IHt

Gift ofthe Panama Canal Museurn

Vol. 3, No. 8 BALBOA HEIGHTS, CANAL ZONE, MARCH 6, 1953 5 cents Cunard Liner Transits Canal

ONLY CRUISE LINER to transit the Canal

during this tourist season was the. S. S. Caronia of the Cunard Line. The handsome big ship—she

grosses 34,183 tons and is 715 feet overall length

was southbound February 15. She had aboard 525 passengers for the cruise which is to take her completely around South

America.

Personnel Ceilings Set For Each Bureau

In Government-Company Organization

Force ceilings have been fixed not only

for the overall Government-Company

organization, but also for each Bureau in the organization, Gov. J. S. Seybold has informed all Bureau directors. The ceilings were set in accordance with

the personnel limitation order of President Eisenhower and the Bureau of the Budget and limit both U. S.- and Local-rate

positions. As long as the order, which affects all federal units, remains effective the ceil- ings will not be exceeded. In the Government-Company, personnel may drop

below the ceiling—fixed on the late January level. In line with the directive which calls for the strictest possible economy, a study

is being made which may result in the lowering of the number of employees. The lowering of the personnel numbers

is expected to be accomplished through normal attrition, such as retirements and

resignations, and the combination of duties of some of the positions which so become vacant. Company-Government Figures For the overall ceiling covering the Panama Canal Company, the figure is approximately the 3,496 full-time U. S.- rate and 11,876 Local-rate employees

carried on the rolls at the end of January. These figures include the New York

and Washington offices and temporary

locks overhaul employees. The Canal Zone Government figure, also arrived at from the late January

level, is 1,223 full time U. S.- and 1,415 Local-rate workers. While Governor Seybold has set a ceil- ing for each Bureau, he has permitted the Directors flexibility within the Bureaus. The Civil Affairs Director, for instance may lose an employee from the Police Division and add one to the Schools

Division (an example only), provided he

does not exceed his Bureau ceiling and

the change is agreed to by the Manage- ment staff. Replacement recruiting will be per- mitted as will transfers, provided that

neither the recruiting nor the transfers cause the employing Bureau to go over its personnel ceiling, E. A. Doolan, Personnel

Director explained. Daily Record Kept The Personnel Bureau is responsible

for maintaining a daily running record of

all positions which are filled, both U. S.- and Local-rate, in all Bureaus. Government-Company personnel at the end of January, when the ceiling figures were derived, was slightly (See page is)

Construction Projects

For This Fiscal Year

Are Still Under Study

No curtailment is planned in the quarters construction proj- ects at Corozal and on Empire

Street in Balboa for which

contracts have been awarded

but the proposed elementary

school at Corozal, orginally scheduled for this fiscal year's program, will not be built this year.

The Canal's entire construction pro- gram for this fiscal year and next, as well as the operating programs for the Company and Government, has been under

careful review in conformity with the economy program of the national administration. In addition to the postponement of the construction of the school at Corozal, three street improvement projects are proposed for elimination from this year's program. These are the widening of Thatcher Highway from the ferry to Bruja Road, and the repaving of La

Boca Road and a section of Hains Street

in Diablo Heights. The various construction projects scheduled under this fiscal year's pro- gram which have not been started are

still under study and the decision on any

curtailment or postponement of these will be made individually. A report on the proposed construction

projects for the coming fiscal year was

submitted this week to the Bureau of the Budget by Governor Seybold. He left last Saturday for Washington to attend

the meeting of the Board of Directors of the Panama Canal Company and to confer with Budget officials on Canal

appropriations for the fiscal year 1954

for which he submitted a revised report. No announcement on the revised budget

will be made until the new figures are submitted to Congress by the President. The quarters construction program

constitutes the bulk of the capital expenditures planned for this fiscal year. A

total of 168 family apartments are to be

built in the new townsite development at Corozal and 24 family apartments will be

built on Empire Street in Balboa. The quarters construction program at Cardenas is one of the projects still under

study and bids for the work there, which

are now being advertised, are scheduled

to be opened April 15. The other principal new construction

projects slated under this year's program

include a new elementary school and

kindergarten at Paraiso, for which a contract has already been awarded; a sewage pump station at (See pose 12)
THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW March 6, 1953 Diablo Heights

Fire Station

To Be Closed

Announcement that the Diablo Heights

fire station is to be closed was made last week by Governor Seybold at the February Governor-Employee conference. The Governor told the conference that the action is an economy measure in accordance with the Federal directive to reduce expenditures. The work of fire protection in this Pacific side settlement, he said, has been

"very, very light." The Diablo Heights

area will be covered from the Balboa

Central Station. The effective date has not been decided, but the change is expected within the next 90 days. During the subsequent discussion, the Governor told the conference that there

is no present plan to consolidate the Panama Canal Fire Division with fire units of the armed services, as some of the

conferees apparently feared. The announcement was one of several made by Governor Seybold during the

conference. He also announced an in- crease in water rates but said that while

this would affect commercial concerns and the armed services it would have no

affect on Canal households. Budget Conference

Governor Seybold told the conference

that he was leaving the following Satur- day for Washington where, in addition to attending the Board of Directors' meeting, he would confer with the Bureau

of the Budget on the 1954 fiscal year program. The conference was necessary because

of Federal orders to economize wherever

possible in government units. At the time, the Governor said, he

could not foresee what action the Budget

Bureau would take, nor what projects would be considered indispensable. As customary, the conference opened

with a discussion of items raised at pre- vious conferences. One of these was Commissary products, bread especially. The Governor said that the Commissary is taking action toward producing

a better bread, but cautioned the conference that in a recent appraisal of Commissary operations it was evident

that the retail stores have carried too much variety in their stock. Can Bring Cost Cut

Elimination of varieties and concentration on fewer good items can reflect

in a cost cut which will be to the customers

advantage, he said. The Commissaries, the Governor continued, are taking "corrective action" re- garding dented cans and packaging of potatoes and onions. Flour of a standard brand is now being used in the pastry

products. Governor Seybold asked the employees

present if they would prefer that the Commissaries carry standard brands of canned goods or nonstandard brands of good quality which, because they are not

nationally advertised, might be cheaper

for the customer. Consensus of opinion of the conference was a preference for standard brands

with the desire that some nonstandard

brands be also carried. The conference was also told that a

7-foot extension had been made to each

More Than Thousand Local-Rate Workers

Are Upgraded As Result Of Job Studies

Early in August 1952, Governor John

S. Seybold initiated an intensive review

of more than 3,000 local-rate jobs at grade 7 and above. As a result of this study more than

1,000 local-rate employees of the Panama

Canal Company-Canal Zone Govern- ment have received upgradings of from

one to six grades. A summary of the results of the study made by the Personnel Bureau was

released today from the Governor's Office. The upgradings represent a total of approximately $120,000 in salary in- creases annually. There has been a

general upward increase in grade distribution, particularly in grades 11 through 15. Since the inauguration by The Panama

Canal in February 1948 of the present graded local-rate wage scale a continuing study of local-rate graded positions has been made. This study gives recognition

to special duties, assignments and responsibilities.

During the first 4 years of the pro- gram—that is, between 1948 and last August—it was necessary to study posi- tions in groups, or in large occupational

categories with a minimum of time spent on individual positions. This procedure

generally produced good results in occupations in which each employee's work

is identical with others in the group.

Positions at grade 7 and above, however, have individual characteristics which are not found, to as large a degree,

in positions below this grade level. As examples of the promotions in the upper brackets of the pay scale, in February 1952, there were 48 employees in grade 11; 11 in grade 12; 2 in grade 13; none in grade 14 and 1 in grade 15. In February 1953 the corresponding

figures were 150 in grade 11; 363 in grade 12; 7 in grade 13; 11 in grade 14; and 4 in grade 15. The increases which resulted from the study are shown in the following table. Grade to Which Promoted

8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Totals

7 58 3 149 65

135

121042

105

2 75

8 224

9 1 334

34

1 19

14

179 10 458

11 6

26

4 2

1

41

12 30

13 6

14 1 58 152 200 169 369 27 36 3 1,014 The table below illustrates the distribution of total force in each grade in comparison with one year ago.

Percent of Total Graded Full-Time Force, Grades 1-15 February 25, 1952 February 7, 1953 Number Percent Number Percent

7 1,761 973

242 472

48

112

(1

1

15.14 8.37 2.08 4.06

.41 .09

.02 .00

.00

1,654

613

272

234

150 363

7

114

15.50

8 . 5.74

9 2.55

10 2.19

11 .. 1.40

12 3.40

13 .07 14 .10

15 .04 3,510

(Grades 7-15) 30.17

(of 1-15) 3,308(Grades 7-15) 30.99(of 1-15)

It will be noted that there has been a general upward increase in grade distribution, particularly in grades 11 through 15. In future reviews of local-rate graded

jobs, it is planned to extend the individual

position detailed study program to more

positions, both at the grade 7 and above

level and to certain selected occupations below grade 7 where individual position

responsibilities are clearly identified.

end of the eaves at the Balboa clubhouse

entrance to eliminate downdrip; that replacement of the five noncomputing

gasoline pumps used in Canal gas sta- tions would cost between $3,000 and

$4,000; that a qualified lifeguard is stationed at the Hotel Washington

swimming pool; and that, because tele- phones are available to most U. S.-rate employees, fire alarm boxes will not be

installed in new U. S.-rate communities. Ancon To Have Cafeteria The Governor also reported that be- cause of declining business and rising

costs, the Ancon Clubhouse restaurant

will be converted to a cafeteria. The

decision was made to convert to the

cafeteria system rather than increase

prices.

This was protested and a reconsideration asked by Charles Hammond of the Pedro Miguel Civic Council. The conferees held a long discussion on the new method of application for quarters, a number feeling that the system

to go into effect March 1, whereby only

three choices were allowed, is restrictive. The Governor said he would investigate

this. Jack Rice of the Cristobal-Margarita

Civic Council asked that an investigation be made of the short time between the warning bell and the closing of the gates

at railroad crossings in Cristobal. Sam

Roe of the Pacific Civic Council, F. H. Hodges of the Locomotive Engineers, and Robert C. Daniel of the Railway

Conductors, all commented {See page 12)
March 6, 1953 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW $27,000 Goal Is Set

For Zone Chapter's

Red Cross Campaign

March is Red Cross month in the Canal

Zone, as it is for hundreds of Red Cross

chapters in the Dinted States. The Canal Zone goal for this year's drive has been

set at $27,000. Of this sum, 75 percent will remain on

the Isthmus for the use of the Canal Zone

Chapter. The remaining 25 percent will be sent to the United States to finance the national program which provides

assistance for such disasters as floods and

fires. Victims of last year's floods in Oklahoma and this year's floods in Holland and England have received Red

Cross assistance. In addition, the national program this year is being enlarged in two important

activities: Provision of additional recre- ational facilities for U. S. troops overseas and expansion of the National Blood Program to obtain plasma for a serum to protect children from the paralyzing

effects of polio. Funds retained locally are used for many worthwhile causes. Food packages for some 120 persons are provided

weekly, in most cases their only certain supply of food. The Canal Zone Chapter is also maintaining seven persons at Corozal Hospital and two at Gorgas

Hospital. Last year $2,000 of the $33,000 col- lected during the drive was allotted to

relief of service personnel and their dependents and another $3,700 was pro- vided for emergency loan funds. This

latter money is available to service per- sonnel or civilians who must make emer- gency trips to the United States, for instance in cases of death or illness in their families. R. W. Collinge Is Chairman

This year's drive is headed by Roger W. Collinge, Director of Elementary

Education for the Division of Schools. A Red Cross campaign will be conducted

simultaneously in military establishments, and will be part of the Canal Zone drive. Mr. Collinge is being assisted on the

Atlantic side by Neil H. . Wilson, Chief Admeasurer, who is General chairman

of the Atlantic side. Working with Mr.

