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,
W. P. Leber, Governor-President

H. R. Pahfitt, Lieutenant Governor

Frank A. Baldwin

Panama Canal Information Officer

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Official Panama Canal Publication Published quarterly at Balboa Heights, C.Z

Printed at the Printing Plant, La Boca, C.Z. Review articles may be reprinted in full or part without

further clearance. Credit to the Review will be appreciated. Distributed free of charge to all Panama Canal Employees.

Subscriptions, $1 a year; airmail $2 a year; mail and back copies (regular mail), 25 cents each.

Robert D. Kerr, Press Officer Publications Editors Morgan E. Goodwin and Tomas A. Cupas

Editorial Assistants Eunice Richard, Tobi Bittel, Fannie P. Hernandez, and Jose T. Tunon

cAoout Our Cover

TWO OF the Panama Canal's reg- ular customers are shown on the cover of this edition of The Panama

Canal Review. They are the New

Zealand Shipping Company's Huntingdon, coming southbound in Miraflores Locks, and the Texaco Company tanker Texaco New Mexico,

traveling northbound en route to Venezuela to pick up a cargo of crude oil.

The Huntingdon was built in 1948 and has a gross tonnage of

11,281 tons. She carries refrigerated

and general cargo, with refrigerated

taking predominance on her voyages

from New Zealand to England.

She has been making regular trips

through the Panama Canal since

1948 and is one of 41 cargo and 3

passenger ships maintained by the

New Zealand Shipping Company on

the United Kingdom to New Zealand

run via the Panama Canal.

The Texaco New Mexico, despite

her name, flies the Panama flag and

is 10 years younger than the Huntingdon. She was built in 1958 and

has spent most of the years in ser- vice between Venezuela and the

United States west coast.

Crane Hercules lifts a 64-ton "knuckle" section of prefabricated softnose from Dock No. 7. This was placed aboard the crane boat and floated to Miraflores Locks center wall where it was put into place as part of an entire softnose that was replaced this spring. The project was carried out after the wall was damaged in November when it was struck by a ship. The

purpose of the softnose is to protect ships from damage if they veer toward the wall.

August 1967
MARU Seek.

Cause, Cure

Of Disease

THE BAT is a symbol of darkness and

eerie mystery in most western civiliza- tions and denotes happiness, good for- tune, and longevity in Far Eastern

societies.

But to scientists, the bat represents a health menace of unknown magnitude

to human beings, one about which

relatively little is known in an age of heart implants and artificial kidneys.

Efforts to fill this informational void are being made at Building 265 of the Canal

Zone, the headquarters for the U.S. Middle America Besearch Unit.

Bats are receiving considerable attention at MABU because frequently the)' are infected with and spread histoplasmosis, a fungus disease that the unit is doing extensive research on. A staff member of Dr. William C. Gorgas, who

led the hard-won fight against yellow

fever and malaria when the Canal was

being built, described the disease during

Canal construction days. He thought it was a parasitic disease but later it was

learned to be a fungus.

Though usually not fatal, it mimics

tuberculosis by causing pulmonary in- fections and leaving lesions that for years radiologists reading X-rays mis- took for tuberculosis. In the 1930's, it became a serious problem in the Ohio

m *,;

Federico Valencia Jr., supervisor of serology, and Dr. Karl M. Johnson, director of MARU,

view towns in Guatemala showing high prevalence of arthropod virus antibodies. Other maps show villages studied in regions of Central America.

and Mississippi Biver basins and today

is very common in Panama. The fungus

tan grow in soil under certain conditions and in dry season turns to spores that are blown about by the wind.

Areas in Panama having limestone

caves inhabited by bats are "crawling" with histoplasmosis, according to MABU's director. Dr. Karl M. Johnson. "Man must know more about the

habits of bats," Dr. Johnson emphasized

in a recent interview. "Scientifically, not much has been done about bats since the 1940's when their built-in radar and

sonar systems were studied. They are

difficult to catch and to colonize. Some

eat nearly their own weight in insects every night. They are difficult to keep

alive, hard to feed; some eat only when

flying."

MABU has succeeded in keeping fruit

eating bats alive but to date has been

unable to colonize the insect-earing

varieties. Some knowledgeable people

contend that bats are the most common

mammals in the tropics. Also they

possess a greater life span than rodents,

occasionally living up to 20 years. It has been confirmed in the United States and elsewhere that bats excrete viruses. Added to these items is a strong suspi- cion among medical men that some bats may be migratory from the tropics to the temperate zone. Why has this area of study been

neglected or avoided?

"Bats are not conspicuous like birds and not as much is known about

them," Dr. Johnson points out. "There

are no batwatchers as there are birdwatchers."

(See p. 4)

3ndi

Middle America Research Unit

SS Hope

Panama's New University

Shipping Trends

Shipping Statistics3

5

7

12

12

ex

Canal History 14

Sinking of Submarine "Surcouf" 15

Anniversaries 18

The Sport of Kings 19

Shipping Notes 22

The Panama Canal Review
MARU Studying

The Elusive Bat

(Continued from p. 3)

The investigation of bats is but one segment of work done by the 60

MARU staff members, including 8 to 10 professional scientists.

The unit was established in 1958

under the joint sponsorship of the National Institutes of Health, which is the research branch of the U.S. Public

Health Service, and the Walter Reed

Army Institute of Research. The two

organizations work together on many

projects and collaborate with other agencies such as Gorgas Hospital,

Gorgas Memorial Laboratory, the Pan- ama Canal organization, Paramedics

and other branches of the Armed Forces

in the Canal Zone or affiliated with the U.S. Southern Command.

The reason for its establishment was

a sharp rise in yellow fever which

traveled up Central America, reaching

Mexico in the 1940's and 1950's. Monkeys died by the thousands, human

cases numbered in the hundreds with a few deaths, touching off fears of another yellow fever epidemic that actually never materialized. MARU has never worked on the disease it was

originally set up to fight but this does

not mean that it will not be called on to combat it later. Urban yellow fever was

wiped out here but the jungle vectors- mosquitoes which transmit the illness- are still present.

Contrary to what some Isthmian res- idents may believe, MARU's well- equipped laboratories are not being

used for cancer research or to find a cure for heart disease. These and similar projects are handled by the U.S. Health

Service and other organizations within

the United States. One of the major fields of work at MARU is the study of arthropodsspiders, ticks, ants, etc.—and arthropod

transmitted viruses. Yellow fever and

encephalitis are examples of these. Members of the MARU team have dis- covered new viruses and are continuing

their investigations with much of their

effort devoted to blood samples. For it is in these blood samples that the scientist finds the antibodies, "footprints" of

disease.

Questions unit doctors and techni- cians hope to answer involve the role of wild creatures in the transmission of

viruses. Some viruses, for example, can

infect birds without making them ill. "Since birds migrate and many of them

pass through this part of the world,

what is learned here can show and

predict how we have epidemics in the United States and other parts of the world," Dr. Johnson related. A classic, and probably the most

dramatic, example of the accomplish- ments of MARU concerns the hemorrhagic fever epidemic that ravaged a rural province an Bolivia. The first death

occurred in the village of San Joaquin

in 1959 and the MARU investigation

began in 1962, after it was found not to be a form of typhus fever as originallv

suspected. It almost cost the lives of Dr. Johnson and two associates. MARU epidemiologist Dr. Ronald

MacKenzie was in La Paz making a

(See p. 10)

Robert Sawyer with Panamanian marmoset, one of many wild animals used for work

in laboratory experiments at the Middle

America Research Unit. The availability of the great variety of wildlife is one of the advantages of the unit's location in Panama.

