if the Panama Canal Museum

Vol. 7, No. 4 BALBOA HEIGHTS, CANAL ZONE, NOVEMBER 2, 1956 5 cents

ANNIVERSARY PROGRAM TO BE HELD NOVEMBER 15

TO CELEBRATE FIFTIETH BIRTHDAY OF TITC TIVOLI

Detailed plans are nearing completion

for a community mid-centennial celebration, to be held November 15, commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of the Tivoli Guest House. Arrangements for the celebration are in the hands of a committee headed by P. S. Thornton, General Manager of the Service Center Division, who was manager of the Tivoli for many years. As the plans stand at present, the cele- bration will take the form of a pageant

to be staged in the great ballroom of the

old hotel. Scenes of the pageant will depict outstanding events in the history of the building which received its first guests

when President Theodore Roosevelt paid

his unprecedented visit to the Isthmus

November 14-17, 1906. Arrangements for the pageant and the music which will accompany it are being

made by Victor, H. Herr and Donald E. Musselman, both from the faculty of Balboa High School. They are working

with Mrs. C. S. McCormack, founder and

first president cf the Isthmian Historical Society, who is providing them with the

historical background for the pageant.

Fred DeV. Sill, well-known retired employee, is in charge of the speeches and

introductions of the various incidents in the pageant. H. J. Chase, manager of the

Tivoli Guest House, has been put in charge of refreshments which will be

served during the celebration. The committee held its first meeting

at the Board Room of the Administration

Building on October 18 and met again

Wednesday, also in the Board Room.

Members of the committee are: R. K.

Morris, William Taylor, Capt. Clifford Payne, Capt. J. M. Davis, Omer Malsbury, and Mr. Sill, all former Canal employees; Juan Ehrman, who was well ac- quainted with the Tivoli (See page 16)

HEADING THIS YEAR'S Community Chest Campaign are Lt. Gov. H. W. Schull, Jr., right, and

Arnold H. Hodgson. Colonel Schull is Chairman of the Governor's Committee for Voluntary Giving; Mr. Hodgson is Campaign Chairman. For further details on the Drive, see page 3.

Preliminary Planning Is Now Under Way

For School For Handicapped Zone Children

While plans are still in the preliminary

stage, a program is being developed to provide special education assistance to handicapped children in the Canal Zone.

Several weeks ago the need for special

training was brought to the attention of Governor Potter who since has been

working closely with those concerned and

was authorized by the Board of Directors

at the October meeting to proceed with

planning. Supplementation of the pro- gram will depend upon the willingness of parents to contribute all non-technical

aid, including transportation of the

children.

It is estimated that there are about 200

children in the Zone who need special

schooling because of physical or mental

handicaps. Many of these do not now

attend school. Handicapped children are admitted to the regular schools in the Zone when they are capable of sitting in the classrooms and their presence does not unduly distract other students. This is

done to provide the benefit of social cortacts with other children even though the handicapped child is unable to maintain

normal scholarship levels. Since many of the physically handi- capped children require hospital and

therapeutic treatment regularly, it is planned to divide the group into two or more sections. Those requiring physical therapy and

muscular control training would attend

classes in wards of Gorgas and Coco Solo

hospitals which would be converted to classrooms. Special classrooms in the reg- ular schools would be provided for all others. The latter groups would include those with speech, sight, or hearing defects and those who are mentally retarded. Preliminary studies indicate that a staff of 18 would be required for a ratio of 15

children for one teacher. This staff would

include a Director of Special Education,

nine teachers for United States schools, four teachers for Latin (See page w)

Notice that he may call upon re- tired Canal employees for advice

from time to time was given by

Gov. W. E. Potter last month during

a meeting of the committee planning the anniversary celebration of the Tivoli Guest House. Such a "steering group," the Governor said, is common practice in the United States where retired employees are occasionally called on for background information and advice on current problems.

Several such problems have arisen since his arrival, the Governor said,

and he undoubtedly would have benefited from the advice of a steeringgroup of oldtimers. When problems

arise in the future, for which their advice would be helpful, he said he

wanted to feel free to call upon the

retired employees.
THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW November 2, 1956

TWO OF THE Canal employees who are voting this year h the United States by absentee ballot inspect the Ohio ballots received by Gerald A. Doyle of the Engineering Division, standing. Looking the ballots over are Mrs. Arilla Kourany, a New Jersey voter, and William N. Taylor, who is voting in Maryland.

Mrs. Kourany and Mr. Taylor are with the Personnel Bureau. Mr. Taylor, who was born in the Canal

Zone, is a first-time voter this year. Mrs. Kourany has voted before in the States, and Mr. Doyle used

absentee ballots while he was in the Navy during World War II.

Zonians By Thousands Will Go To Polls

On Tuesday To Elect Civic Councilmen

Turner, Robert Van Wagner, and Mel

E. Walker.

Balboa

Three councilmen and six alternates to be elected; holdover members: Mrs. W.

E. LeBrun, Jack F. Morris, and Max M.

Schoch.

Candidates Boyd Bevington, Kenneth

Booth, Charles Brandl, Mary Brigham, Lawrence W. Chambers, Joseph Ebdon,

Robert Herr, Rufus Lovelady, Gus Mellander, Otis Myers, Delmas Swafford,

Harry Townsend, and Howard Walling.

Diablo Heights

Three councilmen and six alternates to be elected; holdover members: Miss

Claude Aycock, J. Winter Collins, and

E. J. McElroy.

Candidates -Robert Blaney, Roger Collinge, Ernest Curling, Richard Daniel,

Noel Farnsworth, William Hollowell, Edgar H. Light, and James G. E. Maguire. Los Rios

Three councilmen and six alternates to be elected; holdover members: Truman

H. Hoenke, Albert M. Jenkins, and Robert A. Stevens. Candidates- Richard W. Abell, G. 0.

Kellar, Robert Risberg, James Shirley, Charles Staples, Harry E. Wentsler,

Frank Wilder, William F. Young, and

Ernest Zelnick. GAMBOA COUNCIL

Polls -Gamboa Commissary.

For President—Robert R. Duncan,

Robert E. Welborn, and Earl V. Romigh.

For councilman, vote for seven; hold- over members: Marie Connor, Ruth Banton, Liz Bleakley, and Everett Kimmel.

Candidates—T. A. Adkins, Carlton

Bell, E. B. Bristol, Julius Cheney, A. H.

Cooke, Robert R. Duncan, Addie Ellis, Dolores Gerhart, William Homa, H. F. Jenner, L. F. Kelly, Joseph Kihl, Arnold

Landreth, Betty Malone, Vic Melant,

Charles L. Pierre, E. V. Romigh, Jane

Snodgrass, and Robert E. Welborn.

CRISTOBAL - MARGARITA COUNCIL

Polls -Commissaries and Service Centers in both towns. Eight councilmen to be elected for two

years, and four alternates for one year; holdover members: Miss Frances Moomaw, Mrs. Elsie Gibson, L. T. Brennen,

Fay M. Brown, Gerard K. Schear, Mrs.

Frances Whitlock, Peter W. Foster, and

Robert H. Miller. Candidates - Paul E. Ackerman, Henry

T. Carpenter, William R. Dixon, Mrs.

Louise E. Griffon, Emmet T. Harper,

Joseph L. Hickey, Willard W. Huffman,

George J. Marceau, David C. Mcllhenny,

Frank J. McLeod, Mrs. Dorothy Meehan,

John M. Purvis, Jr., Virgil C. Reed, Vincent D. Ridge, Thomas L. Sellers, and

Mrs. Louise M. Sugar.

The candidates, polling places, and

other information on the elections in the

Latin American towns, except for La Boca

which did not complete its slate of candi- dates in time for inclusion here, are as

follows: PARAISO

Polls -Civic Center, High School, First Baptist Church, Elementary School, Junior High School, and Salvation Army Hall. To be elected- 15 Councilmen for twoSeveral thousand Zonians go to the

polls next Tuesday in Civic Council elec- tions which have generated more public

interest than has been demonstrated in many years. The elections this year are being held concurrently with the National elections

in the United States in which many Canal Zone residents are participating by absentee voting. A special campaign to stimulate interest in voting in the national elections by Canal employees and

their families has been conducted for the past several months, with the result that absentee voting for both State and National officials has been much heavier than

in previous years. In the local elections for Civic Council

members, all towns with the exception of Gatun will vote Tuesday. The election

in Gatun, where the necessary change in bylaws for a new voting date was not made in time, was being held yesterday

and today.

Uniform Age, Hours

Plans for uniform election rules for the Canal Zone Civic Councils were adopted

following a suggestion by Governor Potter soon after his arrival in the Canal Zone

last May. The adoption of the first Tuesday in November as election day

has served to stimulate interest in both

the national and local elections. A uniform voting age of 21 years or over has been adopted by all Councils. The same voting hours of 8 o'clock in the morning until 5 o'clock in the afternoon

will also be used in all towns. Canal Zone residents will also be asked

to vote in a referendum this year on the proposed United Fund Raising Policy

established by the White House for all Federal establishments. This will be the

first Zone-wide referendum ever con- ducted by the Civil Councils of this nature. Voters will be asked to indicate their

choice of one, two, or three combined

fund-raising drives a year, which will be adopted by the Canal organization next

year. Because of the great interest which is being displayed in the Civil Council elec- tions this year, special arrangements have

been made to have election results an- nounced early. The voting results for each town willl be announced over the Armed Forces radio and television service and in the daily newspapers. The counting of votes is to be started immediately

after the polls close and it is expected

that the results can be announced by TV

and radio early Tuesday night and be

published in Wednesday papers. As a convenience to its readers and to the electorate generally, The Review

has prepared a complete list of candidates,

polling places, and the number of candi- dates to be elected in each of the communities holding their elections Tuesday.

This information for the United States communities is as follows: PACIFIC CIVIC COUNCIL

Polls Gorgas Hospital, Ancon Commissary, former Ancon Service Center,

Balboa Commissary and Post Office, Industrial Division, Civil Affairs Building,

Administration Building, Diablo Heights

Commissary and Service Center, Miraflores and Pedro Miguel Locks.

Voting -Voters may cast their ballots at any of the 12 polling places, but they

must use ballots prepared for the town

in which they reside. Ancon

Three councilmen and six alternates to be elected; holdover members: Charles L. Latham, Jr., Walter R. Lindsay, and

Mrs. Charles P. Morgan.

Candidates -A. I. Bauman, C. W.

"Connie" Chase, Benjamin A. Darden,

W. H. Esslinger, Roger C. Hackett, Mrs. Miriam Hirschl, G. C. Lockridge, Hugh
November 2, 1956 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW

Community Chest Campaign Gets Under Way New Director

Close to 600 "keymen" -fortified by

full information on the purposes of the

drive -are canvassing the Company-Government organization this month in the annual campaign for funds for the Canal Zone Community Chest. The drive began

with a "kick-off" meeting last Friday at the Balboa Theater, attended by keymen

from both sides of the Isthmus, and the

actual solicitation of funds started last Monday. The drive will continue through

November 10. This year's drive differs from Community Chest Campaigns of previous years in that it is being conducted along

the lines laid down by President Eisen- hower in his statement on fund drives in Government agencies.

This provides that every employee

should have full opportunity to learn about the services and needs of the agencies which will receive funds from the campaign; every employee should have

the right to decide what agencies he wants to support, with assurance that

his donation goes to the agencies he designates; and each employee has the option

of making his contribution confidential, should he so desire. The objective of this year's drive is participation rather than dollar collection. A large columnar thermometer has been

erected at the Balboa Theater entrance and is being marked daily as reports come in that this office or that has re- ported a 100 percent participation record. Chest posters have been placed on the signboards normally devoted to safetyposters, and Red Feathers are displayed

everywhere.

This year's drive is being conducted by

the Community Chest Board of Directors and the newly organized Governor's

Council for Voluntary Giving. Arnold H. Hodgson, Executive Secretary of the Balboa YMCA-USO, is campaign chair- man, with offices in the Canal Zone Credit Union Building in Balboa. William C. Schmitt, manager of the Chase Manhattan Bank's Balboa branch,

is chairman of the Special Gifts Committee for this year's campaign.

Within the Company-Government or- ganization, the Community Chest Campaign is being conducted by the Governor's Council for Voluntary Giving whose

head is Lt. Gov. H. W. Schull, Jr. The

580 keymen solicitors are working on the

job as a sort of dress rehearsal for the

possible one-, two-, or three-fund drives during 1957. Agencies for which funds are being

raised this year through the Canal Zone Community Chest are, alphabetically:

Balboa YMCA-USO; Boy Scouts of America; Congress of Latin American

Civic Councils; Corozal Hospital (Occupational Therapy Fund); Cristobal-Margarita Civic Council; Cristobal YMCAUSO; Girl Scouts of the USA; International Girl Scouts; International Boy

Scouts; Jewish Welfare Board-USO; Pacific Civic Council; Salvation Army;

Summer Recreational Board for Latin- American Communities; Summer Recreation Board for U. S. Communities.

year term, 15 Councilmen for one-year

term; and 10 alternates. Candidates —Alfonso Alexis, Philmore

Alexis, Cyril Atherley, Arthur Betty,

Joseph Bishop, Edith A. Brown, Dean E. Butcher, Reginald Callender, Silvestre Canizales, Alden G. Cockburn, Kenneth

L. Cyrus, Glanville Davis, Reuben Eversley, Ellis L. Fawcett, Pearl E. Ford,

Cecil Gittens, Karl L. Harris, Maurice H. Heywood, Maudlin Holder, Muriel Johnson, Hamilton Lavalas, Jorge J. Long,

Wilfred A. Lowe, Inez D. McKenzie,

Moises Minas, Walter B. Nichols, Eric

S. Oakley, Leonard Pennycook, Alphonso

Phillips, Rudolph G. Prince, Doris A. Samuels, Ruthwin Samuels, Mildred A. Sawyers, Thomas U. Sawyers, Cleveland

Small, Cleveland E. Stevens, Ruth Thomas, Hubert A. Thompson, Amy E. Williams, and Ernest Williams. SANTA CRUZ

PoMs—Commissary, Service Center, "Dust Bowl" Area, and Center of Townsite.To be elected—Six councilmen for twoyear term, and six alternates. Candidates -Fred Bailey, Elisha Bennett, Christopher Cox, Elwin Conliffe, Leroy Cooper, Arnold Dorville, Joseph

French, Gladstone Grant, Mavis Grant,

Kenneth Haughton, Rexford Inniss, Phillip Malcolm, Charles Mayers, Lillian Mairs, John Pascal, Evangeline Prescod,

Iglesias Prince, Leonora Prince, Clarence Thompson, John Small, Louis Small,

Joseph N. Smith, Ruby Thompson, and

Percival Wade.