Wilson are William E. Adams, General Agent for the United Fruit Company, who

is handling commercial firms on the Canal

Zone's Atlantic side and who will be

assisted by E. J. Didier of United Fruit, and Clifford B. Maduro of the Colon Import and Export Company, handling

gifts from Colon. Sam Friedman is chairman for Panama

City and E. S. Baker, assisted by F. W.

Hohmann, is receiving contributions from

commercial firms on the Pacific side of the Canal Zone. Emmet Zemer, assisted by Mrs. Jean Anderson Karch and Miss

Sadie Springer, is in charge of public

displays, and Harold I. Perantie, Publicity Chairman for the Canal Zone

Chapter, is in charge of newspaper and radio publicity. General chairman for the drive in local rate communities is William Jump. His

Atlantic side chairman is Harold W.

Williams, and the Pacific side chairman

is Stanley Loney. Mr. Loney is being

assisted by Carl L. Harris.

Trim- Uniformed Force Enforces

Security Of Panama Canal Locks

JAMES G. SLICE, a senior patrolman in the Locks Security Force, and the new uniform designed bv a committee from the Force are inspected by Sgt.

L. R. Moist, left, and Capt. Edward H. Halsall!

Sergeant Moist is Security Commander fur the Pedro Miguel lock area. Captain Halsall heads

the Locks Security Force which was authorized about a year ago.

Enforcement of the internal physical

security of the Panama Canal locks is now

entirely in the hands of the newly organized Locks Security Force, according to Roy C. Stockham, Chief of the Locks

Division. The organization of the force is now

completed; its 5S officers and men are on round-the-clock details at the three

flights of locks. Two of the 58 are temporary during overhaul. Its headquarters are at Pedro Miguel locks where the

force's captain, Edward H. Halsall, has

his office. Its mission, Captain Halsall said, may

be described as "protection of the locks against wanton damage, espionage, sabotage, or any situation which might

prove detrimental to the normal and

efficient operation of the locks or any

unit in the locks enclosures." Carefully selected, the locks force are, to a man, well qualified and trained for their jobs. With only a few exceptions

all have had some military service and some hold such high decorations as the Bronze or Silver Stars. Five, including Captain Halsall, are former Canal Zone

police officers and one is a former Massachusetts state trooper. Four of the men are still in the prelim- inary training and are probationary. The remainder have taken, or are taking, the 40 hours of training which include

classes given by the Canal Zone police, the Internal Security Branch, and the Personnel Bureau. During his first 10 days on the job, the probationary locks patrolman must

pass a basic qualification test which in- cludes the proper and legal use of fire- arms. At the end of (See page 12) ENDS LONG CAREER

DR. JESSE L. BYRD, one of the Isthmus' best- known residents, wound up his Canal Zone service the end of February. He and Mrs. Byrd expect to

sail about April 3 to make their home in Decatur, Ga. As a First Lieutenant in the Medical Corps, Doctor Byrd was assigned to the Canal Zone soon

after the outbreak of World War I. After a few months at Gorgas i then Ancon) Hospital, he was

transferred to Colon as Health Officer. That was

in 1917 and he has made the Atlantic side his headquarters almost continuously ever since. After he was relieved from active duty in 1919 he remained in the Colon Health Office and with the exception of 5 years at the Panama Office, between

1930 and 193.5, all of his service was in Colon. He

was recalled to active duty with the Army's Medical Corps for the period between 1942 and 1947 and is now a colonel, retired, in the Medical Reserves.
THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW March 6, 1953 Canal Traffic Under Special

Study During Locks Overhaul

Special attention is being given to the movement of traffic and the handling of ships in the Canal during the overhaul

of the Pacific Locks during this dry

season because of the high level of Canal

traffic. One of the principal topics under consideration by the special committee of the Canal's Board of Directors during its meeting last month in the Canal Zone was ship traffic and the overhaul project. Aside from their extensive study of

statistical data on the subject, all members of the committee spent a full morning

at Pedro Miguel Locks to make a first- hand inspection of the work and to confer with operating personnel on the handling

of shipping while one traffic lane is out

of service. The committee was composed of Matthew Robinson, Chairman, Lt. Gen.

Lewis Pick, W. R. Pfizer, and Edward

D. McKim. On their visit to the Locks

they were accompanied by Governor

Seybold, Capt. Marvin J. West, Marine

Director, and Roy C. Stockham, Chief

of the Locks Division. Although considerable concern had

been expressed over possible delays to

shipping during the present overhaul

period because of the high level of traffic, no extraordinary delays have occurred and comparatively few ships have been

delayed in transit as much as 24 hours. The expeditious handling of ship

traffic, which has been at the highest

level in the Canal's history during recent weeks, has been largely due to careful advance planning and the adoption of time-saving operations not normally employed under regular operating conditions. Delays have also been minimized by

an unusually even flow of traffic during

the overhaul period up to now and the

relatively few peak days when an abnormally high number of ships arrive for transit at the same time. pi

1 &£ T

Traffic Is High

Ocean-going commercial {See page 1?)

SOME OF THE WOKK in progress 70 feet below on the floor of Pedro Miguel Locks is being explained by Roy C. Stockham, Chief of the Locks Division,

left, to Lt. Gen. Lewis A. Pick, center, and Governor

Seybold.

WITH THE EMERGENCY GATES as a backdrop, two members of the Board of Directors pause

for a picture with Captain Marvin J. West, Marine

Director, during their inspection of the overhaul work at Pedro Miguel Locks. Left to right are: Captain West, Edward D. McKim, and Matthew

Robinson.

MEMBERS OF THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE

of the Board of Directors examine in detail some of the work required during an overhaul of the Panama

Canal Locks. In the picture above. Governor

Seybold, venter, is explaining some of the work.

METAL HELMETS AND SUN GL V- donned by members of the special committee of the Board of Directors during their visit to Pedro Miguel Locks to observe the overhaul work. In the picture above, left to right, are: W. R. Pfizer, Capt. Marvin Marine Director, Governor Seybold, Stockham, Chief of the Locks Division, Lt. Gen. Lewis A. Pick, Edward D. McKim,

and Matthew Robinson. The Board members here are examining one of the rising stem valve3 which has been lifted to the Lock wall for cleaning, repainting, and replacement

of worn parts. Each of these valve3 weighs 15 tons. They control the flow of water in the main tunneb

which empty and fill the lock chambers. Members of the Committee of the Board of Directors spent 2 weeks in the Canal Zone in February to study various Canal problems. One of the principal topics under consideration was the handling of

traffic during an overhaul period when the capacity

of the Canal is more than cut in half with one lane

of traffic out of service. The Directors spent one

entire morning at Pedro Miguel to observe the overhaul work.
March 6, 1953 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW

FOR YOUR INTEREST AND GUIDANCE '<£CCIDENT PREVENTION

AWARD OF MERIT

The Maintenance Division ofthe Engi- neering and Construction Bureau has

received an AWARD OF MERIT from

the National Safety Council for having worked more than 1,000,000 man hours

without any disabling injuries. This is the first Panama Canal Company unit to receive such recognition under an award plan now officially adopted by the National Safety Council for recognizing good industrial safety records. The AWARD OF MERIT is the second highest award of recognition given by the National Safety Council and can

only be obtained by a perfect record of no disabling injuries between 1,011(1.000 to 3,000,000 man hours of exposure, or by a prescribed and outstanding per- centage of improvement over prior records. The highest recognition that may be

received is the AWARD OF HONOR,

which is given for a perfect record of

.'3,000,000 or more man hours, or a pre- scribed higher outstanding percentage of improvement over prior records. Naturally such a record requires the combined efforts and 100% cooperation

of all employees, so our compliments and

congratulations are extended to all employees of the Maintenance Division for

this excellent achievement. HONOR ROLL

Bureau Award For BEST RECORD

January

CIVIL AFFAIRS BURFAU AWARDS THIS CALENDAR YEAR

Civil Affairs 1 Community Services Engineering and Construction Health

Industrial Marine

Railroad and Terminals

Supply and Service

Division Awards For NO DISABLING INJURIES

January MAINTENANCE DIVISION HOSPITALIZATION AND CLINICS DREDGING DIVISION CLUBHOUSE DIVISION MOTOR TRANSPORTATION DIVISION

DIVISION OF STOREHOUSES AWARDS THIS CALENDAR YEAR

Clubhouses 1 Dredging 1 Hospitalization and Clinics 1 Maintenance 1 Motor Transportation 1 Storehouses 1 Commissary

Electrical Grounds Maintenance

Locks

Navigation _ Railroad . Sanitation Terminals

Presentation Ceremony

AN AWARD OF MERIT from the National

Safety Council, the second highest given in industrial accident prevention, was awarded last month to the Canal's Maintenance Division. Shown above is the

presentation ceremony in Governor Seybold's office. Left to right: Gayl O. Kellar, Chief, Safety Branch;

Nelson \V. Magner, Chief of the Maintenance Division's Northern District; Lt. Gov. Harry O. Paxson; M. F. Millard, Safety Representative for the Engineering and Construction Bureau; Frank H. Lerchen, Maintenance Engineer; Carl J. Browne, Chief of the Maintenance Division's Southern District; Governor

Seybold; E. W. Zelnick, Chief of the Water and

Laboratories Branch of the Maintenance Division; Edward M. Browder, Jr., Assistant Engineering and

Construction Director; John E. Winklosky, Maintenance Division Safety Inspector; and Col. Craig Smyser, Engineering and Construction Director. W. H. Russon has been appointed Emmett Zemer, Housing Division, Safety Inspector for the Terminals has been appointed Safety Inspector for Division. the Community Services Bureau vice

J. W. Hare.

JANUARY 1953

Civil Affairs Bureau

Supply and Service Bureau

Engineering and Construction Bureau

Community Services Bureau

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

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

Marine Bureau

Railroad and Terminals Bureau

Industrial Bureau

Health Bureau

Number of Disabling Injuries 30

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

(Frequency Rale)

Man-Hours Worked .2,834,070

LEGEND

I

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

I 1 Amount Worse Than Canal Zone Government—Panama Canal Company Best Year

[' '''''

: : ::| Accumulative frequency Rate This Year
THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW March 6, 1953 It Happened So:

Tivoli Wedding

Story Retold

Fact was separated from Isthmian

fiction last month by a lady who knows. The lady is Mrs. Harry Harwood

Rousseau (she says it rhymes with trousseau), who was the heroine of one of the Canal Zone's most romantic weddings. For many years the Rousseau wedding

story has been told and retold in the Canal Zone. Novelist Rex Beach used

the episode as. material in his story of Panama, "The Ne'er-Do-Well," although,

of course, with different characters. As legend had it, the dashing Admiral,

a member of the Isthmian Canal Commission, waltzed his prospective bride, the daughter of the American Minister to Panama, out of the Tivoli ballroom one

April night in 190S while her parents, who

did not approve of the marriage, sat unsuspectingly by. In a secluded corner, the story went, the bridal couple was

hurriedly surrounded by a protective

shield of sympathetic friends while a local magistrate read a brief marriage ceremony.