..,

Mrs. Martha H. Shacklette, assisted by Raymond Cameron, checks culture tubes for histo- plasma in bat tissues. Map in background is that of Fort Clayton, one of several Isthmian communities surveyed for fungus infection in bats.

August 1967
A Ship That

Brings Hope

To Millions

(Euitohs note: The following article appeared in the Spring, 1967, issue of Tow

Line, which is published by the Moran

Towing & Transportation Co., Inc. It deals with the SS Hope, a ship that has transited

the Canal.)

by Jeff Blinn

Her name is an abbreviation for "Health Opportunity for People Everywhere". Wherever she voyages she

brings knowledge, compassion and a hope for a better tomorrow through

better health. She is the SS Hope.

More than 1 million people in seven

countries of Asia, South America and

West Africa have benefitted directly

through immunization, medical treat- ment (including some 8,300 major sur- gical operations) and instruction since her maiden voyage for the People-toPeople Health Foundation in 1960. The story of this amazing hospital

ship and her more amazing complement

of doctors, nurses and paramedics began

in 1958 with President Dwight D.

Eisenhower's desire to promote inter- national goodwill and understanding

through personal contact. Asked by the

President to initiate such a project, Dr. William B. Walsh submitted his plan to provide the world with its first peace- time hospital ship. He was given the go-ahead.

The chosen ship was the Navy's

Consolation, commissioned in 1945 as a

station hospital ship for the Fifteenth

Fleet and launched a year earlier as the Marine Walrus. She was the first hospital

ship to serve with the United Nations

forces in Korea, was awarded the Republic of Korea's Presidential Unit Citation and all of the 10 authorized engagement

stars for her service in that conflict. She

later distinguished herself in evacuating

civilians from North Vietnam in "Operation Passage to Freedom".

In 1960 the Consolation was refitted, chartered to the People-to-People Health

Foundation and renamed Hope. Jam- med to the gunwales, she boasts 230

hospital beds, 3 operating rooms, a milk

plant equal to a herd of 2,500 cows, an electric generating plant sufficient to

*

. »»**«!" r ^gk m

SS Hope passes under Thatcher Ferry Bridge after transiting the Canal en route to another

mission of mercy. This vessel has helped more than a million persons in seven nations by

providing medical care and instruction.

light a city of 12,000 and a galley serv- ing 400,000 or more meals on each

voyage. At the warm invitation of Indonesia, the Hope began her first mission of mercy. Crewed by the American Pres- ident Lines, she sailed from San Francisco September 22, 1960. "The East forgets many things," editorialized the Times of Indonesia, "but

never, never loses its reverence for a

teacher. Those on the Hope will live long in our memory."

Teaching is the primary aim of Hope's

permanent staff of 95 doctors, nurses and medical technologists. (She carries a crew of 94 men, including officers.) To aid the permanent staff, volunteer teams of specialists are flown to the Hope for 2-month tours of duty. They

bring the newest skills, techniques and

knowledge developed by the American

medical, dental and paramedical professions and serve without pay. Selected from applicants across North America

who are outstanding in their specialties,

many have taken time out of their practices to serve on several voyages. From Indonesia, after training some

500 Indonesian doctors and nurses,

treating some 18,000 patients and completing the first mass chest X-ray pro- gram in that country's history, the Hope

moved on to Saigon, South Vietnam.

There, oral surgery was introduced and

a mass immunization of a quarter of a

million children was completed before her return to the United States. The Hope was refurbished in San

Franciso after having been gone a year on her first voyage. Grace Line then acted as her agent

for the next two voyages—crewing the

vessel, handling her freight and helping

in all matters marine. She sailed from

San Francisco to Salaverry, Peru, May

9, 1962, at the invitation of the PeruvianNorth American Medical Association. When she left that country ten months

later, 40,000 grateful Peruvians lined the shore to see her off. Voyage 3 was to Guayaquil, Ecuador,

from New York where she established another ship-and-shore teaching service

in cooperation with the medical and

nursing professions and the faculty of the University of Guayaquil.

Farrell Lines, thoroughly familiar with

African countries, handled her next voy-

(See p. 6)

The Panama Canal Review
CONTRIBUTIONS

HELP SUSTAIN

HOSPITAL SHIP

(Continued from p. 5)

age from New York to Conakry, Guinea,

September 30, 1964. Before her arrival

in that emerging nation, 10 physicians

and 1 dentist were ministering to 3.5

million people; she left behind 600

trained physicians, dentists, nurses and

auxiliary personnel.

Voyage 5, was completed when she returned to New York, November 30,

1966 from Corinto, Nicaragua, and Voyage 6, on which she embarked February

7 from Philadelphia for Cartagena, Col- ombia, were again under the nautical aegis of the Grace Line. At the request of every country visited, teams of teachers have remained

behind to conduct continuing programs

in hospitals, medical schools and local health departments. Thus, the good work

of those modern medical pioneers continues to grow. To sustain the Hope and the Foundation's land-based programs, contributions are the primary support. Time,

talent, cash and the product of American

industry, help from organized labor and

the generous support of individuals, plus

financial assistance from the Government

in lieu of a maritime subsidy have thus

far managed to balance the program's

$5 million annual operating budget.

Some steamship lines operating lux- urious passenger liners have discovered an excellent "end use" for their slightly worn towels, washcloths, sheets, pillow- cases and silverware. These are the most consumable items aboard the Hope, and

they are gratefully accepted.

Dr. Walsh, founder, president and

Medical Director of Project HOPE, has documented some of the Hope's work

in two books: "A Ship Called Hope,"

and "Yanqui Come Back," both published by E. P. Dutton & Co.

In 6 voyages in 7 years, the good

ship Hope has lived up to the dreams

of Dr. Walsh. It has been suggested that another naval vessel be sponsored to augment the SS Hope. We vote, AYE!

These Nicaraguan youngsters listen attentively to a bedtime story in the pediatric ward of the SS Hope. The wall murals are the type that can lighten the hearts of the young patients.

Doctors at work in the ship's well-stocked library used to serve the vessel's 95 doctors, nurses and medical technologists.

6 August 1967
A New Center

Of Learning

On the Move

THE FUTURE of Panama is in its youth; and the future of the youth is in

its education.

This is the motivating theme behind

dynamic Santa Maria La Antigua University of Panama City, a university

that is striving to achieve a high goal

in the years ahead, while actively

engaged today in living up to the stand- ards that will make the university's goal

a reality.

Everything about Santa Maria La

Antigua University, the first private

institute of higher learning in the Republic of Panama, is unusual. The build- ing in which some 20 classes are meeting temporarily is the Archbishop's

Palace, one of the stately old buildings

in Cathedral Plaza, Panama City, not

far from the Presidential Palace. The

Most Rev. Tomas A. Clavel, Archbishop of Panama, in March 1965,

donated the four-story building, his official residence, as temporary quarters for the university.

Classrooms now honeycomb the Palace and the graceful marble stairs that once knew only measured, dignified tread today are used by youth in a hurry,

boys and girls who are studying and

training to take their place in Panama's economic development.

