men's shirt fashions. Solid

colors are in for next year, he says, and

ties are on the way out. The trend, he

says, is toward longer shirt collars, to be worn open and overlapping tlie jacket

collar.

Packaging, Kay says, is among the most important phases in shirt marketing and techniques have changed radi- cally through the years. Shirts used to be delivered to the retailer in bundles

and it was up to him to make the merchandize appealing to the customer. Now, each shirt is carefully ironed and

attractively packaged by the manufacturer. Many locally manufactured shirts are

sold in Canal Zone retail stores today. In the early days of the Canal, commissary customers did not have a very wide selection of styles, though the

prices were considerably lower, as indi- cated by this notice in the Fanama

Canal Record of July 7, 1915: "Cata- logue and samples of shirts from Yamatoya Shirt Co. in Yokohama, Japan,

received. Shirts made to order are of pongee, silk and crepe, and can be

ordered through the Depot Commissary,

Cristobal, at catalogue prices plus a sur- charge. The listed price: 27 yen ($13.80) per dozen and up."

Shirt styles vary widely. Collars change in size and shape, sleeves may be

short, long, puffed or snug. But Panama's two traditional shirts, now worn

only on special festive occasions such

as carnival, have remained constant through the years. The most elaborate and colorful embroidery is found on the montuno. The

intricate cross stitching and distinctive designs require many months of painstaking work. Bands of embroidered

figures, sometimes animals, sometimes

flowers, adorn the front of the shirt on

each side of the collar opening. These

are called pintas. Below the collar opening is a large central design called "el coraz6n"-the heart. A straight, almost

knee-length shirt with wide sleeves and

snug, embroidered cuffs, the montuno is made of unbleached muslin. It ends in a fringe raveled from the cloth itself. The full montuno costume consists of the shirt, calf-length trousers of the same

material, a hat woven from wild palm

fronds and a straw bag with shoulder

strap, called a chacara. Somewhat more formal if less colorful is Panama's camisilla, a long sleeved,

pleated shirt of white linen with a mandarin style collar and gold buttons. This

shirt worn with black trousers, is considered to be the correct costume for a man accompanying a woman dressed in Panama's elaborate pollera dress, a

multi-tiered, elaborately embroidered

gown enhanced by such accessories as heavy gold necklaces and shimmering

head adornments called "tembleques."

Pictured on these pages are just a few

of the shirts from many lands collected and worn by residents of the Isthmus,

where, along with the ships and the products of the world, there is a constant parade of fashions from afar.

12 Spmng 1975
ANYONE WILL TELL YOU THE

Isthmus is a fisherman's paradise,

but of late local aquarists have given the

old sport a new angle. Not content merely to keep the freshwater "tropical"

aquarium fish that are available in any

well-stocked hobby shop from New York

to California, more and more Isthmian

fish fanciers are going out to capture

lenizens of the deep, both freshwater and marine, for their tanks. Dr. Horace G. Loftin (Assistant for Environment-Energy to the Chief of the Executive Planning Staff) noted in

his Ph. D. dissertation, "The Geographical Distribution of Freshwater Fishes in Panama," that in the 18.50's a "Capt.

|. M. Dow, captain of the old Panama

Railway Co.'s steamer Guatemala, was

apparently the earliest serious collector

of Panamanian fishes." Many others,

both scientists and amateurs, have fol- lowed his lead. Carl Chapman, a music teacher at Curundu Junior High, makes frequent

TKe A^^ of AcjMatUi*

By Pandora G. Aleman

trips to the interior and sometimes takes students snorkeling up the as yet un- tamed Bayano River. Since arriving in Panama, Chapman has kept only native

fish. "Here I was, in the tropics," he

says, "so I thought I'd set up a real tropical aquarium."

The enthusiasm is contagious. Gilberto Young, a systems analyst with the Systems Division, used to go regularly

to rivers and streams near Chepo with

a friend who liked to catch and breed

his own fish, which he then sold in order

to buy more equipment. Young cauu;ht the bug too, as a glance at his 50-gallon tank will show.

Other zealous collectors can be found

at monthly meetings of the Canal Zone

Aquarium Society, headed this year hv

Robert E. Daisev. The group, which

boasts a membership of some 137 adults and about an equal number of children,

last year sponsored expeditions to a rive" near Chepo and to Portobelo. The group has heard various speakers

including Dr. Donald L. Kramer, a

biologist with the Smithsonian Tropical

Research Institute who is studying the feeding and air-'breathing behavior of freshwater tropical fish. He recommends

walking up a river or stream as one of the best ways to see the jungle. There

are no ants and no bushes to clear, and

the sandy or granite stream bed makes

for easy walking.

His wife, Vanessa, who assists him in catching fish and in keeping records, wears long pants and a long-sleeved

shirt as well as sneakers and socks, so

mosquitos will have a hard time finding a target. Dr. Kramer suggests that the novice

will be more comfortable starting out in clear streams where he can slip on face- mask and snorkel and study the fish in their natural habitat. He adds that in swift-running streams, especially in uninhabited areas, there's little danger of

disease. There mav be more danger of snakebite in the dry season, when the bushmaster and fer-de-lance come down to streams to feed on frogs, he says, but

adds that his expeditions here have

netted him nothing worse than muddy

feet and some mosquito bites. Chapman, who perhaps goes a bit farther afield than most, has in the past

9 years seen one fer-de-lance and two

bushmasters—all verified, as he broiight

back the heads for identification. Once,

out around Huile, he was passing his net

At left: This redlip blenny, perched in his favorite clump of lettuce coral, is the clown

of Dr. Melvin M. Boreham's saltwater aquarium. Above: This scene, difficult to

capture, features Dr. Boreham's large queen angel, at left, and a smaller one, at center.

At the base of the featherdusters, right, is a four-eyed butterfly fish. A dark stripe camouflages its eyes and the dark spot toward its tail misleads any would-be predators.

The angelfish like to peck at the coral and at the "Caulerpa" plants, left foreground.

The Panama Canal Review 13
under the overhanging roots of a tree when a hissing sound alerted him that he was the unwelcome intruder in a

crocodile's home.

But none of this seems to disturb the dedicated ichthyophile greatly. David

Carlson, a student at Curundu Junior High, isn't much bothered bv the pros- pect of running into snakes. After all, he

once had a pet boa. Luckily, not all the exotic fish are found in exotic places. About the only

place that isn't good for collecting fresh- water fish is Gatun Lake, which since 1967 has been taken over by the peacock bass. This beautifuUv marked,

delicious fish—not a bass at all, but a species of cichlid—was brought in from

Colombia to stock a small man-made

lake. During the rainy season, the lake overflowed and the fish found their way

to Gatun Lake, where they fed voraci- ously on the small native fishes, now all but extinct in those vast waters. You don't need much in the way of equipment to enjov the sport. Besides a facemask and snorkel—Chapman says the "ping-pong ball" tvpe is best in swift- running streams—and a net of some

kind, it's a good idea to take along a cooler or a bucket or two, with a batteryoperated aerator if you are far from

home. To transport his catch. Chapman

puts water and fish in large plastic bags

and adds a quarter of an aspirin to each

bag. This, he savs, tranquilizes the fish, which then require much less oxygen

than thev normally would.

Dr. Kramer has a variety of nets at his lab in an old bunker near Naos

Island. It takes two people to work the

seine, a net stretched between two

poles—basically like the common min- now seine, but with heavier weights

along the bottom.

He also has a large square-bottomed

dip net on a long handle and an A-frame

net. a sort of scoop-like aff'air that works

like a one-person seine. He sometimes

uses the metal minnow traps commonly

used to catch live bait. Chapman uses an apron of mosquito

netting to go after his fish. The apron

ties around the neck and has elastic at the wrists and lead weights along the bottom—another one-man seine. Using

mask and snorkel, he crawls upstream.

If he picks up a rock, anything hiding

imder it or clinging to it finds it<;elf in the net. When he stands and brincrs his arms up. he usually has a variety of fish from which to choose. Most fish captured locally are not as colorful as their South American rela- tives or those which have been specially

bred by aquarists, but with their varied

personalities they are no less fascinating

to watch. Through careful breeding and

crossbreeding, more colorful strains can be developed—a challenge that a few

local aquarists have taken up. The collector will find it easy to pick

up the wild molly, several of its near

relatives, and other live-bearers in his

seine. This family of fish has long fascinated

aquarists because of its unique manner

of breeding. The male fertilizes fully

formed eggs in the female's egg duct; the eggs hatch and the young grow in the protection of the mother's body.

Thev are delivered one at a time, folded head to tail, and soon straighten and

swim for refuge. A plus for the aquarist

is that these promiscuous fish multiply

rapidly without his having to play

Cupid. Chapman says a cross between

Aspirin may

help to

calm the

catch

the native molly and the more colorful "store-bought" hybrid molly produces

offspring with the hardiness of the Pan- ama molly and the fanciness of the

hybrid.

In the wild, several of these little fish perform the very useful function of eating the larvae of mosquitoes that carry malaria and yellow fever. In "Exotic Aquarium Fishes," William T. Innes notes that "success in building and

maintaining the Panama Canal de- pended partly on the solution of the

fever problem" and credits one member

of the Gambusia genus with helping to make Panama habitable to foreigners.

The "mosquito fish" found here takes

its name not from its dietary habits but

from its size. According to Innes, it is the

smallest of the aquarium live-bearers,

with an overall length of about half an

inch. The aquarist usually learns the hard

way not to tangle with one member of the characin, or "tetra," family found

here in abundance. Members of the Roeboides genus are nice to look at, with their silvery body, reddish fins, and

black spot at the base of the tail. Their

sloping forehead gives rise to the nick- name "humpbacked tetra." The fish seems to ha\-e a lot to offer the aquarist—

but it's murder. Roeboides has a nasty

habit of ramming other fish with spikes on his snout, knocking loose a scale or two which he then dines on at his

leisure. Another family of fish commonly

found in Panamanian streams is the,

cichlids. Innes says that "high-strung"

cichlids change colors rapidly, and this

is borne out by Chapman's observation

of color change after feeding—or even when excited by a finger being wiggled

in water at the top of the aquarium.

