Gift ofthe Panama Canal Museum

-SB:.

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Vol. 6, No. 8 BALBOA HEIGHTS, CANAL ZONE, MARCH 2, 1956 5 cents

South Margaritans

Will Have 60-Cycle

Current Next Month

About one month from today a few

of the residents in South Margarita can

turn on low-wattage lights without the

telltale flicker of 25-cycle current. Theirs

will be th? first electrical equipment to be converted to use 60-cycle power

generated and distributed to domestic

users as a result of the Panama Canal Company's power conversion project. Und?r the schedule submitted for approval by the Sachse Electrical Company for the Atlantic area conversion, the program will be initiated for domestic equipment April 1 in the group of houses

in South Margarita bounded by Brazos

Boulevard, Espave Avenue, and Cocobolo Street. From there the contractor

will work northward through the town

of Margarita. Ninety-day notices of the conversion

schedule were mailed to Margarita resi- dents early last month. They will be kept advised by press notices of any

possible changes and a final notice of the exact date of each set of quarters seven days in advance. Schedule By Towns

The conversion schedule for the Atlantic side domestic equipment is still tentative. As submitted by the contractor the schedule for the various communities is as follows: Margarita April 1 to August 1.5 Gatun-Mindi July 1 to December 1.5 Rainbow City- December 15 to July

20, 1957 Old Cristobal January 1, 1957 to April 15, 1957 New Cristobal April 15, 1957 to July 20, 1957 This schedule is subject to final ap- proval by the cantracting officer of the Canal Company and is contingent on the

delivery of the necessary equipment. The terms of the contract for the

Atlantic area conversion provide that the conversion of domestic equipment will be made only during normal working hours from Monday through Fridays. The

contractor will not be permitted to work

in the homes at any other hours, except by permission of the contractmg officer. The specifications provide that the contractor will perform the conversion work in the homes so as to keep the power

interruption to a minimum. The time limits set in the specifications

for power interi'uption for the conversion

of specific equipment are as follows: Non - frequency - sensitive equipment,

such as lights and heaters—one hour.

Refrigerators, deep freezers, clocks, and electric fans—three hours. Washing machines, dryers, air conditioners, and record {Se^ page is)

They're Out To Raise $22,330

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mtai 1 l.X.VL PLANS for the Red mCross 1956 fund Jicampaign wereMdiscussed late last month by D. P. Paolucci, chau-man of the fund campaign, second from the left, with the men who will help him. The

drive began yesterday and will continue through the month. This year's goal for the Canal Zone

Chapter is $22,330. Left to right are: Carl .J. Browne, Chairman of the Canal Zone Chapter; Mr.

Paolucci; .J. C. Randall, vice chairman of the fund campaign; and Walter A. Dryja, Pacific side chairman for the campaign. Paul L. Beck, whose duties as principal of Cristobal High School kept him on the .Atlantic side when the photograph was taken, heads the fund drive for the .Atlantic area.

Bureau Merger This Month Will Consolidate

Canal Units Primarily Concerned With Supply

The merger of the principal functions

of the Supply and Community Services

Biu-eau, which becomes effective March

10, will bring together in one organization those Canal Company units primarily concerned with the supply require- ments of employees and their families. The consolidated unit is designated the Supply and Employee Service Bureau. The action is being taken at this time

to permit an orderly integration of the administrative and retail sales functions

of the Commissary, Storehouse, and

Service Center Divisions. These three

units will be vitally affected at the end of the year when the treaty terminates the commissary and other purchase privileges

of non-United States citizen employees who do not reside in the Canal Zone. Forward Planning

Among the many fimctions of these

three units which can be integrated or consolidated by the close of this year are the requisition and purchase of supplies; storage and warehousing; administrative, accotmting, and clerical work; realign- ment of retail sales of various items; and

the elimination of some facilities which

will be in excess of needs in the future.

It is recognized that a major reduction

in overhead expense of the three units can be accomplished when the di'astic curtailment of retail sales occurs next January. By the consolidation of the

two bureaus now, a more orderly reduction of the overhead and administrative expenses can be accomplished. No force i-eductions are in the immediate ofl^ng due to the forthcoming organizational change announced some weeks

ago. Any resultmg retrenchment of personnel will, to the greatest extent possible, be accomplished by normal attri- tion and absorption elsewhere in the

organization. Changes Scheduled Near the end of the calendar year a

substantial force reduction, particularly

in the local-rate personnel, will be

required by the closing of some of the commissaries and service centers; Among

those slated for closmg are the Ancon, Camp Bierd, Cristobal, and Tivoli Commissaries; and the Pacific and Camp

Bierd Service Centers. In addition to the closing of these units,

it is expected that consolidations can be

effected within the Commissary and

Seiwice Center retail outlets which will effect economies without impairment to

services. Among the changes already scheduled

is the transfer of the \Miolesale Shoe

Section of the Commissary Division and

its consolidation with the retail unit of the Balboa Commissary; and the closing

of the Ancon Commissary annex. No extensive changes (.S'ee page is)
THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW March 2, 1956 Four-Masted Barque Comes To Port

In Case At Zone's Library-Museum

THREE GEXERATIOXS inspect t'.ie refurbished barque at its new port. On the left are Mrs. Barbara Schmitt and her daughter, Sande, granddaughter and great granddaughter, respectively,

of the model builder, and, right, Mrs. Barbara Hutchings, daughter of Capt. John Constantine. Homeport these days for a 10-foot model

of a full-rigged, German-type, four-masted

barque, named the John Constantine, is the second floor of the Canal Zone Library Museum in the Civil Affairs Building. After nearly 25 years in the Cristobal Port Captain's Office, the Constantine was

brought to the Pacific side, restored, and

last month was placed on display in the Library Museum.

Modeled after no particular ship but

typical of the hundreds which sailed the

seas in the late nineteenth century, the barque is the result of many years of patient labor on the part of the late Capt. John Constantine, one of the Canal's first and most colorful pilots. Fully Furnished To those who know ship models best, the John Constantine has many unusual

features beside its size. In the first place,

it WIS constructed from the hull up

exactly as if it had been planned and

built in a shipyard. Secondly, the interior of the ship, from the cargo space to the

c;ews' quarters and officers' cabins, was

built to scale and fully furnished. These facts were revealed when Capt.