Typical of the startling contrast afforded by classrooms in the Archbishop's Palace is the library, where

functional book stacks are arranged in business-like order under a handsome

crystal chandelier, reminiscent of other

davs. The room where dignitaries once

gathered for receptions now is filled with tables at which students silently

sit and study.

The students and professors of Panama's new university represent many

races, nationalities, and creeds, and are accepted solelv on the basis of academic

record and character recommendation.

The faculty roster underscores the

international aspect of Santa Maria La

Antigua University. Fifteen members of the present

faculty of fortv-three received degrees

in the United States. Through the coopA small scale model of the projected $25-million new campus is closely examined by the Rev. Benjamin Ayechu, O.A.R., Rector, at right, and Philip Curley of New York City,

who has been at Santa Maria La Antigua University during the past year raising funds.

eration of the U.S. Department of State, Prof. Richard Landborg of Sioux Falls, Iowa, has been a member of the faculty

for about 2 vears. A professor of chemistry, he received a master of science degree from the University of Iowa in 1957 and a doctor of philosophy degree

from the same university in 1959. Three

members of the U.S. Peace Corps,

Stephen Coyne, Fred Lazarus, and

Anne Louise Verbrugge, each holding

a master's degree, are faculty members,

as are two nuns from the United States.

Sister Mary Edith of the Maryknoll

Sisters has a doctor of philosophy degree

and Sister Rosa Anita of the Sisters of Charity of New Jersey has a master's degree in languages.

Six members of the faculty received

their degrees from the University of Panama and five received degrees from

universities in Spain. Other faculty

members are graduates of universities

in Canada, Austria, Italy, Sweden, Peru,

Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador,

Colombia, Mexico, and Cuba.

At present, due to lack of dormitory

facilities, all the students are from the Panama area, but future plans for the new university buildings include dormitories for men and women to accom- modate students from all the Provinces

of the Republic.

Until the founding of Santa Maria

La Antigua University in 1965, there was but one institution of higher learning in the entire Republic of Panama,

the National University located in Pan- ama City, which had extension courses

in other cities. The enrollment at this university over the past 20 years has far surpassed the increase in facilities and

from 1945 to 1965 the enrollment

increased from 752 to 6,705. Moreover, there is a projected university

population of 14,000 by 1970. Since the rate at which the Panama

Government could provide funds for additional educational facilities was not adequate, a group of educators and

parents of students became concerned

over prohibitive costs of sending stu- dents abroad for their education and

the idea of establishing a private

university in Panama was born. The donation of the Archbishop's

Palace gave the new University a temporary location for classes. The Rev. Benjamin Ayechu, O.R.A., was appointed Rector of the university

and on April 27, 1965, the establish- ment of the Santa Maria La Antigua

University was officially approved by

the Panama Government. The direction

of the university is under the Archbishop of Panama as High Chancellor, an Episcopal Council consisting of six Bishops of Panama, a Board of Directors

for academic matters and a Board of Trustees for financial matters. Santa Maria La Antigua University

(See p. 8)

The Panama Canal Review
Enrollment Is Soaring

(Continued from p. 7)

has set as one of its primary goals the

task of providing training businessmen,

administrators, and industrial technologists and teachers for these fields. The undergraduate degree program is 5 years, or 10 semesters, and bachelor

of science and bachelor of arts degrees

will be awarded.

The university began its first year of operation in 1965 with a freshman class of only 230 students. The first year

faculty numbered 17 professors.

The student population explosion

sent the enrollment up to 350 for the second year, and this year the university has a capacity enrollment of 418 in freshmen, sophomore, and junior classes. The Archbishop's Palace cannot accom- modate all classes, and lab students have

to travel, usually by bus, to Panama's

St. Augustine School for this phase of

their studies.

"The university's most pressing need

is bricks and mortar," said the Rev. Benjamin Ayechu, O.R.A., Rector. But

a good part of the present fund-raising

efforts are geared to obtaining scholar- ships and establishing scholarship funds. The present tuition is $350, and additional expenses for lab fees and books

send the yearly cost to $450 or $500.

The university must be made available

to all qualified Panama youths, the Rector pointed out, and even to those who find the $450 cost prohibitive. The

pace of Panama's economic development will be determined by how

steadily qualified personnel can be

supplied for every type of job from

skilled laborers to administrators, he

pointed out, and added that while

human resources to fill these positions are plentiful in Panama, the facilities and personnel for teaching have not met

the demand. One of the university's

primary immediate goals is the task of providing trained businessmen, administrators, industrial technologists and

teachers for these fields. The university has drawn up a master

plan and inaugurated a 10-year, $25-

million development program for a complete new campus, to be located at Villa Caceres and Miraflores, bordering the Canal Zone. With construction of the new highway in that area, Santa Maria

La Antigua University will be less than 5 minutes by car from Panama National

University, so that the immediate area

will be an educational center. Gifts of

Santa Maria La Antigua University is housed, temporarily, in the former Archbishop's

Palace in busy Cathedral Plaza, not far from the Presidential Palace.

Alert faces on youth eager to learn, a trademark of the student body at Santa Maria La

Antigua, listen intently during a lecture delivered by one of the university's teachers.

8 Aucust 1967
adjacent property have been received

from the Most Rev. Clavel and from

the Government of Panama. U.S. Army

tractors graded the land and work has

started on construction of the first classroom and humanities building.

It is hoped the first new building will be ready by April 1968. The master plan calls for construction

of a science building, classroom building, library, student union building, exact sciences building, administration

building, business administration building, auditorium, medical science building, fine arts building, law and political

building, laboratory building, men's

dormitories, women's dormitories, open

air theatre, men's gymnasium, women's

gymnasium, and playing fields for baseball, soccer, track, tennis, etc. There will be even a lake for boating.

When finished, Santa Maria La

Antigua University will be able to accommodate 3,000 students.

Philip Curley of New York City, rep- resenting Martin J. Morgan Co. of New

York, professional fund raisers and

development consultants came May 27,

1966, and has spent a year in Panama,

organizing an intensive fund-raising

campaign for construction of the science

building, classroom building and library

under Phase 1 of the development

program. The appeal for funds is being con- ducted primarily in Panama. All Panamanians, individuals, organizations,

businesses, and industries are being contacted, as well as those who have vested

interests in Panama and who are inter- ested in the progress of Latin America.

Many friends of Santa Maria La Anti- gua University, working on behalf of the new school, are making appeals in North America and in Western Europe.

At present, of the 418 students

enrolled, 82 are on scholarships pro- vided primarily by Panama business- men. Santa Maria La Antigua University also has received 12 full 5-year

scholarships from the U.S. Bishops

Committee for Latin America.

Under a contract with the U.S. Agency for International Development,

the university will receive technical

assistance for its overall development

including organization, administration,

curriculum, instruction, and academic

facilities of the new campus.

Any boy or girl may apply directly

to Santa Maria La Antigua University,

but a letter from the high school attended is required. Scholarships are awarded on the basis of the economic

need of the student.

Classes start at 7:30 in the morning

and the last night class is over about

9:30. The evening classes are attended

by men and women between 25 and

35 who hold responsible positions

during the day. The most popular

courses with these latter students are English and business administration.