Actually, Mrs. Rousseau said last month during her first trip to the Canal Zone in 36 years, it was not quite that way. There may have been waltzes on the program but the dance of the evening was

the "bunny hug," then at the height of

its popularity. Bridegroom Didn't Appear

Instead of being whisked from the dance in her bridegroom's arms, she said, Admiral Rousseau did not appear before

or after the ceremony. Instead, she slip- ped quietly out of the ballroom, during an

intermission, into a room in the Tivoli's north wing. There she and Admiral Rousseau were married by Judge Herman

A. Gudger in the presence of a small group of friends. A few minutes later she was back, dancing, as if nothing had

happened. Her stepmother, Mrs. Herbert

G. Squiers, was at the Tivoli that evening. Within a few days, she recalls, her family became suspicious, and she slipped away from the Legation, then near Central Plaza, at 5 o'clock one morning. She made her way through the deserted

streets—she recalls how bare of people they were—to the Ancon home of Tom

M. Cooke, Chief of the Division of Posts, Customs, and Revenues, whose sister, Harriet, was a close friend. Mrs. Rousseau stayed with the Cookes

until April 11, when she and the Admiral

were remarried in a religious ceremony

held in the rectory of the Catholic chapel

in the Ancon hospital grounds. All of the members of the Commission were at the religious ceremony, although the

bride's parents did not appear. A couple

of weeks later the Minister relented and

gave a dinner for the bridal couple. Bride In A Bucket When the story reached the newspapers, there was excitement here and

in the United States. A New York newspaper carried a cartoon, showing Admiral Rousseau at the controls of a steam

shovel, with his bride in the shovel's bucket. The Star & Herald headlined its story "Cupid Again Victorious." Admiral Rousseau took his bride to

their new home in Culebra, on a hilltop in a cluster of official quarters occupied by Commission members. Last month Mrs.

Rousseau, her son Henry Harwood, Jr.

n

^F^'v^

L j 1

1

N * K

ABRAHAM JARVIS, left, a chauffeur ior\ ICulebra during her recent visit here and with her

the Motor Transportation Division, was working and her son, H. H. Rousseau, Jr., identified old

at Culebra when the Rousseau family was living familiar locations. The walls of the Cut appear in there. He accompanied Mrs. Rousseau on a trip to the background, j (called Pete), and Mrs. Rousseau, Jr., combed the grass-grown site of the once humming town which had been headquarters for Canal construction. They found traces of a paved walk

which had run beside their house, foundations of old buildings they could not

identify, a garden wall, and a clump of bamboo which Mrs. Rousseau recalls was. planted by Mrs. Gaillard. As they stood high above the now busy

Canal, Mrs. Rousseau reminisced on her

early life in Culebra. She talked of trips into the jungle, wearing wrapped khaki

leggings and a heavy khaki skirt, to col- lect orchids. Walked In The Cut

Both she and her son remembered that, as a very young boy, he took refuge under

the house whenever a blast went off in the nearby Cut and how, some days, he spent

a good deal of his time under the quarters. She recalled that she was the last American woman to walk in the dry Cut before the water was let in and both mother and

son remembered many details of the first official trip through the Canal. As construction neared completion, the Rousseaus moved to Balboa Heights, to

the house now occupied by the Health

Director.* Some of the shrubbery she planted is still around the house but a plaque which marked the building as the one-time home of the Rousseaus is no

longer there. As a Canal Commissioner, Admiral Rousseau bore the cumbersome title of Head of the Department of Municipal

Engineering, Motive Power, and Machinery, and Building Construction. He was

later Assistant to the Chief Engineer and became Engineer of Terminal Construction when the Canal organization was

formed in 1914. He was transferred back

to the United States in July. In 1930 he was on his way to the Isthmus for his

first visit since 1916 when he died suddenly aboard ship. Mrs. Rousseau is now living in Fairfield, Conn. Mr. and Mrs. "Pete" Rousseau and their four small children live in West Redding, Conn.

MRS. MARIE CORE, standing, President of the Caribbean Stamp Club, had her stamp album auto- graphed by Mrs. Rousseau. Twenty-cent stamps

were issued in 1932 honoring Admiral Rousseau, a member of the Isthmian Canal Commission. New Ice Cream, Milk Plant

Is Completed This Month

Completion of the new ice cream and

milk bottling plant of the Commissary

Division was scheduled for early this month. The new plant provides modern facili- ties for two of the Commissary Division's

oldest activities. An ice cream plant has been in operation by the Division since June 16. 1908, and milk has been bottled by the Commissaries since December 1916. The new building has one floor and a basement. Located north of the bakery and dry storage warehouse, it is a steel frame structure with walls of concrete and

hollow tile and glass block panels. Bids for the construction of the ice cream and milk bottling plant were opened in January 1952. Low bidder was Manuel Calderon who was awarded

the contract.
March 6, 1953 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW

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

Printed by the Printing Plan! Mount Hope, Canal Zone John S. Seybold, Governor-President

II. 0. Paxson, Lieutenant Governor

E. C. Lombard, Executive Secretary

J. Rufus Hardy', Editor Eleanor H. McIlhenny

Oleva Hastings

Editorial Assistants LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Letters containing inquiries, suggestions,

criticisms, or opinions of a general nature

will be welcomed. Those of sufficient interest

will be published but signatures will not be used unless desired. SUBSCRIPTIONS—SI. 00 a year SINGLE COPIES—5 cents each On sale at all Panama Canal Clubhouses, Commissaries, and Hotels for 10 days after publication date. SINGLE COPIES BY MAIL-lOcentseach BACK COPIES— 10 cents each On sale when available, from the Vault

Clerk, Third Floor, Administration Building, Balboa Heights.

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

Canal Review, Balboa Heights, C. Z.

Taxpayers Take Notice: March 16 Is Filing Date

For Income Tax Returns

Because March 15 falls this year on a Sunday, the following day, March 16,

will be the due date of income tax returns

for 1952 and for returns on estimated income tax for 1953. Wendell L. Lindsay, Internal Revenue

Agent, said that so far this year the

business of his office has been steady, but, with the exception of about 2 days in mid-February, not excessively heavy at any one time. A number of Canal Zone residents have brought their returns in for checking and then returned the following pay day

to make their tax payments. The balance of the 1952 tax must be

paid in full when the return is made and

at least one-quarter of the 1 953 estimated

tax is due with that return. The office hours in Balboa Clubhouse

will remain 8:30 a. m. to 5 p. m., Monday

through Friday, and 9 a. m. to 4 p. m., Mondays only in Cristobal inasmuch as people in the Canal Zone have an auto- matic extension to June 15 for final returns for 1952, since they reside outside the continental United States. However, interest will accrue on the unpaid balance of any taxes due at the

rate of 6 percent per annum or \]/2 percent for this 90-day period, Mr.

Lindsav said.

A FIRST-rHND ACCOUNT of sailing ship days was presented last month to the Canal Zone library. The account is the log-note book of Captain Chris- topher O'Connor, whose great-great-grandson. Captain Robert G. Rennie, gave the book to the library.

It is being shown in an exhibition case in the second

floor reading room of the main library in the Civil Affairs building, together with some background

material. The log-note book is an account of the voyage of Captain O'Connor's ship, the Prince of Wales, out of Philadelphia on March 29, 1786, to '"India, China,

Persia, New Holland, and New South Wales, and

the .Arabian Gulph." Written in a fine copperplate hand, the log is a combination of ship and personal

history. On Sept. 17, 1810, after reporting the purchase of the same list of stores which he had bought the previous week, Captain O'Connor added: "And I married a young wife." The book is in excellent condition, considering its age, but its pages are so brittle that it may not be

freely handled and will not be put into circulation. Above, Mrs. Eleanor D. Burnham, Librarian, and

Captain Rennie, who is a Canal pilot, examine some

of the entries. Present plans of the Panama Line contemplate the appointment of Capt.

Erik J. Eriksen, senior master of the

line and skipper of the SS "Cristobal,"

as the Panama Line Agent in Haiti, according to W. R. Pfizer who said the change would probably take place in May.

Mr. Pfizer, Vice President of the Pan- ama Canal Company in New York and

head of its steamship activities, visited Haiti several months ago with Captain

Eriksen to arrange for resumption of the Line's sailings into Port-au-Prince. W. M. Lloyd, freight agent for the Line in New York, is now in Haiti set- ting up the office organization which

will be headed by Captain Eriksen. Captain Eriksen has been with the Panama Line for many years. He

began his service as an officer on the

S. S. "Guayaquil," being promoted to her master in 1930. He transferred to the old "Cristobal" as captain in 1935. When the new ships were built he was made master of the "Panama,"

remaining as her captain until she was

taken over by the Army in June 1941. He then transferred to the "Cristobal"

as master, serving aboard her during the war and since her return to passenger

service.

units of the Community Services Bureau and

the Commissary Division who had been

paid on Thursday are now being paid on Wednesday. Thursday has been eliminated as a pay- day for all employees except weekly dock

workers.

Incidental to this change the unlimited cashing of employees' pay checks by the Treasurer will be discontinued, although

there are certain hours on paydays when

checks may be cashed. Local banks, however, in addition to their regular hours, will now be open from 4 to

5 p. m. the Wednesday of local-rate pay weeks for the convenience of these employees.

Effective this week, the schedule of local- rate paydays has been changed. Local-rate employees of the Health Bureau. Pacific Locks and Clubhouse Division, who were

formerly paid on Wednesday of local-rate pay week are now paid on Tuesday.

Local-rate employees of the Schools and

Dredging Divisions and of miscellaneous

The SS "Panama" of the Panama

Line has been designated the "Schoolteachers' Special" for its northbound

sailing on June 5. At the end of the summer vacation and for the south- bound trip the SS "Cristobal," sailing from New York on August 25, will be

the "Teachers' Special." Designation of the June 5 and August 25 sailings of the Panama Line

as those on which teachers normally

utilize all space was made in a circular issued last month regarding transportation during the 1953 varation season. On the four northbound sailings be- tween May 22 and June 19 (exclusive of the Teachers' Special) and those southbound between August 11 and

September 8 (again excluding the August 25 sailing), preference will be

given to teachers and employees and

families with children of school age. PANAMA RAILROAD TRAIN SCHEDULE

NORTHBOUND

Panama Leave

Colon Arrive

Daily a. m.

7:10

8:35

Daily p. m.

12:30

1:55 4:50

6:15 10:10

11:35 SOUTHBOUND

Colon Leave . .

J Panama Arrive- J

7:00

8.-25 12:20

1:45 4:40

6:05

10:00

11:25 Northbound freight train leaves Diablo Crossing at 9:15 a. m. daily, except Satur- day, Sunday, and holidays. Southbound freight train leaves Mount Hope at 9:15 a. m. daily, except Saturday, Sunday, and holidays.
THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW March 6, 1953 Commissary's Industrial Laboratory

Saves Patrons Over $ 100,000 Annually

April 11, 1911 MEMORANDUM FOR COL. GEORGE W. GOETHALS

Chairman and Chief Engineer, Isthmian Canal Commission We bought some vanilla beans in London and have them stored there

in proper storage, having enough to

last us for a year and are making our own vanilla extract. This will save about $2,000 a year and will give us a much better extract.