RAINBOW CITY CIVIC COUNCIL

Polls— House to house balloting in all six towns. Thirty councilmen to be

elected from the various communities as indicated below. Camp Coiner To be elected -Seven councilmen.

Candidates -Leroy Cockburn, Richard

Ennis, Beresford Gittens, Herman Gra- ham, Edward Green, Edward Howell,

Verneel Laing, Aster Lewis, Idelia Richards, Owen B. Shirley, and Walpert Bernard. New Cristobal To be elected—Two councilmen.

Candidates—Geraldine Anderson, Al- vin Hall, and Cecil A. Payne.

Silver City Heights To be elected—Eight councilmen.

Candidates—Ivy Clark, Charles Davis,

Joscelyn Evering, David Facey, Eric

Francis, Jefferson Joseph, Darn ley Sobers,

Stanley Spence, F. A. Verley, Kenneth

Weeks, and Bryon Wilson.

Rainbow City To be elected—Seven councilmen.

Candidates—Rita Anderson, Keith Bowen, J. Eugene Brathwaite, Holden L. Cockburn, C. A. Coleman, Harold A.

Josephs, Doris Parnther, Henry B. Thomas, Dave White, and Wilfred White.

Camp Bierd To be elected—Four councilmen.

Candidates -Wilfred Adams, Wilfred

Barrows, Rupert Beckford, William Jump,

Raymond R. Simpson, and Zachariah

Williams. Chagres

To be elected—Two councilmen.

Candidates -Stanley Campbell, Edward Cole, Joseph Henlon, Erraim Johnson, and Henry Watson.

OGDEN R. REID, who was appointed recently to the Board of Directors of the Panama Canal Company, attended his first Board meeting last month

in Washington. The new director who at 31 is the youngest man ever to serve on the Company Board

is president of the New York Herald Tribune, Inc. He has been editor of the Xew York daily since 1955.

Group Insurance

Plans Nearly Ready

For C. Z. Employees

Canal employees will soon have an

opportunity to obtain group hospitalization insurance, including major medical

benefits, and—if a sufficient number join — the plan is expected to become effective on an organization-wide basis by the first of the year. Proposals for group health insurance

for Canal employees were received from

four insurance firms having local repre- sentatives in response to formal invita- tions to bid on several different plans.

No final decision had been reached by the committee handling the group life insur- ance plans at the time this issue of The

Review went to press, but it was ex- pected to make a definite announcement

within a short time. The committee to develop plans for group health insurance is headed by F. G. Dunsmoor and is composed of repre- sentatives from the Canal organization

and representatives of Civic Councils and

labor unions. At a meeting of the committee held soon after the proposals from the insur- ance firms were received, it was decided

to accept one of the proposals for group

hospitalization insurance, including major

medical coverage. The latter provides for the coverage of expenses in event of long

illnesses or in other instances where medical expenses are far in excess of what is covered by regular health insurance. One of the prerequisites for the adoption of the plan on a Company-Government basis will be participation by a minimum number of employees. While

payroll deductions are authorized for health insurance premiums, the plan, if adopted, will not be under the direct sponsorship of the Canal administration,

but will be administered by the participating employees.
THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW November 2, 1956

Number of Reductions

Are Listed By Groups

To Be Effected Jan. 1

Force reduction notices were being

mailed out this week to 825 employees

on the local-rate rolls and between 40 and 50 U. S.-rate employees whose posi- tions are being abolished as a result of the L955 Treaty provision for restricting

purchase and free-entry privileges.

While the reductions will be primarily

in the Commissary and Service Center

Divisions, many major units of the Canal

organization will lie affected because of bumping rights. It is estimated that more than 2,500 personnel actions will be

required by this force reduction. In some

instances, as many as five or more employees may be displaced by a single force reduction by the bumping procedure.

Most of the reductions will become

effective at the end of this year, although

a substantial number of employees re- ceiving notice will not be separated from

the service until the latter part of January.

Registers By Districts Units to be closed at the end of this year as a result of the Treaty commit- ments are the Ancon, Tivoli, Chagres,

and Camp Bierd Commissaries, the Pacific and Camp Bierd Service Centers,

and the Chagres Luncheonette. All employees in these establishments will re- ceive force reduction or reassignment

notices. Since many are employees with

long service, they will displace employees

elsewhere in the Commissary or Service Center Division, or in other divisions of the Company-Government, as retention

registers have been established on an

organization-wide basis within the southern and northern districts. Force reduction procedures, which are uniform for U. S.-rate and local-rate employees except that two areas northern and southern districts-have been established for local-rate employees at the re- quest of local-rate labor union representatives, were explained in some detail in the September issue of The Review.

The retention schedules (or registers) for three of the four main occupational groups of local-rate employees to be

affected are being carried in this issue of The Review as an aid to employees in determining if they are likely to be affected. The registers, prepared by the Per- sonnel Bureau for The Review, include

all full-time, part-time, and WAE employees and the number of reductions in each

category, but separate registers will be

used by the Personnel Bureau in deter- mining reductions and bumping rights for each group. In addition to the retention schedules and the basic competitive levels shown

here for each occupational group, a fourth

retention schedule has been prepared for employees in the categories of clerk,

office helper, and messenger. In this group, 44 reductions are to be made in the northern district and 23 in the southern district among Commissary Division employees. In addition, eight reductions from the group will be made by the Service Center Division. In the first occupational group shown

here, there are nine separate retention

registers, from which employees may re- treat to the same basic competitive levels,

Northern District POSITION Total Number of Grade Employed Reductions

7 Section Head 9 3

5 Section Head 25 18 4 SalesClerk 18 2 3 Attd. Counter 21 7 SalesClerk 37 15 Section Head 9_ 4_

Total 119 45

10 Cook

Cook, Serv. Cent 3 1 9 Cook

7 Cook 13 2

3 Cook 1 1

Total 17 4

10 Steward 2 1 8 Steward 1 3 Pantryman 9 1

Total 12 2

8 Baker 5 2

6 Baker.. 4 1 5 Baker 28 13 3 Baker. _. 13 5

Total 50 21

7 Operator, Coffee Grinder 1 1 Operator, Coffee Roaster 1 1 6 Coffee Blender, 1 1 5 Operator, Ind. Lab 13 5 Operator, Bag Mkg. Mach 2

Ice Cream Maker 4 2

4 Foreman Packing Line 1 1 Sausage Stuffer 2 2

3 Attd. Service Sta 6 3

Total 31 16

7 Butcher 10 4 Meat Sales Clerks 2 Smoke House Attd. ... 2 2 6 Butcher 19 11 5 Meat Sales Clerk____

4 SalesClerk 18 2 Butcher Helper 6 1 3 Counter Attd 21 7 SalesClerk 37 18

Section Head... 9 4

Total. .

Cashier

Cashier

Totalr..

4 Locker Room Attd..

Janitor 1 3 Head Janitor

Janitor 34

Hospital Attd.... 26

BASIC COMPETITIVE LEVEL

2 Checker (Laundry) 2

Counter Attendant 14 4 Kitchen Attendant 36 5 Soda Dispenser 3

SalesClerkB 31 25

Cashier A 2

Janitor A 60 8

Janitress A 2 Watchman A 15

Total 165 42

1 Non-Mechanical Helper 54 31 Boy / Packer (Comsy.)---. 17 12

Sales Clerk A.... 24 16

Elevator Operator 3 1

Total 99 60

Southern District

Total Employed 193428

24

68

9 182

523

23

60

5

318

26

2

9

1

18

15

15

15

1

8

1 28

1624

68

9

Number of Reductions 4

134

2

43

369

3

3

4

5243

3

Total 114 49 170 63

5 Cashier

4 Cashier

35

13

21

3

66

25

35

5

Totalr 48 24 91 40

53

755

01

Total 61 171 4 Egg Candler 1 1

33 5 48 6 62 2

6 2

57 40

2

115 9

14 24 2

361 66

12 7 926 7 65 25

1

113 39
November 2, 1956 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW

Total Employed 924

25

1440

182

29

1119

86

4

Number of Reductions

1

3

2

11

17

1

2

1

38

42

1

38

39

Northern District Southern District POSITION Total Number of Grade Employed Reductions 8 Storeman 11 6 Storeman 1 1 5 Material Expeditor 33 5 4 Delivery Man 8 2

3 Delivery Man 4 Stockman 55 16

Total 24

7 Maintenance Man 28 1 65

5 Mech. Helper 5 11 4 Utilitvman 29 74

3 Cattle Attendant... 5 Cowboy 1 Laborer 68 86 Loader and Puller.- 4 Lockman 73 97 Luggerman 109 60 92 Trackman. 32 33

Coffee Dumper 1 1

Total 62

6 Crater .' 9 3 Rough Carpenter 11 14 5 Helper Mech 5 11 4 Helper Crater and Packer 3

3 Cattle Attendant 5 Cowboy 1 Laborer 68 86

Loader and Puller 4 Lockman 73 97 Luggerman 109 60 92 Trackman 32 33

Coffee Dumper 1 1

Total 64

6 Chauffeur 118 2 Operator Farm Equip 5 1 Operator Ind. Truck 32 7

5 Helper, Mech 5 4 Heavy Laborer 6 2

Ice Puller 6

3 Cattle Attendant 5 Cowboy 1 Laborer 68 Loader and Puller

Total 12

3 Lockman 73 97 Luggerman 109 60 92 Trackman 32 33

Coffee Dumper 1 1

Total 61

5 Teamster 1 1 4 Cowboy 1 Cattle Attd. (dairy barn) 1 3 Cattle Attendant 5 Cowboy 1 Laborer 68 86 Loader and Puller 4 Lockman 73 97 Luggerman 109 60 92 Trackman 32 33

Coffee Dumper 1 1

Total 62

BASIC COMPETITIVE LEVEL

2 Barnman 8 2

Dairy Farm Hand Jt 1 Dairy Field Worker 10 3

Laborer A 53

Porter, Railroad /

Total 76 6 127

10

38

38

1

38

39

127 1

which are the jobs listed in Grades 1 and

2 levels. Employees listed in any given

register will only compete with each other

for the positions retained in that register. After the bumping procedures are completed within a retention register, those employees displaced from that register

will be entitled to retreat into jobs listed in the Basic Competitive Level list. When this occurs, they will be in competition for these jobs with those from the

other retention registers in the occupational group. The following is an example of how

this procedure will work:

On the first retention schedule shown,

there are now 119 jobs in the northern

district, of which 45 will be abolished. The 45 in this group with the lowest number of retention credits (one credit

for each year of service) will compete

with those reduced in the eight other re- tention registers in the occupational groups for the jobs listed in the Basic

Competitive Level. There are 264 positions in this Basic

Competitive Level, of which 102 will be

abolished. This leaves 162 jobs in Grades

1 and 2 in competition with all those from the higher categories.

Some Duplication

In consulting the registers shown here, the number of jobs listed and the number

of force reductions are greatly in excess

of the actual number of jobs and reductions because of several duplications in the registers. For example, the position

of Lockman is listed in four of the indi- vidual registers in the first group. Al- though no Lockmen positions will be abolished, they aie subject to displacement

by employees with more retention credits. Because of the duplication, complete

totals are shown only for the first register, for the purpose of illustrating the procedure, and in the three Basic Competitive Levels. Elsewhere, only the total number of reductions are shown.

The retention schedules for the three occupational groups shown here were

prepared several days in advance of the

actual date for the force reductions to be

mailed and might be subject to some

minor changes.

Registers Available Because of the many complications

which arise in connection with a force reduction of such scope at the end of this year, all employees have been urged to

familiarize themselves with Executive

Regulation No. 54, copies of which may

be obtained from supervisors in the various units. Employees who are affected by force reductions also may inspect all retention registers and records that have

a bearing on force reduction actions in their cases. Retention registers will be maintained,

for inspection of employees affected, in the Central Labor Office, Cristobal, and

in the Central Labor Office, Balboa.

Southern District*

Total Number of Class Employed Reductions 5 Laundry Sub-Foreman _ _ 5 1 4 Presser 9 1 3 Laundryman 8 Total... _1T ~2~ BASIC COMPETITIVE LEVEL

2 Laundress (PressOperator) 17

Shirt-folder Opr 1 1 Laundryman (General) 2 2

1 Laundress _20 _/£

Total 40 Tj

* No employees in Northern District.
THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW November 2, 1956

FOR YOUR INTEREST AND GUIDANCE IN ApCIDENT PREVENTION

w --UP , M... M , ... - \^K

r - . ' — ——

NATIONAL SAFETY COUNCIL AWARD OF MERIT

mmm HIGHWAY ZOO

The OCTOPUS

This is the busy boy who is always

reaching for something while he drives -the car roof, a cigarette, the lighter, the road mnpf the coat on the back

seat, 'he popcorn bag and, at times, even the steering wheel. This big fish

is all arms, and needs more.

MATIONAt SAFerr COUNCIL

HONOR ROLL

Bureau Award For BEST RECORD

SEPTEMBER

HEALTH BUREAU

CIVIL AFFAIRS BUREAU

AWARDS THIS CALENDAR YEAR

Health 8 Civil Affairs 7 Supply and Employee Service 3 Engineering and Construction 1 Marine 1 Transportation and Terminals 1

Division Award For NO DISABLING INJURIES

SEPTEMBER

COMMISSARY DIVISION

LOCKS DIVISION

HOSPITALS AND CLINICS

HOUSING AND GROUNDS DIVISION

INDUSTRIAL DIVISION

ELECTRICAL DIVISION

MOTOR TRANSPORTATION DIVISION

STOREHOUSES DIVISION

POLICE DIVISION

FIRE DIVISION

AIDS TO NAVIGATION

SANITATION DIVISION

AWARDS THIS CALENDAR YEAR

Aids to Navigation 9 Sanitation 9 Storehouses 9 Commissary 8 Hospitals and Clinics - 8 Industrial 8 Motor Transportation. 8 Service Center 8 Railroad 7 Dredging 6

Electrical 6 Housing and Grounds (7 mos.) 5 Maintenance 4 Locks 3 Navigation 3 Police (3 months) 3 Fire (3 months) 2 Terminals 1

ACHIEVEMENT OF MORE than 1,000,000 man-hours of work without a lost-time accident was celebrated last month when a Safety Award was presented by Lt. Gov. H. W. Schull, Jr., to Wilson H. Crook,

Director of the Supply and Employee Service Bureau. Shown with the Lieutenant Governor and Mr.