The regular classes follow the basic curriculum of Panama National University, but one big advantage at Santa Maria La Antigua is that classes are small with a ratio of 10 students to a teacher. When Panama schools open in April

1968, it is hoped to have the university's

first new building ready for day classes. Night classes will continue to meet in the Archbishop's Palace until more of the university's buildings are completed.

There's a red circle on Santa Maria

La Antigua's calendar for December

1969—that is when the first graduation

of the new university will be held.

One coed opens her book to the chapter and verse to make a point during a discussion with fellow students in the university's cafeteria.

The Panama Canal Review 9
Hundreds of Central American human serums are being tested for antibodies to arthropod transmitted viruses. Left to right are Maria Teresa Delgado, Gloria de Cisneros and Grieelda Licona. Two MARU Scientists Stricken

Fighting Bolivian Epidemic

(Continued from p. 4)

nutritional study when the Bolivian Ministry of Health notified him of the outbreak of a strange disease and asked

his assistance. To MacKenzie it re- sembled hemorrhagic fever contracted by many U.S. servicemen during the Korean conflict.

As hundreds of persons became in- fected and scores died, fear bordering on panic swept the population of Beni

province, where San Joaquin is situated. The Bolivian government asked for help

from the United Nations. It was decided

that a team of MARU people would go

to Bolivia following a meeting of offi- cials of the National Institute of Allergv

and Infectious Diseases, the World

Health Organization, the U.S. State Department, and the Bolivian Embassy.

MARU was given a blank check in terms

of support for the project.

A team of doctors went in; a laboratory was set up to study the natural

history of the disease, its means of trans- mission, and ways to break the chain of the epidemic. Laboratory equipment

had to be transported to San Joaquin

which had no telephones, no plumbing, no autos, and a meagre source of electricity barely sufficient to light the

village's small hospital for a few hours each evening.

Early suspicions of the MARU phvsicians were that the great number of rodents and the lack of cats in the village

had a relationship with the epidemic.

Before this or any other hypothesis

could be proved, however, MacKenzie

and Johnson had to be flown back to the Canal Zone when they became

stricken with the disease. After treat- ment in Gorgas Hospital and convalescence, they recovered and returned to their work in Bolivia.

The MARU scientists ultimately traced the disease to mice which were

spreading hemorrhagic fever virus bv

contaminating food left in the open. A rodent control program all but elim- inated the disease from the areas around

San Joaquin. Smaller outbreaks were

reported months later as the vigi- lance on sanitation apparently relaxed.

10 August 1967
San Joaquin and similar villages do

not have unlimited funds for elaborate

sanitary and rodent control programs. The disease could break out again in even greater intensity in another village,

province or nation. With this in mind.

MARU is working to produce a vaccine

as permanent protection against the

disease.

The entire project in Bolivia could

not have been carried out without the MARU laboratory in Panama and with- out the cooperation of other groups, such as the U.S. Air Force providing

the planes.

Parasitic diseases is another broad

category in which research is being

carried out at MAKU. Most of this work is handled by the Army group

under the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research while the anti-virus projects are the responsibility of the Public- Health Service.

The parasitic diseases being studied

include toxoplasmosis, Chagas disease,

and leishmaniasis. Their common de- nominator is that all are protozoans, the

smallest parasite. Malaria, for example,

also is a protozoan.

Toxoplasmosis causes congenital malfunctions, such as blindness, stillboms. and heart defects when the mother is apparently healths7

. It can infect both

wild and domestic animals but it is not known how the disease is transmitted. The American tropics seems to be the

real home for this sickness which has an infection rate of up to 50 percent in some regions.

"By studying the patterns of light and

heavy areas of infection, how an area

of high incidence differs from an area

of low rate of infection and by studying

the natural historv of the disease, doctors hope eventually to find some clues," Dr. Johnson explained.

More is known about Chagas disease and leishmaniasis, both of which are transmitted by arthropods. The culprit

in the case of Chagas is a large blood

sucking insect, the "kissing bug," that

lives in roofs and walls of primitive

houses and bites humans while they

sleep. Domestic animals play a part in

k' eping the evele of infection going.

Chagas can affect the intestinal tract; it can produce enlarged hearts. An expensive disease to study and one requiring

sustained investment, Chagas disease may cause very serious illness in one

locale of infection and only a minor

fever in another. The Army people at work on this are

Capt. James Ryan, 8th Special Forces, U.S. Army, and Sgt. Miguel Villalobo, Bolivian

Air Force, vaccinating children near San Joaquin, Bolivia.

attempting to standardize tests to deter- mine what people have been infected,

how many and where. Their study is being carried on in five Central American nations and in cooperation with

the Pan-American Health Organization

in Guatemala. Manv blood specimens

are being collected, more than 15,000

to date, so that an accurate map of the areas of infection may be drawn. The

samples are catalogued and indexed on IBM cards for future use. By using

standardized bases, more detailed investigations can be carried out to deter- mine the relationship between infection and disease.

The third type of parasitic disease,

leishmaniasis, can be fatal. Transmitted

by sand flies, it begins as an ulcer and

sometimes progresses to hideous disfigurement, attacking mucous membrane areas of the body. No test yet has been devised for antibodies in the blood

to give needed information. It is believed that this disease also produces

antibodies, however.

Research going on at MARU is unique

in that it would be difficult if not impossible to duplicate in the United

States. For example, the unit has access

to tropical wild and domestic creatures necessary for the work. Some diseases have environmental characteristics and

conditions that cannot be found in the United States. Agencies in Washington

may not even be aware of such dis- eases as hemorrhagic fever let alone do

anything about them.

"Therefore," Dr. Johnson noted, "the

scientists must go where the action is."

The Panama Canal Review 11
CANAL COMMERCIAL TRAFFIC BY
61 miles of track. It distributes electrical power, purchased from HydroQuebec. Its own water distribution svstem supplies water to ships and for

fire protection. It also has harbor police

and an emergency telephone network

linking 56 strategically located call boxes directly with the harbor's police

headquarters.

Among the leading commodities pass- ing through the Port of Montreal are

grain, petroleum and petroleum products, iron ore, gypsum, raw sugar, cement, flour, motor vehicles, chemicals,

coal, phosphate rock, salt, iron and

steel, nickel, glass, machinery, sulphur,

molasses, copper, and lumber.

Total berthing length is more than

13 miles, with 96 berths having mini- mum depths of 30 to 35 feet, while 50

berths are shedded. Several berths are equipped with specially designed material handling equipment for bulk

commodities such as grain, coal, sugar, cement, and petroleum products. Transit sheds have a combined floor area of more than 4 million square feet. The port's five grain elevators have

storage space for more than 22 million bushels and receiving or shipping ca- pacity of 3 million bushels per 13-hour

day. There are 25 grain berths, 18 of which are shedded, permitting a ship

to take on general cargo and grain without moving. In addition, there is a

cold storage warehouse of 3 million cubic feet. The terminal railway boasts 8 diesel

electric locomotives, a switching capability of 1,500 cars to and from berths per day and rail connections with the two main national railways, Canadian

National and Canadian Pacific. Cranes found at the port include a floating,

self-propelled crane rated at a 275 short

ton capacity, another floating crane that can lift 90 short tons, a 120-ton capacity

stiff leg derrick and smaller locomotive

and diesel crawler cranes. As for repair facilities, there are three

floating drydocks with maximum lifting

capacity of 300,000 long tons that can accommodate ships up to 750 feet long

and with beams of 106 feet. The port's bunkering equipment is capable of

delivering oil direct to vessels at a number of berths and also deliver by

tanker to ships at any berth in the

harbor. Tugs and marine salvage

vessels also are available. Montreal's harbor is operating fully

8J2 to 9 months of the year and during

the winter months, roughly from December 15 to April 15, the harbor is open. But due to winter conditions on the

St. Lawrence River, navigation in these waters is restricted to ships reinforced

for navigation in ice.