It will be very profitable to add to our laboratory and turn it into a commercial industrial laboratory and make such articles as bay rum, tal- cum powder, Florida water, Cologne,

etc. We have obtained samples of various essential oils, etc., direct from manufacturers through our

Paris representative, and there will be good savings in this work. EUGENE WILSON (Major) Subsistence Officer The suggestion of 42 years ago was made in a lengthy memorandum on the Commissary Division and its operation. Today, the "good savings" predicted by Major Wilson amounts to probably more than $100,000 a year for Canal

employees, and the Industrial Laboratory, although one of the least known, is one of the most economically important

units of the Commissary Division. There are few households in the Canal Zone which are not well stocked with

Industrial Laboratory products bearing

the familiar Commissary labels. And it

is doubtful if a single thrifty housewife

fails to economize and help splice out

the family budget by savings made in buying Industrial Laboratory items. Located in a three-story building back

of the big cold storage warehouse at Mount Hope the Industrial Laboratory now manufactures, mixes, bottles, or re-packages approximately 200 items. These include foodstuffs, cosmetics, pharmaceutical products, cleaning compounds,

insecticides, polishes, and many others

difficult to classify. In addition it maintains a stock of more than 100 other items which can be supplied on special order. Native Zonian Heads Laboratory The Industrial Laboratory is run by a native-born Canal Zone boy, Earl C.

Orr, who is employed as chemist. The

other personnel consists of one U. S.-rate employee, Mrs. Carmela Reccia, who

handles the correspondence and clerical work in the office, and 23 local-rate employees. Some of the latter have been working in the Industrial Laboratory

since before it moved to its present

location 33 years ago. No accurate estimate of the amount of savings effected for Commissary cus- tomers by the operation of the Industrial Laboratory is possible because of the wide range of prices in comparable pro- prietary articles. However, Commissary

Division officials believe the $100,000 a year figure is on the conservative side. Net sales of laboratory products are now running slightly over $30,000 a month, and it is estimated that these products would cost at least one-third more if bought from individual manufacturers or producers. In many cases the

difference in prices between "brand name"

products and those produced at the laboratory are as much as 100 percent. This percentage figure, naturally, ranges downward but there are few items on

which the difference is not as high as 30 percent. Bulk Purchases Lower Cost

Factors which contribute largely to these savings for the Commissary cus- tomers are the lack of advertising costs,

BRUSHLESS SHAVING CREAM is bottled by

the gross by this funnel-shaped rilling machine. The machine is being operated by Hortense Newball. Like many other mixing or filling machines, this one

is easy and inexpensive to operate and helps to keep down the cost of Industrial Laboratory products. After being filled the bottles are capped and labeled on the same table by another employee.

CIDER VINEGAR IS BOTTLED eight at a time by this automatic filling machine. Vinegar is one

of the many Industrial Laboratory products which

is bought in bulk and packaged locally for the retail trade. The Commissary Division buys 40 barrels

of vinegar ever}* 6 weeks to supply the demand.

EARL C. ORR. CHEMIST, heads the Industrial Laboratory and closely supervises the production of

even,' one of its 200 or more items sold under the "Commissary" label. He is a Canal Zone boy, one

of many who now hold responsible positions in the Canal organization. Mr. Orr has a many-faceted job and he is shown here making an "alcoholic determination" on a sample of beer to make sure the alcoholic content is not above the legal limit.

inexpensive labels and containers, and

economical packaging by hand-operated equipment. In addition, many items can be sold at materially lower costs if purchased in bulk and re-packaged rather than buying and selling in packaged form. Savings are also effected on many items by the purchase of raw materials and compounding the finished products. There are, of course, many products which the Industrial Laboratory is not equipped to handle economically or can- not produce or re-package as cheaply as proprietary brands readily available. These are either not attempted or the

lines are eliminated when it is found that they are as expensive as name-brand

products. The Industrial Laboratory conducts a continuous experimental program and the

list of its products is frequently changed.

This program includes not only the production of new items but the improve- ment of those already on sale. At the suggestion of a Commissary patron the laboratory recently conducted over a

period of several months experiments in the production of a non-settling milk of magnesia. After much experimenting a suspension agent which would not affect the quality of the milk of magnesia was

found and non-settling milk of magnesia

is now on the shelves of the retail stores. During recent weeks an experimental program has been underway for the pro- duction of a more satisfactory type of

liquid starch. The Industrial Laboratory has a long and interesting history as a Commissary

Division unit although the story is some- what indistinct during its early years. Water Came First

It is believed to have had its begin- ning during the early Canal construction

period and one of its first products was

plain spring water. At that time pure

drinking water was a scarce item and the famous water of the Paraiso Springs was

bottled and sold to residents in the new

construction towns. Not long after this
March 6, 1953 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW

OLDEST EMPLOYEE, OLDEST MACHINE.

Johnny Walker, shown above operating one of the

first automatic bottling machines ever brought to the Isthmus, has been employed in the Industrial Laboratory since before the time it was an individual Commissary Division unit. When he came to work

for the laboratory, the products were then made or packaged in the old Commissary Division warehouse

in Cristobal.

the Americans who came to the Isthmus

to help build the Canal demanded some

of the refreshments to which they were accustomed at home. These included such things as "soda pop" and ice cream. To meet this demand the Commissary

Division ordered the necessary machinery, and two of the first automatic bottling machines ever brought to the Isthmus

were installed at the Cristobal Commissary plant. One of these antiques is still in use at the Industrial Laboratory for

filling and capping a special type bottle

for one of its products. It is operated by foot pedal and resembles a late model

automatic bottling machine about as much as the first airplane resembles a

jet airliner. Many products such as "Florida water" were added to the laboratory lines during the years soon after Major Wil- son in 1911 suggested the expansion of the laboratory. However, it was not

until the end of the first World War that

the Industrial Laboratory became an

independent unit housed in its own plant. From 1911 until about 1920 the number

of products was gradually increased and

during this time the work was done in one end of the old Commissary warehouse in Cristobal. The building in which the Industrial Laboratory is located also has something

of the flavorful history of the early Canal

history. It was built for a beef canning

factory during the World War I period. At that time the cattle industry was a

big business on the Isthmus, not only to supply meat to the Canal workers but to the Army. The demand for canned beef by the Army during the war days was so great that a special plant was built here

to help supply the demand. War Ended Cannery

The building itself had been completed and the machinery for canning beef was

on the Isthmus but the war ended and the machinery was never installed. At that time the big plant at Mount Hope was

being completed and the space to have

been allotted for canning beef was as- signed to the jnnlfing of the various Commissary products. Shortly before the move to Mount

Hope, . Joseph V. Cariffe, who had Keen employed as a pharmacist in the Health

Bureau, was transferred to the Commissary Division as a foreman and placed

in charge of the work. Soon after his transfer his title was changed to that of chemist and in the following year, 1920,

after the transfer of the work to Mount

Hope, the name "Industrial Laboratory" was used for the first time to designate

the unit. For many years the Commissary Division put fancy, multi-colored labels on its products and during the sleek-hair age of the 1920's no hair dressing on the market

had a sleeker-haired young man on its label than the one which advertised its coconut oil pomade. The expensive labels were used until the latter part of the 1930's when it was

decided that they simply increased the

cost of the products without adding to

their value. Consequently, less expensive labels have been designed and the name "Commissary" has been used to designate and guarantee the quality and

purity of the articles sold. A change in the labels was recently made at the suggestion of employee

representatives who attend the monthly

conferences with the Governor. At their suggestion the ingredients of each product

are printed on the labels. This change

required the redesign and reprinting of

all labels for its more than 200 individual products and the work was only recently completed. Royalty On DDT

Many people are puzzled over the fact that many of the Commissary items have

ingredients identical with proprietary articles sold alongside them, and Mr. Orr

says they have many inquiries about this. The confusion generally results by the

application of the public of the term

"patent" to proprietary articles of various

kinds. Most of these products are not, as

a rule, of such a nature or composition as

to be patentable. Generally they are only protected by a registered trade name and

these, naturally, are not used on Commissary products. There are a few chemical compounds which for certain purposes

are patentable and when these are used,

such as DDT for insecticides, the Commissary Division pays a royalty on

every pound used. The mixing or compounding of the

various Industrial Laboratory products

is an interesting and individual process which Mr. Orr closely supervises. Some

of the articles, of course, are simply bought in bulk and re-packaged. Some

of the better known of these include

aspirin, moth balls, vitamin tablets, olive

oil, and cod liver oil. Aspirins, for example, are bought in lots of 2,000,000

tablets at a time and are re-packaged 50

to a bottle. These also happen to be one

of the products which is just half the

price of some name-brand products. Not all of the Industrial Laboratory

products are so simple and for many of these Mr. Orr does the mixing or compounding of them personally. The lab- oratory still produces "Florida Water"

and this, as well as all the perfumes

which require very accurate measurement, is done by the chemist. He also makes all of the shaving creams and other such products, which must be heated to an exact temperature for proper blending. He also closely supervises all of the other operations and particularly those which have ingredients which are poison- ous or highly volatile. Among these are household ammonia and lavelle water, which are two of the fastest selling products of the laboratory. The ammonia is made by mixing the strongest aqua ammonia available with a proper amount of water, containing soap and

borax, to give it a cloudy effect

Ice Keeps Bleach Cool The essence of lavelle water is specially produced and is so dangerous that

it is made in a shed adjoining the plant

in a concrete tank. The prime ingredient

is chlorine which is "bubbled" in caustic acid in the stone or concrete mixer for several hours. Because of the heat this combination creates, 1,400 pounds of ice are used to keep a batch of 300-gallon concentrated bleach cooled. The concentrate is later diluted to the proper degree and the lavelle water is taken to the machines for bottling, corking with rubber

stoppers, and labeling before it is ready

for sale. The raw materials for many of the products of the Industrial Laboratory come from the far corners (See page 15

)

SEVERAL HUNDRED BOTTLES of alcohol rub are filled at one time and several of the 23 local- rate employees at the Industrial Laboratory are assigned to the task when orders are ready to be

filled. Last year the laboratory bottled and sold more than 0,000 gallons of denatured alcohol which

is prepared from grain alcohol now purchased in

the Panama market on bids. The alcohol rub, which

is a standard item in most Canal Zone households,

is bottled, capped, labeled, and packed in cases in an "assembly line" operation. Rubbing alcohol is only one of the many uses made of the Panama product and thousands of gallons are used in many other products of the Industrial Laboratory.
10 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW March 6, 1953 Railroad Worker Was Really Upset

During Bustling Construction Days

Clubhouse At Cocoli

Transferred To Navy

HEZP2KIAH MOULTON

The unique distinction of having been

spilled, together with his place of employment, into the bottom of the Canal

excavation belongs to Hezekiah Moulton

of the Panama City Railroad station

staff. He is now winding up over 35

year's service, aU of which has had to do,

in some way or another, with the rai'road. Mr. Moulton remembers very little of

his upside-down experience, understandably, as he was knocked unconscious

during the mixup. It happened on August 2, 1909, while he was working in a telephone shack alongside excavation work near Bas Obispo. He was keeping a record of all trainsfilled and empty—passing along that

section of the railroad track. Steamshovel No. 228 was working near the

shack. Its boom caught on the wire attached to the tower where he was sta- tioned, toppling him, shack and all, some