F. D. Saunders, Panama Canal pilot who

restored the ship, took the model apart and found not only furniture and equip- ment, but discovered that the hull itself was framed—that is built with ribs similar to those on a full-scale vessel. The floors in the officers' lounge are parquet and the furniture in all cabins and mess halls is typical of that made in the late nineteenth century. Furnishings

are complete to buckets and cuspidors. This interior decorating was indeed a

labor of love, since none of it is visible when the ship is assembled.

Visible, however, are the small scale deck machinery used on sailing ships, the

four full-rigged masts, and the five life- boats equipped with two sets of tiny oars. Captain Constantine, who spent a good

part of his life on sailing ships, carved most of the furniture, the masts, the

lifeboats and other equipment, with a pocket knife. He made the hull of stained wood and inlaid the decks with

strips of mahogany.

According to his daughter, Mrs. Barbara Hutchings, who works in the Steamship Ticket Office in Balboa, it was

meticulous work and the Captain was

particular about who came near the model while it was being constructed. The job of restoring the model after

its presentation to the Library Museum

by the Panama Canal Pilots Association was taken over by Captain Saunders, no mean hand with a ship model. The job

of building a new display case was tackled by Nelson Williar, Quarters Maintenance Foreman with the Maintenance Division. Eighteen-Month Job

Captain Saunders spent nearly a year and a half going over the vessel from stem

to stern. He replaced a few parts, sanded and stained the masts and replaced the

rigging; this was quite a job, since the

rigging required yards of special cord which he dyed a particular color. Mr. Williar devoted his own time to constructing a new display case, using

materials furnished by the Library-Muse- um. He ended up with a mahogany and

glass enclosed case about 1.5 feet in length, 40 inches in width and 7 feet in height.

It was natural that the late Captain

Constantine should have an expert knowledge of nineteenth century sailing ships

since he went to sea at the age of 14 as a quartermaster on Pacific Mail Company

ships running out of San Francisco. Came Here In 1882 Born in Greece in 1859, the son of a Greek shipowner, he sailed on ships with both the Pacific Mail and the Union

Pacific Company for several years, be- came a naturalized U. S. citizen, and came to Colon in 1882 to work for the French Canal Company as master of the

old dredge La Valley. He joined the Isthmian Canal Commission in 1905 as a captain and pilot, transferred to the Panama Railroad Company

in the same capacity shortly after, and

was appointed the first Panama Canal

pilot in 1914. In August of that year he

piloted the SS Ancon when she made the

first official ocean-to-ocean trip through

the Panama Canal. Captain Constantine retired in 1929 and died the following year in Colon.

Commissary Betterment

Suggestions Received

At Forum In February

A number of suggestions for improved

commissary procedures and services and

requests for a number of new merchandise

items were presented last month at a forum for local-rate customers of the Canal Zone Commissaries. The meeting between representatives of the Supply Bureau and the Commissary Division and representatives of the local-rate cus- tomers was held at the Balboa Heights

.Administration Building, the third of the

siirt for the local-rate group. Paul H. Friedman, Acting Supply

Directoi-, who presided over the meeting,

told the customer representatives that all of their suggestions would be considered. Each would be investigated fully, he

said, although the investigation might show that it might not be feasible to adopt some of the suggestions. After the pre\ious forum, he added, a number of changes suggested by the customers were made in both procedures and in stock. These included: Addition

of more shopping space at the Gamboa

Commissary by opening up the second

floor; a change in the late-opening night

at Gamboa Commissary with the choice made by a Civic Council poll; more legible price markings on merchandise and a prominent display in all stores of price changes; additional lobby space at Camp

Bierd Commissary; impro\'ements in the supply of potatoes and onions; and the addition of wider sizes in children's shoes. The limited space and limited stock at the Paraiso Commissary were discussed by several representatives. Mr. Fried- man said that the situation will be much

impro\'ed when the new Paraiso Commissary is opened late next summer.

Courtesy In Commissaries

Another matter which came up for considerable round-table discussion was

that of the courtesy of salesclerks in the

retail stores. This had been a major

subject at the previous forum. Since

that time, Mr. Friedman said, all sales personnel have been given training

coiu'ses, with emphasis on customer rela- tions. D. J. Paolucci, Training Officer

for the Personnel Bureau, told the forum

that he had attended a number of the

classes conducted by the Division's own

training officer, F. X. Dahl, and that he

considered the training effective. Sales personnel were checked after completion

of the training peiiod, and, if necessary

given further training. Local-rate representatives agi'eed that

the courtesy of the salesclerks had improved, but that the situation was "still not 100 percent." However, Hamilton

Lavallas, of Paraiso, pointed out that "courtesy works both ways," and com- mented that on occasion customeis can

be sufficiently annoj'ing to try the patience

of the most highly trained clerk. Also discu.sscd during the forum was

the pricing of commi.ssaiy goods. Mr.

Friedman emphasized that the Commissary Division has only one price for an

item, whether that item be sold in Camp

Bierd, La Boca, Ancon, or Cristobal Commissary. He asked that those present cooperate with the Commissary Division by reporting to their (.S'ee pa^. i.-i)
March 2, 1956 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW

Latin American Schools

Start Vacation Today;

New Term Begins May 7

Vacation will begin today for approxi- mately 4,000 students in the Canal Zone

Latin American schools. March 2 also marks the conclusion of the first Latin American school term during which classes were conducted in Spanish in all grades from kindergarten through the 12th grade. The Spanish language was first adopted

for all classroom work through the first

si.x grades during the 1954 55 school year with a partial changeover in grades 7 through 12. The complete changeover from English to Spanish took place this past school year. During the past two years, the cur- riculum of the Latin American schools has been changed to coincide more nearly with that of the schools in the Republic of Panama. This year the school term, which will begin ^lay 7, also will coincide with the opening date of Panama schools. Of the 4,000 students completing the 1955-56 school term, 162 will be graduated from the tw^o Latin American High