PRINCIPAL COMMODITIES SHIPPED THROUGH THE CANAL

(All cargo figures in long tons) Pacific to Atlantic

Commodity

Fourth quarter, fiscal yearLumber

Ores, various

Iron and steel manufactures- Sugar

Fishmeal Bananas

Metals, various Food in refrigeration

(excluding bananas)

Pulpwood

Nitrate of soda Canned food products

Barley

Wheat

Coffee Potash

All others

Total -

1967

1,210,469

1,077,762

756,662

700,662

391,831

380,903

310,406

268,024

200,254

158,569

153,596

130,233

122,698

113,131

98,589

1,887,200

7,960,989

1966

1,265,269

1,721,905

992,518

565,499

335,453

339,168

306,739

263,053

157,982

197,320

149,293

108,267

154,533

97,056

89,959

2,249,407

8,993,421

5-Yr. Avg. 1961-65

1,157,729

246,962

316,335

593,689

~"3~02~024 316,863

239,518

141,437

209,401

217,725

170,222

210,546

105,927

1,956

3,769,589

7,999,923

Atlantic to Pacific

Commodity

Petroleum and products (excluding asphalt). Coal and coke

Metal, scrap Phosphate- - Corn_

Iron and steel manufactures- Soybeans

Ores, various Sugar

Chemicals, unclassified Metal, iron Rice Sulphur

Sorghum

Fertilizers, unclassified

All others

Fourth quarter, fiscal yearTotal.

1967
CANAL HISTORY

50 yearJ cAyo

AS PART of the local war effort 50

years ago, the local Panama Canal

Zone residents were encouraged to grow

fruits and vegetables. The stewards of the Canal restaurants were instructed

to save the seeds of papayas consumed

at the hotels and forward them to the

district Quartermaster for distribution

to employees who desired them for planting. Commissaries were carrying a

line of garden vegetable seeds and fertilizer could be purchased through the Quartermaster at 10 cents a sack plus

the charge for a team of horses if delivered at the point designated by the employee. Boy Scouts of the Canal Zone

undertook gardening with the slogan

"Every Scout to Feed a Soldier." Graduation exercises for the class of 1917 of the Canal Zone High School were held at the National Theater in Panama June 22, 1917 for the graduating class of 11 members, 6 of whom

were boys and 5 girls. Free train service was arranged for those who wished to attend from stations along the line of the Panama Railroad with special coaches

attached to some trains and a special

train returning graduates and friends from Panama to the Atlantic side. The USS Shaw, a new U.S. Navy

destroyer, made a record breaking pas- sage through the Panama Canal in early June 1917 in 5 hours and 45 minutes.

The best previous time was 6 hours and

20 minutes. The Shaw also made a rec- ord run from the Pacific coast to the

Atlantic, distance of approximately

5,850 miles in 14 days and 10 hours

and 20 minutes. The Panama Canal

Record said that if the Shaw had gone

by way of Magellan, the distance would

have been 13,500 nautical miles and the time required would have been more

than 36 days.

25 yfearJ c4go

EARLY JUNE of 1942 saw a tightened

military alert in Panama as the Japanese war effort was felt on this hemisphere's

Pacific coast. After the June 3d bombing

raid on Dutch Harbor, Alaska, U.S.

Secretary of War Henry L. Stinson

warned that further blows might be felt anywhere between there and the Pan- ama Canal. In the Zone, soldiers' and

sailors' leaves were being canceled and

all personnel were sticking close to

their posts. Despite wins over the Japanese, warnings continued to be

frequent through that summer.

During the summer of 1942, a U.S. conservation order was requiring Americans to save and return all empty toothpaste, shaving cream, and other collapsible tubes to places of purchase. In the Canal Zone, containers were pro- vided in all commissaries for patrons

to return tubes coated with tin or other

alloys. During the war, such collapsible containers were being re-used as

I -a Ready to roll. Gasoline driven motor cars at the Canal's Balboa garage in 1915. These were used by Canal officials during construction days and for a period thereafter to vLft :*te

^right S^^No' l' "ick"^ed The Yellow Peril and TheTafn Wagon was th d^ w ch

. ef ^ and ^^

gon

the Canal Zone. Col. Coethals frequently rode the car on his inspection trips.

containers for medicinal or pharmaceutical preparations.

A Defense Wardens' Basic Training Course opened in June to coordinate

the various civilian defense services in the Canal Zone. The course was held at Cristobal High School twice a week

after working hours. It was announced

that this was the only further step necessary for complete readiness against

emergency on the Atlantic side. By July,

Zone-wide success in the conduct of

alert tests was bringing praise from the

Civilian Defense organization.

10 yearj c4g.o

THE FIRST experimental lighting

system for the banks of Gaillard Cut was planned during the summer of 1957. It was to call for installation of

lights for a distance of 3,400 feet, pro- viding good visibility of both banks and

mild illumination of the waterway with- out glare. A section of the Cut between

Culebra and Empire Reaches was select- ed for the experiment. It included a curve and a part of the channel measuring from 300 to 500 feet in width.

Early summer, 1957, found Cana!

Zonians favorably discussing the formation of a United Fund organization.

Articles and bylaws for the fund raising

campaign were soon adopted.

The first air shipment of fresh fruits and vegetables, not available on the Isthmus, was placed on sale in Panama

Canal Retail stores in late June, 1957. The produce, handled through Tocu- men Airport from Florida produce brokers, was to arrive each week and be

placed on sale immediately.

The work of converting Panama

Canal power from 25 to 60 cycles was

begun that summer, to be completed

within 3 years. One y[ear cAgo

LAST YEAR Cristobal had the driest June in 96 years. A record-breaking low

of 3.38 inches of rainfall fell during that month, 9.71 inches below normal. This

year Cristobal had 18.06 inches during June and C.atun reported 19.36 inches

of rain. At the end of July, 1966, plans for the final phase of the Gaillard Cut- widening project were given the go- ahead. This was the last and largest contract advertised for bids in the long- range widening project which began in 1959. The new phase of the $44 million

effort called for the excavation of 9.5

million yards of earth in the 3-mile Bas Obispo-Cascadas Reaches.

14 August 1967
World War II Sea Tragedy

That Made No Headlines

«*

^ • -^»>%4^

The Surcouf is underway with her armament bristling. She was one of the few important French naval vessels still working with the Allies when the end came for her in 1942. Aboard were 207 men when she went down in the Caribbean en route to the Canal.

LONDON, April 18, 1942-The

giant submarine "Surcouf," the

largest in the world, "is consider- ably overdue and must be consider- ed lost," Free French headquarters

announced today. There was no

indication of where the vessel went down, when it happened, or whether it was the result of enemy

action or an accident. —New York Times. At 5 o'clock on the night of February 18, 1942, the SS Thompson Lykes,

a hard working merchant ship owned by

the U.S. flag Lykes Line of New Orleans,

sailed from Cristobal with wartime

cargo for Guantanamo, Cuba.