Crook are: G. O. Kellar, Chief of the Safety Branch; Emmett Zemer, Safety Representative cf the award-winning bureau; J. C. Randall, Chief of the Housing and Grounds Division; H. E. May, Superin- tendent of the Division of Storehouses; P. S. Thornton, General Manager of the Service Center Division; and R. L. Sullivan, General Manager of the Commissary Division.

Col. H. W. Schull, Jr., as Acting Governor and on behalf of the National

Safety Council, presented their Award of Merit to Mr. W. H. Crook, Supply and

Employee Service Deirector, in a cere- mony held in the Governor's office on

October 15. The National Safety Council presents

its Awards of Merit only for perfect acci- dent records of 1,000,000 to 3,000,000

man-hours of exposure, covering any per- iod greater than 30 days. The achieve- ment in this case was the completion of

1,299,388 employee hours of exposure, during the period of May 2, 1956, through

July 10, 1956, without a disabling injury. Mr. Crook accepted the Award on behalf of the supervisors and employees of the Supply and Employee Service Bureau.

Colonel Schull emphasized the import- ance of safety as related to successful and

economical operations and expressed his congratulations through Mr. Crook to the employees responsible for this noteworthy

accomplishment.

SEPTEMBER 1956

BUREAU

Health

Civil Affairs

Supply and Employee Service

Marine

Canal Zone Govt. -Panama Canal Co.

Transportation and Terminals

Engineering and Construction

(Employee-hours worked 2,113,395)

FREQUENCY RATE—Disabling injuries per 1,000,000 employeehours worked. I »

n a si 2 i c 5 10 15 20

0.00 ^

'!::

:::.:. :.::^ 0.00

' '7/ :::". v^

1 1.93 fclilil

1 2.01

'.:::' .'.::m 8 3.79 fcfSiiii

2 5.47

' ' ''...'.: .;.:;:: -.:^ 4 14.15

.'.'....

L l

i '

LEGEND

l'> 15 20

| Frequency Rate this month

[avIvIv.vIv] Accumulative Frequency Rate this Calendar Year

1 1953-1954-1955 Calendar Year Average
November 2, 1956 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW

OF CURRENT AND FUTURE INTEREST

The annual drawing of low license plates

will be held two weeks from today, on November i6, in the License Section office in the Civil Affairs Building on Gaillard Highway. The drawing is, of course, open

to the public. It will begin at 8:30 a. m.

Into the "hat" from which the numbers

are drawn go the names of those who filed applications for motor vehicle licenses to the time of the drawing.

The light-green blanks on which car- owners apply for their 1957 licenses are now available at all Canal Zone police stations, gasoline stations, the License Section

office, and from the office of the Police Driver Examiner in Cristobal. The new license plates —which will have

yellow numbers on a black background

will not be mailed until December 1 and

may be used on vehicles after that date. Across-the-counter issues will also begin

December 1 at the License Section in the

Civil Affairs Building.

Twenty-eight of the more than 150 Company-Government supervisors who were nominated for participation in the Personnel Bureau's latest training program in "Supervision—Problems and Methods" be- gan twice a week training October 16. Classes will continue through December 18. The remaining nominees will be given

their supervisory training later this fiscal year. Part of the training is scheduled ten- tatively for the Atlantic side, and one of the Pacific side groups is earmarked pres- ently as an all-woman group, provided

leave schedules, work loads, and other fac- tors permit the assembly of a sufficient number of women. The first of the present two groups in- cludes members from 14 different divisions and branches: Mack F. Bailey, Lawrence

Barca, Jr., Louis C. Caldweli, Ralph R. Grassau, W. T. Hampton, W. W. E. Hoyle.

Hubert W. Jarman, Robert S. Jeffrey, Frederick A. Mohl, Edward H. Neville, Jr., Carl M. Pajak, G. O. Tarflinger, William N. Taylor, and William S. Wigg.

The other group represents five major

Company-Government units. Its members

are: Capt. E. G. Abbott, Harold L. Anderson, Francis W. Blandin, Kenneth R. A. Booth, G. A. Doyle, John E. Fisher, M. W.

Foscue, George E. Girard, W. H. Hebert, T. H. Hoenke, W. F. Morninweg, Capt. E.

B. Rainier, Joseph C. Turner, and Nelson

E. Wise.

Classroom libraries in the Canal Zone's elementary schools are now being aug- mented by books from the Canal Zone

Library. Last month the Library began

again to check children's books out to ele- mentary teachers, a plan which was tried

last spring with remarkable success. The books are not used for classroom work but to supplement those available for recreational reading. They will be issued one week each month —the week in which

the 15th day falls—to elementary school teachers who request them. Each teacher may have up to 15 books. The requests

will be filled at the main Library for Pacific side teachers, and at the Margarita

^J-Mfc^l

Official Panama Canal Company Publication Published Monthly Al Balboa Heights, C. Z. Printed by the Printing Plant, Mount Hope, Canal Zone W. E. Potter, Governor-President H. W. Schull, Jr., Lieutenant Governor W. G. Arev, Jr., Public Information Officer

J. Rufus Hardy, Editor Eleanor H. McIlhenny, Assistant Editor On sale at all Panama Canal Service Centers. Commissaries, and Hotels for 10 days after publication date at 5 cents each. Subscriptions, $1 a year; mail and back copies, 10 cents each.

ROTC HEAD

MAJ. ROBERT STOKES, veteran of World War II and the Korean action, arrived recently to head

the Junior ROTC units at Balboa and Cristobal High Schools. He is the first Major to be stationed with the local ROTC since 1952.

Service Center Library for teachers from

the Atlantic side. The lending program has already gotten

off to a good start. Last month, 19 teachers requested books. Last Spring, when the program was carried out for a month on an

experimental basis, 19 teachers requested books and estimated that they were read

°y I ,7 I 3 children —each child, of course, enjoying several books.

Yellow blossoms will gladden the eye

in a year or so when a new addition to the landscaping of the Balboa Heights railroad station begins its flowering season. The

blossoms will appear on a yellow poinciana

tree which was planted last month to re- place an old screw-pine, one of the pan- danus family.

The pine, which was at least 40 years old, began to break up in September. Without

deep roots, it was unable to stand heavy

winds and began to come apart in sections. By the middle of October it had been re- duced to a single stem. After a careful look

at the situation, personnel of the Housing

and Grounds Division decided that the pine

had seen the last of its days and would

have to be replaced.

Six brothers and sisters, all born in the Canal Zone, met under the same roof re- cently for the first time in 25 years when

they gathered at the Valhalla, N. Y., home

of their father, Charles Mohl. Mr. Mohl

is a retired Canal employee and worked

here as a plumber for many years. Altogether there were 33 persons at the family reunion, including "in-laws" and 19 grandchildren.

The six brothers and sisters are: Frederick A. Mohl and Paul W. Mohl of Diablo Heights; Charles Mohl, Jr., of New York

City; Mrs. Elise Johanson and Mrs. Helena

Pfitzer of Valhalla; and Mrs. Lydia Shinkin of White Plains, N. Y.

Postal money orders made payable to the Pan- ama Canal Company should be mailed to Editor, The Panama Canal Review, Balboa Heights, C. Z.

Seeing the world with the U. S. Navy

may be old stuff for Fred Whipple, former employee in the Aids to Navigation Section. Nevertheless it was a surprise when he re- joined the Navy recently to find that he

has been assigned to the USS Atka, one of the icebreakers being sent to the Antarctic

for the Navy's Operation Deepfreeze II. As a reserve officer, he had his first taste of Navy travel in 1948 soon after he was

graduated from the Kings Point Merchant

Marine Academy. His first trip was to the

Arctic aboard the USS Harry F. Bauer. During the Korean War he was recalled to

active duty and assigned to the USS Storms

for service in the Far East. A graduate of Cristobal High School, Lieutenant Whipple has spent much of his

life here and is married to the former Bar- bara Brown, daughter of the late Capt. Sam

Brown of Cristobal. Accompanied by Mrs. Whipple and their young son, he left the Isthmus in September and has been sta- tioned since then at the Seattle Naval Base. He will sail aboard the Atka early this month for Little America via Pearl Harbor

and New Zealand.

Another Zonian off for far places is John

Henderson, Jr., formerly Motion Picture Maintenance Mechanic with the Service Center Division. He is now in Tokyo as a sound engineer with the Army Motion Picture Service, Far East. His new job undoubtedly will take him to Korea, Okinawa,

and other places. Mr. Henderson left Oct- ober 12 and Mrs. Henderson and their son and daughter will join him in about 90 days. Fellow employees of the Se'vice Center

Division said goodbye to the Hendersons

last month at a party at the Fern Room of the Tivoli Guest House. When Mr. Henderson left the Isthmus he was carrying a handsome bag presented at the party.

For the first time in its history, the local branch of Alcoholics Anonymous is having

a public display of material used in its work. The display which honors the eleventh anniversary of the founding of the local group,

the first to be established in Central or South America, went on exhibition yester day in the Canal Zone Library-Museum in the Civil Affairs Building.

The display included a large volume,

called by members "The Big Book," a number of copies of the local group's publication, The Grapevine, and a collection of AA pamphlets.

One of the Canal Zone's most populous

buildings —if not the most populous for its size —began to lose its tenants last month

when the first family in La Boca's Building 938 moved to more desirable quarters on "The Main," as La Bocans call La Boca

Road.

Before this move, three families lived in No. 938, with a total of 35 children among

them. One family had 13 children, another

11, and the third accounted for the remaining 11. The remaining two families will mcve later to other quarters and the once-populous

building will eventually be demolished.

DUKE, sometimes referred to as the "Venerable

Sir," has been with the J. C. Randalls for all of his 16 years. When the Randalls lived in Cristobal, Duke thought the Housing Office couldn't run with- out him and frequently ran away from home to see that things were going satisfactorily at the office.
THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW November 2, 1956

PAGES FROM THE

AVS HIST

THIS MONTH

50 Years Ago

November 1906, was Teddy Roosevelt

month. From November 14, when the USS Louisiana put into Limon Bay, until November 17, when the United States' biggest and newest man-of-war sailed for Puerto Rico, the Canal Zone thought of

little else than the President. It was not

only the first time a Chief Executive had

visited the Canal Zone; it was also the

first time a President had ever left the United States during his term of office. (A more complete account of the visit appears elsewhere in this issue). Although comparatively little space was

given to them in the daily newspapers of the period, there were other items of interest 50

years ago this month. An Executive Order

signed by President Roosevelt made radical changes in the organization of Canal Zone

affairs. Its effect was to place the work and

government of the Canal Zone under the direction of the Chairman of the Isthmian

Canal Commission, aided by the chiefs of

the various bureaus who would report directly to the Commission. The title of Governor was abolished. The full Commission gathered in the Canal Zone for the President's visit, and

on November 20 held a meeting to dis- cuss the Canal's affairs. One of their act- tions was the establishment of a 10-hour day for laborers. This was not mandatory

but was considered an opportunity for those who wished to augment their pay. Two hundred new and bigger steel dump

cars were ordered for the Canal work. Each

car would hold about 25 cubic yards. Also

ordered in November were eight new Lidg- erwood unloaders. Construction days weren't all privation

and primitive living: The commissaries

announced a shipment of guinea hen and

a Panama banker reported that he had

on his books "over 100 men in the employ

of the Commission who save each month

more than 66 percent of their salaries." 25 Years Ago

Traffic through the Panama Canal was

halted about three days in November

1931, for the first time since 1923, when

heavy rains over the Gatun Lake water- shed were followed by a slide on the east bank of the Cut, half a mile north of Gold

Hill. By the time the Canal was re- opened, on November 11, 53 ships had

lined up for transit. Floods on the Chagres River swept away

the debris-boom at Gamboa. Twelve spill- way gates at Gatun were opened simulta- neously for the first time. Slides covered 650

feet of the Panama Railroad track near Summit and a number of other slides oc- curred on the newly-built Madden Road. The Madden Dam Division, which was

in charge of building the dam across the Chagres River— although the actual work was to be done by contract—was formally

organized. By the end of the month, the employees and equipment of its Balboa

Heights office were moved to Madden

Dam and the nucleus of the contractors' work-force had arrived. The depression was beginning to make

itselffelt. November transits, 376 commercial ships, were the lowest of the calendar

year. Preparatory to possible force reductions, Canal employees were asked to fill out questionnaires stating how many members

of their families were on the payroll and at what salaries, and Gov. Harry Burgess and

labor leaders worked out a plan for "reduction in time" rather than a percentage layoff. Because of complaints of the Grace

Line, the Panama Railroad agreed to withdraw its freighters, theGuayaquil and

Buenaventura, from the run between New

York and ports on the west coast of Col- ombia and Ecuador.

The month's visitors included Igor Si- korsky who arrived aboard the "world's

largest amphibian" which he had designed. Another visitor teas a pretty girl with the too-pat name of Aloha Wanderwell who

told harrowing tales of the Brazilian jungles.

10 Years Ago

Panama and the United States contin- ued their discussion of the status of defense sites within the Republic of Panama. These bases had been occupied by

U. S. forces since 1941. Following his return from a meeting of

the Special Board of Consultants for Isth- mian Canal Studies, Col. James H. Stratton, Supervising Engineer, announced that the field of studies had been narrowed to eight canal routes. All but two of these were within the Republic of Panama.

Also on the Canal studies front was the announcement that final preparations were completed for hydraulic tests on a

half-mile-long model of a sea-level canal. The model stood on the flats east of Miraflores Locks. In Mexico City, an engineer proposed

the replacement of the Panama Canal with a railroad across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. Ships up to 15,000 tons in size would be put into rolling drydocks and

hauled from ocean to ocean. Zonians were upset over the proposed

rent increase to go into effect the first of the year. Gov. F. K. Newcomer met

with labor leaders to explain the basis on which the proposed rent increase was to be made.

The price of U. S. butter in the Panama

Canal commissaries rose to $1.10 a pound,

and the butter shortage restricted ice cream

sales to ice cream in sodas and sundaes. An Isthmian shortage of Scotch whiskey was relieved by the arrival of a thousandcase shipment.

The scheduled reentry of the SS Cristobal into the Panama Line service in January, and of the SS Ancon during the

spring of 1947, after complete renovation

for civilian service, was announced in New York.