Schools on the Canal Zone. Eighty-seven of this year's graduates

are students in the Rainbow City High

School and 75 are students in the La

Boca High School. Commencement exercises for the Rain- boy City seniors were held Wednesday

in the Rahibow City school gymnasium

and commencement for the La Boca

graduates will be held tonight in the Paraiso Theater. School For Teachers

While vacation is scheduled to start today for the Latin American students, it will be only the beginning of another

school period for the teachers and principals of the Latm American schools. The Summer Institutes to be held on both sides of the Canal Zone will start classes Monday, March 5, at the La

Boca and Rainbow City High Schools. Classes and workshops will continue through April 6. Walter Oliver, former head of the Pan

American Institute in Panama, who has been coordinator in making the change from English to Spanish in the Latin American Schools, will take overall charge

of the Summer Institute. The group at La Boca will be under the supervision of Robert Beecher, Principal

of the La Boca High School and the group at Rainbow City will be supervised by Spencer Josephs, Rainbow City High

School teacher. Temistocles Cespedes, former Chief

of the Technical Service Section of Panama's Ministry of Education, who

for the past two years has acted as a consultant in the Zone schools, will teach a class in Spanish literature. A class in methods of teaching Spanish

literature in the secondary schools will be taught by Edward O'ConnelJ, Supervisor

of Instruction. Other courses and workshops scheduled

for the Summer Institute include a curric- ulum workshop for elementary teachers, a curriculum workshop for secondary

teachers, a Spanish curriculum workshop, and a course in Spanish for physical education teachers. A music workshop will be conducted

Executive Secretary Retiring

AXXOUXCEMEXT of his plans to retire at the end of this month was made during the latter part

of February b.v Eugene Christopher Lombard, Executive Secretap,' for the past seven years. He

entered the Canal ser\ice in 1918 and is now one of the top 25 Canal employees in point of service.

•• Aside from his long and outstanding ser\ace record with the Canal organization, Mr. Lombard

is well known for his civic and community activities. He is the third man to hold the office of Executive Secretary, his predecessors being C. A. Mcllvaine and Frank H. Wang. He is the onh- one of the three, however, to have the title of Executive Secretary to three different organizations—The Panama Canal, the Panama Canal Company, and the Canal Zone Government. The Executive Secretarj' is noted for his comprehensive knowledge of the histon,' of the Panama

Canal, as well as the intricacies of the Canal organizations and its regulations. His popularity as an

individual and an e.xecutive in the Canal Zone is equally great ii the Republic of Panama. He is one

of the relatively few Canal Zone civilians ever to receive the \'asco X'ufiez de Balboa medal from the Panamanian Government.

C. Z. Government Property Evaluation

And Inventory Was Completed Last Month

An inventory and evaluation of all the portable and installed equipment of the Canal Zone Government and that owned

by the Panama Railroad Company at the time the name of the company was

changed in July 1951, was being completed last month. The formidable task of coimting and

establishing the book value of all the

streets and sidewalks, and movable

equipment—from steamships to adding machines—was done by the using agency under the guidance and supervision of the Plant Inventory and Appraisal Staff. This meant that schoolteachers, firemen, policemen, nurses, and doctors joined engineers and accountants to do the job. The inventory and appraisal program

follows the completion of the report of the inventory and appraisal of all property transferred to the Panama Canal

in both La Boca and Rainbow City by

Miss Emily Butcher, Supervisor of Music

in the Latin American Schools. Latin American school students, meanwhile will be able to take part in a play- ground program which has been planned

for the summer vacation months by the Division of Schools. The program, which

will start Monday, March 5, and continue

until May 4, will include a number of athletic and sports activities such as

Softball, tennis, swimming, archery, table

tennis, volleyball and weight lifting. The various games are scheduled daily from Monday through Friday of each week and will be held in and near the gymnasiums at Rainbow City, Santa

Cruz, La Boca, and Paraiso.

Company by the former agency known

as The Panama Canal when the new

organization was established in 1951. The latter was required by Public Law

841, the work being done over a period of about three years by the Plant Inventory and Appraisal Staff of the Office of the Comptroller. The voluminous report on the property

transferred was submitted to the Board

of Directors at the January meeting here and will in turn be forwarded to the Bureau of the Budget for its approval. The evaluation program was under the

direction of Col. Edward B. Jennings, who

was transferred from his job as Project Engineer of the Power Conversion pro- gram last August to take charge of the

plant inventory and appraisal work. He

and his stafT were commended by the Board of Directors for their report. All Assets Inventoried

\\'ith the completion of the inventory and appraisal of Government and Pan- ama Railroad Company property, everj'- thing owned by the Company-Government, which can be listed as assets of the United States Government, will be counted and posted. Colonel Jennings' assignment with the Plant Inventory and Appraisal Staff was

extended for one month to complete the inventory and appraisal of Government

and Panama Railroad properties; he

returned to his former position at the

first of March. The inventory was begun February 1 and was schedided for completion by March 1. The reports will be consolidated, checked, and posted by the Plant Inventory and Appraisal Staff.
THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW Match 2, 1956 Canal Zone Carnival

CARNIVAL is celebrated nowhere in the Canal Zone with more enthusiasm than at the Palo Seco

colony on the Canal's west bank. Weeks and weeks of work go into the annual event. This year's Carnival, according to Mrs. Ezra Hurwitz, who has seen 27 such celebrations, was the "most colorful ever." The picture shows Queen Carmen I on her throne, just after she had been crowned by the

previous year's queen. The throne was set in a bohio, decorated with bananas, corn, and rice. Panama Income Tax

Payment Is Now Due

For Certain Employees

Official notification was given through

the local press last month that January 1 of this year is the effective date for pay- ment of income tax to the Panama

Government by Canal Zone employees

required to do so under the terms of the new treaty. The notices, in the form of advertise- ments signed by the Collector of Internal Revenue, also stated that March 14 is the deadline for the filing of estimated income statements for this calendar year. Later in the month, it was announced

that a special group of employees has been assigned to provide information of the tax to Canal Zone employees and to accept tax payments from them.