It was a typical dry season evening

with sunset followed by the swift darkness of a tropical night. There was no moon and, as the vessel moved out into the Caribbean, officers and men reported

later that the night became exceptionally- dark, in fact one of the blackest they had seen at that time of the year.

Visibility, even aboard ship, was a near zero since, according to wartime

restrictions, the ship was traveling without lights and with all portholes blacked

out.Capt. Henry Johnson, master of the

vessel, made a mental note of the poor

visibility when he made a routine check

of the ship about 10 p.m. He was not concerned since he felt that the night

provided some measure of security. In those early days of World War II, the Caribbean was a happy hunting ground

for German submarines that sometimes sank ships within a few miles of

Cristobal. He noticed before he turned back to his cabin that the ship was on course at a speed of about 15 knots. He then sat down at his desk to decode a message

just received which would change his

Research for this story was done

bv Julius Grigore, Assistant Chief of the Industrial Division, from records provided bv the U.S. Departments

of Defense, State, and Treasury; the National Archives; the British Imperial War Museum; and the French

Admiralty. He also interviewed Capt.

Henrv Johnson, former master of the Thompson Lykes who is now retired and living in New Orleans. Pictures were provided bv Captain Johnson,

The Lvkes Company Public Information Office and the U.S. Naw.

course from Guantanamo to Cienfuegos,

Cuba.

But Capt. Johnson was fated never

to reach Cienfuegos or any other port in Cuba—not this trip anyway.

While he was busy with his message, he heard a tremendous crash. The ship

shuddered. Capt. Johnson got to the bridge in time to see what he thought was the bow of a ship standing straight

up in the air and going down fast. Later

there were reports that faint cries for help had been heard and that the third mate believed he saw a blinking light, which might have been a flashlight,

moments before the collision. Capt. Johnson immediately notified port authorities in Cristobal and, despite the danger involved, ordered the Thompson Lykes to circle the area. The

search continued until daylight but no

survivors and no signs of wreckage were

found. A search later by air and surface

craft from the Canal Zone also was

fruitless. Captain Johnson thought his ship had

hit a German submarine. When the

vessel returned to Cristobal, there was

no doubt that from the size of the dent

(See p. 16)

The Panama Canal Review 15
Called a submarine cruiser, the Surcouf was the largest submarine of her time. She was designed to sail for as long as 3 months without

refueling and her armament included 2 eight-inch guns and 10 torpedo tubes. In addition, she carried a scouring plane in the watertight

hangar shown in the photo.

Surcouf Was Pride of Free French

(Continued from p. 15)

in her bow, that she had hit something

large. Naval authorities on the Isthmus

said, however, there were no German

submarines in the west Caribbean at the

time. But the French submarine Surcouf, expected in Cristobal February 19 on her way from Bermuda to Tahiti via the Panama Canal, was overdue.

The Surcouf, with 207 officers and men aboard, was one of the few important French naval vessels still working

with the Allies. She was one of the aces

in the hands of the Free French group and came to symbolize the French naval

forces, the greater part of which had

remained with Vichy after the fall of France. The massive submarine, nearly twice

the tonnage of the average World

War II destroyer, even carried a recon- naissance seaplane. Shortly after the

outbreak of war, she had captured a German merchantman 1,000 miles out

at sea. The Surcouf was one of three French

naval vessels named after a famous

French privateer who made his fortune by raiding British merchant vessels at the end of the 18th century.

The first ship to bear his name was a 628-ton vessel that was built in 1858

and served with the French Navy until 1878. The second Surcouf was one of

six torpedo cruisers. Launched in 1888, she saw service in Morocco in 1907-08

and in the English channel during

World War I. The 352-foot submarine Surcouf was launched in November 1929 in Cherbourg.

Her armament consisted of 2 watertight gun turrets, 2 8-inch cannon,

2 machine guns and 10 torpedo tubes.

She carried 22 torpedoes and a sea- plane. Her surface displacement was

3,304 tons. At the time of her launching, naval

experts considered she represented too main eggs in one basket and that her

loss would be a great blow to the French

Navy. She was too large and too cumbersome for fleet work and to act singlehanded on the ocean was her purpose. At the time of the Oran ultimatum

to the French fleet, the Surcouf was

lying in the English port of Portsmouth.

Through a misunderstanding, there was

a scuffle incidental to her seizure bv the

British and a French officer and a

British seaman were killed. The vessel was turned over later to the Fighting

French.

Under the command of Capt. Louis

Blaison, the Surcouf took part in the

seizure of St. Pierre and Miquelon in

16 August 1967
December 1941. She previously had

been reconditioned at Portsmouth, N.H.,

after cruising more than 22,000 miles.

In early February, 1942, she was

ordered to sail from Bermuda to Tahiti through the Panama Canal. She was

routed to Panama via Caicos Passage

and the Windward Passage, adjusting

speed to arrive in Cristobal at 0900

February 19. According to a U.S. Navy report

issued after the disappearance of the French submarine, the Thompson Lykes

"accidentlv rammed and sank a craft believed to be a submarine in latitude 10° 40" north and longitude 79° 31"

west at 0330 GCT, February 19." The report further stated that if the Surcouf had been 55 miles behind the

position last reported bv the British Admiraltv on February 18, she would

have been in the area where the merchant ship reported her ramming and

sinking of a craft believed to have been

a submarine. But the U.S. Navv considered evi- dence as to the manner of the sinking of the Surcouf as circumstantial. In a letter to the U.S. Secretary of State, the U.S. Navv Department said that "although

the Commandant of the 15th Naval

District in Balboa apparendy believes

that the evidence shows the Surcouf was

sunk bv collision with the Thompson

Lykes, there is a possibility that the Surcouf may have been sunk in some

other way."

It was requested that the Secretary

of the Navy's sympathy in the loss of the Surcouf and her crew be expressed

to the Free French authorities. This was

done. The remains of the world's largest

and most unusual pre-nuclear sub- marine and members of her crew, apparently lie some 1,800 fathoms or 10,800

feet below the surface of the Caribbean

along with any clue as to what actually

happened before she sank. Even today, after 25 years, the files of three major naval powers remain in- complete and there is no one who can add anything to the information given

bv the men actually involved in the

affair at the time. Her sinking with 207 men aboard

makes it one of the major sea tragedies

of World War II. But because of security reasons no publicity was given

at the time of her disappearance and the crew of the Thompson Lykes were warned not to talk. Wartime restrictions prevented anyone from keeping personal records or a diary. Thus news of her loss became buried and quickly

forgotten after the war. The Thompson Lykes was absolved

of all blame in the accident, received

temporary repairs in Cristobal and per- manent repairs in New Orleans. She

continued service during the war as a cargo carrier and in 1945 was reported

to have collided with a U.S. Navy des- troyer in Boston harbor during a heavy

snowstorm. She was retired from service in 1960

and traded in to the U. S. Maritime

Administration which has the ship in the U.S. Government reserve fleet in Mobile, Ala. A new Thompson Lykes, which is the name of one of the original seven founding brothers of the Lykes Line, re- placed the old ship and is now making

regular trips from Gulf ports through

the Panama Canal.