35 feet to the bottom of the digging. He remembers that he grabbed for

his telephone to call the yardmaster but was knocked out before he could report

his plight. The train which was loading from the shovel took him to an emergency

hospital and rest home at Bas Obispo where he spent over a month. Born in Jamaica something over 60

years ago, he came to the Canal Zone in 1906 when his father, Charles R. Moulton, went to work for the Isthmian Canal Commission as a machinist's helper in the

tin shop at Matachin. The son's first job was in 1907 as a

porter at the Matachin railroad station;

later that year he became a telephone

operator checking trains at Juan Grande

below Gorgona. The work was about the same as he was doing at Bas Obispo at the time of the accident 2 years later. His later railroad experience included

acting as assistant yardmaster to a succession of bosses, practically all of whom

are no longer on the Isthmus. At one time he was among those responsible for keeping the track clear of construction equipment for the frequent passenger and freight trains. When the excavation was nearly completed he worked as a "cabin man"

throwing switch levers near Matachin and

later held the same job at the Balboa "Y." Sometime later he was transferred to the Panama City railroad station. While working there in 1925 he was injured when a trunk and a heavy tool box fell from a truck, breaking his right ankle. He made a claim against the railroad and, he says, was promised a lifetime job by

the then governor, Harry Burgess. His

latest job has been as a janitor at the Panama City station. Mr. Moulton lives alone in a room on

Central Avenue in Panama City. He is a devout churchman although he holds no

office in his church. Most of his off-duty

time, he says, he spends reading, or thinking about the days when he had a part in the building of the Panama Canal.

The Cocoli Clubhouse ceased to be a Panama Canal Company operation on March 1 when it was transferred to the U. S. Navy.

George Fears, the clubhouse manager,

has been assigned to other duties in the Clubhouse Division. The only other U. S.- rate employee was on temporary status and her employment has terminated. Most of the 28 local-rate employees

have been transferred to other units in the Clubhouses through standard reductionin-force procedure which has caused the termination of an equivalent number of local-rate workers with less service. The Clubhouse at Cocoli began operation under the Special Engineering Division in 1940. It became a Panama Canal Clubhouse in March 1943. SATURDAY IS MUSIC DAY

N( >Bi IDY'S TALKING! Everyone's too busj in the Saturday morning music classes which arc being attended In'aboiit 120 fourth, fifth, and sixth graders on both sides of the Canal Zone. The Schools

Division furnishes the instruction, the children the

instruments. Above, Victor A. Kerr works with

embryo-musicians Paul Kenyon, David Browne.

Arthur Edwards, Curtiss Schwarzrock, and Douglas

Crooks. Below, instructor Wallace E. Woodruff

guides violinists Carol Zelnick, Ruth Thompson,.

Clary Glaze, Dorothy Rose, Pat Dempsey, Mar)

Rose, Ray Caldwell, Richard Morris, and Gloria Ely,
March 6, 1953 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW 11 Forty Years Ago

In February

The oddities of Gatun Lake after its first rainy season were the Subject of indi- vidual curiosity and comment as well as

official attention as the future source of the Canal water supply. The Canal Record waxed almost lyrical about its "varying shades of blue," etc., after noting that the lake had commercial

value although it was still 30 feet below

its final height. The lake was then being used by a man

in Gatun who had fitted out a launch on

which he conducted Sunday sightseeing

trips; the lighthouse service was using the

rising water to tow sand and other material to the "very spots" where the range

lights were being erected; and three gasoline launches and six canoes were making

"venturesome trips on the wind-swept

surface." Water Highway

"Every little creek that formerly poured into the Chagres has become a water highway through the woods," The Record reported.

It was also explained, for the benefit of "strangers to the Canal work," that the

trees in the area covered by the lake were

left standing for the simple reason that the cost of cutting them would have amounted to about $2,000,000. Anyway, The Record pointed out, a tree smothers when its roots are covered

with water and "what with decay, insect attack, and wave motion, it is probable

that within a decade the soft wood trees that now stand so naked and ghostlike above the water will have been uprooted and will have floated downstream."

Floating Islands Other oddities were the "floating

islands," masses of vegetation and earth loosened from the bottom of Gatun Lake by the rising water, that were moved

about by the winds, effecting fast and uncanny changes in the scenery. The

largest then floating was about 3 acres

in area. The islands were being towed

to Gatun Spillway where they were

floated over the dam. The tops of orange and lemon trees were sticking out of the water at Tabernilla where the fruit could be picked from

a cayuco. Orchid hunters could tie up

to the limb of a tree and load a cayuco

full of orchids at points along the Gatun

and Trinidad Rivers. Forced to Leave One effect of the rise of the water was

to shake the skepticism of the bush

dwellers who formerly could not be made

to believe that it would be necessary for them to leave the area to be flooded by

the lake. "Altogether," The Canal Record concluded, "the impression one gets today from a trip on Gatun Lake is that in the very near future it will be renowned as

of the most beautiful places on the beaten

tracks of travel." The postal money order system in the Canal Zone was organized June 1, 1906.

">

In 1906 residents of the Canal Zone paid

taxes which were devoted to municipal improvements, such as the construction

of market houses, schoolhouses, jails for municipal prisoners, installation of street lamps.

THE DYING JUNGLE, slowly being covered by the rising water of Gatun Lake, looked like this in 1912, when the lake had risen to 52 K feet above mean sea level.

GOOD AND GOOD-looking electric clocks which operate on 25 cycle current -

an item which the Commissary Division finds

difficult to obtain from manufacturers — will arrive from the United States early in March

and will be in the retail stores soon after. There will be three types of alarms and two

styles of kitchen clocks -in a variety of pretty colored plastic or birch cases and good

looking dials. For whatever comfort the names might offer rudely-awakened sleepers the names of the styles of the alarm clocks are "Serenade," "Beckoner," and "Wink."

The Kitchen clocks sound almost as nice. They are the "Helper" and the "Epicure."

Olives stuffed with fillets of anchovies, new

Anchovy for the grocery sections, will

stuffed olives be in the retail stores soon

after arrival from Madrid, Spain.

Here's Meatless "Meat"

KRILIUM -that caused one of the horticultural world's biggest recent stirs, is now in the Commissaries where local gardeners and

flower lovers can buy it for their lawns and

house plants. Hailed after research expeiments as a revolutionary means of making the meanest soils pliable and productive, the new product has gone to market in a wide

variety of commercial preparations. That in the Commissaries is called Krilium Soil Conditioner, "special Merloam formulation," which sells for $1.60 a pound or five pounds

for $6.45. Articles in "Business Week" and

"Harper's" magazines detailed the develop- ment of Krilium.

Fish fanciers, Lenten menu makers and gro- cery shoppers who like to hang on

For to as many of their pennies as pos- Lenten sible now can try canned smoked Meals and baked shad that is new in Commissary grocery sections. The 7K-ounce tins will cost about 40 cents. "PRO-TEK-TIVS," the fine health shoe for children sold by the Commissaries has proven

so popular with customers that a new style has been added, particularly for little girls. The new "Pro-tek-tiv" is a moccasin toe

strap in brown that is considerably more

feminine than the basic moccasin toe oxford

that has been the only style in this make

available in the shoe sections. The new

shoes sell for $5.95 or $6.50, depending or

the size range. Four new Miller vegetarian foods have been added to the grocery sections. They are all meatless meat built on a soy bean base. There are

soyloin steaks,' "meatless weiners," "choplet burgers," and "proast." SMALL FRY anglers can now get in the

fishing act with fiberglass rod fishing sets that are new in the Commissaries. The sets have

a spun glass fishing rod, hooks, reel float, leader and line -as the manager of Wholesale Housewares put it, "everything but the

fish." "Little Angler" is the name of the

set and it costs $3.25. Two good looking new styles of Penaljo low heeled shoes for women are

Fish now in the retail stores. One is a Mouth side tie of tan or red calf with fish Shoes mouth (wide open, that is) toe and

open heel. The other is a cross tie

in white, brown, or tan calf. A NEW gadget that deodorizes refrigera- tor or garbage cans has been added to the Housewares stocks. It is called "Charo"

deodorizer.

Practical and pretty household mats of multi- Practical colored rubber links are also new

and in the Housewares sections. They

Pretty come in five sizes that range in price from $2.10 to $6.25. A LOT OF NEW denim play clothes

some with embroidery and bows, stripes, and

burton decoration and in a wide variety of gay and pretty colors — will arrive in the

retail stores in March. There will be many

in misses sizes, 1 to 1 8, and some in womens'

s'zes, 32 to 38. There will be pedal pushers,

skirts, blouses, bras, shorts, caps, and camisoles in colors such as charcoal, melon, gold,

lime, pink, rust, black, brown, navy, faded

blue, and green.
12 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW March 6, 1953

Canal Increases Purchase Of Panama Fruit And Vegetables Canal Traffic Under Special study

The Panama Canal organization, during the first 6 months of this fiscal year, more than quadrupled its purchases in Panama of agricultural items as against

the purchase of similar items during the corresponding period of the previous

fiscal year. The great increase is shown by the

following figures: $247,644 worth of such

products including over 2,900,000 lbs. of sugar worth $183,611 was purchased from

July 1 to December 31, 1952, while only

$53,000 worth was bought between July

1 and December 1 of the previous year. The figures indicate the growing trend toward purchasing in Panama as much as

possible of native-grown fruit and vegetables. Leaders in these purchases in addition to the sugar are such items as: Bananas, oranges, tangerines, cabbage, cucumbers, green peppers, squash, and

yams.

Other increases during the first half of the present fiscal year over the previous year are shown in beverages, a 10 percent

increase; industrial products, such as cement and medical supplies, a 100 per- cent increase; and meat products, up

from $344,000 in 1951 to $409,954. The value of the total purchases made

in Panama during the second quarter this

fiscal year is $213,771 less than during

the first quarter this year. This drop, however, is attributed to the fact that sugar and beef supplies were reduced considerably during the first quarter. The

overall picture of the first 6 months of the 2 years showed between July 1 and December 31, 1952, purchases in Panama

amounted to $1,243,457, or $338,457 more than for the corresponding period

in 1951. The following table shows the amount

of purchases in Panama for the first half

of the present and previous fiscal years:

First half First half

fiscal vear fiscal year 1953 1952 Meat products.. _. . $409,954 $344,000

Agricultural products (fruits and vegetable^ ......... 247 , 644 53 , 000 Other agricultural products. 23 . 019 26 , 000 Other food products 16,527 13,000

Beverages 77,497 70,000

Forest products 29,444 92,000

Industrial products 235,313 123,000

Miscellaneous 203,851 179,000

Total $1,243,457 $905,000

Personnel Ceiling Set For Each Bureau

In Government-Company Organization

(Continued from page 1 ) less than at the end of June 1952 when the past fiscal year closed. The number of U. S.-rate employees

at the end of January totalled 4,729 on

the Isthmus and in the United States. At the end of the past fiscal year, or last June 30, the U. S.-rate force, here and in the United States, was approximately

4,860. This figure is approximate because employees of the New York and Washington offices were not grouped with employees on the Isthmus, in personnel

figures, until early last Fall. Local-rate employees totaled 13,291 at the end of January, compared to 13,881 on June 30, 1952. Both U. S.- and Local-rate workers are

at present numerically far below the peak

of the past decade. In June 1942 when

the force was greatly swollen because of World War II activities, there were 8,550

U. S.-rate and 28,686 Local-rate employees on the rolls, to make a total of 37,236. This figure excluded both New York and Washington offices. Even the World War II peak, however, was considerably less than the greatest number employed during the Canal construction period. This peak figure was

43 400 in 1913.