One Year Ago

A bust of Viscount Ferdinand de Lesseps, who built the Suez Canal and began

work on the Panama Canal, was pre- sented to the Panama Canal Company

by the Suez Canal Company. Making

the presentation was Count Pierre de

Lesseps, the engineer's greatgrandson.

Philip L. Steers, Jr., was appointed

Comptroller of the Panama Canal Company, succeeding Lindsley H. Noble.

Canal Geologist

Added To List

Of Singletons

ROBERT H. STEWART

He's the singleton geologist

If Robert H. Stewart doesn't stop

taking his 11-year-old son on hikes and

field trips, he's going to put himself out

of business as the Canal Zone's one and

only geologist. The youngster, David,

is learning so fast that he's going to be

able to tell the difference between Eocene

and Pleistocene formations almost any

day now. Mr. Stewart is a geologist because he

likes the out-of-doors, and he is a geologist in the Canal Zone because he likes the Isthmus. Born in Jamestown, N. Y., he started out to be a minister. When he was in

college, first in Kendall College, Chicago, and later in Miami University in Ohio, he "had to major in something,"

he says, in his pre-theological training.

Geology was a natural for him.

After he was graduated from Miamihe had acquired a wife in his Junior year and both of them were working in their spare time to earn enough for their col- lege expenses—he went on to the Garrett

Biblical Institute, a section of Northwestern University. He studied there for two years and even had a church of his own for about a year, but one thing and

another made him realize that his vocation was not the church. In the meantime he had been helping out in Northwestern's Geology Department. Eventually he transferred there on an instructor's scholarship and received his masters

degree in paleontology. David was born

while his rather was a graduate student. In 1946 Mr. Stewart came to the Isth- mus as a geologist with the Special Engineering Division. For the next two years, he did field work on possible sea-level- canal routes and became an expert on the

section of Panama between the Canal Zone and the Colombian border. After the Special Engineering Division's work was finished, he returned to the States and spent the next five years with the United States Geological Survey

working on such varied projects as ura- nium distribution in Florida, lead and

zinc deposits in New York State, and

distribution of off-shore sediments in the Gulf of Mexico.

By 1953 the Stewarts were tired of moving around—ten times in five years
November 2, 1956 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW

Zone High School Graduates Scatter Library Asks Readers' Help

As They Enter "Bright New World" In Curbing Book Vandalism

Every June a couple of hundred young

Zonians put their high school days behind

them and step out into the bright new

worlds they talk about in commencement

speeches.

Without a crystal ball it's hard to tell what they'll be doing a decade from now

but their present whereabouts are an open

book, thanks to statistics collected and

compiled by the Division of Schools. Over half of them have gone on to

college, a tenth of the boys are in the armed services, and a tenth of the girls are married. They have scattered from

Brazil to Scotland. The percentage of young Zonians

who finish high school here and continue their education in colleges or

universities is exceptionally high. According to specialists in the education

field, about 46 percent of high school

graduates in the United States go on

to college, compared to the 64.8 percent

of this year's graduates from Balboa

High School, and 52 percent from Cris- tobal High School. Of the 174 graduates of Balboa High

School, 68—or 39 percent—are attending

college in the United States and 45 others, or 25.8 percent of the class, are enrolled

in the Canal Zone Junior College. Thirty- one of Cristobal High School's graduating

class of 72 students are on college campuses in the United States and seven

others are in Junior College here, rooting

for the Green Devils. Canal Zonians are freshmen this year

at 83 different colleges and universities

in the United States—from Wellesley in Massachusetts to Whittier in California and from Wisconsin in the frost belt to the University of Arizona in the sunlands. Four of last year's graduates, one boy

seemed a bit too much—and the tropics were beginning to call. In September of that year he returned to the Canal Zone

as an engineer with the Meteorology and

Hydrographic Branch and within a few

months found himself transferred on loan

to the Contractors Hill Project. Since

last June his formal title has been that

of Geologist in the Engineering Division. By special arrangement he does geological work in Panama after he winds up

a working day on Paraiso Slide, Gold Hill, or some other project. For the past few

months he has been working on the geol- ogy of the new water system for Panama.

In his spare time he enjoys nothing more than hiking around the Isthmus

and finds it educationally profitable. On

one recent trip he discovered a sedimentary basin about 20 miles wide and some

40 miles long. Since this is of the pre- Tertiary Age, its discovery pushes the

geologic knowledge of the Isthmus back

another 50 to 75 million years. On the same trip he found the grass-grown re- mains of the manganese mines up the Boqueron River. These mines had never been worked.

The Stewart family—two boys and

three girls, ranging in age from two months to 11 years—live on Barnebey

Street in Balboa. They are all out-of- doors minded and, all but the baby, are developing a healthy curiosity about the things they see.

and three girls from Cristobal High School,

are together at Northwest Missouri State College in Marysville, Mo., and another Canal Zone quartet, two boys and a girl from Balboa High School and a Cristobal High School girl graduate are attending

the University of Florida. The University of Miami in Florida,

Tulane in Louisiana, and the University

of Colorado have three June graduates

apiece. In the two-each, class are Mississippi State, Georgia Tech, Auburn,

Notre Dame, Whittier, and Texas Christian University.

One Balboa High School graduate is a plebe at the United States Naval

Academy at Annapolis, and another is at the United States Coast Guard Academy. Two of Cristobal High School's June graduates have enrolled at the

U. S. Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, N. Y.

Six June graduates are in universities outside the United States and the Canal

Zone. Nearest home is one student at the University of Panama and the farthest away is one in the University of Geneva

in Switzerland. Others are attending the University of Mexico, the University of Scotland, the London Laboratory School,

and the Official Spanish School of Dancing.

Twenty-three of the young men who

were graduated from Balboa and Cristo- bal High Schools last June have entered

the Armed Forces. This is three more

than last year's figure, although there were fewer Cristobal High School boys

who selected the military services this year than last. One young graduate is in a trade school

in Miami, Fla., and four young men,

three from Cristobal High School and one

"Help us curb vandalism," the Canal Zone Library staff are asking the readers who borrow books from the Library and

its branches. Bookmarks appealing to the reader to help protect the library collection were

tucked into circulating books last month

after several of the library's volumes

were found to have been mutilated. The

bookmarks ask readers to report immediately to the circulation desk any cut

or marked pages they find in books or magazines they have borrowed.

Books of fine photographs and magazines with exceptionally good illustrations are those most frequently abused, ac- cording to the library staff. Wilful damage to or mutilation of any

book or periodical which is the property

of the government is a criminal offense, the library staff points out. Violators are subject to prosecution under the Canal Zone Code.

from Balboa, have been granted apprenticeships with the Panama Canal Company. While the number of girl graduates

who have married is less this year, in an overall picture, than the number last year- 11 last year to 8 this year—this year's eight brides are evenly divided

between Balboa and Cristobal High

Schools. Most of the graduates who have elected to go to work have remained on the Isth- mus. A few have taken jobs in the States and three, all Balboa High School graduates, have gone farther afield. One of them is working in Brazil, another in Colombia, and the thiid in Venezuela.

School Evaluators

THREE PROMINENT educators from Panama last month began a study of the Canal Zone's Latin

American schools. The field work will take about two weeks. Shown above are the three evaluators

with C. Z. schools officials. Prof. Temistocles Cespedes, who served as consultant for the Latin American

schools, is seated. Left to right, standing, are: S. E. Esser, Superintendent of Schools; Max Arosemena,

L former Minister of Education; Dr. Rafael Moscote of the University of Panama; and Walter Oliver,

Supervisor of Spanish for the Zone schools.
10 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW November 2, 1956

Tivoli, Opened For A President,

Will Be 50 Years Old This Month

Schools D. C. O'Connor, and Chief Sanitary Officer Col. W. C. Gorgas.

It is also probable that the President breakfasted at the Tivoli on November

17 before he took off again along the line, "dressed in a negligee white suit, khaki

leggings, and a Panama hat," for a day

which did not end until late that evening

when, after a speech in Mount Hope and

two in Cristobal, he finally boarded the launch for the Louisiana. Most Zonians believe that the Pres- ident and Mrs. Roosevelt were the Tivoli's first guests. Actually they were

preceded by several days by the Chair- man of the Isthmian Canal Commission, Theodore P. Shonts, Mrs. Shonts,

and their two daughters; by Joseph

Bucklin Bishop, the Commission's Secretary; Reed B. Rogers, its General

Counsel, and Mrs. Rogers all of whom

were guests at the hotel. After the departure of the President's party and the Commission officials, things

calmed down for a while at the Tivoli and preparations continued for its opening to the public. In December a group

of U. S. Congressmen arrived, to spend

what contemporary journalists called "Roosevelt days," looking over the Canal

work. Although they had apparently been

having a strenuous time, the Congress- men were not so worn out that they

could not attend a New Year's Eve dance,

given at the Tivoli by the Culebra Club. This first public function —as near a for- mal opening as the Tivoli ever had

drew a crowd of nearly 500 and was the fore-runner of the many gay balls and

parties of the next half century.

Later, the Tivoli Club was formed and

from towns along the line came the younger Zonians for its parties, on the second and fourth Saturdays of each

month. The girls, dressed in party gowns

and carrying their dancing-slippers in fancy bags, came to town in labor cars and each girl, oldtimers declared, had at

least three chaperones!

Fred DeV. Sill, well-known oldtimer,

recalls that when rooms were scarce on

PRECEDENT WAS BROKEN 50 years ago this month when a President of the United States left the country to see how work was progressing in the Canal Zone. Grouped around President Theodore Roosevelt (center, in a white suiti are: John F. Stevens, Chief Engineer, left front; Mrs. Theodore P. Shonts,

wife of the Chairman of the Isthmian Canal Commission; Joseph Bucklin Bishop, the Commission's

Secretary; Dr. Presley M. Rixey, Surgeon General; Mr. Latta, a White House Secretary; Mrs. Roosevelt; Mrs. Stevens; and Mr. Shonts, Isthmian Canal Commission Chairman. The small boy is Donald F.

Stevens, son of the Chief Engineer.

"Mrs. Roosevelt and I think it advis- able for several reasons for us to go to

(the) hotel," said the cabled message

from the President of the United States one October day, 50 years ago. No major crisis would occur here today

if a President declined an invitation to be the Governor's houseguest and indi- cated his preference for the Tivoli Guest House—but this is 1956 and the Roosevelt cable was sent in 1906. The Tivoli—the hotel of the message

was nearly completed but not all of its equipment had arrived. Its permanent

manager had not been selected and it was

not staffed to serve ordinary guests, much less a President of the United

States who was breaking precedent by

leaving the country during his term of

office. Somehow or other things worked out, and when President Theodore Roosevelt and his party stepped onto the wide front porch of the Hotel Tivoli on November 15, 1906, there was a

suite waiting for them directly above

what is now the Fern Room.

Actually the President and Mrs. Roosevelt spent very few hours at the hotel

or in their suite. Luncheon had been

prepared for them at the Tivoli for the day of their arrival but it was long after lunchtime when the President and his party finally arrived. They had come ashore at Cristobal's flag-decked Pier 11 from the USS Louisiana, the country's "biggest and newest

man-of-war," that morning, crossed the Isthmus in the old De Lesseps special car La France, and had left the train near

the Tivoli at a special station so that the President could disembark in Canal

Zone territory. Instead of going to the hotel, they had

headed directly for La Boca where, after a cruise aboard the tug Bolivar past the

islands at the Pacific terminal, the President and Mrs. Roosevelt had dropped in at an employees' mess for luncheon. An

enthusiastic reception in Panama City,

speeches from a stand in front of the Cathedral, a dinner at the Presidencia,

and an evening reception at the Commercial Club had filled the rest of the day.

The old records don't show it, but it must be assumed that the Roosevelts had

breakfast at the Tivoli the next morning

before "Teddy" began his first day "on

the line" in a pouring downpour which

put two feet of water on the shop floors at Bas Matachin. It is certain that he met that night at the Tivoli with "our

leading officials"- -as the invitations were worded to such dignitaries as Chief Justice Mutis Duran, Superintendent of

HIGH STYLE IN the Tivoli's early days—but mighty uncomfortable looking by modern standards

was the furniture in this private sitting-room in the hotel. The electric fixtures were the very latest word.
November 2, 1956 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW 11

STILL NOT ENTIRELY finished, the Hotel Tivoli in Ancon looked like this when it housed its first guests—the party of President Theodore

Roosevelt—in November 1906. The bandstand was later torn down and the covered front steps were replaced by the present porte-cochere.

weekends the men from Culebra and

Empire and Gorgona thought nothing

of stretching out on Tivoli billiard- tables to spend the night.

It was at one of the Tivoli dances, in 1908, that the daughter of the American

Minister slipped out of the ballroom,

while the orchestra played a "bunny hug,"

and, in a room in the north wing, was

married to Adm. Harry H. Rousseau. A

few minutes later she was dancing again;

it was not until several days later that

the marriage was revealed. The first register of the old hotel, like the plaque which once decorated the "Roosevelt Suite," has disappeared, but

a good many of its guests will long be remembered.

There was the Prince of Wales, now

the Duke of Windsor. Martin L. Richards, Chief Pantryman at the Tivoli and

the hotel's senior employee, remembers

peeping at the Prince's party during a formal dinner on the second-floor porch.

He doesn't think he will ever forget the "men in uniform, with many medals, and

the lovely ladies." There was young Charles Lindbergh,

here with his Congressman father when

he was only 11 years old. He registered

himself, and his childish signature is one

of the Tivoli's prizes.

There was John Barrymore during

the early 1930's. Kenneth O. Sealey,

who has been at the Tivoli for 35 years and is now its telephone operator, recalls that Barrymore tipped him $5 for a bottle-opener that had cost 10 cents. There were the "Duke and Duchess of Balboa,"—Mr. and Mrs. Theodore McGinniss—who were permanent guests and

who lived in the "Roosevelt suite" for many years. There was E. W. Scripps, founder of the Scripps-Howard newspapers, here on

his yacht. He ensured good service by

distributing $10 gold pieces in advance

to the Tivoli staff. The service, R. K.

Morris remembers, was excellent. There was another heavy tipper, a man

remembered by the staff only as a Mr.

Alves, a British mining operator. Tele- phone operator Sealey, however, amazingly recalls that he was in room 140. He drank quantities of Vichy water and

rewarded good service with $5 and $10 tips. There have been movie actors, generals, congressmen, admirals, and just

plain tourists. (For years the Tivoli served luncheon to several hundred every

time a cruise ship put into port.) There

were politicians and political refugees; at

one time, four ex-presidents of Panama

were refuged there.