Master of the SS Thompson Lykes at the time of the collision was Capt. Henry Johnson. Moments after the impact, he rushed

to the bridge in time to see what appeared

to be a ship's bow standing straight up in the air and going down fast. Capt. Johnson

notified the Cristobal port authorities and

ordered his ship to circle the area, disre- garding the danger involved. But this and

later searches were fruitless.

Steaming to another port is the Thompson Lykes which was absolved of all blame in the collision with the giant submarine. She continued

service after the accident and was retired in 1960. A new Thompson Lykes is now making trips through the Canal.

The Panama Canal Review 17
ENGINEERING AND CONSTRUCTION

BUREAU

William H. Gordon

Motor Launch Captain

Carlton C. James Motor Launch Operator

Angel J. Pena

Supply Clerk

Everett E. Dudley

Accounting

TRANSPOIWitTiaw At INALS

BUREAU

Damian Sanchez Leader Laborer (Heavy)

CIVIL AFFAIRS BUREAU

Francis A. Brown

Contraband Control Officer Carmen de Phillips Teacher-Elementary (Latin American

Schools)

ANNIVERSARIES

(On the basis of total Federal Service)

OFFICE OF THE COMPTROLLER

Horace B. Headley

Accounting Technician

ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES

DIVISION

Raymond W. Matson

Mail Supervisor

PERSONNEL BUREAU

Philip T. Green

Supervisory Training Instructor MARINE BUREAU

Walter Ince

Oiler (Floating Plant) Robert L. Knapp

Towing Locomotive Operator (Locks) Wilson B. Lawrence Furnaceman

Henry J. McElhone, Jr. Planner and Estimator (Marine Machinist)

Leslie A. McLean

Helper Lock Operator

David E. Coffey General Foreman (Metal Working)

Edwin G. Gayle

Carpenter

Halstead C. Hodgson

Leader Linehandler (Deckhand

Boatswain)

Guido Marcola Guard

Teddy A. Marti Leader Lock Operator (Machini

R. H. McConaughey

Lock Operator (Pipefitt Grafton M. Boyce

Seaman

James E. Farrell Oiler Alfred Lashley

Carpenter (Maintenance) Lamar M. Lavender

Towing Locomotive Operator (Locks) Sydney T. Lindh

Lead Foreman Machinist (Marine)

Joseph W. Riley Leader Linehandler (Deckhand

Boatswain) Martin E. White

Rigger Wilfred Williams Leader Seaman

TRANSPORTATION AND TERMINALS

BUREAU

Frank Dyer

Chauffeur George L. Lowe

Truck Driver (Heavy)

William McKenzie

Toolroom Attendant John A. McLain, Jr. Liquid Fuels Dispatcher

Clement C. Phillips Railroad Trackman (Mainline) Leonel S. Boyce

Truck Driver (Heavy)

Edward S. W. Mendez

Freight Clerk

Noel Belgrave Water Service Man

Harry G. Crawford

Truck Driver (Heavy)

Luke M. Levy

Cargo Checker

SUPPLY AND COMMUNITY SERVICE

BUREAU

Clyde M. Francis Supply Clerk James A. Phillips High Lift Truck Operator

Ethelbert C. Roach

Laborer (Cleaner) Lewis Charles Meat Cutter Wilford R. Dixon, Jr. Commissary Store Manager

Earle G. Moore

Mail Supervisor William L. Benny

Sales Store Manager

Clifford T. Chandler Messenger (Motor Vehicle Operator) Albot Cyrille

Supply Clerk

Elliott L. Morris Laborer (Cleaner) Pedro P. Peralta ing Machine Operator

'cian (Lineman)

AND CONSTRUCTION

_UREAU

Id Daf

ider ect

* iMfrson

maU^rt Receptionist Oather T. Brownlee

Lead Foreman (Public Works,

Construction and Maintenance)

S. J. Campbell

Clerk (Work Order)

Jacinto Castro Helper Machinist (Marine) Harlan P. Crouch

Leader Central Office Repairman

Robert B. Grier Leader Machinist (Maintenance)

Howard W. Osbom

Supervisory Maintenance Engineer

Simon VanHom

Maintenanceman (Distribution Systems)

Clifford U. Williams Helper Electrician Woodford M. Babbitt Leader Core Drill Operator

(Sub-Aqueous)

Adolphus I. Beckles (Maintenanceman)

John W. Muller

Supervisory General Engineer (Estimates) Luther Walker

Clerk Typist

CIVIL AFFAIRS BUREAU

Richard C. Hogan

Assistant Foreman (Mailing Division) John S. Pettingill Education Specialist (Administrative)

18 August 1967
f

«* ^M:

'

-1

'.- t 7 'J&TjgXF'

r*

Horses round the bend on a typical race day at President Remon Racetrack while the crowd in the stands cheer on their favorites. The

near capacity crowd in the stands is an indication of the popularity of horseracing in Panama where many outstanding jockeys began.

They're Off and Running

At President Remon Track

THE THUNDER of hoofbeats and the

roar of the crowd punctures the after- noon calm at Panama's President Re- mon Racetrack even' weekend of the year and on most holidays.

The Sport of Kings, accompanied by

the thrills of parimutuel wagering,

boasts as intense a following in Panama

as it does in North America, Europe

and in other Latin American nations. Horseracing in Panama dates back

to 1922 when Dr. Belisario Porras, during his third term as President of the Republic, officially opened the Juan Franco Hippodrome, located in what to- day is the Obarrio section of Via Espafia. On hand for the inauguration

of the track were, besides President

Porras, the U.S. Minister to Panama, Dr. John G. South, president of the first Jockey Club of Panama, Raul Espinosa,

and other personalities of the social, political and official circles of Panama.

Records show the first race had seven

entries with a total of $775 in prize

money. It was won by the mare Lead

Us and another mare, Sonrisa, captured

the first "Classic" stake race. One of the nation's first jockevs was

Raul Arango Navarro, who is nowSecond Vice President of the Republic

and Panama's Ambassador to Spain.

Remembered as some of Panama's first racehorses are Manua, Factor Ruso,

Reina Mora, Copiapo, Burlesco, Pierrot,

Abel and King Sceptre.

Horseracing faced manv financial

The late Francisco Arias Paredes who helped

pioneer horseracing in Panama.

problems during those early days in Panama and could have died out as

a sport had it not received the enthusiastic support of businessmen Raul Espinosa, Ernesto de la Guardia, Francisco

Arias Paredes and other men. Espinosa

served as manager of the track from

1935 to 1943. When the National Horseracing

Company took charge in 1943, horse- racing received another needed boost through several capital improvements

that were initiated. Old fashioned start- ing barriers were replaced by automatic

starting gates; an electric totalizator supplanted the existing simple tote boards; there were changes in the methods of betting.

The daily double was initiated as was

the 1-2 and being considered for the

future is the 5 and 6 betting, the latter two of which are unfamiliar to most

U.S. turf fans. To win a 1-2 wager,

the bettor must select the winner and

place, or runnerup horse, in the proper

order in a race. He tries to pick the winners of six pre-named races in the 5 and 6 betting. Panama's Constitution of 1946 estab- (See p. 20)

The Panama Canal Review 19
Panama ffoclcey,3

c4re cAmong, (Best

(RjiderA in World

(Continued from p. 19)

lished that all games of chance involv- ing betting would be operated by the Government. The National Horseracing Companv was obliged to sell its interests to the Government which, in turn, became responsible for all the

obligations of the selling firm, particularly* in relation to paying the rental of the land used bv the racetrack. Another important change was the establishment of the Board of Trustees

for Games of Chance. The operations

of the racetrack became one of the

responsibilities of the new group.