This group will be on duty from .3 to 6 p. m. from Mondays through Fridays and from 8 a. m. until noon on Saturdays

in the Internal Revenue offices. The tax payments must be paid in the month fol- lowing that in which the income from wages or salaries is received. The Internal Revenue Office in Pan- ama City is located on the fourth floor of the Ministry of Finance, at Peru Avenue

and East 33d Street, and in Colon on the top floor of the Post Office Building on

Bolivar Avenue.

Late in February, Panama Government

officials announced plans to open income

tax offices in Panama City and Colon,

close to the Canal Zone boundary, for the convenience of those Canal employees who

are now subject to Panama income tax. Under the terms of the new treaty, employees of the Canal organization who

are subject to the Panama income tax are: Panamanian employees residing in Panama or the Canal Zone. Non-United States citizen employees

residing in the Republic of Panama.

It is the obligation of the individual employee to ascertain if he or she is liable for the tax and arrange for its payment.

Zonians Now Buying Liquor At Major Duty Reduction

Another provision of the new treaty between the United States and Panama

became effective last month when resi- dents of the Canal Zone began the pur- chase of liquor in Panama or at clubs in the Canal Zone at a reduction of 75

percent in import duty. This meant a reduction of price of $1.02 to $L23 for whiskies, rums, gins, and brandies, and

from 20 to 70 cents on wines. Permits to buy the reduced duty

liquor and wines may be obtained from

the customs offices on either side of the Isthmus, for other than military personnel, who obtain their permits from their respective services. The permits are necessary only when the liquor is to be purchased in the Republic of Panama. New Waterfronter

JOHN R. MALLAHAN, above, is a newcomer to the Balboa waterfront. He arrived recently from

his former post with the American Bureau of Ship- ping in New Orleans to be the Bureau's Surveyor in the Canal Zone. He succeeds L. M. Breece who ha? been transferred tn Spriin by the Bureau of Shipping.

Purchases, Contracts

By Canal In Republic

Aggregateto$2,855,000

Expenditures amounting to $2,855,000 were made by the Panama Canal Company during the last half of the past calendar year in direct purchases of con- sumer goods in the Republic of Panama

and in contracts awarded to local contractors for work in the Canal Zone. The Canal purchases from producers and suppliers in Panama during the six- month period of July through December

totaled $1,330,000.' This amount was

lower by approximately $115,000 than

the direct purchases in the comparative

period of 1954, but over $150,000 above

the 1953 figures. The figures on purchases and contracts awarded to local firms are exclusive of the extensive purchases made by the

various other U. S.-Government agencies

in the Canal Zone from sources in Panama

The three principal purchasing units

of the Canal organization are the Commissary, Service Center, and Storehouse

Divisions.Decline In Building The decline in amount of purchases

during the last six months of 1955 as compared with the previous year resulted

principally from a major drop in the amount of building materials purchased,

following the completion of the Canal Company's major quarters construction program. The amount of consumer goods bought was also less last year, reflecting the continued decline in the Canal force. The purchases of meat products and

beverages were both below the previous

year's figures. The compilation of figures on purchases

in Panama by the Canal organization in the last half of the past calendar year

followed an announcement on the goods and services bought during the last quarter of the year. This showed that

the purchase of consumer goods declined over the previous three-month period, but this drop was overbalanced by the value of contracts awarded to local firms. Contracts awarded during the last three months of the year were reported

at $450,800, consumer goods bought at $624,400; and services at $5,800. Consumer Goods

The principal purchases of consumer

goods in the last quarter follow: Meats,

$1B7,()(10; sugar. $1,50,000; automobile

parts and supjilies, $37,000; beverages,

$29,000; seafoods, $13,000; coffee, $12,- 000; building materials, $24,000; agricul- tural products other than sugar and

coffee, $45,000; toilet articles, $7,000; and miscellaneous goods, $104,000. The agricultural products bought by

the Commissaries and Service Centers

cover a wide range of fresh fruits and

vegetables grown on the Isthmus. The

seafoods include fish, shrimp, and lobster, with occasional purchases of turtles. A long list of items make up the goods

classified under the miscellaneous heading. Some of the principal items under

this classification are office machines, and

supplies, electrical parts, medical supplies, magazines and periodicals, and

film rentals.
March 2, 1956 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW Nearly 100 Canal Employees Ready

To Serve U. S. As Reserve Officers

OFFICERS of the Reserve Officers Association met last month to discuss

final plans for National Defense Week. They are: Top row left to right: Maj. M. M. Morton, USAR; Lt. Col. J. A. Bripnan, VS.^R; Capt. E. J. Kirlvus, USAR; Maj. R. W. Adams, USAFR; Lt. Col. W. F. Brow-ne, USAFR;

Lt. Col. M. E. Deerwester, ASAR; Lt. W.G. Purdy, USNR; Lt. W. L. dela Mater ; Lt. Col. W. D. Cunningham, USAFR (Ret.) ; Capt. M. S. Papcun, USAFR;

Lt. Comdr. S. D. Puller, USNR; Comdr. P. H. W. Olander, USNR; Capt. T. W. Drohan, USAR. Bottom row left to right (seated) : Capt. .J. F. Oster, USAR; Col. R. A. Stevens, USAFR; Maj. J. C. Twomey, USAR; Lt. Comdr.

.Jessie M. Gill, USCGR.; Lt. Comdr. A. .J. .Janssen, USNR; Lt. Col. N. M.

Newport, MC-USAR; Lt. Col. Cleveland Soper, USAFR. The meeting was

held at the Administration Building, just before National Defense Week began.

If every reserve officer in the United

States mOitary services were suddenly

called to active duty, some 100 men and women in the Canal organization would

close their desks or lay do^Ti their tools, don their uniforms, and be off. Along with them would go several score more reservists who, in civilian life, work for the military services or other government agencies in the Canal Zone and Panama, or who live in various loca- tions throughout Central and South America but are affiliated with the local reserve officer's organization- -the Depart- ment of the Canal Zone of the Reserve

Officer's Association. A little over two-thirds of them would

be in Army uniform, another quarter would be wearing the uniform of Navy

officers, and the remainder would be in Air Force blue. They would rank from

colonel—only a few of them- -down to ensign and lieutenant, but the majority would be majors and captains. Annual Celebration

Last month the reserve officers of the Canal Zone stepped into the spotlight when they sponsored National Defense Week, as they have been doing since the

early 1920's on a nation-wide basis and

since 1930 in the Canal Zone. National Defense Week, traditionally held in the 10 days between the birthdays

of two United States presidents, Abra- ham Lincoln and George Washington, is designed to focus the attention of all Americans on the matter of an adequate

national defense and security. The slo- gan for this year's National Defense Week

was: "Responsibility of citizenship is everybody's business."