During the war years, the Pergola Bar was crowded with intelligence agents, each trying to find out what the other knew, newspapermen who were doing

their best to sort fact from fiction, and

contractors, each trying to find out what

his rival was likely to bid. The Hotel Tivoli was started during

the latter half of 1905. It was built, according to a letter from Governor Magoon to ICC Chairman Shonts, "to supply quarters for the employees in and

about Panama and while the building is adapted to commercial purposes, that use should be made secondary to the use for which it was erected ... It is desirable that some of the rooms should be reserved

for visitors to the Isthmus who have some

claims upon the Commission and possibly open to the general public."

Originally designed for "metal and

plaster," the hotel was changed to a frame structure with a brick centersection —recently uncovered when the

building was redecorated when Chief

Engineer John F. Stevens ordered that "no money be spent on frills." The central rear three-story wing was

added in 1911, at the same time the hotel was able to boast of its first elevator; hot water was piped into all bathrooms

the following year and in 1913 the present

porte-cochere replaced the covered front

steps. What is now the Pergola Bar, origi- nally covered with an awning, was added

the same year, but did not serve liquor

until 1936.

Before the hotel was finished there was

talk of having it operated "by some good

hotel men" who would "take it off our

hands, running it as a commercial proposition," but nothing came of it and, during the construction period, it was run by the Division of Labor, Quarters, and

Subsistence.

Its first manager was Jackson Smith,

head of the Division, who soon dele- gated his duties to J. M. McGuire,

familiarly known as "Molly." Later managers included Peter Geyer, W. T. McCormack, who ran the hotel for many years, Andrew Johnston, John

McEwen, James E. Lewis, Donald J. Hendrick, and P. S. Thornton. The

present manager is H. J. Chase.

At the end of January 1951, the old

hotel went out of business as a commercial enterprise.

A TOTAL OF 169 years of service at the Tivoli is represented by this sextet. Seated, left to right, are: Ivanhoe C. Tovaris, Bell Captain, 32 years; Kenneth O. Sealey, Telephone Operator, 35 years; Cora

Charles, Assistant Housekeeper, 18 years at the Tivoli (plus 8 years at the Hotel Washington); and Martin L. Richards, Chief Pantryman, 37 years. Standing: Aubrey G. Thorbourne, Clerk, 19 years at the

Tivoli (plus 8 years at the Washington); and Emanuel O. Moore, Head Bartender, 27 years.
12 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW November 2, 1956

Subjects ranging from a request for a deferment in the closing date of the Chagres Commissary to a suggestion that

the commissaries in the Latin American

towns stock a small supply of better cuts

of beef were discussed last month at a forum attended by representatives of these communities and of the Supply and

Employee Service Bureau. The forum was held October 9 in the Board Room

of the Administration Building at Balboa

Heights.

The question of the closing date for the Chagres store was raised by Jefferson Joseph, president of the Rainbow City

Civic Council, who said that the families

living in Chagres are concerned because

they will have to do their shopping at Rainbow City Commissary after January

1, and this will mean adding bus fare to the cost of their groceries. They asked,

he said, that the commissary be kept open until the town is depopulated.

Wilson H. Crook, director of the bureau, pointed out—as he did repeatedly

during the conference —that withdrawal

of commissary privileges from non-resident employees next January 1, ac- cording to the Treaty, will mean a loss of 85 percent of the Commissary's Division's Latin American trade. This means, among other things, he

said, that the Commissary Division "will have to pull in its operations or let costs soar." Mr. Crook told the men and women attending the forum that it is not

likely that the Chagres store will be kept

open until the town is depopulated.

The request for better cuts of meat in the Latin American stores was brought

up during a general discussion of the meat

situation, especially in connection with a number of customer complaints that pre- packaged meat is not available in several

stores for some time after the opening

hours in the morning.

W. C. Bain, superintendent of the Refrigerated Products Branch, pointed out

that pre-packaging of meat items, in large

quantity and in a limited space, presents a considerable problem, even if an earlier

shift were put to work in Tivoli Commissary and in others where there is a similar

difficulty. La Boca Commissary, however, has worked out a solution by start- ing some employees earlier, he pointed out. Several representatives from Santa Cruz reported that they have to wait

for meat to go on sale in the morning,

especially on Tuesdays after the store has

been closed for the weekend.

Toward the end of the meat discussion, a delegate from Rainbow City

asked that sirloin and porterhouse

steaks and roasts and other of the better cuts of beef be available in the commissaries, especially during pay-weeks.

Hamilton Lavalas of Paraiso raised the subject of toy sales when he asked if there could be one central Toyland this year

instead of having toys distributed in the various Pacific commissaries. R. L. Sullivan, General Manager, Commissary

Division, said that this plan will be fol- lowed next year, but that toys have al- ready been sent to the retail stores at

Tivoli, Paraiso, and Santa Cruz. The annual visit of Santa Claus to the

Latin American towns will be handled

this year, he said, by the Civic Councils

in cooperation with the Commissary Division, and Santa Claus will meet his young

friends elsewhere than in the commissaries. Rainbow City has selected the gymnasium as its Santa Claus headquarters

and Paraiso is making plans but had not completed arrangements at the time of the forum.

Improvements made in the commissaries as the result of the previous forum

were outlined by Mr. Crook. These in- cluded: Addition of hosiery color-charts

to the hosiery sections; revision of the schedule for the supply trailer to Paraiso

and a change in its loading so that bread comes off first; installation of a lattice as a protection against rain for the Paraiso

Commissary's kerosene buyers; relocation

of the bus stop at the Rainbow City Commissary; addition of packagers at peaktimes at the check-out stands; assignment

of extra help at peak periods in the shoe

section at Rainbow City Commissary.

Suggestions made by the community

representatives during the October conference included: Four-item checkout

stands during rush periods in the retail

stores; addition of several items to the commissary stock including shadow proof

slips, gloves, boys' shirts in larger sizes, yardage for men's suits in all of the retail

stores, and long-line brassieres; a special

leaflet for the Latin American trade, similar to the weekly circular for customers

of the U. S.-rate commissaries; a check

why certain items, such as crochet thread and some shoe sizes are frequently out of stock; and why bread supplies are ex- hausted well before commissary closing hours. Most of those attending the forum

said they had never seen the standard

commissary forms on which they could

make suggestions or request new or old

Customers' Men

JEROMK F. EVANS, left, who ended over 30 years

of government service last month, turned over his duties as manager of the Balboa Commissary to Charles P. Shay, who has been with the Commissary

Division since 1930. At one of the most elaborate

parties they have ever held, the Commissary's employees this week said goodbye to their old boss and

hello to their new one. Their farewell present to Mr. Evans was a lounge chair, which they now hope

he'll have time to use.

items. Mr. Sullivan said store managers would be notified to have these

available at all cash registers. Before

the forum adjourned, new items of wearing apparel for men, women, and

children were shown to the customer

representatives.

Those attending the conference were: Rainbow City Civic Council-Jefferson Joseph, Mrs. Rita Anderson, Mrs. Doris

Parnther, Mrs. Idelia Richards, Kenneth

Weeks, D. E. White;

Paraiso Civic Council—Thomas Sawyers, Mrs. Mildred Sawyers, Mrs. Ruth

Smith, Mrs. Maudlin Holder, Mrs. Inez McKenzie, Alfonso Alexis, Hamilton Lavalas; La Boca Civic Council—Cleveland Roberts, Mrs. Clarissa Flemmings, Mrs. Muriel White, Mrs. Pearl Soley, Mrs. Gloria Llewelyn; Santa Cruz Civic Council—Richard T. Burns, Miss Violet Henry, Mrs. J. Sealey, Mrs. B. Small, Mrs. 0. Millett, Mrs. L.

Prince; Supply and Employee Service Director—

W. H. Crook; and from the Commissary Division— R. L. Sullivan, T. G. Relihan, W. C. Bain, J. M. Brown,

V. J. Huber, C. P. Shay, and Mrs. Gladys

Conley.

Balboa Stadium To Get

Complete Renovation

When Zonians gather in the Balboa

Stadium November 12 for a Veterans' Day program planned by veterans' organizations, they will be hoiding the last public meeting in the Stadium as they have

known it for the past 40 years. As a grandstand for athletic events, the Stadium is to be used for the last time tonight when Balboa High School

plays the Canal Zone Junior College in

their final football game of the season. The day after the Veterans' Day cel- ebration, work will be started on the

remodeling of the grandstand. The

stadium, built 40 years ago as part of the original Balboa Stadium and athletic field, will be demolished and re- placed with bleacher-type seats to ac- commodate 1,500 spectators. The contract for the major alterations to the

Pacific side center is held by Chain

Singh & Company, of Panama.

In addition to the installation of the

bleachers, plans call for the expansion of the dressing rooms and replacement of the present roof with one of aluminum.

The two new steel-frame bleacher stands

will be located along the baseball dia- mond's third-base line. The original Balboa Stadium and grandstand was opened with considerable fanfare on a Sunday, December 29, 1916,

when the Canal Zone Champions and the Camp Empire teams played a regularleague game. According to a contemporary account in the local newspapers, a

crack band from Camp Empire played,

and the opening game took on the air of a major league opening in the States. Canal Zone authorities took advantage

of the opening of the new athletic center

to set up a number of new rules and regulations, not all of which met with public

favor. One of these was a rule that the open betting which had been common

practice at some of the league parks was

strictly forbidden. Anyone breaking

this rule was to be dealt with severely.
Novembei 2, 1956 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW 13

Rehabilitation Of Juvenile Prisoners

Bolstered By Work Of Volunteer Teacher

for the young prisoners. Under the guid- ance of Sgt. George A. Martin, Officer-in- Charge of Gatun and recently by Sgt. George J. Roth, Acting Officer-in-Charge, the boys are producing all sorts of things

from wooden lawn furniture to a collec- tion of gaily-painted wooden toys which

are to be sent to the children in the Gatun

Lake District at Christmas time. At present, the tools used in the workshop are not too elaborate, but the police

hope to improve on this situation as soon

as it is possible to install power-tools.

With the installation of more equipment, the boys will be able to manufacture

other simple items of furniture. These

products will be sold and the proceeds,

after cost of the materials has been de- ducted, will be placed to their credit in a

fund which will be given them after they

leave Gatun. The Gatun prison will never have a

large prisoner population— its top capacity being 9 boys and 18 women. Juveniles

sent to serve sentences there are delin- quents under 16 years of age who have

long records of repeated offenses. Situated on a small hill within sight of the Panama Canal, the prison is a cool and

airy cement building which is kept spotlessly clean through the efforts of the

prisoners themselves under the direction

of the guards and the supervision of the

police. Health and cleanliness, the police

believe, are also among the important

lessons to be learned. The Canal Zone Police feel that the work being done at Gatun these days is only part of the job of rehabilitation. After the boys leave the prison the police do all they can to assist them to continue in school and keep up with their newly-acquired skills. In this connection

they have received the support of the Panama police, who also have the juvenile

delinquent problem under study.

The fact that the boys have all taken

a keen interest in the projects and studied

their school lessons diligently once they were given an opportunity—and full tummies—is probably the best indication that

the program is a success, they say.

TEXTBOOK IN HAND, Mrs. Elouise Small cf the Chagres elementary school, teaches the three "Rs"

to juvenile prisoners at Gatun. One of the boys has learned to write and read during his jail term.

An 11 -year-old Panamanian lad who re- cently completed a 90-day sentence in the Canal Zone Prison at Gatun, is now able

to read and write, thanks to a rehabilita- tion program set up by the Canal Police. He not only learned to read and write during the 90 days he spent in jail, but

he also was taught the rudiments of gar- dening and carpentering. Police hope

that he has gained enough interest and

skill in these new projects so that he will continue after he leaves Gatun. The idea of securing the services of a

tutor for the young delinquents sent to Gatun to serve sentences originated when it was discovered that the 1 1-year-old, a resi- dent of Colon, had never attended school. Deducing that possibly this was one

of the reasons that the young prisoner

had five counts of petit larceny in his

disfavor, Capt. E. S. Shipley, Cristobal

Police District Commander, asked for help from the Latin American Elementary School in Chagres.

Mrs. Elouise Small, who teaches in Charges, volunteered her services and pro- ceeded to instruct not only the youngest prisoner, but to tutor two other older prisoners and bring them up to date in their school work. She has managed to accomplish this by

giving a few hours of her own time each Wednesday afternoon following her reg- ular duties at the Chagres school. During

this period she hears their lessons and

gives them homework for the coming

week and every so often gives them an

examination or an ability test. The books used are being furnished by

the Canal Zone School Division. Both

the Police and Mrs. Small report that the system is working just fine. By the end

of 90 days of instruction, the youngest

prisoner was doing good first grade work

and the others had kept up in the fifth and sixth grades.

The other part of the rehabilitation program is being carried out by the Police

with some help from local religious and

fraternal organizations and an occasional

assist in the way of fruit trees or equipment from companies in the Canal Zone. Gardening, which the boys tackle with great gusto, is done under the

direction of Ruben Cohen, a police

guard who has been with the Canal

Zone Police since 1938. Mr. Cohen has

a super green thumb and a way with

the boys. The three of them now have

the garden producing onions, tomatoes,

cucumbers, and various other green

vegetables while, a short distance away,

there are lime and orange trees, plantain, bananas, papayas, and avocados. The vegetables and fruit supplement

the prison diet of both the boys and women prisoners.

The carpentry shop is another natural

WORK IX THE garden at the Canal Zone Prison f exercise for the young prisoners as well asor Women and Juveniles provides healthful outdoor

fruit and vegetables for use in the prison.
14 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW November 2, 1956

PROMOTIONS AND TRANSFERS

September 75 through October 75

Employees who were promoted or transferred between September 15 and October

15 are listed below. Within-grade promotions are not reported.