They have the most personality of all local freshwater fish, he says, being tem- peramental and moody to the extent of eating well one day and, the next, letting even live baby guppies go unmolested.

Chapman says he found his fish liked

to dine on slivers of corbina roe. But

Sid, a blue cichlid (also known as blue

acara or chogorro) belonging to friends

of the Kramers, has a predilection for cockroaches. There's no accounting for

tastes. Dave Carlson has some zebra cichlids,

which he also calls "striped convicts," that have dark spots by day and stripes

by night. The female of the species has most of the color, an oddity among

aquarium fishes. Dave is rather proud of having caught

two of the elusive knife fish. TTiese graceful fish, relatives of the so-called

electric eel, propel themselves backward

or forward with equal ease, by the ripple

of a fin. Chapman reports finding three members of the broad-sole family, those

peculiar fish that lie on one side and in maturity have both eyes on the upper

side, in the Ipate River. When these

relatives of the flounder imdulate the

fins at the edges of their bodies they

glide horizontally like, as Innes savs, "a pancake being propelled through the water." The long, slender, delicate pipefish

is a marine specimen that here in the

tropics has moved into freshwater. Dave

Carlson found a small one, along with

what seems to be a freshwater eel of respectable size, in a Corozal drainage

ditch. Looking at the slim pipefish, one would never guess that it's related to that marine charmer, the seahorse. In both, the male carries the eggs in a pouch until they hatch, and both have

difficult-to-please palates, preferring

live food of just the right size. Even the hobbyist who doesn't fill his aquarium with fish he has caught himself makes room for the local catfish.

14 Spmng 1975
Coral and plants provide hiding places

Di-. Boreham readies his camera and movie light and waits for a fish to swim into range. His 83-gallon marine aquarium,

which he buih himself, is set up to resemble a coral reef in miniature.

valued as peaceful scavengers that help

to keep the tank clean. The graceful Pimelodella, commonly

known as the striped catfish, and its larger relative Rhamdia abound in Pan- amanian streams. Hidden in the dorsal

(or back) and pectoral (or breast) fins of the innocuous-looking Pimelodella are three venomous spines that can leave

the unwary collector's finger smarting

for an hour or more. The Plecostomus and the whiptails

are well-known local suckermouth ar- mored catfish. (No catfish has scales; the armored catfish are covered with

bonv plates. ) These fish use their suckerlike mouths, located on the underside of the head, to scrape algae and other

material from the aquarium bottom and

sides, plants and ornaments.

Plecostomus, light brown with dark

spots, tends like most catfish to hide or

lie quietly during the day. Dr. Kramer

says it is much easier to catch at night.

an assertion that most collectors are

reluctant to verify.

Two types of whiptail catfish are found in Panama. In the smaller Loricaria, common in the Canal Zone area, the "whip" appears only at the top of the tail fin. Appropriately enough, the male has a "beard" of short bristles. David Carlson has one of the much

larger but still peaceful Sturisoma genus, which has "whips" at the top and bottom

of its fin. It is found farther away, in the Mamoni River of the Bayano basin and

the Anton River, Code Province.

Anyone who wants to can populate

his tanks with freshwater shrimp. Those

with small foreclaws are less likelv to annoy or damage the fish, though all are

fascinating to study as they scavenge, picking up miniscule particles and trans- ferring them from claw to claw until they end up in the shrimp's tireless mandibles.

Even the aquatic "weeds" proliferating in the waters of Gatun Lake are a boon to the aquarist. Hydrilla and horn- wort provide good hiding places for small fish, and duckweed, a small float- ing leaf, gives needed shade where an aquarium gets too much overhead light. Water lettuce, another floating plant,

has fluted, velvetv, light green leaves which add to the tank's beauty. And the

floating water hyacinth, which because

of its rapid propagation is probably a greater threat to navigation than any

other plant, not only produces a beautyful white, blue, or violet flower but has

blue-black bushy roots that according to Innes are ideal for breeding fishes that drop adhesive eggs near the surface—

a

group that includes goldfish.

Fascinating as it can be, an aquarium

filled with local freshwater fish is to the aquarium filled with marine, or salt- water, fish what black-and-white is to technicolor. Many are those who head out to enThe Panama Canal Review 15
Fish fanciers find field

trips are half the fun

Above: David Carlson goes after a native cichlid in one of several tanks he has in his hobby room. At right: Face down with mask and hand net in a well-shaded stream near Gamboa,

he demonstrates one of many techniques used by hopeful

collectors. Fish captured go into the cooler at water's edge.

joy for a brief while the wonders of the Panamanian seas—particularly the Caribbean coral reefs-but few attempt to bring the beauties of those waters into

their living rooms, and rarer still are the individuals who succeed.

Dr. Melvin M. Boreham of Coco Solo, the medical entomologist with the Sanitation Division who works on mosquito

control research, might be called the dean of local marine aquarists. His

aquarium is an outstanding e.\ample of what can be done in creating a miniature

coral reef in the living room.

After coming here in 1966 he visited the coral reefs and was fascinated by the

fish. He had previously had a 15-gallon freshwater aquarium, and decided to trv

his hand at the marine variety. He be- gan with a 20-gallon tank and soon real- ized that keeping salUvater fish was

quite different from maintaining a fresh- water aquarium. For one thing, freshwater fish are much more adaptable than marine fish, since they must adjust to variations in water quality caused by the annual

rainy season-dry season cycle. On the other hand, the environment provided

by Panamanian seas has remained rela- tively constant since the Isthmian land bridge between North and South America emerged from the ocean three or four million years ago. According to some e.xperts, the coral reef is probably

the most stable environment on earth, while the qualitv of seawater in an aquarium is subject to rapid and drastic changes.

To combat this, the aquarist should

begin with the largest tank he can manage. Secondly, he should thoroughly understand the importance of using the

right type and quantity of gravel and

a subgravel filter. A book by Stephen

Spotte, "Marine Aquarium Keeping," is highly recommended by Dr. Boreham as

it covers setup of the tank in detail. After having trouble with his 20-gallon aquarium. Dr. Boreham built an 83-

gallon all-glass tank. (The metal com- monly used to strengthen freshwater

tanks corrodes readily in the presence

of salt water.) On top of the subgravel

filter is 4 inches of 3/16-inch to Ji-inch gravel coral. The importance of such a setup lies in the fact that if the aquarium is properly seasoned before a large number of

fish are added, beneficial bacteria collect on every surface of every piece of

gravel. As the aquarium water is drawn

through the gravel, the bacteria act on

the highly to.xic ammonia which constitutes the major waste product of the

fishes, transforming it first into nitrite and finally into relatively nontoxic

nitrate. Even with all this. Dr. Boreham advises the marine aquarist to change

10 to 25 percent of the water in the tank

monthly, either bringing new water from

the ocean in plastic 5-gallon "jerry cans"

or making up a new solution from synthetic sea salts. This is to replace trace elements and to reduce the nitrate level, both of which benefit the fish. An aid to the aquarist, freshwater or marine, who wants to keep his pets free of disease is an ultraviolet sterilizing

unit. Water is pumped through Dr. Boreham's unit at the rate of 200 gallons

per hour, and harmful bacteria and

free-swimming stages of protozoan

parasites are killed. In addition. Dr. Boreham tries to pro- vide his fish the hiding places and "territorial space" they need. Overcrowding

puts the fish under psychological stress, making them more prone to disease. Because marine fish have a strong sense of territorial rights. Dr. Boreham

makes a practice of either rearranging

the coral when adding new fish or adding the new fish at night, when the

others have eaten and are ready to retire

to their chosen niches. He uses a timer on his aquarium lights to control the day-night cycle, giving the fish 12 hours of each. He says the period of uninterrupted darkness is crucial to the well-being of reef fish. They

get fidgety and squabble just before the

lights go out, as thev get ready to set up

for the night. The smaller, more defenseless fish, ever alert, ever wary, move

from their daytime hiding places to different ones to elude potential enemies.

Proper food is important too. Dr. Boreham, like many others, makes his own, using gelatine, raw shrimp, water,

a good commercial flake food, and

spinach.

By speaking to the Aquarium Society

and other local groups about marine

aquariums, using slides and movies

taken of fish in his aquarium to illustrate his points (he titled one talk "Underwater Photographv Without an Underwater Camera Housing"), Dr. Boreham

has interested others in the hobby.

His neighbors, George and "Bobbie"

Egolf, were given encouragement on

16 Spring 197.5
the idea by Dr. Boreham who lent a helping hand. Now they have built and

are operating a 112-gallon aquarium and

their son, Bruce, is becoming an accomplished collector and photographer of

coral reef fish. The Daisey family of Corozal is an- other example. Robert E. Daisey, a marine engineer with the Ports Division,

his wife Lori, and daughters Cheri,

Cindy, and Rena like doing things

together and are alwa\'s ready to take up a challenge.