Construction Projects For This

Fiscal Year Are Still Under Study

(Continued from page i) Margarita; a school

building at Margarita; and an elementary

school at Rainbow City. Bids for the two Margarita projects have already been

opened, and bids for the Rainbow City

school will be opened March 26. Other work for this fiscal year which

will be done under contract are general maintenance projects. Each of these is being given careful review to determine whether they are in compliance with the

President's policy on economy. Among

the projects in this category are exterior painting of quarters in most of the Canal

Zone towns; reroofing of a group of houses in Cristobal; replacement of tile roofs on nine quarters buildings in Bal- boa; and the construction of roof hoods on a group of 16 houses in Balboa. Two street improvement projects plan- ned for this year will be done by the Maintenance Division. These are the repaving and improvement of the street intersections at Margarita Avenue and

Bolivar Highway in Margarita, and

Front and Eleventh Streets in Cristobal. Bids for this work were opened late in February and the sole bid received was

rejected as being too high.

Diablo Heights Fire Station To Be Closed

(Continuedfrom page 2) on the danger

of children crossing the tracks near the Balboa Railroad Station, rather than

further up at Corozo Street. Safety Code Asked

Mr. Rice asked that a building fire- and safety-code be enacted and enforced, pointing out that there was exposed and

defective electric cables in some locations. He said that safety of the citizens is more important than economy in such

cases. Other matters brought up at the February conference included repair of

refrigerators; rents on quarters at Pedro

Miguel; physical examinations for Canal

employees applying for drivers' licenses

in Panama; cashing of paychecks in the smaller towns; Commissary charge ac- counts for all employees; enlargement of the parking lot at Gatun community

center; boarding of the unused section of the Gamboa clubhouse, and the cleaning

of the Gamboa flagpole. Attending the conference were the usual representatives of the Administration: The Governor, E. A. Doolan,

Personnel Director; and F. G. Dunsmoor,

Administrative Assistant in the Governor's Office; and the following employee

representatives: Sherman Brooks, M. J. Goodin, Carl

Nix, Mr. Hammond, Mr. Roe, and

Mr. Rice, Civic Councils; Henry ('. Simpson, Marine Engineers; S. J. Garriel,

[Continued from page 4) traffic in Jan- uary was the second highest of any month

since the Canal was opened with a total

of 632 transits. In addition there were

97 transits by large Government-owned

vessels. This high level of traffic con- tinued throughout February and the

daily average number of transits for the month was slightly higher than in the previous month. The overhaul of the locks is the biggest

single maintenance job the Canal has to perform at regular intervals. The over- haul of the Pacific locks started early in January at Pedro Miguel and the work on

the east chamber was completed February 14. The unwatering of the west chamber at Pedro Miguel began February 16. The overhaul work is slightly ahead of schedule and it is expected that the work on the west chamber at Pedro

Miguel will be completed by March 21. The equipment will then be moved to Miraflores locks and it is planned to begin emptying the west chambers there on March 23. The work at Miraflores

is expected to require about 4 weeks for each set of chambers, and normal service

will be resumed before the end of May.

The number of lockages normally possible at Miraflores locks during an over- haul period is less than the maximum

attainable at Pedro Miguel because of the longer lockage time. Based on past

experience, the 24-hour capacity of Miraflores is 21 lockages with one lane out of

service, but it is planned to step this up

to a possible maximum of 24 a day with

special operating procedures in effect. If this goal is attained and the flow of

traffic continues without serious fluctuations, no excessive delays to shipping are expected.

Trim-Uniformed Force Enforces Security At All Three Sets Of Panama Canal Locks

(Continued from page 3) his first month he

is examined on rules and regulations of the force and during his second and third months he is examined on such matters

as pertinent phases of criminal law, rules

of evidence, and criminal investigation. At the end of his 90-day probationary

period, each guard is given a written examination covering the various phases

of his training. Not until he has passed

this examination is he assigned as a

regular member of the force. Working directly under Captain Halsail are three sergeants, one for each set of locks. They are considered Security Commanders for their areas. Four senior patrolmen are also stationed at each set

of locks. Their headquarters or control points are the main gates in their areas. The guards wear khaki uniforms which were designed by a committee from the

security force and approved by Mr.

Stockham. Distinguishing features of the uniform are its semi-rolled collar shirt, the black stripe down the trouser legs and

the insignia "LSF" for Locks Security

Force.

Plumbers; Herschel Gandy, AFGE; Mr.

Hodges, Locomotive Engineers; Mr. Daniel, Conductors; Chester Luhr, Locks

Employees; and Walter Wagner, Henry

Chenevert, W. E. Percy, Carl Maed'l, Ralph Curies and E. .1. Husted, Central Labor Union.
March 6, 1953 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW 13

ANNIVERSARIES

Ten Years Ago In February

Employees who observed important anniversaries during the month of Februarj are

listed alphabetically below. The number

of years includes .ill Government service with thf Canal or other agencies. ["hose with continuous service with ih>' Canal

arc indicated with (*). 48 YEARS

•William Jump, Timekeeper, Industrial Bureau.

42 YEARS

'Ernest C. Cotton, Printer, Printing

Plant.

35 YEARS John W. Towery, Claim- Examiner,

Fiscal I >i\ ision. John A. Wright, Genera] Storekeeper,

Division of Storehouses.

.50 YEARS

Harry F. Cody, General Foreman, Maintenance Division. Troy Hayes, Sergeant, Police Division. James E. Heady, Assistant Chief Accountant, Accounting; Division. Nicolas E. Palat, Postal Clerk, Balboa. Joseph J. Wood, Government Systems

Accountant, Accounting Division.

25 YEARS John F. Hern, Sheetmetal Worker, Maintenance Division. P. Byrne Hutchings, Housing Manager, Gamboa, Housing Division. William F. Long, Policeman, Police

Division.

20 YEARS Nathan W. Ashton, Foreman, Shipping and Receiving, Commissary Division. Henry C. Hotz, Track Foreman, Rail- road Division. David F. Mead, Records Administrator, Administrative Branch. Herbert W. Rose, Locomotive Engineer, Railroad Division. William L. Willumsen, Customs In- spector, Cristobal.

15 YEARS

Arch D. Bishop, General Investigator,

Office of the Comptroller. Walter E. Colclasure, Administrative

Assistant, Contracts and Inspection Division.*Helen L. Dudak, Appointment Clerk, Personnel Bureau. Harry D. Foster, Filtration Plant Operator, Maintenance Division. William T. Halvosa, Jr., Postmaster, Diablo Heights. James L. Hatcher, Sergeant, Police

Division. Edward G. Moran, Postal Clerk, Air Mail Section. Gilbert A. Reynolds, Foreman, Electrical Division. Frederick H. Smith, Jr., Supervisory

Construction Engineer, Electrical Division.

Time-Payment Plan Set Up

For New Canal Employees

U. S.-rate employees of the Canal

organization with less than 6 months of service are now able to purchase such

household equipment as refrigerators, washing machines, electric ironers, and

other equipment costing over $60, on a

credit plan through the Commissary

Division. Employees with over 6 months service may make arrangements for financing of such purchases through their local credit unions. This means that the former plan for

selling refrigerators on a 12-month pay- ment plan through the Commissary Division is now superseded by the new ar- rangement. It also means that new

employees or those here only a short time who have not yet established credit union affiliations will be able to purchase

THOUSANDS OF ISTHMIAN'S turned out 10 years ago last month to attend the War Bond

Carnival in Balboa. The carnival was such a success that it was extended an extra day; when it finally closed, bond sales totaled close to $650,000.

Isthmians by the thousands swarmed

around the Balboa stadium area 10 years ago in February at a War Bond Carnival,

biggest affair of the sort to be held here in considerably more than a decade. Just about anything anyone ever heard of for a carnival—except a zoo^was available. The Governor, Glen E. Edgerton, cut the entrance ribbon. Army and Navy equip- ment was on display. Searchlights wig- wagged messages. The 511 members of Balboa High School's Victory Corps made

their first public appearance in an opening

parade. Taxi-dancers wore out their shoes. Paratroopers jumped from three planes

over Albrook Field. Give-away prizes were headed by a round trip by air to Costa Rica. Bond purchasers stood in line, headed by

the Governor, and sales finally totaled some $650,000, well over the half-million

dollar goal. A young lieutenant from the Army Air Force was killed, three other men hurt when an observation plane hit a protective net cable suspended over the north end of Pedro Miguel locks and crashed

in flames in a ravine behind the Pedro

Miguel Gun Club. An enlisted passenger

in the plane jumped just before it crashed, pulled from the wreckage a severely injured sergeant. The net cable fell onto three high tension wires, shutting off electric current to the Pacific side for 3 hours. One of the

falling high tension wires hit a truck in which a West Indian driver was sitting, knocking him unconscious.

using'gasoline obtained through "B" rations

to make pleasure trips to the Interior. From Balboa Heights came word that car owners applying for "B" books would

be refused the extra gasoline when they were knoicn to have been making such

pleasure trips in their cars. Periodic

checks were being made at points in the Interior where trips were likely to be taken.

Commissary customers were told that

there would be no serious food or drygoods

shortage if patrons bought only as much

as they needed, when it was needed.

Sales of some articles were limited; in the Commissaries shoes could be obtained

only at the rate of three pairs a year per member of a family, although shoes could be ordered by mail from the States. Commissary officials, however, backed up a Civil Defense suggestion that each household keep in reserve a 2 weeks' supply of nonperishable food-stuffs. Spam,

for instance.

George W. Green, Municipal Engineer,

returned from a plane and highway trip between Mexico and the Isthmus with news

that it would be at least 1945 before the Inter-American Highway would be ready

for general use. Army Engineers were in charge of the road construction, with much actual building being let to U. S. contractors and the Public Roads Administration doing the bridges and culverts.

Authorities clamped down on the misuse

of rationed gasoline. Three men were

fined $100 each in the District Court for

household equipment on the time-pay- ment plan. The plan calls for complete payment in a 12-month period. Interest and a carrying charge of 5 percent of the original

selling price are added to the selling price. The total sum is to be repaid in 26 equal consecutive payments, made bi-weekly through payroll deductions.

The Panama Canal Clubhouses took

over the Diablo Heights Restaurant and

the clubhouses at Diablo Heights, Margarita, and Cocoli. They had been operated as a separate

unit of the Special Engineering Division.

The month's visitors included H. V. Kaltenborn, well-known radio commentator, just in from a speedy round trip to Africa. He announced that the major

problem facing the Allied forces in Africa was that of combating Axis submarines.
14 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW March 6, 1953 THIS MONTH'S CALENDAR

MARCH

7th—Track Foreman No. 2741, Balboa B & B Shops. 8th—Sheetmetal Workers, Balboa Clubhouse, 9:30 a. m. Plumbers No. 606, Balboa Lodge Hall, 9:30 a. m. 9th Machinists No. 699, K. of C. Hall. Margarita, 7:30 p. m. American Legion Post 1, Balboa Legion Home, 7:30 p. m.