In 1956, the President Remon Racetrack was opened. It was named after the late President Jose Antonio Remon

Cantera, a great horseracing enthusiast who was responsible for the construction of the new hippodrome. This facilitv is located on the outskirts of Panama

City at the site where Charles A. Lindberg landed the Spirit of St. Louis during a goodwill tour one year after his memorable flight across the Atlantic

in 1927. This monument to horseracing has

Tojo, the first native horse to win the President of the Republic Classic, is shown with jockey Guillermo Milord and the owners William Ross and his wife, Reina. Tojo's victory was worth

$15,650 to Mr. and Mrs. Ross. The purse was $15,150, plus $500 for being a native.

two courses, one for the races themselves and an inner track for practice. In the center is an artificial lake that has been used for boat racing. The

track's automatic totalizator is as modern as anv in the world and the grandstand can accommodate 15,000 spectators. A familv parking area has space

for 200 cars for families to watch the

races from their autos. The President Remon Racetrack

has produced a number of fine jockevs,

many who are prominent on race courses of the United States, Mexico, Puerto

Rico, Colombia and other nations. Most

famous of all are Manuel Ycaza and

~w

A view of the old Juan Franco Racetrack. On the left was the "clubhouse" and on the right, the "big pool," the grandstand.

20 August 1967
Braulio Baeza, the latter of whom

earned $2.9 million in purses last year on U.S. racetracks. Baeza has brought home the winners

in two of the principal races in the United States, the Kentucky Derby and

Belmont Stakes in 1963 with Chateaugav, and earlier in the 1961 Belmont

Stakes aboard Sherluck. Both in 1959 and 1960, Ycaza rode

Bald Eagle to victory in the International Classic of Washington at Laurel,

Md., and in 1964 took the Belmont

Stakes with Quadrangle.

The first Panamanian jockey to ride

in the U.S. was Gustavo "Chichi" Moore,

today a prosperous horse trainer in Miami, Fla. Another of the first Pan- amanians to ride in the United States was Hernani Mora. Alfonso Carbonell was for manv years outstanding in Lima, Peru. Besides its importance as a sport in Panama, horseracing contributes to the

material betterment of the country by

providing hundreds of jobs to those

directly or indirectly involved. More

than $148,000 in prizes to horse owners

is distributed through a well organized

annual program of Classics. There are 18 horse breeding farms in the provinces of Panama, Chiriqui, Code, and Colon. Since 1963, only pure- breds are registered in the Stud Book,

according to law. Imported horses are used for breeding on the different farms

and their offspring are later sent to the hippodrome to compete for purses. But the quality of local horseflesh is rapidly improving through careful breeding. The main event of the year, the President of the Republic Classic, was won the past May bv Tojo, the

first native horse to win this event. Tojo outraced some highlv-regarded

imported animals. Contributing greatly to the popularity of the sport is the fact that four radio

stations in Panama transmit the races on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays

and one television station carries the Sunday races. Radio transmission of the

races dates back 24 years when only

the main race of the day was announced

on the air. Later, two races were

broadcast and eventually, the entire program. Well-known horseracing enthusiasts

of the Juan Franco Racetrack days

may be seen at the President Remon

Racetrack. Among these are sportsman

Carlos "El Indio" Campbell, business- men Pedro Chaluja and Felipe Motta,

turf writer Prospero Rovo, sports col- umnist Ernesto Enrique Argote and

announcers Pacho Ycaza, Arquimedes

Fernandez and Chelo Gonzalez—all faithful bangtail fans.

Manuel Ycaza is today an outstanding

jockey in the United States. He has ridden more than 2,000 winners, which earned some $15 million, during his career.

A famous Panamanian jockey in the United

States, Braulio Baeza, won the Kentucky

Derby and Belmont Stakes in 1963. His mounts earned $2.9 million last year.

Horses breaking from the electrically controlled starting gate at President Remon Hippodrome.

The racers get off on even terms—a guarantee for the bettors.

The Panama Canal Review 21
Barge Ships

SHIPPING

AFTER SOME months of planning, the Lvkes Bros. Steamship Company, Inc. of New Orleans announced recently

that it expects to issue invitations to U.S. shipyards for bids on the construction of three new large, all-purpose

barge-carrying ships for the U.S. gulf

ports and European trade. Novel features of the new Lykes vessels, according to the president of the

line, are a stem elevator having a total

lift capacity of more than 2,000 tons, a way of moving barges or other cargo,

in wheeled hydraulic transporters from

the elevator into cargo decks, and open

decks allowing cargo to be rolled rather than lifted and stowed into its final resting place aboard ship.

The new ships, capable of transiting the Canal, will be 875 feet in length and

have a beam of 106 feet. They would

be capable of earning either 38 fully- loaded barges or a total of 1,500 to 1,600

8' by 8' by 20-foot cargo containers. The cargo capacity of the vessels is to be about 1.5 million cubic feet. In

addition to this the ships can accom- modate about 15,000 tons of liquid cargo in deep tank spaces. With a speed

of 21 knots, the ships could provide

service at 10-day intervals between gulf

ports and Europe. Each of the 38 barges

carried by the ships would measure 97.5

in length and would have the cargo

delivery capacity of 12 modern freighters of conventional design. Each of the

PANAMA CANAL TRAFFIC

STATISTICS FOR FOURTH QUARTER

FISCAL YEAR 1967 TRANSITS (Oceangoing Vessels) 1967 1966

Commercial 3,310 3,042

U.S. Government 269 141 Free 24 22

Total 3,603 3,205

TOLLS

Commercial $20,658,173 $17,815,769

U.S. Government 1,676,191 805,372

Total $22,334,364 $18,621,141

CARGO00 Commercial 22,757,829 20,756,671

U.S. Government- 1,825,283 898,255

Free 171,570 122,280

Total 24,754,682 21 ,777,206

Includes tolls on all vessels, oceangoing and

small. 60 Cargo figures are in long tons.

barges could be loaded or unloaded in as little as 25 minutes.

New Fast Freighter

THE STRATHCONON, newest of the P & O Lines fast cargo liners built re- cendy in Japan, passed through the Canal late in July on her maiden voyage

from the Far East to European ports. The ship was originally scheduled to make the voyage via the Suez Canal. The new freighter is the second of three high speed cargo liners designed

specially for carriage of general and

refrigerated cargoes, oils, containers,

explosives, cars, bullion and a variety

1967
MONUMENTAL FROLIC

4 f

111 WW ~ ff" BBf PI

BBBI Bo n HH- cq DEJUL

A youth splashes in the pool at Goethals Monument while his dog and companion watch. The boy seems to be_ exhorting his canine friend: "Come on in ... it's nice and cool." But the dog appears to be somewhat wary. Perhaps he knows the pool is for ornamentation and was

not built as a swimming pool for poodles ... or collies.

The Panama Canal Review 23
f I ! • • *




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