The Daiseys' collection of saltwater

fishes started with Amigo, a damselfish

captured near San Carlos, on the Pacific side. (Incidentally, they keep Pacific and Atlantic specimens together in water they get from the Pacific Ocean

at Fort Amador. ) Now. not onlv do thev haxe two successful 30-gallon saltwater

tanks, but Cheri plans to get an A.S. degree in marine biology at Canal Zone

College and may go on for further degrees after that. She would like to be a crewmember of a seagoing laboratory

like Jacques Cousteau's. The Daisevs have not hesitated to innovate. Instead of gravel they use crushed shell from Farfan Beach, which

they say helps maintain the water's

alkalinity. They siphon off and replace

about 10 percent of the water each

week. Using sea water in a special container, they raise brine shrimp to adult- hood to supplement their fishes' diet. Bob Daisey installed an air compressor with storage tanks that hold

enough air to keep the filtering-aerating units going for 6 to 8 hours in the event

of electrical failure. Because the compressor goes on and off automatically

and runs only about 10 minutes out of every hour, he figures the unit both

sa\'es them money and conserves energy. The marine aquarist is rewarded with more beautiful hunting grounds and more spectacular quarry than his fresh- water counterpart. No local dealer

stocks marine fish, so he must don mask,

snorkel, and flippers or tennis shoes and

either embark for or wade into his chosen area. He can take along a copy

of the "Fishwatcher's Guide to West

Atlantic Coral Reefs," which is p^inte^ on plastic pages so he can study the fish he sees while submerged.

Tennis shoes are important to the waders because they offer some protection from the long, sharp, venomous

spines of the black sea urchin. The col- lector soon learns also to shun the in- nocuous-looking fire coral and bright- orange fire sponge, both capable of

inflicting nasty 'TDums." As for barracuda. Dr. Boreham says

A local suckermouth armored catfish of the popular "Plecostomus" genus, shown

clinging to a plant leaf, shares one of the Daisey family's tanks with some aristocratic black angelfish.

he knows of no unprovoked attack on man in clear water, though in murky

water they may possibly mistake the

flash from a ring or a bracelet (so keep

jewelry covered with gloves) for fish. His wife, Kathy, developed an aversion

to eels after an encounter with a 3-foot specimen with a nasty temper. Dr. Boreham reassuringly notes that local

eels are neither poisonous nor electric, though thev can bite. The closest call the Daisevs have had was when a shark moved in between Lori and daughter

Cheri. A friend yelled, "Shark! Freeze!"

Dr. Boreham demonstrates inner workings

of an ultra\iolet sterilizer which assists in disease control within a saltwater or freshwater aquarium.

The Panama Canal Review 17
Uninvited guests

often add interest

to the aquarium

hut to her mother's dismay, Cheri kept

moving in for a closer look.

^V'ith all of this, there isn't a marine

fish fancier around who won't tell you

it's all worth it when he gets his prizes

home. Dr. Boreham's two brilliant blue and gold queen angelfish are the pride

of his tank. His two redlip blennies are clowns, playing games with the other

creatures and posing for him in a clump

of lettuce coral. The rock beauty, bright

gold with a large dark spot, and

the spectacular black-and-white spotted

drum, with its graceful, high-flying

dorsal fin, are among his favorites. Adding to the beautv of his miniature

reef are the featherdusters, a type of tubevvorm attached to the no-longerliving coral he uses in the tank. Its deli- cate, feathery tentacles rise from the tube in a spray of splendor, searching

for tiny food particles and delighting the eye of the obser\'er.

Unin\'ited guests sometimes come in with his coral: sea urchins, crabs, bright- colored sponges, sea stars, and once a charming little fish known as a secretary

goby. Tlie goby lived in a tinv cave in a hunk of coral, and except at feeding

time only his alert little head could be

seen. Unfortunately, the little fellow mysteriously disappeared when a babv

octopus made his entrance, unobserved,

in a later batch of coral. The Daiseys are particularly proud of

their pair of red-and-white candvstriped banded coral shrimp, their orange starfish, and their adult seahorse,

Duke. (Mrs. Daisev's account of their adventures with Duke follows on p. 19.

)

The male shrimp sometimes posts

himself in a protective position above

his mate, and at feeding time, he carries food to her. He also performs a valuable

service for the fish in the tank, including

the seahorse, by periodically removing

any microscopic parasites they have

picked up. The rivers of Panama are many and

the oceans are wide. If you think you'd

like to join the fun, you'll find lots of room and plenty of helping hands along

the way.

IN THE SPECIAL COLOR SECTION

The Saltwater Aquarium

A royal gramma, left, and a queen angel are two of the 15 brilliantly

colored, darting fish supported bv Dr. Boreham's miniature coral reef. Another, a four-eyed butterfly fish, can be seen behind one of the finger

corals. To create a natural as well as beautiful environment. Dr. Boreham

uses several types of aged coral and living plants such as the bush-like

Penicilhis seen in the foreground. This photo and that of the seahorse on

the fourth page of the center section are by Arthur L. Pollack.

On The Coral Reefs

The undei-water photographs in the centerfold, all taken on the local coral reefs, show the diversity of spectacular fish, corals and marine creatures available to the saltwater aquarist. The barracuda (5) was photographed by Dr. Greg Quick and the other subjects by Dr. Phillip Akers. Both practice at Gorgas Hospital.

The diagram, below, will help to identify the various specimens:

1. Yellowtail Damselfish

2. Rock Beauties

3. Juvenile Grey Angelfish

4. School of Pacific Wrasse

5. Atlantic Barracuda

6. Secretaiy Goby in a coral head

7. Neon Gobies near their burrow in a polyp-covered rock

8. Flamingo Tongue Snail on a Gorgonian (soft coral)

9. Anemone colony.

10. Flower coral

11. A Crinoid

12. Serpulid Wonns on brain coral

L3. Queen Angelfish being cleaned of parasites by a smaller fish, a common health practice among marine fishes which also occurs in saltwater aquariums.

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18 Spring 1975
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WE HAVE A HORSE IN THE

house!" Busy at work in the

kitchen and hearing that call from the

li\ing room, some mothers might have

been stunned, but not me. My husband.

Bob, and daughters, Cheri, 17, Cindy,

15, and Rena, 6, are aU extremely active and full of pranks. Nothing amazes me

anymore.

Entering the living room and not coming eve-to-ev'e with a hay-and-oats

eater, and hearing the laughter of my

husband and Cheri, I laughed also—from

pure, honest relief! Then 1 saw the ice chest at their feet with the batter\'-operated aerator going

and caught on to what they meant by

"horse." A vear ago at Christmas I had given

my husband one aquarium. During the

past year the number had grown to 21. At first we had been strictly freshwater

specimen. A friend had given him to Cheri. When the temperature of the water in the ice chest matched that of the aquarium, we gently released him

into the aquarium. We kept a close watch on him for the ne.xt 12 hours to be certain that no other specimens in the tank molested him.

We did not know that as beginner

marine aquarists we had taken on per- haps more than we were ready for. Dwarf seahorses are relatively eas^' to

raise, as they feed eagerlv on brine

shrimp. Adult seahorses are another

matter. Although Dviiasta (as we called our

seahorse) appeared happy in his sur- roundings, he refused any and all forms

of food we offered him. After the third

trv. we knew we were in trouble. We searched our libran.' and dis- covered that adult seahorses cannot see AH

the tiny brine shrimp but will eat baby

guppies or small shrimp. We released

se\"eral baby guppies into the tank,

hoping Dynasta would take them. He

ne\"er had a chance; the other fish got

them before he even knew they were

there. During this time, we had made it a point to place our hands in the tank,

handle D>'nasta, let him curl his tail around a little finger, and teach him that the hand was not to be feared. This

helped us solve the first stage of our

feeding problem. Cheri took a live gupp)'

and, holding it by its tail, slowly lowered

it to Dvnasta. He looked it over very

carefully, and then—Snap!—he ate it. She offered another, and again he ate it. The next feeding time I offered the guppv, and he took it. He had accepted

us, and he was now accepting food—

live—so long as we hand-fed him. But ciH m inc ticuyc

By Lori Daisey

fish raisers and breeders. When Cheri

began snorkling and developed an in- terest in scuba diving and marine life, we began going as a family on field trips to the beaches and reefs. We discovered

a whole new world. After joining the Canal Zone Aquarium Society and hear- ing talks and seeing films presented by

Dr. Phillip Akers, and Dr. Mel Boreham,

a medical entomologist, and being the kind of family we are, we were well into the challenges of marine aquarium

keeping.

Looking into the ice chest, I saw my

verv first live adult seahorse. He was a beauty, 6)2 inches long and a perfect

At left: Duke, the Daisey family's adult

seahorse, enters the net to feed on tiny

shrimp as the other inhabitants of the tank

investigate the proceedings. At left in

the aquarium is a French angel, to the rear,

a rather shy flame cardinal, and in the

right foreground, a pair of banded

coral shrimp. At right: Neither Duke nor Frenchie

shies away as Cheri's hand

invades their domain.

The P.\nama Canal Review 19
'More, please.

I didn't like the idea of having to do this 3 to 4 times a day. Who wants to feel

like a murderer that often?

I felt we should find another source

of food for Dynasta. I telephoned Dr. Boreham, who suggested I try seed

shrimp. I had none and they are avail- able only near the Tarpon Club at the Gatun spillway. Dr. Boreham, a real friend in need, came all the way across the Isthmus to bring me a supply from

his freezer.

I thawed out a very small portion of the seed shrimp. Taking one,- 1 offered it to Dynasta. He looked at it, flipped his

tail and swam off. Well, I said, that's

that. However, as I took the seed shrimp

out of the water I noticed one of the eyes was missing. Also, I realized that the dead seed shrimp had naturally made

no movement. The guppy, of course, always wiggled. I took another, making

sure it had both eves and no disfigurement, and this time I moved my fingers

in a circle, making the shrimp appear to be rolling and thrashing. Snap! Dvnasta

ate it. I repeated the process. Snap!