10th—Pipefitters, Margarita Clubhouse,

7:30 p. m.

Electrical Workers No. 397, Wirz

Memorial, 7:30 p. m. VFW Post 100, Old Boy Scout Building,

Cristobal, 7:30 p. m. American Legion Post 7, Fort Clayton,

7:30 p. m. Legion Auxiliary Unit 1, Balboa

Legion Home, 7:30 p. m. Uth—Carpenters and Joiners, Balboa Lodge Hall, 7:30 p. m.

Pacific Civic Council, Board Room,

Administration Building, 7:30 p. m. American Legion Post 2, Legion Home, Old Cristobal. 13th—Blacksmiths No. 400, Boilermakers Nos. 463 and 471, K. of C. Hall, Margarita, 7:30 p. m. 15th—CLU-MTC, Balboa Lodge Hall, 8:30 a. m.

16th—Electrical Workers No. 677, Gatun

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

p. m.

17th—Operating Engineers No. 595, K. of C. Hall, Margarita, 7 p. m. Machinists No. 811, Balboa Lodge Hall, 7:30 p. m. 18th—AFGE No. 14, Balboa Clubhouse,

7:30 p. m. American Legion Auxiliary Unit 3, Gatun Legion Home, 7:30 p. m.

19th —American Legion Auxiliary Unit

6, Gamboa Legion Hall, 7:30 p. m. 23d—Machinists No. 699, K. of C. Hall, Margarita, 7:30 p. m. VFW Auxiliary, Post 3822 Home,

7:30 p. m. 24th —Operating Engineers No. 595, Balboa Lodge Hall, 7 p. m. American Legion Post 7, Fort Clayton, 7:30 p. m. 25th—Governor - Employee Conference,

Board Room, Administration Building,

2 p. m. VFW Post 100, Old Boy Scout Building,

Cristobal, 7:30 p. m. American Legion Auxiliary Unit 2, Legion Home, Old Cristobal, 7:30 p. m.

APRIL

1st—VFW Post 3857, Cristobal Veterans

Club, 9 a. m. VFW Post 40, Wirz Memorial.

7:30 p. m. 2d —Carpenters and Joiners No. 667, Margarita Clubhouse, 7:30 p. m. 3d —American Legion Post 6, Gamboa

Legion Home, 7:30 p. m.

PROMOTIONS AND

TRANSFERS

January 75 Through February 75

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

type of work to another. It does not con.

tain within-grade promotions or regradings ADMINISTRATIVE BRANCH

John J. Alexaitis from Helper, Indus"

trial Bureau, to File Clerk, Record Section- George K. Hudgins, Jr. from Mail Clerk

to File Clerk, Record Section. Mrs. Beatrice E. Lee from File Clerk

to Records Administrator, Record Section. Mrs. Lois A. Mansberg from Personnel Clerk (Typist), Employment and Utiliza- tion Division, to File Clerk, Record Section. George G. Graffman from File Clerk

to Property and Supply Clerk, Record

Section. Walter J. Allen from File Clerk to File Supervisor, Record Section. Vincent Leaver from Doorman, Club- house Division, to File Clerk, Record

Section. CIVIL AFFAIRS BUREAU

Mrs. Nancy L. Gamble from Kindergarten Assistant to Elementary School

Teacher, Schools Division. Rex O. Knight from Assistant Motor

Inspector to Motor Inspector, Police Division. Charles A. Thomas from Junior Fore- man, Ferry Service, to Postal Clerk, Postal, Customs, and Immigration Division. Jacob Rand from Signalman, Navigation Division, to Postal Clerk, Postal, Customs, and Immigration Division. A. Edwin Wilson from File Clerk, Administrative Branch, to Postal Clerk,

Postal, Customs and Immigration Division. Richard M. Hirons from Policeman to Assistant Motor Inspector, Police Division. John M. Mallia from Helper, Locks

Division Overhaul, to Customs Guard,

Postal, Customs, and Immigration Division. March Sailings

From Cristobal

STEAM Kit

Leave Cristobal 10 a. m. Friday

Arrive Port-au- Prince 7 a.m.

Sunday; /rate noon Sunday

Arrive New York 8 a. m. Thursday

Ancon* Panama. . Cristobal. Ancon. .

March 7 (Saturday) March' 13 March 20 March 27

March 9 (Monday) March 15 March 22 March 29

March 13 (Friday) March 19 March 20

April -'

• From New York

STEAUEIt Leave New Yuri; 4 p. m. Tuesday

Arrive Port-aul'rinre 7 a. m.

Saturday; leave 4 p. m. Saturday

Arrive Cristobal 2 p. m. Monday

Panama . . March 3 March 10 March 17 March 24 March 31

March 7 March 14 March 21 March 28

April 4

March 9 March 16 March 23 March 30

April t>

Cristobal - - _ __ Ancon. Panama

Cristobal

* Schedule changed because of Was rington's Birthday holiday.

Barry H. Kenealy from Policeman,

Police Division, to Customs Guard, Postal, Customs, and Immigration Division. Stuart M. Fisk from Machinist, Locks

Division Overhaul, to Policeman, Police

Division. COMMUNITY SERVICES BUREAU

Mrs. Annie R. Rathgeber from ClerkTypist, Office of the Director, to Clerk- Stenographer, Clubhouse Division. Emmet Zemer, from General Supply

Clerk, Housing Division, to Safety Inspector, Office of the Director. John W. Hare from Safety Inspector to Realty Assistant, Office of the Director. Jack W. Clarke from Helper, Locks

Division, to Superintendent, Refuse Collection and Disposal, Grounds Maintenance

Division. OFFICE OF THE COMPTROLLER

John F. Lewis from Chief Accountant

to Business Analyst, Management Staff. Floyd H. Baldwin from Auditor, Claims

Division, to Chief, Fiscal Division. James L. Fulton from Governmental

Accountant, Accounting Division, to Chief, Claims Branch. George E. Girard from Assistant to Finance Director, Internal Audit Division,

to Acting Chief, Internal Audit Staff. Arthur J. O'Leary from Assistant to Finance Director, Accounting Division, to Acting Chief Accountant, Accounting Division. Willard D. Strode, Frank R. Molther

from Structural Engineer, Engineering Division, to Valuation Engineer, Plant Inventory and Appraisal Branch. Frank A. Baldwin, from Accountant, Accounting Division, to Construction Cost

Accountant, Plant Inventorv and Appraisal

Staff. Morris Waxman from Governmental

Accountant, Accounting Division, to Construction Cost Accountant, Plant Inventory and Appraisal Staff. John R. White, Noel C. Farnsworth

from General Construction Inspector, Contract and Inspection Division, to Valuation

Engineer, Plant Inventory and Appraisal

Staff. Bertha I. Frensley, Clerk-Stenogiapher, from Claims Branch to Accounting Systems

Staff. Mrs. Anna H. Ballou, Clerk- Typist, from Personnel Records Division to Treas- ury Branch. Mrs. Chiquita C. Cassibry from Typist, Cost Accounts Branch, to Clerk-Stenographer, Internal Audit Staff. Mrs. Evelyn R. Reynolds from Clerk- Typist, Personnel Records Division, to

Typist, Cost Accounts Branch. Charles H. McKeon from Tabulating Equipment Operation Supervisor to Accountant, Accounting Systems Staff. Harry E. Musselman from Cash Ac- counting Clerk, Treasury Branch, to Tabulation Planner, Accounting Division. Arthur J. Wynne, from Accounting

Clerk, Agents Accounts Branch, to Accountant, Cost Accounts Branch. ENGINEERING AND CONSTRUCTION BUREAU

Mrs. Dorothy S. Parsons from Clerk Typist to Cash Accounting Clerk, Electrical Division. John G. Haky from Clerk to Supervisory Clerk, Electrical Division. Mrs. Ellen P. Castles from Cash

Accounting Clerk to Accounting Clerk,

Electrical Division. William L. Brooks from Accounting

Clerk to Clerk, Electrical Division. HEALTH BUREAU

Mrs. Juliet H. de Leon from Clerk- Typist, License Section, to Clerk-Typist, Gorgas Hospital. Mara Salcedo J. from Storekeeper to Clerk-Typist, Gorgas Hospital. Dr. David Senzer, Medical Officer, from Gorgas Hospital to Division of Quarantine.

Clifford V. Russell from Clerk, Colon Health Office, to Hospital Administrative

Assistant, Gorgas Hospital. Roy F. Burr from Cash Accounting

Clerk, Treasury Branch, to Clerk, Colon

Health Office. MAGISTRATES COURT

Rex E. Beck from Customs Inspector,

Postal, Customs,

-ion, to Constab

Court.

Immigration Divi- Balboa Magistrate's
March 6, 1953 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW 15 MARINE BUREAU

Walter R. Malone from Floating Crane

Operator to General Foreman, Excavators and Tractors, Dredging Division. Claud M. Kreger from Principal Fore- man to Rotary Drill Operator, Dredging

I )i\ ision. George G. Kelps from Rotary Drill Operator to Drill Foreman, Dredging

I (tvision. Robert B. Vache from Wireman, Electrical Division, to Lock Operator Wireman,

Locks Division. Julian 0. Russell from Pump Operator,

Pipeline Suction Dredge, to Small Tug

Operator, Dredging Division. James O. King from Plant Electrician, Commissary Division, to Lock Operator Wireman, Pacific Lock-. James C. Thomas from Boilermaker to Boilermaker Leader, Dredging Division. Mirt Bender from Combination Welder

to Boilermaker, Dredging Division. Everett E. Branstetter from First Mate

to Master, Tug Taboga, Aids to Navigation. David W. Ellis from General Operator

to Floating Crane Operator, Dredging

Division. Ralph E. Garfield from Helper to Combination Welder, Locks Division. Thomas J. Ebdon, Jr. from General

Electrical Engineer, Office of Chief, Locks

Division, to Assistant to Superintendent,

Pacific Locks. Leon D. Herring, Jr. from Junior Fore- man, Ferry Service, to Pump Operator,

Pipeline Suction Dredge, Dredging Division. Lloyd G. Moore from Machinist, Industrial Bureau, to Lock Operator Machinist,

Atlantic Locks. Gordon E. Walbridge from Hydrographic Engineer (Dredging), to Hydrographic Engineer, Dredging Division. PERSONNEL BUREAU

Mrs. Rita H. Fritz from Clerk- Typist

to Personnel Clerk (Typirt), Employment

and Utilization Division. Mrs. Joanne E. Robinson, ClerkTypist, from Office of the Director to Employment and Utilization Division. RAILROAD AND TERMINALS BUREAU

Robert S. Wood from Signals Supervisor to Supervisory Signal Engineer, Rail- road Division. Clair E. Ewing from Traffic Clerk to Supervisory Administrative Assistant, Ter- minals Division. Mrs. Gloria M. DeRaps from Traffic Clerk, Terminals Division, to Clerk- Typist, Railroad Division. Irwin K. Meier from Gauger, Division

of Storehouses, to Agent-Operator, Railroad

Division. SUPPLY AND SERVICE BUREAU

Grady G. Gailey from Automobile

Serviceman to Automobile Serviceman and

Special Heavy Truck Driver, Motor Transportation Division. George L. Cain from Commissary

Assistant to Commissary Manager. Edmund R. MacVittie from Assistant

Chief, Northern District, Maintenance

Division, to Assistant to Superintendent,

Division of Storehouses. Arthur S. Miller from Meat Cutterin-Charge, to Purchasing Agent, Commissary Division.