Its principal event this year was a

dinner dance at the Albrook Officer's Club

with Brig. Gen. Louis V. Hightower,

Chief of Staff for the U. S. Army Caribbean, as the principal speaker. In addition to the celebration of National Defense Week, the Canal Zone Department also awards a trophy and

medals each year to outstanding cadets

in the high schools' Junior ROTC.

The Canal Zone Department of the ROA is part of a nation-wide organization which has approximately 65,000 members. There are 54 departments and

hundreds of chapters in each of the 48

states and overseas in the Canal Zone, Europe, Hawaii, the Far East, Puerto

Rico, and Alaska. The national organization was formed

in 1922 for the purpose of "supporting a

military policy for the United States that

will provide adequate security and pro- mote the development and execution

thereof." Organized In 1930 Eight years later, the Department of the Canal Zone was organized. Its first meetings were held in the Century Club

on DeLesseps park in Panama City—the

building now occupied in part by Pan

American Airways. The first Depart- ment President was the late Ralph Z. Kirkpatrick, at that time Chief Hydrographer of The Panama Canal and a

colonel in the Army Reserves. He was

succeeded by James C. Twomey, now a

reserve major and a civilian employee of the Army, and he, in turn, was followed by Capt." Fred deV. Sill. As the organization grew, it was subdi- vided into five chapters: Atlantic RONS

Chapter (Naval Reser\'e officers); the

Atlantic Chapter (Army or Air Force

reservists); Air Force Pacific Chapter, whose name speaks for itself; Pacific RONS Chapter (Naval Reserve officers); and the Leo A. Mclntire Chapter (Pacific side Army Reserve officers). This chapter bears the name of the late L. A. Mclntire who for many years headed what is today the Canal's Internal Security organization. There are several classes of membership in the Reserve Officer's Association. Reservists may be active or associate, special life or honorary life members. In

the younger age brackets, those who are

in a Reserve Officers Training Corps or its equivalent may become junior members.

In addition to the sponsorship of National Defense Week and the presentation

of awards to Junior ROTC cadets, the Reserve Officers Association has another annual event, its Department convention

held each April. This year the convention will be held at the Coco Solo Officers' Club. Part of the agenda of the annual

convention includes the election of Department officers. The presidency is

alternated among the three services. Army, Navy, and Air Force. This year's

president. Col. Robert A. Stevens, is an

Air Force Reserve officer; his successor

will be a Navy reservist. Between annual conventions, the governing body of the Canal Zone Depart- ment is its Department E.xecutive Council. This is composed of all Department

officers, the Department president and

his immediate predecessor, and the

president of each of the five chapters. Department Officers The present Department officers are: Colonel Stevens, of the Personnel Bureau,

president; Lt. Col. W. F. Browne of the Comptroller's Office, Air Force vice president; Comdr. A. J. Janssen of Rodman, Navy vice president; Lt. Col. M. E. Deerwester, of the Army and Air Force Motion Picture Service, Army vice president; Lt Col. J. A. Brigman, of the Engineering Division, an Air Force Reserve officer, judge advocate; Lt. Col. N. M. Newport, of Gorgas Hospital, surgeon; Capt. E. J. Kirkus, of the

Internal Security Office, an Army offi- cer, historian; Comdr. P. H. W. Olander,

chaplain; Maj. James C. Twomey, civilian employee of the Army and a Reserve Army officer, treasurer; Lt. Col. Carl J. Browne, Superintendent of the Balboa

Field Office for the Maintenance Division and an Army reservist, past president; and Lt. Comdr. Jessie M. Gill, of the Community Services Director's Office, a Coast Guard Reserve officer and the ranking woman reservist in the local Department, secretary. Other officers who sit with the Executive Council are: Lt. Col. Cleveland Soper, USAFR, of Eastman Kodak Co., Panama, who is National vice president for Central and

South America; Capt. M. S. Papcun, USAFR, of Minerals Shipping Co., Panama, who is a National councilman; and

Capt. J. F. Oster, USAR, of the Personnel Bureau, who is corporate agent for the Canal Zone Department.

Officers of the five chapters are: RONS Atlantic—U. Comdr. S. D. Puller, USNR, of the United Fruit Company in Cristobal, president; Comdi'. M. B.

Nickel of the Industrial Division, junior

vice president, and (See page 12)
THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW March 2, 1956

FOR YOUR INTEREST AND GUIDANCE

t W ILL CCIDENT PREVENTION

NEW ALL TIME LOW

Preliminary statistics for the montii of January show a new all-time low accident frequency rate of 3 for the Canal Zone Government-Panama Canal Company

Organization. This fine achievement was due to perfect records established by four bureaus. The Transportation and Terminals, HONOR ROLL

Bureau Award For BEST RECORD

JANUARY

TRANSPORTATION AND TERMINALS BUREAU

SUPPLY BUREAU COMMUNITY SERVICES BUREAU HEALTH BUREAU AWARDS THIS CALENDAR YEAR

Community Services 1 Health 1 Supply 1 Transportation and Terminals 1 Civil Affairs Engineering and Construction Marine

Division Award For NO DISABLING INJURIES JANUARY

COMMISSARY DIVISION TERMINALS DIVISION NAVIGATION DIVISION HOSPITALIZATION AND CLINICS MAINTENANCE DIVISION SERVICE CENTER DIVISION INDUSTRIAL DIVISION GROUNDS MAINTENANCE DIVISION MOTOR TRANSPORTATION DIVISION RAILROAD DIVISION STOREHOUSES DIVISION HOUSING DIVISION SANITATION DIVISION AIDS TO NAVIGATION AWARDS THIS CALENDAR YEAR