Again he took it. I was delighted. At this stage you would assume we

would have been satisfied. But Dynasta, one animal, was requiring at least an hour a day to feed (seahorses eat slowly),

and after every feeding mv hands and

arms were soaking wet. I decided to tr\' something else. At the next feeding, I placed Dvnasta's food in a long-handled net. I waited until he was close to the front glass and

slowly lowered the net on the other side of him, so no fish could grab his food. He gave it a good look, but he made no move towards the food. I then gave the net a slight back-and-forth movement,

causing the seed shrimp to appear to be

boiling around. Before I knew it. Dvnasta was in the net and eating

greedily, and I was not soaking wet! About this time we received a phone

call from another friend. He had a couple of adult seahorses, both refusing

to eat. Would we help? Bob and Cheri

grabbed the ice chest, the batteryoperated aerator, a 5-gallon jug of salt water (we keep 40 gallons on hand for emergencies) and rushed out. About an

Duke looks the tiny shrimp over well before deciding to dine while the banded coral shrimp below move in to see what's going on.

hour later, they returned with two very

thin seahorses. My heart sank when

I saw them. They had both turned

black—a sure death sign.

Going by our previous experience with

Dynasta, we placed our hands in the ice chest and gently massaged their leathery

backs, racing against time, hoping thev would quickly realize that the hand was

a friend. Sadly, we lost one, a female, within an

hour. The other, however, let us pet his back and showed no signs of panic. We

then offered, by hand, a live guppy. Weakly, he looked it over, while we held our breath. Snap! He took it, swallowed

it, and raised his little crown up towards

us as if to say "Thank you. More, please."

We offered him another, he took it, and we began to have hopes of saving him. For the next 24 hours we hand-fed

him in relays. As soon as he began to move around on his own and show

strength enough to protect himself, we

gently put him in the aquarium with

Dynasta. They were like two long-lost

friends. I have never seen such a beautiful water ballet as they put on together

that day. At the next feeding, I was concerned

over the new seahorse (which we now

called Duke). It would be his first "net feeding" experience. Would our trick work on him as it had on Dynasta?

The net was lowered, complete with

seed shrimp. Dynasta was into it like a

shot. Duke followed along and for a few

minutes just sat there, his tail hooked on

the rim of the net, his body only barely

inside. Dynasta was happily eating away. Duke just looked things over.

I could see once again several months of feeding problems ahead. Just when I was

about to give up, he stretched further

into the net, looked the shrimp over—

I gave the net a tiny wiggle—and he

struck! Down one went. He struck again,

down went another. Evidently Duke had

decided, if it's good enough for my

buddy, Dynasta, then I'll give it a try. About a week later, I made a deadly

mistake. We had gone snorkling at Galeta Island and brought back some

finger coral, I put it in with Dvnasta an'l Duke to enhance the beautv of the tank. That evening I found Dynasta with

his head caught in the jagged openings

of the coral, thrashing and trying to free himself. While I held Dvnasta, Bob

gradually applied pressure to the coral

20 Spring 1975
Duke snaps up a seed shrimp as Frenchie tries to figure out how he can get his share. The proximity of food brought even the normally nocturnal flame cardinal, left foreground, out of hiding.

until it broke. I immediately released Dynasta, who swam to his usual tree

plant. We looked him over closely, and

could see no external injury at all. But,

sadly, Dynasta refused his next feeding.

He never ate again, and he died. Any of you who may consider keeping

seahorses, please learn from our own

heartbreaking experience. Never place anv decorati\e item that has holes in it in the aquarium housing your seahorses

regardless of how pretty you might think

it will make the aquarium look. It's not worth the price you'll pay.

I am happy to say that Duke and our

other species are still thriving. We hope

in the near future to locate a mate for Duke. Who knows? We mav just end

up with an entire familv of "horses in the house!"

Guest writer Lori Daisey is married to Robert E. Daisey, a marine engineer with

the Ports Division. Her article "Can I Have

a Horse, Daddy?" ahmit the family's paso

fino horses appeared in Horse Lover's Magazine.

Now accustomed to net feeding, Duke shies away from the handheld baby guppy offered by Cheri. The French angel,

at right, shows no interest in the proceedings.

Lori Daisey watches as daughter Cheri moves Duke from one part of the tank

to another. The Daiseys say almost all of their fish will allow themselves to be handled.

The Panama Canal Review 21
Hore Than

By Dolores E. Suisman

THE PANAMA CANAL telephone

directory is a gold mine of infor- mation. It's an almanac, a history, and,

if one wishes to be prosaic, it can even be used to look up a telephone number.

For 60 \ears, its size and content have reflected the growth and organization of the Company. The buildup of

services as thev became necessarv and

the decline of services as they became

available in the Republic of Panama and

through mail and freight service from the United States are quickly visible. The

increase in personnel during wartime

and the decrease with the return of peace are shown in its pages. In a very

real way, it tells the story of the Panama

Canal. The first edition, published December 1, 1915, by the Panama Canal Press

at Mount Hope, was a modest 59-page

pamphlet-type publication bound in Government-green paper.

It was divided into two sections: a

list of departments and divisions of the Canal organization and branches of tlic Army, and an alphabetical list of in- dividuals. Out of a workforce of 26,897

emplo\ ees, the 2,000 who had occasion

to use a telephone in the performance

of their duties were listed. Of these, onlv 343 rated a residence phone.

The first name in the alphabetical

listing was Abston, J. M. and the last was Zunder, F. F. Neither a familiar

But many of the names in the 60- )ear-old book are well known today. Gen. George W. Goethals, office phone

Balboa 230, residence phone Balboa

300, is one. Other names in the 1915 book have

been in every edition from that day to

this.One is Benny, W. E., Foreman,

Paraiso Shops, Mechanical Division,

whose son, Benny, W. L., and grandson, Benny, W. L., Jr., are in the 1974

book. There was a Hummer, C. D., Wreckmaster (Hercules and Ajax), Mechanical

Division; the father of Hummer, C. W.,

whose name appeared in the 1925

directory, and the grandfather of Hummer, C. W., Jr., Assistant Chief of the Dredging Division. In 1915, De La Mater, W. W., Auditor's Office, Fortifications Division, was

listed. After he died, the '32 book added

De La Mater, Mrs. Ann, secretary to the Superintendent of Schools. Today,

their son, William L. De La Mater, is listed as Aide to the Governor. Although telephones had been in use

in the Canal Zone since 1910, an official directory provided a golden opportunity

to tell residents how to use a telephone;

which it did in great detail. "To Make a Local Call," it read, "Place the receiver to your ear and when

Central answers with the expression

'number' give the number. The operator

will repeat the number. If the party fails to answer, the operator will say, 'They

don't answer'." The section entitled "To Make a Call

to a Distant Exchange," included directions for calling such "distant" ex- changes as Pedro Miguel.

Cross-referencing became more complicated as the Panama Canal telephone

directory grew in size and scope. LogicalK- enough, in 1915 you turned

to T to find "Telephone Branch, Electrical Division." But bv 1916, in the big, new 80-page directory, when you turned

to T \ou found "Telephone, see page

28," and on page 28, under E, you

found "Electrical Division, Telephones."

Looking under C for the number of the Corral, \ou were referred to B for Balboa Corral, G for Governor's Coach- man, N for New Corral, or O for Old

Corral. Suggestions played a minor part in actually changing the directory. But

that didn't stop suggestions from flood- ing in, often the same suggestion year

after \'ear. There were suggestions that maps be included, and that thev be

deleted; that tide tables be included,

and that thev be deleted; that vertical index tabs be used and that horizontal index tabs be used. There were suggestions for looseleaf notebook directories and for directories with wood covers (from a man who made a wood cover

for his phone book every year). And for

22 Spmng 1975
60 \ears, including 1974, there were

suggestions that every hsting include a post office box number.

But it was the cross-referencing that

elicited more suggestions and complaints

than any other subject.

One: "To find the number of the Central Labor Office, it is necessary to know

that it comes under the Personnel Bureau, and to know that it is not listed

at all under Central Labor Office, the name bv which it is ordinarily known,

but under Chief, Local Rate Employment Branch."

Another: "To locate the telephone

number of the Administration Building

Janitor, vou have to look under Housing

Di\ision, Balboa Heights; Housing

Office, Janitor Foreman; Basement,

Administration Building."

And from the most persistent suggester: "It is suggested that in the future

editions of the phone directory that

credit unions be listed together in a bunch. There are quite a bunch of them

bv now and it would simplify matters somewhat for subscribers. They don't always know the exact name but they do

know the species of animal."

If suggestions did not change the di- rectory, they convinced the Executive

Secretary there was a problem. In 1917,

he wrote to the Panama Canal office in Washington, for a copy of the Washington, D.C., telephone directory "and in60

Years

With the onlv complete collection of Panama Canal directories stacked high on his desk, James W. Riley, Communications

Manager, Central Office, thumbs through the latest edition.

These odd-looking telephones in use when early Panama Canal

directories were published would be collector's items today

if any could be found.

The 1919 directory in this busy office meets original specifications

which included the requirement that a hole be punched in the comer and a wire loop provided for hanging it on a hook.

The Panama Canal Review 23
Adrien M. Bouche, retired Canal

employee, finds his name in the 1975

telephone book just as he did 60 years ago when the first edition came out.

formation which may be obtained with- out expense relative to the procedure

followed in collecting and compiling

telephone directory data." The result was a 110-page "big-city"

type telephone directory with Panama

Canal activities, military activities, and

individuals in one alphabetical listing. But if the problem of organization was solved, cross-referencing was still in its infancy.

The tollowmg year, an announcement

in The Panama Canal Record re- ported a new directory in print and

tnat "cross references are used extensively to assist in finding a number with

a minimum of research." "Used extensively" was an understatement. Now to find a militaiy number, you

had to know you were to look under M

for "Military" where you were advised

to see A for Army, B for Bands, Army,

C for Camps, F for Forts, G for Guards,

N for Navy, T for Troops, or U for U.S. Army.