ADMINISTRATIVE BRANCH

Henry S. Makibbin, Jr., from Records

Analyst to Management Analyst, Records

Section. CIVIL AFFAIRS BUREAU

Edward E. Albin, Roger E. Hanor, John

R. Olsen, James E. Bryant, Robert E. Welborn, James F. McGloin, from Fire Sergeant

to Fire Lieutenant, Fire Division. Hugh D. Hale, Frederick A. Mohl, John

W. Dwyer, from Firefighter, Driver-Operator, to Fire Sergeant, F'ire Division. Frank Berry, Matthew J. Wilder, Henry

E. Sellner, Robert L. Austin, George O.

Flores, George W. Coleman, from Firefighter to Fire Sergeant, Fire Division. Frank Koenig, from Distribution and

Window Clerk to Mail Clerk, Postal Division. Wolford W. Foster, from Guard, Terminals Division, to Policeman, Police Division. Louis F. Dedeaux, from Junior High

School Teacher to Elementary School

Teacher, Division of Schools. Carrol F. Anderson, from Senior High

School Teacher to Junior High School

Teacher, Division of Schools. Mrs. Gladys S. Lee, from Substitute Teacher to Junior High School Teacher,

Division of Schools. OFFICE OF THE COMPTROLLER

Mrs. Frances D. Wheeler, from ClerkTypist, Central Typing and Clerical Unit,

to Accounting Clerk, Agents Accounts

Branch. Paul F. Helton, from Systems Accountant, Accounting Division, to Auditor, General Audit Division. William Goldfein, from Supervisory Accountant, Accounting Division, to Systems

Accountant, Accounting Policies and Procedures Staff. ENGINEERING AND CONSTRUCTION

BUREAU

Herbert F. Moore, from Chemist to Superintendent, Miraflores Filtration Plant, Maintenance Division. Charles J. Holmes, from Motor Boat Maintenance Mechanic to Small Tug Operator, Dredging Division. HEALTH BUREAU

Dr. Gerald E. Cosgrove, Jr., from Chief,

Clinical Pathology Section, to Chief, Board

of Health Laboratory.

Martha E. Mastellari, Clerk-Stenographer, from Employment and Lltilization Division to Gorgas Hospital.

MARINE BUREAU

William D. McGowin, from Foods Buyer,

Commissary Division, to Guard, Locks Se- curity Branch. Jack W. Rocker, from Machinist, Pacific Locks, to Marine Inspection Assistant,

Navigation Division. James J. Reccia, from Stockman Fore- man, Commissary Division, to Guard, Locks Security Branch. Elmer E. Stoakley, from Commissary

Supervisor, Commissary Division, to Guard,

Locks Security Branch.

Louis A. Austin, from Accounting Clerk, Commissary Division, to Guard, Locks Se- curity Branch.

Irving Spector, from Small Tug Operator,

Dredging Division, to Towboat Master, Navigation Division. Gilbert A. Sollas, from Commissary Supply Assistant, Commissary Division, to Guard, Locks Security Branch.

Charles A. Parks, David B. Marshall, from Guard, Locks Security Branch, to Towing Locomotive Operator, Pacific Locks. PERSONNEL BUREAU

Mrs. Evelyn L. Farbman, from Clerk- Typist to Clerk Stenographer, Employment

and Utilization Division. SUPPLY AND EMPLOYEE SERVICE BUREAU

Norbert W. Hammond, from Supervisory

Commissary Supply Assistant, to Stockman

Foreman, Commissary Division.

TRANSPORTATION AND TERMINALS

BUREAU

Lee B. Hunnicutt, from Property and

Supply Clerk, Commissary Division, to Supervisory Cargo Clerk, Terminals Division. Ross E. Pase, from Wood and Steel Car- man to Railroad Car Inspector, Railroad

Division. Mrs. Fern L. Herndon, Clerk-Stenographer, from Administrative Branc'i to Motor

Transportation Division.

NOVEMBER SAILINGS

From Cristobal A neon November 3 Pa mi ma November 10

Cristobal November 1

A neon November 24 From New York

Panama Novembei 1 Cristobal. November 8 A neon November 1

Panama* Novembei 23

Cristobal November 29

* Because of the Thanksgiving Day holiday, the Panama leaves New York Friday, arriving in Cristobal Thursday. November 29. Otherwise the ships are in Haiti on Monday on both north- and southbound trips.

ANNIVERSARIES

For the second year, Otto L. Savold,

Cristobal's Postmaster, heads the October

Anniversaries list. Two weeks ago today

he completed 41 years of government service, all of it in postal work except for his Army time during World War I. He has been a Canal Zonian for 30 years. Born in Bangor, S. Dak., he cancelled his

first stamp in Oakes, N. Dak. He served

at Cristobal first when he was new to the Canal Zone Postal Service and is back there again as its postmaster. He hasn't changed

his hobbies—wirehair terriers and experi- mental gardening at Santa Clara —since we

wrote about him a year ago and Biff, the

present terrier, still rules the Savold roost. The Canal Zone's Men in Blue (the fire- men have this distinction until the police decide on their new uniforms) have their innings this month in the Anniversaries column; they've copped off the second two

places. Incidentally, the two next-to-senior men

for October have almost parallel histories: Both came to the Isthmus as servicemen,

ANNIVERSARY celebrants last month were Lt. Charles F. Stevens, left, of the Pedro Miguel Fire

Station, and Capt. William H. Casswell, Cristobal

Fire Chief.

both were sergeants in the military service, both started their careers in Cristobal, both

are now officers in the Fire Division, both have unbroken service, not only with the Canal organization but also with the Fire

Division, and both have reputations among

their friends as being especially handy men.

Let's take them one at a time: Second man on the October totem pole, with 40 years of Government service be- hind him last month, is Lt. Charles F. Stevens, commander of the Pedro Miguel

Fire Station. Born in Oklahoma City he came to the Isthmus just 40 years ago this month and

was stationed at Fort Sherman with a Motor

Transportation Corps unit. Four years later he left the At my and joined the Canal Zone

Fire Division, with Cristobal as his first station.

In 1936 he was made a lieutenant and

placed in charge of the Pedro Miguel Fire

Station, where he has remained ever since. "Steve," his friends say, "is a fix-it specialist, who can do almost anything from

electric and gas welding up and down the

line." During the early 1930's he built and

installed the first variable control generator

ever used on an automobile on the Isthmus.

35 YEARS

Five years behind Lieutenant Stevens as

far as total years of Government service is concerned, is William H. Casswell —Bill or Casey to his friends, and Chief, more for- mally —who is Fire Chief in Cristobal. Born in Chicago he was a Staff Sergeant

in the 25th Bombardment Squadron at France Field when he decided that the

Fire Division had more to offer and signed up as a fireman at Cristobal. Most of his service has been on the Atlantic side, al- though he spent one day at Balboa and

served at Gamboa for almost two years. He has held the rank of Captain since 1948, and was made Chief of the Cristobal

Fire District in January 1955. In 1939 he spent three and a half months

in New York City attending the City's Fire

College. Last December he was given a $100 award for a proposal, made jointly with Eldon C. Rouse (who also received a $100 award), that fire hose couplings and

hydrant nipoles be altered to National Standard size. An enthusiastic ham radio operator, Captain Casswell is also "about the handiest handyman" his friends has ever seen. His

current project is building a truck on which

he intends to haul material to his vacation home in the Volcan section of Panama. Someone ought to organize a competition between him and Lieutenant Stevens.

30 YEARS

Santa Claus, of all people, is one of the Canal employees who completed 30 years

of Government service last month. But

wait 'til we get to him, alphabetically.

"D" comes first in this month's 30-year men, and the "D" stands for John T. Dillon, Engineer on the dipper dredge Cascadas. More than half of his Government service was aboard Shipping Board vessels; eight years was accounted for by his service as an engineer in the Panama Line's SS Guayaquil, and the old and new Ancons. He

comes from Westboro, Mass., and has been

with the Dredging Division since 1940. Archie W. French, a native Isthmian, is a Wireman Welder at Gatun Locks. Born

in Colon Hospital he attended Balboa High

School and held his first Canal job in the Balboa medical storehouse during a sum- mer vacation. He served his apprenticeship

here and has divided his adult Canal service among the Mechanical, Building, and Locks

divisions. Now for Santa Claus: In private life he

is Whitman P. Garrett, a police officer on

duty in Cristobal but come Christmas time

he is off in a launch to help spread holiday cheer to the families living along the edges

of Gatun Lake. A former serviceman, he once stood guard duty for a three-month

period at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

in Arlington Cemetery. He has been on the

police force since 1940. Last, alphabetically, of last month's 30- year employees is Clarence A. Greene,

Wireman Foreman at Gatun Locks. Born

in Opelika, Ala., he served 11 years with

the Navy before he joined the Canal force as a wireman for the Electrical Division in 1935. His service has been divided between

that Division and the Locks.

25 YEARS

Five of the seven employees who had
November 2, 1956 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW 15

Silver Anniversaries in October have un- broken service with the Canal organization

and unbroken service with their divisions. They are: Jeanne E. Brown, Cyrus W.

Field, Bernardine U. Hanna, Florence A. Lamson, and James C. Slade. Miss Brown is Librarian at Cristobal High School. Mr. Field is Chief Foreman

Shiphtter with the Industrial Division. Miss Hanna and Miss Lamson are school teachers, Miss Hanna teaching third grade at Ancon

and Miss Lamson second grade at Cristobal. Mr. Slade is a Plant Engineer with the Maintenance Division. Last month's remaining 25-year employees are: Russell L. Gallaher, Supervisory

Supply Clerk with the Maintenance Division, and Richard J. Koperski, a native Zonian, who is a Procurement Officer for the Commissary Division.

20 YEARS

Three of the men and women who have

served the Government for 20 years are natives of the Isthmus and all —Mrs. Ruth L. Turner, Library Assistant, Joseph H. Orr, Jr., Supervisory Supply Assitsant, Division of Storehouses, and David B. Marshall, Towing Locomotive Operator, Pacific Locks—are second generation employees. Mrs. Turner is the daughter of Alexander Eberenz who worked with the Coaling Plant and the Electrical Division; Mr. Orr's father was a Yard Foreman for the Panama Rail- road when he retired in 1949. Mr. Marshall's mother worked for the old Receiving and Forwarding Agency.

Geographically the 20-year employees are

interesting, too. All but one, William L. Brooks, Administrative Assistant in the Power Conversion Project, who was born

in Iowa, comes from east of the Mississippi River. Those with unbroken service, and treir native states, are: Mr. Brooks; Clement J. Genis, Pennsylvania, Safety Inspector for the Supply and Employee Service Bureau; Mr. Orr; and Cecilia E. Wensing, Wisconsin, Head Nurse, Gorgas Hospital. Other 20-year employees are: Henry G.

Appel, Indiana, Liquid Fuels Ganger, Ter- minals Division; John R. Bauer, Pennsylvania, Guard Supervisor, Locks Division; Mary W. Ewing, New Jersey, Time, Leave, and Payroll Clerk, Fiscal Division; Charles

L. Greene, North Carolina, Policeman,

Cristobal District; T. H. Forsstrom, Massachusetts, Supervisory Marine Traffic Controller; Daniel A. Lawson, Wisconsin, Machinist, Gatun Locks; Mr. Marshall; Mrs.

Turner; and Lloyd M. Smith, New York,

Wireman, Locks Division.

15 YEARS

Ten of the 23 employees who completed

15 years of Government service last month

have unbroken Canal service. They are: Walter J. Ilund, Steam Engine2r, Terminals Division; Andrew J. Landreth, Electrician Foreman, Electrical Division; Norman J. Lewter, Policeman, Gamboa Penitentiary; Pauline E. Long, First- Grade Teacher, North Margarita School; Andrew J. May, Supervisory Steward, Di- ablo Service Center; Charles H. Oiler, Property and Supply Clerk, Motor Transportation Division; Jacob Rand, Distribution and Window Clerk, Postal Division; Earl A. Schilling, Optical Technician, Commissary Division ; and Elva K. Stewart,

Distribution and Window Clerk, Postal Division. Other 15-year employees are: William L. Bingham, Power Dispatcher, Electrical Division; Jack C. Brayton, Head Stevedore Foreman, Terminals Division; Laura G. Casement, Accounting Clerk, Accounting

Division; Everette N. Clouse, Combination

Welder, Dredging Division; Vernon C. Douglas, Paving and Heavy Labor Lead

Foreman, Maintenance Division; Burnell

F. Dowler, Machinist, Industrial Division; James S. DeFrees, Maintenance Mechanic, Motor Transportation Division; Dorothy E. Hannigan, Clerk-Typist, Electrical Di\ision;

John W. Huson, Electronics Mechanic, Electrical Division; Peter N. Riley, Supervisory Administrative Assistant, Navigation Division; George E. Riley, Jr., Lead Dock Fore- man, Navigation Division (the Rileys are

brothers) ; Mildred H. Slater, Elementary

School Teacher, Division of Schools; Anita R. Thompson, Accounting Clerk, Accounting Division; and Michael Zombory, Supervisory Administrative Assistant, License

Section, Civil Affairs Bureau.

First C. Z. Paid Fire Company

RETIREMENTS

MATCHED TEAMS were apparently not in order 'way back when the Cristobal Fire Station equip- ment was horsedrawn. The station was the first to be manned by salaried firemen, 50 years ago this month.

"President Roosevelt was very much

impressed by the practical test made by

our fire department at Colon on Satur- day," John F. Stevens, Chief Engineer

of the Isthmian Canal Commission, wrote

to Fire Chief C. E. Weidman 50 years ago this month.

"I may add on my own behalf," he

continued, "that there are few towns of a much larger size in the United States that could even approximate such results.

'

The Chief Engineer had ample reason

to congratulate the men who staffed the Cristobal Fire Station. At work as a unit

of paid fire fighters for less than a month,

the firemen had made a run from the

Cristobal engine house to the passenger

station in Colon, attached hose to nine two-way hydrants on Front Street and

had 18 streams of water, 65 feet high,

playing on the buildings—in 4 minutes.

Except for their chief, who had been

appointed the Canal Zone's first Fire Chief December 1, 1905, the Cristobal firemen were the first paid fire fighters

in the Canal Zone. Prior to November

1906, the Department had consisted entirely of volunteers. Cristobal, Gorgona,

Empire, Culebra, La Boca, and Ancon

had two volunteer companies apiece and

Pedro Miguel had one in 1906. The fol- lowing year volunteer companies were

organized at Tabernilla, Gatun, Paraiso,

and Corozal and in 1908 at San Pablo,

Portobelo, and Bas Obispo.

Although other companies were staffed

later with paid firemen, for years Cristo- bal was the largest station. Its company

consisted of a captain, a lieutenant, an

engineer, 13 firemen, and a clerk, all of whom served for 14 days out of each 15. For those days their equipment was

modern: One steam fire engine with a

spiral water-tube boiler, capable of deliv- ering 600 gallons of water a minute, a chemical engine, a truss hook-and-ladder,

a two-horse hose wagon, with 2,500 feet of 2K-inch woven fire hose, and two 5- gallon chemical extinguishers. Its fire alarm system covered not only Cristobal but those parts of Colon adjacent to ICC

and Panama Railroad property.