Aids to Navigation Commissary

Grounds Maintenance

Hospitalization and Clinics Housing

Ind ustrial Maintenance Motor Transportation Naviga tion Railroad San ita tion

Service Center

Storehouses Terminals

Dredging

Electrical Locks ,

Supply, Community Services, and Health Bureaus all shared in experiencing a total

of 1,144,684 employee-hours of exposure without a disabling injury. This is a noteworthy safety perform- ance for which congratulations are cer- tainlv in order. SEEING SIGNS

A woman in Louisville, Ky., sued the

city because she tripped and fell over a safety campaign sign. We're not attempting to judge that

particular case, but the incident does remind us that some people, including

industrial workers, seem to have a blind spot for safety signs. You could put a

sign saying "Caution! Don't Stumble!"

out on the floor in the walkway, and somebody might go right ahead and trip over it without seeing it. Others might

see it the first time, but forget all about

it after they got used to its being there. We tmst that you are not one of those

but that you see and heed all the Safety

Posters and Warning signs, even in the spots where you are used to their being.

A ship's captain, when writing up the

log for the day, put in the following, "The First Mate was drunk today." When the first mate sobered up and saw

it he said to the Captain, "Please remove

that notation. It was the first time in my life that I ever got drunk and it will never happen again." The Captain

replied "The ship's log must contain the

truth, so the notation will have to remain.' The next day the First Mate wrote up

the ship's log. In it he made the following notation, "The Captain was sober today."

DANGER DUE

Accidents don't punch a time clock on

the job, but they do have certain hours of the work day during which they arc more

likely to show up than at other times. They come around most often, with a supply of disabling injuries, between 10 and 11 o'clock in the morning and be- tween 3 and 4 o'clock in the afternoon. No matter when they are most likely to check in, don't let them check you out. Don't let the lazily creeping hour hand

catch you with your mental guard down

or your eyelids dragging.

HANDS ARE HANDY

The next time that you are tempted to ignore hand protection, stop a minute and

count to ten on those fingers of yours. You wouldn't want to count less than ten on them, would you? Did you know that there are more occupational injuries to fingers and hands than

to any other part of the body? National

figures show that there were about

500,000 disabling injuries to fingers and

hands last year. So you can see that it won't help to cross your fingers for luckit takes something more. Use gloves or other hand protection if the rules say to, and be sure you have

the right type. Keep your hands handy

by keeping hands and fingers free of injury.

If you make a left turn from a right- hand lane, you're probably just careless or reckless and not what the guy behind

called you.

JANUARY 1956

Transporlalion and Terminals Bureau

Supply Bureau

Communily Services Bureau

Health Bureau

C. I. Govl.-Panama Canal Co. ( This Month)

Marine Bureau

Civil Affairs Bureau

Engineering and Construction Bureau

r. Z. Govl.-Panama Canal Co. ( Last 3-Year Av. I

Number of Disabling Injuries .8

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

(Frequency Rale| 10 £0 30 40

_ 8 Man-Hours Worked 2,^83,050 LEGEND

Amount Better Than Canal Zone Government—Panama Canal Company Last 3- Year Average

Amount Worse Than Canal Zone Government—Panama Canal Company Last 3-Year Average

Accumulative Frequency Rate This Year
March 2, 1956 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW

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

I'T\nl(d by the Printing I'lartt Mount Hope, Canal Zone John S. Seybold, Governor-President

H. W. ScHULL, Jr. Lieutenant Governor William G. Arey, Jr. Public Information Officer

J. RuFUS Hardy, Editor Eleanor H. McIlhenny

Assistant Editor SUBSCRIPTION—$1.00 a year SINGLE COPIES—5 cents each On sale at all Panama Canal Service Can

ters, Commissaries, and Hotels for 10 days

after publication date. SINGLE COPIES BY MAIL-10 cents each BACK COPIES— 10 cents each On sale, when available, from the Vault

Clerk, Third Floor, Administration Building, Balboa Heights.

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

Canal Review, Balboa Heights, C. Z.

Leaving Isthmus

ROBERT H. E.MERICK, who has been Chief of the Industrial Division for the past two years, will leave the Isthmus next month to return to Charlestan, S. C, where he will resume his consulting

engineer's practice. A native of Harrisburg, Pa., Captain Emericlv is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania; he was commissioned there as an

ensign in the Naval Reserve. Before World War II, he was a consulting mechanical engineer and designed power plants all over the world. He is also the author of several engineering books, the last of which, Power Plant Managenml, was published last year. His 18-year old son, Robert, who has been a

licensed radio operator for several years, entered the Merchant Marine Academy at King's Point, N. Y.,

this year. Captain Emerick will be replaced by

Capt. Hugh S. Knerr, USX, who will arrive in April from Washington, D. C, where he has been Assistant Inspector General with the Chief of Xaval Operations. Captain Knerr is a graduate of the Naval Academy

at Annapolis and of the Harvard University School of Business Administration.

OF CURRENT INTEREST

Singing Belles

GORGAS HOSPITAL was included on the schedule of the Belles of Indiana, 32-gu-l chorus from

Indiana University who visited the Isthmus last month on a USO tour. The guls gave their concert

in the patients' recreation lounge, which is under the supervision of the Red Cross. Ambulatory

patients and those who could be moved in wheelchairs and stretcher beds were brought to the lounge. During their visit to the hospital the gu-ls met an old Indiana graduate, Col. William W. Nichol,

w'ho has been here about two years and is Acting Superintendent of Gorga?

Canal Zone gardeners whose lawns and

flower beds need the revivifying influence

of a load of good black topsoil may get just that —provided they get their orders in early to the Housing Division. A limited amount of topsoil, in load lots,

is available on both sides of the Isthmus, on

a first-come, first-served basis. The topsoil

will be delivered some time this month.

Atlantic side residents should telephone

their orders to 3-2373 while those living on

the Pacific side should call 2-2121. Many applications are already on file so, says the Housing Division, prompt action is necessary and even then there may not be enough to go around.

ary schools will be able to forget lessons and books from Saturday, March 24, through Sunday, April i. School classes

will start again Monday, April 2. Canal employees will be able to enjoy a long weekend with their children at the same time. March 30, which is Good

Friday, is a holiday, both in the Canal Zone

and Panama.