The situation didn't improve with age. Thirty years later, you could find four and five consecutive listings, all fol- lowed by a reference to another listing

where you might or might not find a telephone number: Terminals Building

(see Port Captain); the Texas Company

(See Texas Petroleum); Ticket Offices (see Railroad Division); Time Inspection (see Accounting Division); Time

Keepers (see Division concerned); ad

infinitum. Every year the original little pamphlet grew as personnel increased and

pages of information were added.

The 10th anniversary edition, published in January 192.5, introduced the new and sensational automatic tele- phones.

Now instead of jiggling the hook for the operator, you were told to dial 112

for a fire, 113 for police, 114 tor in- formation or for an ambulance or the emergency operator.

Instmctions for using the automatic

phones began with ttie exclamation

CAUTIONII! CAUTlONIl! centered at the top of the page. Under this warning were listed all ot the things you coula

do wrong. The list ended with the dis- quieting thought that "You will probably discoimect your telephone it you

hang up the receiver before you finish talking."

Once an item was in the directory,

it took a declaration of war, subterfuge,

or a drastic budget cut to get it deleted. The warning that you could disconnect your phone by hanging up the receiver was reprinted in every issue for 27 years.

It wasn't long before the information pages included rates for long distance

telephone calls ( all calls beyond Darien

cost 25 cents); hospital visiting hours,

business hours in the Administration

Building (8 to 12 and 1 to 4, except Sundays and holidays )

; business hours for 16 post offices, a complete restaurant schedule and departure and arrival times

of a launch service to Taboga Island. Then the tide tables that were to be- come so controversial appeared, the Panama Railroad timetable, hours of business for commissaries and club- houses; and later, hours of operation for gasoline stations, banks, storehouses,

libraries and schools. There was no end to the vital informative material that was added year

after year. Soon there were moonrise

and moonset tables, sunrise and sunset

tables, passenger connections from the Canal Zone by ocean or air, an airmail schedule (to Miami and Brownsville

four times weekly), sailings of the Pan- ama Railroad ships.

And warnings. Subscribers were urged

to keep social calls on residence phones

to a minimum during business hours

and were told they must not use a Pan- ama Canal telephone in any manner

whatsoever to request or transmit in- formation concerning lottery numbers or

tickets, or any other business pertaining

to lotteries. There were directories within the di- rectory—a Directory of the Panama

Canal, a Directory of Officials of the Panama Government, and a Directory

of the Diplomatic and Consular Corps

Accredited to the Republic of Panama.

There was even an 11 -page alphabetical list of every steamship line that had a representative on the Isthmus

with capsuled information about the

services it offered for subscribers who

had to know that "The Societe Francaise d'Armement has a freight service

with steamship Alsace between Le

Havre and Chilean Ports." The additional pages of information

and the needs ot the employees in- creased the size of the telephone directory. There were soon 17 retail commissaries listed, 9 clubhouses, 6 churches,

and 4 private clubs. There was an abattoir, a bakery, a

coffee roasting plant, two ice cream

plants, and farms—the Corozal Hospital

Farm, Mindi Chicken Farm, Mount

Hope Hog Farm, New Chilibre Chicken

Farm, New Chilibre Truck Farm. And a cattle industry with eight Ust- ings—Caimito Pasture, Mandingo Pasture, Frijoles Plantation, Juan Mina

Plantation, Miraflores Pasture, Mount

Hope Pasture, Paraiso Pastures and

Summit Plantations and Pastures. The book continued to grow bigger, the listings more numerous, the cross- referencing more complex. But nothing

increased so much as the cost. The price of printing 2,000 copies of the first directory in 1915 was $145. By

1918, that figure had doubled. The

Army picked this unfortunate time to reply to the annual request for updated

telephone listings with a request for three Army lists—one alphabetical, an- other classified, and a third to be in- serted in the regular Panama Canal list- ing. And, they asked, please print each

list on a different and distinctive colored

paper. When apprised that this special treat- ment would cost $600, they decided to

let well enough alone. By the time the book was 5 years old, the cost of printing had increased to $1,435 for 4,000 copies, and a committee was formed to study the matter. For

2 years there had been an edition in January and July. This luxury was the

first to go. But when the committee

found that telephone expenses were in excess of revenue, they decided that 154

pages for a directory of a telephone sys- tem with only 2,518 subscribers "seems

larger than necessary."

Although anxious to economize, committee members were unanimous in their decision that employees could not

take their old phone books with them

when they moved because "it is not considered sanitary to carry the old books

along with the phone to new quarters." After many meetings, the committee

wrote a report that ended: "The question is largely whether the Canal wishes

to issue a first-class book, such as the

present one, or to issue a less attractive- looking book." They compromised by

keeping the first-class book and adding

24 Spmng 1975
to revenues by selling the book to subscribers for 40 cents and allowing

subscribers to the Panama and Colon

telephone service to have their names

inserted in the Canal directory upon

payment of $1.

Since just about e\'er\'one wanted his name inserted, this brought about the problem of what type of subscriber

could be listed without offending the

user of the directory.

Liquor companies were among others not considered proper for inclusion in the Canal directory. It was 30 vears before a realistic Governor penciled the note "no objection to any legitimate business" on a memo and that ban was

lifted. One of the few events that could and

did reduce the information pages of the Canal directory was the ad\-ent of \\'orld

War II. "Perhaps enemy countries should not be listed as having diplomatic and consular officials in Panama," someone suggested. Someone else wTote, "In view

of the existing international situation it

is e.xtremely difficult to determine just

who should be included in our telephone

directory." And the diplomatic and consular lists were never seen again.

The Army worried that "non-secret telephone directories in general use

constitute a perfect means for enemy

agents to acquire complete information

concerning military units," and the

military disappeared from the directory.

Now changes often meant less rather than more. The farms, the pastures, the markets were long gone and, in 1952,

the directions for using automatic

telephones were at long last removed. But the tide tables, which had stirred more controversy than anv other sub- ject—pro and con—seemingly were to go on forever. Then, in 1965, a daring decision was made, and a memo worthy of war plans written: "Cleared with Governor. He was informed of possible re- percussions. Following is decision. Re- move from telephone book. Put notice

in new directory. No Spillway or any

other notice." Some changes were more dramatic

than others. After the military was listed

in the directory for a few post-war vears, they were notified that the Canal could no longer afford to carry their listings, and a joint military-Panama Canal feasibility study of a uniform format for military and Panama Canal directories resulted in the large book that first appeared in 1958.

Staples became a big issue in 1959

when townsite maps appeared. If letters from subscribers are to be believed, no

one ever looked for directions or a house

of the Telephone Book 197S

Albert Farrell tj-pes card strips for new

entries and removes the old ones to produce up-to-date pages for reproduction

at the printing plant.

number except to find that what they were looking for was directly under

the staple.

The trusty old staples were thought

of almost fondly in 1974 when faulty

glue caused the directory to come apart

page by page after it was used a few

times. For the most part o\er the past 20

years, the telephone book went unmolested. Few people thought about changing it. In 1963, emergency numbers were

nio\'ed to an inside page and there was

an illustrated cover. A few years later photographs appeared on the cover, and

a contest in 1970 resulted in a t\yo-color

co\er. In 1972, the last big change: eveiy

page of information was printed in both

English and Spanish.

A collection of the directories—and

there is only one—is an invaluable source

of information. \\'ithout it, we might not know that Crede Calhoun was the first Civil Affairs Director. That the sun rose

in Balboa at 6:11 a.m. on .\ugust 26, 1926. That the tide was high in Cris- tobal at 2:22 a.m. on December 7, 1941. This might have been lost forever if, on September 25, 1914, the Executive

Secretary' hadn't scribbled a note to the

"Supt. Telephone and Signals," asking

that "as soon as practicable, please get

up and have printed on cards a tele- phone directory for this building."

That was yesterday. Today it is a modern, color coded book with a 2-year

calendar, a map showing time zones and

area codes in the United States and an

explanation of civil defense warning

signals. And tomorrow—who knows.

Maybe tide tables.

Mrs. Judith Holder, Electrical Division Administrative Officer, delivers page

panels of the 1975 directorN' to Juan

Fernandez, left, and Rafael Camargo,

right, who make the plates for printing the directory.

Roy Goreng checks uncut pages of townsite maps as they come off the press.

After the famous faultj'-glue fiasco of 1974,

Jose Aguilar makes siu'e the stapling job on the 1975 book is done to perfection.

The Panama Canal Review 25
Culinary

26 Spring 1975
IT HAS BEEN USED TO PAY

taxes, debts and wages, and to pepper the bride for good luck. It has

saved millions from starvation and today

provides half of the world's population

with 80 percent of its calories. More rice

is consumed throughout the world than

an\ other food. The tin\-, but mighty, little grain has been around for a long, long time—about

5,000 \ears—and it has had an important

role in the history of mankind. Early

Asian historical records show that, in China, in 2,500 B.C., it was so highhregarded that onh' the Emperor was

privileged to grow it. It had a place in religious rites, as a temple offering, and

was a svmbol of happiness and abundance. The cultivation of rice spread slowly

to the Mediterranean civilization. Tfie Eg\ptians were growing it in the 4th

centurv B.C. It was cultivated by the Greeks and the Romans and much later the Moors took it to Spain from where

it was introduced into the New World

with the conquest.

In the United States, South Carolina was the first to grow it and after the

Civil War, Louisiana became the rice center. Now it is grown also in Mississippi, Arkansas, Texas and California with Louisiana and Mississippi producing mainh' the long-grain tvpe and California growing the round-grain, known

also as Japanese rice. According to a 1964 studx- bv the In- ternational Rice Research Institute, there are more than 9,779 varieties of

rice and many different types, shapes,

and colors cultivated throughout the

world. The two main types are upland

rice, which is grown in ordinarv soil, and

aquatic or lowland rice, grown in hot

marshv regions or irrigated fields. It is prepared for sale as brown, unpolished,

polished, or coated. What we call wild

rice is not a true rice at all, but the grains

of a perennial grass native to North

America.