The information on the Canal Zone's old- est fire stations staffed by paid fire fighters

is part of a comprehensive history of the

Fire Division's early days compiled by

Thomas N. Stewart, of Cristobal District.

Retirement certificates were presented the end of October to the following employees

who are listed alphabetically, together with

their birthplaces, titles, length of Canal

service and future addresses:

Philip Arrieta, El Salvador; Cash Ac- counting Clerk, Division of Storehouses;

14 years, 4 months, 25 days; San Antonio,

Tex.Edward Barlow, Rhode Island; Control House General Foreman, Miraflores Locks; 40 vears, 9 months, 8 days; Croton-on- Hudson, N. Y. Jerome Barras, Louisiana; Special Assist- ant to Chief, Housing and Ground. Division; 31 years, 1 month, 17 days; Hawlev,

Pa.Daniel J. Considine, New York; Machinist, Gatun Locks, 26 years, 11 months;

Elmira, N. Y. Jerome F. Evans, Michigan; Manager,

Balboa Commissary; 30 years, 1 month, 8 days; address undecided. John P. Fahnestock, Florida; Blacksmith,

Dredging Division; 16 years, 7 months, 22 days; Oceanside, Calif. Antonio Fernandez, Spain; Machinist,

Pacific Locks; 21 years, 10 months, 27 days;

Miami, Fla. Gilbert H. Furey, Washington, D. C;

Printer, Printing Plant; 30 years, 4 months,

19 days; California.

Clifford M. Glenn, Nebraska; Lead Fore- man, Maintenance Division; 17 years, 10 days; address undecided. James E. Heady, Indiana; Chief, Reports

and Reconciliation Branch, Office of the Comptroller; 30 years, 5 months; Texas.

Capt. Walter H. Kuhrt, New York; Pilot, Navigation Division; 29 years, 1 month, 24

days; Dorset, Vt.

Capt. Lucien A. Skeels, Massachusetts;

Pilot, Navigation Division; 29 years, 10 months, 27 days; Madison, Conn.

Cleveland A. Schecker, New York; Disability Relief Officer, Personnel Bureau; 33

years, 2 months, 9 days; Pittsburg, Kan. Warren G. Schultz, Pennsylvania; In- spector of Floating Equipment, Marine

Bureau; 29 years, 9 months, 20 days;

Tampa, Fla. George W. Smith, Ohio; Supervisory

Storekeeper, Atlantic Locks; 14 years, 2 months, 3 days; Colon, R. P. Marie Van Clief, Germany; Accounting

Clerk, Office of the Comptroller; 19 years, 8 months, 12 days; Balboa, Canal Zone.

Capt. Alan S. Wallace, Massachusetts;

Pilot, Navigation Division; 32 years, 11 months, 15 days; Costa Rica, for the present.
THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW November 2, 1956

Reiandscaping Plan

Calls For Planting

4,000 Shrubs, Trees

The sight of flowering trees and the beauty of tropical plants will soon greet newcomers and visitors to the Isthmus

as their ships pull into the Cristobal pier area provided the iguanas don't win the current Battle of the Flowers. A complete landscaping job near the

piers, at the end of the Mole and around

the Terminal Building has just been completed as part of an over-all re-landscaping of the Canal Zone. Now personnel

of the Housing and Grounds Division

and the Terminals Division are anxiously

watching to see whether they can outwit

the iguanas whose favorite diet is luscious new leaves and twigs.

No one is quite sure why the iguanas

have selected the rocks at the end of the Cristobal Mole as their habitat,

but almost any day they can be seen by the dozen—rusty-brown grandfather

sizes down to tiny bright-green youngsters—basking in the sun on the rocks. While the entire Canal Zone is being

replanted—the job will involve more than

4,000 shrubs and trees -the Cristobal pier- area was selected for special attention because it is the first place to be seen by

thousands of visitors who come to the Isthmus each year aboard ship. This

part of the program was requested, and

paid for, by the Terminals Division. The most brilliant of the tropical plants

and trees native to Panama, or, if not native, which flourish here and can

withstand salt spray, were chosen for the planting so that newcomers could get a good idea of the variety and beauty of the

local flora. The planting, which is spaced in strategic spots along the entire pier area from

the customs checkout shed to the end of the Mole opposite Pier 6, includes copper

leaf plants, many varieties of hibiscus,

oleander, crepe myrtle, Pride of Barbados, bamboo orchids, frangipani, several

varieties of croton, poinsettias, red ginger

lilies, gardenias, bougainvillea in several

shades, several types of shower trees, and

a stand of red bananas.

Several small shrubs and some flower- ing plants have been set out in the small

plot of ground in front of the Terminal

Building where the old Spanish anchors,

brought from the Cruces Trail, have been

a tourist attraction for years. While most of the planting in the

pier area is new, it is part of the overall landscaping and re-landscaping pro- gram for which the Housing and

Grounds Division has been preparing

for some time, but which actually got

underway about July 1 and which will be completed before the beginning of the dry season.

Anniversary Program Will Be Held Nov. 15

(Continued from page 1) and the festivities held there for many years; Mrs. McCormack, representing the Historical Society; and, from today's Company-Government organization: Wilson H. Crook,

Supply and Employee Service Director; Mr. Thornton, Mr." Chase; W. G. Arey,

Jr., Public Information Officer; and J. Rufus Hardy and Eleanor Mcllhenny,

from the Press and Publications Office.

Company Income Statement

With Panama Canal traffic at the high- resent a partial repayment of the United

est peak in its operating history, a ten- States Government's investment in the

tative net income of $4,179,464 was Company, and serve to reduce the inter- reported for the past fiscal year by the est base and consequent reduction of the Panama Canal Company. This net was Company's financial obligations,

reported after payment of $8,590,710

ln the formal statement issued on the

interest on the U. S. Government s direct operating resu]ts for the past fiscal yeari

investment, and $10,078252 for the net attention was directed to the fact 'that

cost of the Canal Zone Government. fluctuations in the ratio of net income to Operating results for the fiscal year revenues is directly influenced by tolls- 1956 were reported late last month by revenue since the Canal costs are fixed Governor Potter, President of the Com- and do not vary with business volume.

Panv- All income statements and balance- The financial report also showed the sheets of the Company, including net payment of a $5,000,000 liquidating div- revenue, are still considered on a tentative idend to the United States Treasury, basis, pending approval by the Director

This was the second liquidating dividend of the Bureau of the Budget of the valuapaid to the Treasury since the Company tion of certain properties and items of started operations as a corporate enter- working capital transferred to the Comprise in July 1951. A payment of $10,- pany up to July 1, 1951. 000,000 was made in the fiscal year 1955. The condensed income statement for These payments to the Treasury rep- the fiscal year 1956 is shown belowCondensed Statement Of Income Fiscal Years Ended June 30, 1956 and 1955 CANAL AND ALLIED MARITIME OPERATIONS

Fiscal Year Fiscal Year

1956 1955

Revenue:

Tolls from commercial vessels.... $36,219,085 $33,918,993

Tolls credits from U. S. Government vessels 1,231,866 1,217,536 Other. _ --- 10,176,918 9,195,027

Total revenue.. $47,627,869 $44,331,556

Operating Expenses:

Depreciation (see note) $2,449,0 14 $2,383,405

Other. 18,877,097 18,661,733

Total operating expenses. .

._. $21,326,111 $21,045,138

Net operating income^.. .... $26,301,758 $23,286,418

SUPPORTING SERVICE OPERATIONS

Sales to employees and others .... $41,629,185 $39,485,846 Cost of goeds sold and other direct expenses.

39,239,198 37,467,518

Net operating income.. $2,389,987 $2,018,328

TotaL... $28,691,745 $25,304,746

GENERAL CORPORATE CHARGES

Net cost of Canal Zone Government- $10,078,252 $9,779,270

Interest paid to U. S. Treasury 8,590,710 9,043,766

General and administrative expenses.- 5,843,319 5,900,576

Total general corporate charges.

$24,512,281 $24,723,612

Net income $4,179,464 $581,134

Note: Exclusive of depreciation (1956, $2,882,086; 1955, $2,552,977) charged to supporting sen-ice operations and to general and administrative expenses.

Preliminary Planning Now Under Way

For School For Handicapped Children

(Cim'invelfrom page l) American schools, and four Medical Technicians for the two

hospitals. In preparing plans for the establish- ment of a school for handicapped children, it has been assumed that the program

will receive the parent's full cooperation.

One of the prerequisites for enrollment

will be a pledge by the mothers to work

voluntarily as orderlies and training assist- tants where their services are required.

Governor Potter has expressed a deep

interest in the establishment of proper

training facilities for these children in the Zone. In presenting the proposal to the Board of Directors last month, he said

in part:

"It is only reasonable that the Gov

ernment should provide adequate educational facilities for the handicapped in

this remote location where no municipal

or charitable institution, research center, or private school or clinic is available to our Canal Zone population."
N ovember 2, 1956 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW 17

For the purpose of the fiscal year 1938

STATISTICS ON CANAL TRAFFIC

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

U. S. STEEL STRIKE AND DROP IN OIL SHIPMENTS

CONTRIBUTE TO DECLINE IN TRAFFIC AND TOLLS

A drop in fuel oil movements from the

TJ. S. west coast, the aftermath of the recent steel strike in the United States, and a severe windstorm in Central America were factors contributing to the decline of traffic through the Panama Canal

during the first quarter of the fiscal year.

Tolls, traffic, and cargo tonnage were

all lower during the first quarter this year

than for the comparable quarter in the preceding fiscal year. During the months of July, August,

and September this year, a total of 2,277

vessels—1,968 of them commercial ships

of 300 tons or over- -transited the Canal. This figure is 210 below the total of 2,487

which went through the Canal during the same months in the previous fiscal year. The major decrease was in the number

of large commercial vessels, although

there were also fewer small commercial

ships and Government vessels than during the first quarter of fiscal year 1956.

Tolls collected during the first quarter

of this fiscal year were $576,824 lower than for the first quarter of the preceding

fiscal year, with commercial tolls accounting for $476,222 of the decline.

Intercoastal Drop

A most marked change in the shipping

picture was in the United States inter- coastal trade, with only 126 vessels on

that trade route using the Canal during

the first quarter this year, compared to 236 during the first quarter of the past

fiscal year. This was due mainly to a marked de- crease in the shipments of residual oil, used for fuel. Oil shipments between the west and east coasts of the United States had been unusually heavy during the first quarter of the past fiscal year. This ap- parently was a peak.

Another trade development having an

effect on Canal traffic was the recent steel strike in the United States. This shows

in the smaller amount of iron and steel manufactures shipped through the Pan- ama Canal during the first quarter of this year.

Traffic between the east coast of the United States and Central America, via the Canal, is only slightly over half of that shown during the first quarter of the preceding fiscal year. This drop is attrib- uted mainly to severe windstorms which

destroyed approximately 2.5 million ban- ana plants in the crop around Puerto

Armuelles in western Panama. This is also indicated by the figures for banana

shipments 177,424 thousands of long- tons this fiscal year compared to 244, lo7 long tons during the first quarter of fiscal year 1956. Replacements for these plants should be ready for cutting within the next few months.

Nitrate shipments from the Pacific to the Atlantic also showed a marked decline, reaching their lowest point for some

years. Only 68,854 thousands of long- tons of nitrate were carried through the Canal during the first (See page 18)

BIDS FOR THE sale or charter of the SS Panama, one of the Panama Line's three sister ships, are to be

advertised by the U. S. Maritime Commission which will handle the transaction for the Panama Cana! Company. The proposed removal of one the ships from service was approved last month by the Board of Directors because of the expected decrease in amount of Company-Government freight after this year. Final action on the Panama's fate will not be taken before the Board meets late next January in the Zone. MONTHLY COMMERCIAL TRAFFIC AND TOLLS

Vessels of 300 tons net or over By fiscal years

Transits Tolls

(In thousands of dollars) Month 1957 1956 1938 1957 1956 1938

July 669

653 646

727 676

686

709 627 658

664

681 712 692

703 674

457

505 444

461 435 439

444 436

506

487 465

445

$3,054

2,888

2,861

$3,247

2,980

3,053

3,065

2,706

2,944

2,844

3,011 3,068

3,025

3,215 3,013

$2,030

2,195

1,936

1,981 1,893

1,845

1,838 1,787 March 2.016

1,961 Mav 1,887

1,801

Totals for first 3 months

of fiscal vear 1,968 2,089 1,406 $8,803 $9,280 $6,161

Totals for fiscal vear 8,809 5,524 $37,451 $23,170

CANAL TRANSITS — COMMERCIAL AND U. S. GOVERNMENT

First Quarter, Fiscal Years

1957 1956 1938

Atlantic

to

Pacific

Pacific to Atlantic Total Total

2,089

261

2,350

Total

Commercial vessels: Oceangoing

*Small

1,04089

1,129

928

91

1,019

1,968 180

2,148

1,406 211

Total commercial 1,617

**U. S. Government vessels, ocean

going •Small

38

23 30

38

68

61

67

70

Total commercial and U. S. Government 1,190 1.087 2,277 2,487

•Vessels under 300 net tons or 500 displacement tons. **Vessels on which tolls are credited. Prior to July 1, 1951, Government operated ships

transited free.
18 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW November 2, 1956

tuedfrom page IT) quarter this fiscal rompared to 207,629 thousands of iong tons in the same period of the last

. ear. Commodities showing an increase this quarter ever the same quarter last year

arc wheat, canned food products, metals,

refrigerated food products, phosphates, paper and paper products, sugar (an in- crease of about 77 percent here), and ores. Scrap shipments from the east coast of the United States to the Far East continue high; 91,000 tons of scrap went

through the Canal in September alone. While there is a considerable decrease

in the number of ships on the intercoastal run and on the trade route between the United States east coast and Central America, there is some increase in the number of ships on the trade routes be- tween the east coast of the United States and the Far East, and those from Europe

to the west coast of South America.

Europe, especially Germany, is more

than recovering its pre-war trade, Canal

statistics show. Some of this cargo is iron ore, from the South American west

coast to Europe. During the first quarter

of this fiscal year, 158 German-flag vessels transited the Canal, compared to 100

for the first quarter of the fiscal year 1956. Part of this total, of course, is counted for by the transits of the German-registered

Portunus, which averages slightly over one Canal transit a week on its run from

Ecuador to U. S. Gulf coast ports. Other nationality increases the first quarter of this year were British, up from

253 transits for the first quarter of fiscal year 1956 to 295 the first quarter this year; Liberian, 138 for the first quarter

this year compared to 98 for the same

period in fiscal 1956; Japanese, Italian, and Dutch.