The annual Field Night, a yearly event

of the Canal Zone Junior ROTC, will be

held March 16 at the Mount Hope Stadium,

with starting time set for 7 p. m. This year

will be the eighth Field Night since the Junior ROTC was organized here; the locale shifts from side to side of the Isthmus, alternating each year between Balboa and Cristobal.

Field Night is the only time during the year

that the Balboa and Cristobal High School

units perform together and is the annual

high spot for the two cadet battalions. During the evening a competition will be

held to determine the best individual cadet

in the Canal Zone Junior ROTC. Five

cadets from each high school have already been selected to compete for this coveted award. Other competitions are those for the best squad, best platoon and best company. Awards for these events will be

given by various civic organizations on both

sides of the Isthmus. As in the past, many high officials representing both the Canal Zone and the armed services will be present. The pro- gram will begin with a review of both

battalions in honor of Gov. J. S. Seybold and will end at nine o'clock with a final parade. Members of the crack drill teams

from both schools will give a demonstration

of various maneuvers. There is no admission for Field Night; the

general public is invited to attend.

William S. Wigg and Joseph M. Watson, two Canal employees who were selected as representatives of the Canal organization

for the seventh Junior Management Intern Program sponsored by the United States

Civil Service Commission, returned to the Isthmus last month after completing a six- month course of training in and near Washington, D. C. They were nominated last July for the program. In the competitive examinations Mr. Wigg distinguished himself by making

the highest score of the thousands of Federal employees who took the examinations. The course taken by Mr. Wigg and Mr. Watson was similar in most respects to that

offered by the Civil Service Commission in the Senior Intern Program for employees in higher categories. Mr. Wigg is Supervisory Administrative

Assistant in the Administrative Branch. He was graduated from Balboa High School

in 1936 and has lieen employed by the Canal organization since 1940, with the

exception of three years of service with the U. S. Army, during World War II. Mr. Watson was employed by the Maintenance Division in 1940. He served with

the U. S. Navy during the war and has been with the Maintenance Division continuously since 1946. He was promoted to the position of Administrative Assistant in the Cristobal Field Office in 1951.

Excursions to the Interior and other

holidays trips for the annual Easter vacation which falls due the last week in March

are now being planned by the thousands of boys and girls who attend the Canal Zone

United States citizen schools. Students in both elementary and secondThe Canal Zone Library and all of its branches will join this month in the cele- bration of the Woodrow Wilson Centennial year by offering a display of reading material, pictures and posters concerning the 28th president of the United States. At the main library the major display will be set up in the flat, lighted case on the main floor of the Civil Affairs Building. Books and other material on President Wil- son will be available in all branch libraries. The Isthmian observance will coincide with that of the Library of Congress in Washington, D. C.
THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW March 2, 1956 Canal Zone's Barro Colorado Island

Is Unique Natural Wildlife Preserve

line winds on for hundreds of feet, ending

in an undergi'ound nest where the leaves

are stored awaj' to become breeding beds

for ant baby food. A one-day visitor to the island, noisy

(in the trails, tramping on twigs, slither- ing through muddy spots, will probably

see very few animals, although there will

lie thousands of unseen wild eyes watching him. An occasional bird will fly over

head, or a flock of parrots will set up a

clatter at having their privacy disturbed. Almost invariably, though, a visitor will hear a racket like a cageful of lions at feeding time. Those will be the howler monkeys. Someone, quick with his field glasses, may spot a few howlers in a tree well off the trail but before the others can

get their binoculars into focus there is nothing to be seen but the swing of the branches where the monkeys are moving. A few minutes later, someone else may

see a white-face monkey, but again the

others have to take his word for it. On Gigante Peak, 5.37 feet above sea

level and the island's highest spot, a little clearing provides a welcome stopping

place for the duffers. The more athletic

in the party can climb at 30-foot steel tower—at their owti risk—to see what a jungle looks like from above. Not far from the clearing the Paul Bunyan part of the jungle begins. Here,

ants an inch long roam the jungle floor. Just off the trail huge old bolga trees with

buttressed roots deep enough to conceal a grown man stretch almost a hundred feet into the air before they send out their

first branches, covered with air plants. A coral snake, coiled on a patch of sun- touched leaves, looks out of scale in his monstrous surroundings. Much of the jungle is dark and photography, especially with color film, is difficult. But there is sun around the

big trees most of the year; some of the party obligingly slip into the pockets between the bolga roots so thev can be

BUILDINGS of the Canal Zone Biological Area, gleaming in the morning sun on the hillside, are the

first things the visitor to Barro Colorado Island sees as the launch approaches a cool, shadowed inlet.

If you like your monkeys tied to organ

grinders, your snakes in zoos, and your

orchids in corsages, and if you think that a steep hill can be climbed only by a

funicular, then Barro Colorado island is not for you.

But, if you thrill to the sight of shadowy

shapes swinging through trees, if you

don't flinch at a coral snake curled up in a patch of sunlight, if you can gape and

enjoy gaping at thousands of air plants on towering trees, and if you have the

fortitude—not to mention the wind—to climb 201 steep, narrow steps straight up

an almost perpendicular hillside, then, by

all means, try to visit Barro Colorado.

Technically the island is known as the Canal Zone Biological Ai-ea. It is under

the jurisdiction of the Smithsonian

Institution; all arrangements to visit it must be made in advance through James

Zetek (w-hose title is Research Specialist but who is really the Baron of Barro

Colorado), or through his Girl Friday, Mrs. Adela Gomez. The value of the island in the world of science is too well known to go into here. But even the most amateui' of naturalists cannot help but soak up some of the wonders of the jungle during a visit there. In Everyone's Backyard The Canal Zone is so small, comparatively, that Barro Colorado is practically

in everyone's backyard and the physical

trip to the island in the middle of Gatun

Lake is simple, once arrangements have

been made. Morning trains from either side of the Isthmus drop visitors at the

Frijoles Station, only a few hundred feet from a landing where the launch Snook

is waiting, its triangular pennant lettered C. Z. B. A. whipping from its staff in the

stiff morning breeze. Twenty minutes, and three and a half miles later, the Snook pulls into a lovely

little shadowed inlet, set about with

heliconia and bordered with plants which

"like their feet wet." As the launch

ties up, the sunounding w-ater is filled with hundreds of fish, of the perch family, waiting for theii' breakfast of bread. They

gulp down slice after slice, with more

speed than manners. From the head of the dock, the hill on

top of which sit the laboratory's buildings seems to go straight heavenward. The

pampered baggage and supplies ride up

aboard the single car of the Dock and

Skyline Limited—a cableway—but the people walk—up, and up, and up. Novices take it fast, at first. Barro