The lowlv grain has been assimilated

into the cooking of nearly every region on the globe with manv countries pro- ducing at least one rice dish that has

become imiversally known.

The Spanish have combined rice with

seafood and vegetables to give us paella;

in Italv, where surprising^' more rice than pasta is consumed, rice is cooked in chicken broth to produce the delicious

risotto; the Mideastem countries saute

rice in butter, olive oil and onion (often

adding slivered almonds) and produce

pilaf. And so it goes, each countrv eating

rice plain, boiled or sauteed, in soups, as a main dish combined with seafood.

poultry or meat, with vegetables, and as a dessert. An important staple in the Panamanian diet, rice usually is served twice a day and in large quantities. Per capita

consumption averages 320 grams a day

which amounts to about 220 pounds a

year, and, in comparison with other Latin American countries, only Surinam

and Guyana, with a daOy per capita con- sumption of 600 grams, eat more rice than Panama.

From 100,000 to 110,000 hectares of Panama's soil is devoted to the cultivation of rice and the 1973-74 crop pro- duced approximatelv 3,574,600 quintals

(hundredweight) of unhulled rice, vield- ing 60 percent of this amount in poHshed

and cook for 14 minutes. (Do not stir or disturb while it is cooking.) Remove

from heat and serve. For a fluffier rice leave cover on an additional 10 minutes

and let it steam.

Sauteed Rice

Melt 1 tablespoon butter in heavy pot. Saute 1 medium chopped onion over medium heat until golden. Add 1 cup

rice and stir until each grain glistens.

Add 2 cups water or chicken broth and

1 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil and

continue as for boiled rice. One of the most delicious rice dishes made in Panama is rice cooked in coco- nut milk.

rice. The province with the highest

vield is Ghiriqui, where 46 percent of the entire crop is produced. Code Province ranks second and Veraguas, third. The three principal varieties produced

in Panama are: Nilo 1 and Nilo 2, the

extra-long grain rices which constitute from 70 to 80 percent of the crop, which originated in Surinam and were

developed in El Salvador in Central America; and a varietv known as GIGA

4, developed in Colombia.

Though there are many theories on

the methods of cooking rice, two simple

methods which produce fluffy well- cooked grains are boiling it in water or other liquid and sauteing raw rice in butter or oil and then steaming it. Two

things should be remembered in cooking

rice: It should be cooked in only as much

liquid as it can absorb to preserve its valuable vitamins and a heavy saucepan

or pot with tight-fitting cover is a must.

Boiled Rice

To make 3 cups of rice, put 1 cup of raw rice, 2 cups of water, 1 teaspoon

salt and 1 tablespoon butter in a heavy,

2-quart saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat and turn heat to low. Stir it once with a fork, cover with a tight lid

By Fannie P. Hernandez

Arroz con Coco

(Coconut Rice)

I'i cups rice

1 coconut, grated

1 cup boiling water

P/i teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon butter 3 ctips water Pour boiling water over the grated

coconut, let it set a few minutes. When

it is cool enough to handle, squeeze the coconut to obtain the milk. Add the 3 cups of water to the grated coconut and set it aside. Put the milk in a heavy

pot and let it cook down until coco

butter forms and is a little toasted. Add

the rice and stir until it is golden color. Squeeze the grated coconut again and

add this water to the rice with the salt and butter. When the liquid has been

absorbed, turn heat to low, cover

tightU' and cook from 15 to 20 minutes.

A sweet rice that is not a dessert is

rice with raisins, often cooked in coco- nut milk, but water will do fine. Delici- ous with ham.

Rice with raisins, one of Panama's

favorite rice dishes, is shown at left. The recipe appears on the next page.

The Panama Canal Review 27
The cooking of rice, basis for many dishes, requires careful measuring and a heavy

pot with a tight fitting cover.

Rice with guandii, one of Panama's

traditional rice dishes, has a flavor all its own. While cooking, guandii exudes a

pleasing bouquet, made even more

appetizing when coconut milk is used

for the liquid.

Arroz con Pasas

(Rice With Raisins)

2 cups rice 4 cups water ar coconut milk

1 cup raisins % lb butter 2 sticks cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup brown su^ar (not packed)

Cook raisins in butter until plump.

Remove with slotted spoon. Add rice to butter and stir until grains are golden.

Add li(|uid, salt and the raisins. Boil

brisklv until liquid is just about all absorbed. Sprinkle the brown sugar on top

and when it has melted and almost dry,

cover, lower heat to as low as possible,

and cook 20 minutes. Remove from heat. With a big spoon stir up from bottom of pan and mix carefully. As t\-pical of Panama as the Panama

hat is rice with guandii, a pea which

resembles a small bean and has a unique

flavor. Guandu, also called pigeon peas, are available in bunches or shelled at the market when in season or in cans at the supermarkets.

Arroz con Guandu

{Rice With Guandu)

% cup guandu

1 cup rice

1 teaspoon salt 1 coconut, grated

4 cups hot water Put the grated coconut in water. Let

it set a few minutes, then squeeze to obtain the milk. Cook the guandii in the liquid until it is reduced to 2 cups. Add rice and salt. Cook over high heat

until liquid is absorbed. Cover and

steam for 14 minutes. (A delicious aroma

will permeate the kitchen.) Arroz con Polio came from Spain to Mexico, then Peru, Colombia and Cuba,

and each countrv has its own version. Panama has several. Here is one:

Arroz con Polio (Chicken With Rice)

1 3-lb chicken, cut up

la cups rice a cup olive oil

I'i teaspoon salt pinch of pepper

3 pimientos cut in strips 2 large ripe tomatoes, cut up

1 clove garlic

1 teaspoon oregano 2 peppercorns

hot water or hot chicken stock

1 teaspoon capers 12 black olives In a mortar, pound garlic, salt, peppercorns, pepper and oregano in a little

oil. Rub chicken pieces with this mixture and let it season a few minutes. In

a heavy pan (or paila), brown chicken

in the oil. Add tomatoes, capers, olives, 2 of the pimientos. Cook until chicken

is almost tender. Add rice and hot liquid

to cover about an inch. Cover and

simmer until the liquid has been ab- sorbed and rice is tender. Garnish with

remaining pimiento strips. Some cooks add a cup of cooked peas just before

serving.

With an abundance of seafood avail- able in Panama, there are dozens of recipes combining rice wth one sea- food or se\eral. Here is one that is served in man\' Panamanian homes.

Arroz con Camarones

(Rice With Shrimp)

1 onion, chopped

2 tomatoes

2 cloves garlic 2 pounds shrimp

1 small can tomato paste 2 tablespoons olive oil 2 cups rice 4 cups water

olives and capers to taste

Fr\- the onion, tomatoes and garlic in

oil. Add the cleaned raw shrimp. Add

4 cups hot water and cook for 5 minutes.

Remove the shrimp. Add the rice to the

liquid and cook until rice is tender. Add

the shrimp, capers and olives and mix

carefulK- with a fork. Cover and remove

from heat. Serve after 5-10 minutes.

Rice is used in Panamanian desserts,

too, in either a rice pudding, similar to our old-fashioned rice pudding, or a

favorite rice dessert made with coconut

milk and chocolate.

Arroz con Cacao J (Chocolate Rice)

'

'i cup rice

1 cup water

1 cup coconut milk 4 sticks cinnamon

1 can condensed milk

1 small can chocolate syrup

'/i cup sugar Soak the rice overnight in enough

water to cover. Add coconut milk and

cinnamon sticks to rice. Simmer until it has dissolved, adding more coconut

milk to maintain a soft consistencv. Re- move cinnamon sticks. Add sugar, con- densed milk and s\Tup. Cook stirring

constantl\- over low heat until custard

like. Cool. Serve with coconut cream. Not a Panamanian recipe, this version of rice pudding comes from Brazil.

Arroz con Cafe

(Coffee With Rice)

a cup rice 2 cups strong coffee (made with instant or brewed)

3 talAespoons butter 3 eggs, well beaten

!'j cup Kara (dark)

'i cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla a teaspoon salt

I'i cups milk Cook the rice in the coffee for 20

minutes. Add butter. Combine the eggs

with remaining ingredients and add to the rice and coffee. Pour into a buttered baking dish. Set the dish in a pan of water and bake 30 minutes. Serve warm

wifli milk or cream.

28 Spring 1975
Shipping

Notes

ADMIRAL SAMUEL E. MORISON,

L. Pulitzer Prize winning author, best known for his books "The European Dis- covery of America: The Northern Voyages" and his latest book "The European

Discovery of America: The Southern

Voyages" was aboard the SS Santa Mercedes this year when she sailed from Los

Angeles around South America. Morison was selected by the Prudential Lines to

retell the adventures of the famed na\'i- gator, who first discovered the Strait of Magellan in 1520. The Santa Mercedes

took only 2 days to transit the Strait compared to the 37-day voyage of Magellan.

During the cruise, the ship called at Balboa, Manzanillo, Acajutla, Cartagena, Curacao, La Guaira, Rio de Janeiro, Santos and Buenos Aires before transit- ing the Strait at the height of what is the summer season in that area.

Morison, who is now 87 years old, is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Har\ard and winner of everv prize for

histor\' and belles lettres in the United

States (among them the Pulitzer Prize twice and the Emerson-Thoreau medal)

.

He is also a mariner who has reconnoitered and often duplicated the well known voyages made in the age of discovery.

Morison could add another dimension to the trip through the Strait be- cause of his vast knowledge concerning

Magellan's original voyage.

The "Royal Viking Sky," one of the

three cruise ships of the Royal Viking

Line, passes through Gaillard Cut.

In his book "The Southern Voyages,"

he points out, for instance, that Magellan

put to sea on the first vovage around the world with the full knowledge that three Spanish captains on his fleet planned to murder him.