Nationalities showing a decrease in- cluded: United States, down from 634

during the first quarter of fiscal year 1956

to 469 during the first quarter this year; Norwegian, 52 fewer the first quaiter this year than last; Danish, a drop of 16; and

Honduran, a drop of 22—most of which

is accounted for by the decline in banana

shipments.

LeTourneau Told To Proceed

With New-Type Locomotives

Two experimental towing locomotives,

designed by the R. G. LeTourneau Company of Texas, will be in service at Gatun

Locks no later than December of next

year. Notice to proceed with the manufacture

of the two towing locomotives, which are

radically different in design from the pres- ent locomotives used on Panama Canal

locks, was given to the LeTourneau Company after the meeting of the Board of Directors last month.

The experimental locomotives are de- signed to furnish enough power and maneuverability so that only two locomotives

will be needed for an average-sized ship

as compared to the four to six now used

and three or four of the experimental type

for larger vessels which now require six to ten locomotives. A detailed story on the new-type loco- motives, together with engineers' drawings of the way in which they will be

operated, appeared in the August 1956

issue of The Panama Canal Review.

Canal Commercial Traffic by Nationality of Vessels

First Quarter, Fiscal Years

Nationality

l')57 1956 1938 Number of transits

Tons

of cargo

Number of

transits

Tons

of cargo

Number of transits

Tons

of cargo

Belgian 3 295

18

1356

480

14

3,316

1,919,057 101,454

88,079

78,179

37,304

293,411

24,860

British 253

171062

696

13

1,625,637 109,443

59,517

67,476

48,473

277,578

14,767

292

2

2

1,667,795

1(1 (i')i, 13,113 Colombian _ Costa Rican _ . Danish 55 254,567

2 4,695

5

27 158

32

72

18,452 149,490

521,759

288,248

56,663

4

32 100

4394

26,041 189,908

255,436

369,198

103,270

French 28

91

319

2

146,788

450,641

181,941 Honduran __ 2,926

11,176

Irish 1 36

120

3 138

234

9

199

114

113

8,250

179,673

853,040

14,318

1,212,838 5,754

211,765

16,594

1,023,276 628,464

59,369

15,127

Italian 33

113

217,094

792,263

13

75 39,933

522,490

98 782,465

Netherlands NicaraguanNorwegian _ Panamanian _ _ .

30

9

251

1118

7

1 1349

157,913

14.101 1,120,682 481,679

59,398

41,445

60 217,168

15554 855,770

155,169

Philippine

Spanish __ 10

41

1 469

32,037

194,446

10,091 2,960 913

55,391 234,771

2 31 15,280

206,645

United States^ 634'

2

4,405,318

8,851 495

2

5

2,860,814

1,953 23,151

Total 1,968 11,006,226 2,089 11,518,205 1,406 7,642,111

Principal commodities shipped through the Canal

(All figures in long tons)

ATLANTIC TO PACIFIC

Commoditv

Mineral oils Coal and coke Manufactures of iron and steel Phosphates

Sugar

Paper and paper products

Sulphur

Soybeans and products

Ores, various Wheat

Automobiles

Chemicals, unclassified Ammonium compounds

Cement

Corn

All others

Total

First Quarter, Fiscal Years

1957

1,364,904 808,166

483,120

417,807

328,898

135,697

109,691 108,182

91,496

69,948

69,179

67,980

58,686

56,683

9,206

1,647,743

5,827,386

1956

1,208,981 893,731

491,615

273,237

185,054

115,069

118,358

144,495

69,448

66,067

67,079

60,796

61,317

65,526

98,642

1,125,697

5,045,112

1938

178,635

47,077

64^,493

111,416

3,207

132,018

83,729 900

42,072 343

62,666

27,985 534

50,559

33,360

1,568,015

2,989,009

PACIFIC TO ATLANTIC

Commodity

Ores, various Lumber

Wheat

Sugar

Canned food products

Metals, various Bananas

Mineral oils Refrigerated food products (except fresh fruit) Nitrate Coffee Copra

Iron and steel manufactures

Barley Cotton

All others

Total

First Quarter, Fiscal Years

1957

1,339,987 705,788

473,789

354,838

337,658

227,284

177,424

164,162 164,003

68,854

65,633

61,758

57,368

53,755

41,051 885,488

5,178,840

1956

990,513

981,476

248,463

545,825

323,200

197,836

244,137

272,407

118,035 207,629

73,515 81,706

55,300

275,901 56,233

800,917

1,27

6,473,093

1938

541,685

877,574

40,873

439,129

306,650

173,726

8,670

978,129

45,205

222,756

37,173

35,092

5,966

53,158

37,071 850,245

4,653,102
November 2, 1956 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW 19

Dutch Line Observes

Hundredth Birthday

When the SS Agamemnon of the Royal

Netherlands Steamship Company entered

the Panama Canal May 17, 1915, enroute from Amsterdam to Guayaquil in ballast, she was sufficiently unusual on two counts

to warrant special mention in The Pan- ama Canal Record.

She was not only the first Dutch ship

to transit the Canal but she also bore on

her sides her name and port of registry

in letters which could be read at a dis- tance of several miles. This World War I measure—later to become a familiar sight on transiting ships — apparently was still a novelty for the Canal's customers. Last month the Agamemnon's owner,

the Royal Netherlands Steamship Company (whose name is officially The Koninklijke Nederlandsche Stoombot-Maatschappij, N.V.) celebrated its hundredth

birthday. Organized in 1856, the Dutch

line absorbed the Royal Netherlands West

India Mail Line in 1912, with an eye to the then future opening of the Panama

Canal. The war interrupted plans for an expanded trans-Atlantic service and it was

not until 1915 that the Line was able to begin regular service through the Canal

to the west coast of South America. Years later, after World War II, a Dutch

line service which was exceedingly popular

with Zonians was stopped. This was an

around-South-America run by two 12- passenger freighters, the Pericles and

Socrates. The trip took about 100 days

and passenger fare was around $650.

Today its offices in Cristobal act as agents not only for its own ships but also

for the vessels which transit the Canal

each month for the Japanese Kawasaki

Risen Kaisha Line; for the Nedlloyd

Line, which is a combination of the two

other largest Dutch shipping companies in trade from Vancouver and the U. S. west

coast to ports on the South American

east coast and North Africa; and for a number of tankers registered in Rotterdam. Four of the line's passenger ships arrive regularly at Cristobal but do not make the Canal transit. They are the Willemstad,

Oranjestad, Cotica, and Boskoop. Each

carries about 150 passengers and cargo

,. i M

Zonians On Alert

TWO SIMULATED ATOMIC blasts in the Canal Zone resulted in scenes like these last month in the Canal Zone. In the top picture first-aid workers—splints in hand—stream out of the assembly area in the old Mechanical Division yard at Balboa enroute to the disaster area south of Miraflores Locks. In

the lower picture the first-aid and decontamination teams—the latter are indicated by their brooms

pile aboard trucks for the disaster section. About 250 Company-Government workers and 50 volunteers took part in the Pacific side exercise October 17; another 200 employees and about 40 volunteers played

similar parts in the alert on the Atlantic side last Tuesday. The Atlantic side assembly area was the

Industrial Division and the disaster area was at Coco Solo.

from Amsterdam to Caribbean ports. Two new passenger vessels will be added to the Royal Netherlands Carib- bean fleet next year. They are the Prins

der Nederlanden and the Oranje Nassau, now being constructed in Holland.

Each will have accommodations for 150

passengers and will be partly air-conditioned. The first of the two will leave Holland in July 1957, and will visit Cris- tobal on her regular Caribbean run. On the Pacific side the Royal Netherlands Steamship Company is represented

by Pieter Blok Agencies, as far as freight

is concerned, while passenger traffic is handled by Boyd Brothers.

TRAFFIC MOVEMENT OVER MAIN TRADE ROUTES

The following table shows the number of transits of large, commercial vessels (300 net tons or over) segregated into eight main trade routes:

H. N. JONGBLOED, General Agent for the Royal

Netherlands Steamship Company in Cristobal, has been with the line for 38 years. He is serving his second tour in the Canal Zone.

United States Intercoastal East Coast of U. S. and South America. - East Coast of U. S. and Central America

East Coast of U. S. and Far East

U. S. /Canada East Coast and Australasia Europe and West Coast of U. S./Canada_

Europe and South America

Europe and Australasia

All other routes

Total traffic .

First Quarter, Fiscal Year

1957 1956 1938

126 236 349

474 48.5 97

77 146 19 343 317 217

48 55 49

174 182 194 205 184 137 88 84 44

433 402 300

1,406
20 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW November 2, 1956 ~

• 2^B£ (K en o= — *t

u. — =^> o in SHIPS and SHIPPING ja

TANGIBLE PROOF that the MS Portunus made more trips through the Panama Canal last fiscal year

than any ether vessel—54 in all—is this hand-lettered certificate presented last month by Capt. Warner

S. Rodimon, Marine Director, to Capt. Fritz J. Moebes, master cf the Portunus. The presentation took

place while the Portunus was being put through Miraflores Locks.

TRANSITS BY OCEAN-GOING

VESSELS IN SEPTEMBER

1956 1955 Commercial _

646 686

U. S. Government . 18 24

Total 664 710 TOLLS *

Commercial- ..$2,865,538 $3,057,607 U. S. Government. 99,122 149,310

Total $2,964,660 $3,206,917

'Includes tolls on all vessels, ocean-going and smallTanker To Dredge

One of the most unusual craft to make

the Canal transit recently was the Scalane which was northbound through the Canal

last month. Formerly a 501-foot tanker, the vessel was converted in Japan recently

into the world's largest suction dredge.

No stranger to the Canal, the Scalane made its last visit to the Isthmus September 20, 1953, as the tanker Pan Massachusetts, enroute from the U. S. east coast to Japan. Her method of transit at that time was, to say the least, unusual. Because of bow damage received in a marine collision off the east coast, she was

towed backward as a dead ship from

Baltimore through the Canal and on to Japan.

As the Scalane, the vessel made the

trip from Japan to Panama under her own power. She is owned by the Ludwig

interests. The dredge will be used on the

Atlantic side to deepen the harbor at Las Minas Bay as part of a refinery

project.

Ore Ship

Another addition to the list of ships too large to use the Panama Canal is the Universe tankship Ore Monarch which is due in Balboa about November 30 from

San Juan, Peru. Unlike the Queen Mary and some of the largest U. S. aircraft carriers, however, the Ore Monarch is too large to make the Canal transit only when she is

carrying a full load of ore. Fully loaded, her draft is beyond the maximum permitted for the Panama Canal. When the Ore Monarch arrives from

Peru, she will be carrying approximately

36,400 tons of iron ore, which is 5,000

tons under her maximum capacity. With

this load, the ship will have a safe 34-foot

draft and, with the assistance of two Panama Canal tugs, is expected to make

the transit without incident. In the future, however, the ore ship

will be used between the United States

east coast and Gulf coast to Venezuela,

where she will be able to operate on a

capacity basis. The Ore Monarch is the

third of a series of super oreships being

built in Japan by the Ludwig interests and will be on her maiden voyage. The

Ore Monarch is handled here by Panama

Agencies.

Official First Arrival in Cristobal on November 25

of the Norwegian-American Line's new

Bergensfjord is considered as the official beginning of the 1956-57 cruise season,

Per Diem Of $6 Authorized

For Travel By Ship Or Plane

Employees of the Canal organization on official travel, including free homeleave travel, are now entitled to per diem

expenses of $6 a day for ship or plane

travel between the Isthmus and the United States. An amendment to the Executive Regulation covering travel has been ap- proved by Governor Potter authorizing

payment of this per diem. The change

has been made effective for all travel- orders issued on or since August 1 of

this year. The change does not affect the travel allowance of $12 a day which is provided

for employees in travel time between the port of entry in the United States and

their destination.

Items Imported By Zonians

Must Be For Their Own Use

A notice to Canal employees having

importation privileges that they may not import merchandise into the Canal Zone

to replace articles purchased from a

dealer's duty-paid stocks was issued last month by J. B. Clemmons, Chief of the Customs Division. Such violation of importation regulations is punishable by law, as well as by

cancellation of privileges. Information to

this effect appears on the reverse side of Canal Zone free-entry forms. On several occasions recently employees have purchased such items as silver or motor parts from a dealer in the Republic of Panama and then ordered the

identical things sent to themselves in the Canal Zone with the expectation of re- placing the merchandise taken from the

dealer's shelves.

although an occasional cruise ship has put

in here within the past few months.

The Bergensfjord will be not only the

first of the cruise ships in the tourist season, which is expected to bring some

20,000 tourists here, but will also be on

her maiden cruise. Completed in 1955, the ship has been on the North Atlantic

service since last May.

The 17,000-ton Bergensfjord will carry about 400 tourists and, in addition to

Cristobal, will make stops at Port-auPrince, Curacao, Cartagena, and Nassau. The ship will be handled locally by the

Pacific Steam Navigation Company.

First Visits Two new ships, one making its maiden

trip through the Panama Canal and the other here on its first cruise, are due

within the next few weeks. The first will be the MS Bolinas, a new

Fred Olsen Line freighter on its maiden

voyage from Oslo enroute to North Pacific ports with general and refrigerated cargo. The vessel was built in Bergen

and has accommodations for 12 passengers. She will join a large fleet of Fred

Olsen ships which make regular trips

through the Panama Canal. Local agents

for the Olsen Line are C. Fernie & Co. The second of the two new ships is the 22,000-ton Cunard liner Carinthia, one of the new luxury liners on the North American service between Montreal and Liverpool.

She is due in Cristobal on New Year's Eve on her first winter cruise through the Caribbean. The Carinthia will remain

here one day. Pacific Steam Navigation

Company will handle the big cruise ship.

Milk Ship

Carrying a full cargo of powdered milk

for the United Nations Children Fund,

the 5,134-ton Chilean ship Roble was

southbound through the Canal last week.

The Roble was out of Wilmington, N. C,

and, before reaching the Canal Zone,

made stops at Puerto Barrios and Puerto

Cortez in Central America, discharging allotments of the milk at each stop. From

the Canal Zone she was destined for Guayaquil, Callao, Antofagasta, and

Valparaiso.

The master of the Roble is Captain

Manuel Duran. The ship was handled

locally by L. K. Cofer.