Commissary's Industrial Laboratory Saves Patrons Over $100,000 Annually

RETIREMENTS IN FEBRUARY

Employees who retired at the end of February, their birthplaces, titles, length

of service at retirement, and their future addresses are: Sylvester B. Bubb, Pennsylvania; Admin. Asst., Locks Division; 32 years, 5 months, 7 days; Montoursville, Pa. Dr. Jesse L. Byrd, Georgia; Health

Officer, Colon; 28 years, 9 months, 17 days; Atlanta, Ga. John F. Frensley, Tennessee; Conductor, Panama Railroad; 22 years, 2 months;

Titusville, Fla. Eddie Holgerson, Colombia; Stevedore Foreman, Terminals Division; 19 years, 10 months, 5 days; Colon, R. P. Adam S. Miller, New York; Special Painter Leadingman, Industrial Bureau;

39 years, 10 months, 17 days; Canal Zone

for present.

THIS DISPLAY OF INDUSTRIAL LABOR- ATORY products is kept on exhibition in the office of R. L. Sullivan, General Manager of the Commissary Division. Mr. Sullivan is explaining how some

of the products are made to Mrs. Roberta Egolf, an employee in the Mount Hope Commissary offices.

The display here shows only a few of the more than 200 products sold under the familiar "Commissary"

label. Employees, not only in the Industrial Laboratory but throughout the Commissary Division, are

justifiably proud of these products which are of highest quality and sell at very low cost.

(Continued from page 9) of the World. The vanilla beans from which the vanilla extract is made come from Mexico and

the French island of Madagascar. Al- though the first vanilla beans, back in 1911, were bought in London and stored

there, the supply is now bought in the United States. Vanilla extract is made much the same

as you percolate your morning's cup

of coffee. The chopped beans are put

into a percolator holding 40 gallons and

are permitted to percolate for several hours at an exact temperature before the

extract is ready for use as flavoring. An

entire year's supply is made at one time and this requires 600 gallons. Bay Rum Is Popular

Just as World War I provided a home

for the Industrial Laboratory, World War II made one of its products famous. The product made popular during the past war was bay rum. Although its manufacture was begun soon after Major

Wilson made his suggestion 42 years ago, the product never proved highly popular

because the many natives of the West

Indies Islands who work for the Canal

preferred a certain type produced in the West Indies. When the war started and

ships began to be sunk in the Caribbean by Nazi submarines, bay rum from the West Indies could not be easily obtained and the Commissary product became a

fast seller. As soon as it came into com- mon use the West Indies product lost favor and for a time it became necessary

to take the Commissary bay rum off the market to sell the remaining supply in stock from the West Indies. Commissary bay rum is now one of the

fastest-selling products of the Industrial Laboratory and. last year 24,000 pints and 4,600 quart bottles were sold. There are many other of the Industrial

Laboratory products which are vitally affected by the changing times or popular

taste of Commissary customers. The number of pharmaceutical products has

recently been increased. Most Have Long Service Most of the personnel who work at the

Industrial Laboratory are employees with many years of service and they are highly proud of their work. A few of the local- rate employees began with the unit well before it was moved to its present loca- tion and given an official name. Mrs.

Reccia is one of the "babies" of the unit

in point of service and can boast only

3 years of service with the Industrial Laboratory. Mr. Orr, who heads the unit as chemist,

is one of many boys who grew up in the Canal Zone and have made the Canal

their life work. His father, E. F. Orr, was a former Superintendent of the Panama Railroad. All of the three

children are now Canal employees. In

addition to Earl, his brother, Elmer, is employed in the Office of the Comptroller, and his sister, Mrs. Juanita Jones, is employed in the Engineering Division. Mr. Orr attended elementary school in the Canal Zone and is a graduate of Balboa High School. Like many Canal Zone boys he worked for the Canal at various times during school vacation

periods. After graduating from high

school, he entered Brooklyn Polytechnic

Institute and was graduated with a

bachelor of science degree in chemistry. His first job after receiving his degree was at the Board of Health Laboratory. He transferred to the Commissary Division as a student recorder and a year later was made Assistant to the Chemist. He

was promoted to Chemist and placed in charge of the Industrial Laboratory just 9 years ago this month

One-Cent Increase Planned In Filtered Water Rate

An increase in water rental rates of

1 cent a 100 cubic feet in most categories

will become effective early in May.

The revision of rates will not affect Canal employees nor the water supplied

to the Cities of Panama and Colon. Charges for water for Canal employees

are included in the rental of quarters, and

filtered water supplied to Panama and

Colon is under rates set by contractual arrangement. The latter does not cover suburban areas of Panama City and rates

in these areas will be increased. No change will be made in the commercial tariff rates for water supplied

to vessels.
16 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW March 6, 1953 Signalman At Lone Hilltop Post

Watches World's Commerce Go By

THIS VIEW of the Panama Canal from the Gamboa Signal Station stretches to the south end of Mamei Curve beyond the town of Gamboa That

is where Juan Hidalgo, Signalman shown here, first sights southbound vessels and raises the big signal shapes that instruct ships entering Gaillard Cut.

Juan Hidalgo and his family live in a house with a view—perched all alone on

a high hill about 150 feet above Gamboa.

The "office side" of the hilltop house, where Mr. Hidalgo serves as Signalman,

looks down on about a seven-mile stretch

of the Canal which he has almost memorized in 20 years at the Gamboa Signal

Station. The Gamboa station— like the other Canal signal stations, at La Pita, Cucaracha, and on Sosa Hill in Balboa—stands

all alone, but could not be considered

isolated. From then- high houses, Canal

signalmen watch the world's commerce

go by, each of them keeping an eye on the part of the Canal that can be seen from

his signal station. The section in view of the Gamboa

Station extends from about midway in Las Cascadas Reach a short distance southeast of Gamboa to the bend between Gamboa Reach and Mamei Curve where

south-bound vessels first come in sight of the signal station. About 11 years of seafaring and 20 as signalman, plus another six years in the Dredging Division have given Mr.

Hidalgo a knowledge of ships that almost matches his intimate acquaintance with

"his part" of the Canal. He says he can

guess—and not miss far—the size and

capacity of any vessel almost as soon as she can be seen from the Gamboa Signal

Station.View From Gamboa Station The porch that opens off the Hidalgos'

living room looks out over the Chagres

River and over and beyond the town of Gamboa which they watched being built

in 1939. From the other sides of the

house, there are views of more hills like their own and, in one direction, a glimpse

of the road to Gamboa.

Scattered over the signal station hill are many fruits and flowers planted and

cultivated by the Hidalgos in the years

that they have lived there. Their fine avocados, oranges, and mangoes are

frequently given to friends as presents. A road built to wind in a hairpin curve around one of their treasured avocado

pear trees now connects the hilltop house with the highway at the foot of the hill. Mr. Hidalgo worked on that himself in 16 years of vacations. There are also 142 steps to the house

the Hidalgos have counted them many

times—which were used to reach the

signal station before the road was built. Mr. Hidalgo first came to the Canal Zone in construction days, a few years

after he left his native Chile and started going to sea. He worked on tugboats and later on the old Panama Railroad

ships, the Generals Gorgas and Goethah and the AHianca. Later, he went to the United States where he acquired citizen- ship in 1922. Visited Canal Zone Regularly

Starting in about 1921 he came to the Canal Zone regularly when he was serv- ing as quartermaster on a United Fruit Company vessel on runs between New

Orleans and Cristobal. He later served

as third and second mate on other ships that took him to many of the world's major ports. In 1927, he decided he wanted to work

for the Canal and left his ship in New

York and paid his own passage to the Canal Zone. He was employed in the Dredging Division and worked there until 1933 when he became a signalman. His seafaring experience has stood him

in good stead in his job as signalman,

particularly in the days up to the end of World War II before radio was used to transmit instructions to ships in the Canal direct from the dispatchers. However, Mr. Hidalgo explains, radio sometimes fails and the visual signals he trans- mits are more sure and certain in some

cases. Signals Southbound Vessels One of the main responsibilities of the Gamboa Signal Station is the control of south-bound vessels entering Gaillard

Cut—the transmission of instructions to speed up, slow down, keep on schedule, |

etc., which the ships receive when they w|

come in sight of the station. j*|

^jThe signalman also keeps a lookout for o>|

slides, aircraft, fires, fog, or any unau- 1 thorized craft in the Canal. He keeps a gjf record of the Dredging Division equip- **l ment in the Canal that can be seen from *|

the Gamboa Station and signals to ships wf

of the approach of a tug or barge outside S;

the vessel's line of vision. He is also the \ man behind the fog horn or loudspeaker ; when they are used in "his part" of the Canal. The Hidalgos' home stands all alone but it is not lonely. It has long been a

favorite gathering place for friends and

neighbors in Gamboa, particularly the youngsters for whom Mrs. Hidalgo usually finds a sandwich or a freshly picked

orange. She likes to have people around

her and is busy with community activities. Her daughter Wilma, a typist in the Correspondence Section of the Canal,

recalls the time an entire church circle gathered at their home. The house was

so full there must have been a few heads

sticking out the windows, she says. The

minister made a fitting talk on "The

Sermon on the Mount." The Hidalgos' 22-year-old son, William,

is a motorcycle enthusiast. He started with a motorscooter in high school, then graduated to motorcycles and has had

lots of practice on both up and down the

hill to his home.

Civil Defense Committee

Appointments Announced

Fifteen members have been appointed

to the Civil Defense Advisory Committee

according to an announcement from the

Civil Defense Office. The first meeting of the group will be

held about March 15 when Lt. W. G.

Dolan, Civil Defense Chief, returns from

Olney, Md., where he is attending Civil Defense Staff College. The members are: William T. Craig, Canal Zone Civic Councils; Robert T.

Ellis, Local-rate Labor; Walter Wagner,

U. S.-rate Labor; William Jump, Localrate Communities; Mrs. Dorothy Thornton, Canal Zone Chapter, Red Cross; B. I. Everson, Railroad and Terminals

Bureau; Capt. Rodger W. Griffith, Civil Affairs Bureau; Melvin F. Millard, Engineering and Construction Bureau;

E. L. Payne, Personnel Bureau; Daniel H. Rudge, Marine Bureau; A. T. Schmidt, Supply and Service Bureau; J. P. Smith,

Jr., Health Bureau; Joseph C. Turner,

Office of the Comptroller; Lt. Comdr.

Walter M. Vincent, Industrial Bureau; Emmet Zemer, Community Services Bureau. The Advisory Committee will appoint

the technical staff chiefs who will be

responsible for such various Civil Defense

matters as health, fire fighting, utilities, and rescues. This committee will work closely with

a chief warden to be selected by the Civic Councils, and two Zone commanders, one for the northern and the other for the southern ends of the Canal Zone.

Section commanders, similar to the "block wardens" in some U. S. communities, will also be appointed and trained

in courses which Lieutenant Dolan will organize when he returns from the United States. OI-9C-I C$C)