It was on Palm Sunday at St. Julian

in Patagonia that the mutineers finallv attempted to put their plan into effect. Thev seized three of Magellan's ships

and demanded his surrender. Magellan,

however, through audacitv and extra- ordinary seamanship managed to recapture his fleet with only one loyal man

injured. Since mutiny was a capital

offense, Magellan had one captain drawn

and quartered, the second hanged, and

the third one was marooned.

As cruise passengers relaxed in comfort dining on choice foods, thev could

not but be awed by the accomplishments

of Magellan under such hardship conditions. Morison reported that food be- came so scarce on the first long haul

across the Pacific that rats were sold for food at $1.16 gold and sailors often

resorted to eating the leather chafing gear off the yards.

The Santa Mercedes and her sister ships, the Santa Mariana, Santa Maria,

and Santa Magdalena, make regular

visits to the Isthmus on their sailings

from west coast ports to Canada, Mexico

Central America, the Caribbean and

around South America every 14-16 days

throughout the year.

Trans-Canal Cruises

More and more cruise ships are fea- turing trips through the Panama Canal. During 1975, approximately 8,000

passengers will sail with Royal Viking

Line on 16 Trans-Canal cruises, originating from both coasts and including one

from Xew Orleans.

In its promotional material, Roval

\'iking Line writes of the Canal: "Time was, a trip through the Panama

Canal suggested banana boats, steaming

jungles and small bands of intrepid

travelers determined to reach a distant port in farawa\' South America, or even

points bevond. Todav. things are differ- ent, passengers ha\e a front-row seat for the trip, in a choice of air-conditioned lounges."

Roval Viking ships offer all first- class accommodations (with 94 percent

having an ocean \iew) for approximately

500 passengers with spacious staterooms and public area. The decor is Scandinavian, with artwork by the area's finest

artists. Dining is international with native specialties from some ports of call included in daily menus. As on the Prudential trip around South- America, guest lecturers provide information

about the various ports of call. One of their lecturers was Irving

Stone, author of "The Agony and the

Ecstasy," "The President's Lady" and

"Lust for Life." He was on the Royal

Viking, Sea when she transited the Canal on January 12 during a 96-day aroundthe-world cruise. Although the Royal X'iking Line is onlv a few years old, its three ships, the

The Panama Canal Review 29
CANAL COMMERCIAL TRAFFIC BY NATIONALITY OF VESSELS

First Half Fiscal Year

197S 1974 1965-69

Nationality Belgian

British Chilean Chinese Nat'l

Colombian

Cypriot

Danish

Ecuadorian French German, West _ Greek

Italian Japanese

Liberian Netherlands Nicaraguan

Norwegian

Panamanian

Peruvian

Polish South Korean

Soviet Swedish

United States Yugoslavia

All other

No. of

transits 71 638

68

8070

136

15150

123 379

633

116 646

950 207

42 428

509

97

4556

76

171 538

43 434

Tons

of cargo 535,377

7,030,475

828,951

1,050,329

148,780

911,080

1,204,269

419,881

733,936

2,303,193

9,410,121

743,403

6,042,448

17,812,491

921,077

75,266

6,815,866

3,825,363

1,012,647

288,509

384,599

487,638

1,753,471

4,649,986

468,751

3,399,216

No. of

transits 78 638

43

104

94

107

17546

113 378

701

135 643

894 229

37 518 505

9020

50

132

163 616

34 425

Tons

of cargo 279,717

6,924,670

665,614

1,146,805

230,816

649,689

1,362,868

509,732

663,295

2,516,863

9,478,162

1,025,817

6,923,312

15,417,105

1,334,531

68,318

7,636,929

3,256,365

838,128

92,909

302,761

822,350

1,248,731

5,045,671

448,961

3,332,238

Aug. No.

transits 39 679

60

57 117

7 19833

107 590

255

110

468

674 257

36 739

26179

71427 225

823

12 368

Avg. tons

of cargo 100,725

5,072,872

406,198

443,818

225,971

50,000

1,137,816

41,799

421,446

2,063,139

2,606,268

743,021

3,431,691

8,920,295

1,086,592

55,717

7,171,883

1,215,812

387,875

56,174

87,421

207,691

1,462,003

4,602,063

134,854

1,435,550

Total 6,757 73,257,123 6,968 72,222,357 6,242 43,568,694

TR.\FFIC MOVEMENT OVER PRINCIPAL TRADE ROUTES

First Half Fiscal Year

Trade routes-darge commercial vessels, 300 net tons or over) East coast United States-Asia Europe-West coast South America

East coast United States-West coast South America

Europe-West coast United States/Canada

Europe—Asia Europe—Oceania

East coast Canada—Asia United States Intercoastal (including Hawaii)

East coast South America—Asia West coast South America-West Indies

All othersTotaL
gallon shipment originated in Tacoma,

Wash.

It is being shipped to the Middle East

for a billion-dollar desert reclamation

project financed by Arab oil money.

Plans are to mix it with pulverized wood

chips, spread it on the desert sands, and

plant grass to build soil and prevent

wind erosion. The two Arab states have

contracted for 50,000 metric tons a year, according to an official of Worldwide

Brokers, of Galliano, La. The North- west quota is 2.50,000 gallons a month,

according to a local contractor. Since the dairy business is suffering

from the recession, this new project is considered a life saver for the industry. As one farmer said, "We have been

operating $3,000 a month in the red. Now we can make up to $4,000 a month on manure. It seems like a fairy

tale."

The Use of English

New value has recently been given to English by its official adoption by the

International Maritime Consultative Organization as the common sea language,

according to a report in Fairplay Inter- national Shipping Weekly.

In commenting on this, Fairplay

noted: "In a world in which a misunderstood

message or order could result, say in the destruction of most of the beaches

of north-west Europe bv a wrecked verv

large crude carrier, the importance of an

internationally accepted means of communication is clear enough, and the

English speakers of the world may well

feel grateful that it is their language

which has been chosen. Those who believe that they speak the tongue of Shakespeare, however, may well raise an eyebrow at some of the words which

are said nowadays to be theirs—doppler,

mach number, coriolis, isogriv and VORTAC, for example, the latter being

defined as "a co-location of VOR and the distance-measuring element of a TACAN

ground beacon."

Largest Ship Afloat The American Bureau of Shipping

has recently classed the largest vessel

afloat. It is the 476,292 dead weight

tonnage Globtik London. The vessel, of

British registry, is approximatelv 1,181

feet long, 203 feet wide, and 118 feet

in height from the keel to the main deck. EXiring 1974, the ABS classified seven

other tankers of over 250,000 dead

weight tonnage.—WKF

PRINCIPAL COMMODITIES SHIPPED THROUGH THE CANAL

(All cargo figures in long tons)

Pacific to Atlantic

First Half Fiscal Year

Commodity 1975 Manufactures of iron and steel 4,832,370 Petroleum and products 4,385,673

Ores, various 3,117,063

Sugar l'842',260 Lumber and products 1,674,555

Pulpwood '919!416 Coal and coke 881,163

Metals, various 834,817 Bananas 789!980 Food in refrigeration (excluding bananas) 714,949

Sulfur 686,437

Fishmeal 537,532

Autos, trucks, accessories and parts 509,580

Paper and products 353,146

Chemicals, unclassified 245,251

All other 6,377^983

Total 28,702,175

1974 3,401,890

5,843,529

3,074,279

1,832,808

2,640,783

809,518

297,038

475,767

764,270

813,758

401,777

232,146

461,982

244,083

153,874

5,583,155

5-Yr. Aug. 2965-69 1,816,926

643,782

2,957,624

1,460,243

2,196,431

374,817

95,051

651,078

623,764

499,550

103,009

754,400

38,594

141,696

118,463

4,354,577

27,030,657 16,830,005

Atlantic to Pacific

First Half Fiscal Year

Commodity 1975 Coal and coke 13,019,920 Petroleum and products 7,577,168 Corn 3,392,113

Phosphate 2,826,222

Wheat 2,738,492

Soybeans 1,911,300

Ores, various 1,232,583

Sorghum 1,183,903 Manufactures of iron and steel 1,050,553

Metal, scrap 1,036,239

Sugar 756,192

Fertilizers, unclassified 636,954

Metals, various (excluding scrap) 503,338

Chemicals, unclassified 466,329

Paper and products 378,770

All other 5,844,872

Total 44,554,948

1974 8,262,531

8,749,089

5,675,008

2,545,084

3,301,650

2,065,802

1,250,883

1,458,630

805,054

1,994,046

715,768

642,653

362,340

712,419

383.702

6,267,041

5-Yr. Aug. 1965-69 4,483,207

7,382,958

1,339,076

1,911,363

621,073

1,165,254

816,530

N.A. 907,176

1,458,047

406,555

218,304

661,758

428,399

349,756

4.589,233

45,191,700 26,738,689

CANAL TRANSITS-COMMERCIAL AND U.S. GOVERNMENT

First Half Fiscal Year

Aug. No.

transits 1975 1974 1965-69

Atlantic Pacific

to to Pacific Atlantic Total Total Total Commercial vessels: Oceangoing 3,335 3,422 6,757 6,968 6,231

Small! ^94 jgQ 354 ggg 276

Total Commercial 3,529 3,582 7,111 7,333 6,507

U.S. Government vessels: ^ Oceangoing 53 54 107 95 447

Small' 24 33 57 58 63

Total Commercial and

U.S. Government 3,606 3,669 7,275 7,486 7,017

1 Vessels under 300 net Ions or 500 displacement tons. 2 Vessels on which tolls are credited. Prior to July 1, 1951, Government-operated ships transited

free.

The Panama Canal Review 31
Pastoral But Progressive

By Jose T. Tunon

IN EARLY 1520, MORE THAN 100

years before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock, a small group of Spanish

colonials founded Nata de los Caballeros, the oldest city on the Isthmus. Its predecessors, Santa Maria la Antigua

and Nombre de Dios, in Darien, were

burned bv Drake in 1595 and Morgan

destroyed Old Panama in 1671. Nata served as an outpost for the con- quest and colonization of the western

part of Panama and for 300 years, until 1820, was the capital city for western Panama.

Its inhabitants engaged in farming

and cattle raising activities and in the

later part of the 16th century they lived mainlv from the profits of corn sent to Panama for feeding the mules and slaves that carried goods between Panama and

N'ombre de Dios. For many years Nata remained a sleepy, interior rural community. Its in- habitants eked out a living using primitive farming methods. With the exception of the ancient church with the

colonial facade and the old tower, and

a sterling silver pelican, a treasure reminiscent of past glories, which attracted

tourists who ventured to the interior, Nata had little impact on the remainder

of the Republic after the coloiiial era.

Above: Showing the ravages of time is one of the two bells that called worshipers

to mass at the old Church of Nata during colonial days. The bells, which were

cast in Lima in 1690, are currently displayed at the Museum of Colonial Religious Art

at the old Santo Domingo Chapel in Panama City.

But in 1938, when Compariia Pa- namefia de Alimentos, S.A. (Panama

Foods Co. ) established a milk processing

plant there, Nata and the surrounding

areas gradually were revitalized from a centuries-old lethargy. The plant's tall chimney, visible from a distance, signifies that Nata has entered the industrial era and once more is playing an important role in the destiny of her country.

Beginning modestly with an annual

production of 519,000 liters of milk,

Panama Foods has experienced a progressively increasing rate of growth.

Todav's annual milk production of 20

million liters is evidence of the company's tremendous impact on farming

and cattle raising in the Central Provinces of Panama. In addition to pro- ducing evaporated and condensed milk, the companv has expanded its activities to include the processing of other foods

that are produced in the area and is today the most important commercial

canning industry in the country.

In 1947, the farmers of Nata wit- nessed the beginning of a new project

that would soon make possible their entrv into the modem marketplace.

The company, using new technology,

began experimenting with the growing,

processing, and marketing of tomatoes. Two years later with the fruition

of much research and development,

408,611 pounds of tomatoes were pro- cessed bv the companv and the well- known Maggi products, including paste, sauce, juice and catsup were produced

in Nata and sold on the local market. Company agriculture experts advise tomato growers on the control of dis- eases in tomato plants, a major problem

in the tropics, and teach them how to improve the quality of the product. The

company has established a 50-hectare experimental field near Rio Hato in Code Province, where these experts are continuosly experimenting with irriga- tion methods, various insecticides, fertilizers and herbicides in their efforts to produce the best quality tomato varieties

for industrial purposes. Plans are to attempt to increase production to 80

million pounds a year, and to export

these products. At another experimental tomato field

in Rio Grande, an area about 40 kilo- meters from Rio Hato, technicians are experimenting with tomato varieties

resistant to fungi, bacteria, and other

soil-born diseases that cause tomatoes to wilt in unfavorable environments such

as that caused by flooding in that area. Tomato wilt has been one of the most bothersome problems to tomato growers. Experimenting with a variety of seeds brought from all over the world by the

32 Spring 1975
National Agriculture Institute, the Ministry of Agricultural Development and

by Panama University, several varieties ha\e been developed that seem to be

resistant to wilt. At harvest time, as many as 150 to- mato pickers are emploved and there

are plans to mechanize the operation to reduce the high cost of production and

ultimately benefit both the growers and

the company.

In addition to processing milk and to- matoes, Panama Foods cans guandu, a small pea-like legume which grows on

vines about 6 feet high, often referred to

as "pigeon peas" by the English speaking population on the Isthmus. The

guandu's distinctive flavor and pleasing aroma while cooking make it a favorite food of Panama, where erroneouslv it is often considered a product grown onlv

in this country. Actually, guandu is popular in Puerto Rico, the Dominican

Republic, Jamaica, Brazil, Trinidad and

in Kenva and Uganda in Africa. In the past, Puerto Rico was one of the main producers, but due to the high

cost of harvesting, its cultivation has

fallen off and today the Dominican

Republic is the main exporter.

Aware of the nutritional value of guandu, the United Nations has dis- patched dietary experts to India and

Ceylon (now known as Sri Lanka) to inform the inhabitants of these famineplagued areas of the merits of guandu

and to encourage its local cultivation. In general, the main problem in the

cultivation of guandu, which requires very little care in the field, is the high

cost of har\'est and the shelling of the

pods, which is done by hand. In Panama,

where it is largely a home production.

with the farmer planting his own guandu

fields, then selling the yield to the company, it has so far been economicallv

successful. Benefitting from the industrialization of this legume are approximately 400

families, mainly in the areas around

La Atalaya in Veraguas Province. They

are supplying Panama Foods approximately 1,600,000 pounds of guandu a

year. The company would like to triple

guandu production in the next 2 years, with hopes of obtaining a market for

this product in the United States. Although the Panama Foods installa- tion at Nata processes products grown

only in that area, the impact of the in- dustry extends to the provinces of Code,

Los Santos, Herrera and Veraguas, with

a total population of about half a

million. In 1970, now producers of Nestle,

Maggi and Libby products in Panama,

the company extended its sphere of

acti\ities to the fertile lands of Chiriqui

Province and took over the management of the Chiriqui Milk Co. in Boqueron. Here it processes powdered milk,

fruit juices and vegetables that are grown in the cooler areas of that province. But one of the principal functions

of the Boqueron installation is found

41 kilometers northeast of there, at San

Andres, more than 400 meters above sea

level, near the Costa Rican border. It is a pineapple plantation of the finest in- dustrial quality and constitutes one of the company's most important projects.

The fertile volcanic soil of the region and

the infrared rays of the sun at that particular altitude give the pineapple the

ideal flavor for industrial use, according

A chemist tests the purity of Panama

Food Company products at a modem

laboratory in the Nata installation.

Revitalized from

a centuries-old

lethargy

A field of grain and a dairy herd that supphes milJc to the Chiriqui Milk Plant in Boqueron form a scene of tranquil beauty.

rHi; Panama Canal Revizw 33
-, \

1

"^'<^

k

Employees of the Boqueron processing

plant check beet slices prior to canning.

Fruits and vegetables of the area are processed at this plant.

A smiling employee operates a machine

which extracts juice from the delicious oranges grown in the Boqueron area.

Cans of diced beets are

packed in cartons at the

Nat^ plant. Also shown are

cases of maracuya juice.

fc-^^'i^

^

Cans are manufactured at the Panama

Foods Company plant at Nata. These

will be used for evaporated milk.

to Juan Wintgens, head of the Agriculture Department of the company. Commenting on the excellent quality of another variety of pineapple produced

in Panama, the delectable "water pineapple" grown in Taboga, Wintgens ex- plained that it is perhaps the most tasty fresh pineapple, but it is not suitable

for canning.

The San Andres pineapple field covers 22 hectares, each hectare containing

40,000 pineapple plants. Slips have been

imported from Martinique and Hawaii,

with superior results from the "smooth

Cayenne" variety from Hawaii.

Pineapple cultivation requires a large

investment, extensive fumigation, weeding, fertilizers and constant care. This

project is in its infancy and large scale production will depend on the ability of individual growers to supply the com- panv with sufficient fruit. Located at the pineapple plantation,

and appearing a little out of place in this environment, is a row of stables housing several dozen high-grade calves. They are part of 2,000 purebreds that the companv is planning to distribute among its milk suppliers to improve the

qualitv and quantitv of milk with result- ing benefits for the company and the

suppliers. The calves will be sold to the

cattle raisers at a nominal cost, which

Shown are two varieties of tomatoes

that seem to be resistant to wilt, one of

the most bothersome problems to tomato

growers coping with the tropical

environment.

34 Spring 1975
Agriculture expert Alberto Delgado, at

right, discusses the characteristics of the

pineapple that make it suitable for canning

willi Jean P. Robert, left and Juan

Wintgens, engineers working with the

Panama Foods Company.

Passion fruit is

popular neiv

local product

can be deducted from their payments

for supplying milk. Dairy experts also

will continue to offer technical assistance

in matters of feeding and disease control. A short distance from the pineapple

plantation, the company has a 2-hectare

plot planted with granadilla, one of several varieties of passion fruit, com- monly known as maracuva. The fruit, about the size and shape of a small pear, has a tough hull and the inside contains small black seeds surrounded by aro- matic, yellow pulp. Its taste somewhat

resembles the peach with a tinge of apricot and the exotic tang of guava. A little juice goes a long way as it has a

l^enetrating flavor but it is ideal for mixing with pineapple and other fruit, in cocktails, punch and for flavoring fruit desserts. Since it is said that the taste lingers like a happy memorv, it is in great demand. The plant, a vine, needs

\er\' little care and hardlv an\' in\'est- ment. It is a matter of planting, putting

a stick in the ground for it to climb on, and waiting for the fruit to fall when

it is ripe. Because of these attributes Panama Foods is encouraging the cul- tivation of maracuva. The o\'erall economic impact of Pan- ama Foods on the fi\e provinces where

the company operates is difficult to determine. However, in purchases, ser\-

ices and salaries, the company's output

is approximately $15 million a year.

.'Vnd benefits derived from its numerous

experimental projects and the technical

assistance offered to the hundreds of dirt farmers and cattle raisers are incal- culable.

ft.-

A field of maracuva, a

species of passion fruit, in

San Andres, Chiriqui

Province. Juice of the

maracuya is in great demand

internationally.

Part of the herd of 2,000

purebred calves to be

distributed to their milk

suppliers by the Chiriqui

Milk Company to improve

the quality and quantity

of milk.

The P.^n'ama Canal Review 35




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