Colorado veterans lag behind so they can

stop to puff and blow. By the time everyone has reached the top of the

steps, no one has enough breath to talk. At the main building, overlooking the Canal channel and mile on mile of the Gatun Lake shoreline, there are rooms

where visitors may change to slacks and

sneakers before they set out along the

island's trails. Then, single file like a group of Indians, led by Fausto Bocanegra, who has been guiding parties around

Barro Colorado for three years, they move into the jungle. "Boca" carries a machete, but not for any defensive purposes. He uses it to

slash down the lianas and branches which have sprung across the trail since the last party went through a few days before. And although his function is that of guide, the trails-- each of which bears

the name of scientists who helped Barro

Colorado into being—are so well maiked

that a visitor has little chance of being

lost should he stray away from his group. Jungle Hothouse The smell of the jungle, like thousands

of hothouses rolled into one, is every- where. Every once in a while the hikers walk through patches of heavy, heady

perfume. Here and there the trail is snowy with tiny white petals, like those from a spiraea back home in Ohio or Kentucky; the tree from which they came

is so tall and so grown about with brush

that one cannot see its blossoms without

glasses. Occasionally the visitors have to step

aside to avoid crushing a single file of bustling, leaf-cutting ants, each with its bright green parasol o\'er its back. The

STEPS, 201 of them, go straight up the hill. Only

baggage rides the Dock and Skyline Limited, left.
March 2,1956 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW

photographed before the camera fans

start "panning" up and up the trees. Hot showers at the main building -to wash off the omnipresent ticks and red- bugs - and a hot lunch, to provide energy

for another few hours on the trails, are a welcome break for the sticky hikers. But lunch is interrupted by a pair of peccaries and a gang of gato solos which

have also answered the lunch bell. The peccaries are sedate and not par- ticularly friendly, but the gato soloscoati niundis, if you prefer are clowns and will do anything, even to walking a

clothesline, to get a piece of bread. Some

visitors even accuse them of "mugging" when the cameras appear, as they

invariably do. After lunch and a brief rest; the island

visitors start out again, this time on the opposite side of the island, and by the time they board the Snook to catch the evening trains back home most of the

tenderfeet are just exactly that. World War I Baby

In one sense, the Canal Zone Biological Area was a baby of World War I. It came into being in 1923 under the sponsorship of the National Research Council which had been organized seven years

before at the request of President Woodrow Wilson "as a measure of national preparedness."

\\'hen the Council's Dr. Thomas Bar- bour came to the Isthmus in 1922 seeking

a site for a zoological research laboratory, he met James Zetek, who had dreamed of just such a plan for years. Fresh out of the University of Illinois, Mr. Zetek had come to the Canal Zone in 1911 as entomologist for the Canal's Sanitary Department and had stayed on to serve, successively and in that same capacity, the Republic of Panama, the Board of Health Laboratory, and the Unit«d States Department of Agriculture. They combed the Isthmus and finally decided that the largest island in Gatun

Lake, almost uninhabited by humans but teeming with birds, bugs, and animals, was the most suitable site for a natural

preserve. The two pioneers were backed by a number of scientific societies, "terrifying enough to cause consternation

to any bug that w-alks, flies or crawls," the Star & Herald reported in an early story on the Barro Colorado project. On March 17, 1923, Gov. Jay J. Morrow proclaimed Barro Colorado a "natural park" and banned all hunting

in its almost 4,000 acres. Twenty-five

years later this date was commemorated

by a special Canal Zone stamp issue, the

first local stamp to bear a picture of an

animal. Those 10-cent stamps today

are worth 25 cents each, according to

Scott's Catalogue. Scientists By Droves The laboratory buildings came slow and hard. At one time there were plans

to set up scientific headquarters on a barge anchored in the inlet. The first of the buildings was dedicated officially on March 20, 1924; today there is a cluster

of 10 buildings, including the kitchen, at the top of the long flight of steps. The scientists did not wait until their creature comforts were provided for. A

few weeks after the Governor's proclamation, Dr. William Morton Wheeler of Harvard, Dr. Richard Strong of the Gorgas Memorial Institute, and Mr.

Zetek were at work on the island. Close on their heels came R. G. Shannon of the Bureau of Entomolog}^; he built a small

JAMES ZETEK is the Baron of Barro Cdorado- He helped found it in 1923 and has run it ever sinceshelter and stayed on the island off and

on for two months studying blood-sucking

flies. A few months later Frank E.

Lutz, Associate Curator of Museum of Natiu-al History, spent five weeks on

Barro Colorado, working with stingless

bees. Close behind him was Dr. W. C.

Allee, of Chicago University, who was the

first scientist to occupy the still unfin- ished large laboratory building. The roster of distinguished men who

have worked, and are still working, at the Canal Zone Biological Area reads like a Who's W'ho of Science. There have been

Dr. David Fairchild, world-famed botanist; Dr. Frank Chapman who studied the

island's birds year after year and whose

Tropical Air Castle is one of the classics on the island; Dr. Alexander Wetmore,

another internationally known ornithologist and former Secretary of the Smithsonian; Dr. Arthur Compton, who measured cosmic rays with balloons sent up from an island base and whose expedition was one of five such cosmic visitations; Prof. Alexander Petrunkevitch and Dr. A. M. Chickering, Iboth famous for their

studies of spiders; Pi-ofessor T. C. Schneirla, a foremost authority on army ants. Barro Colorado's visitors have come

from scores of colleges and universities and scientific societies and institutions,

all over the world. Recently there have

been representatives from the Woods

Hole Oceanographic Institute in Massachusetts, the Scripps Institution of Oceaniit,'ra])hy in California, the University of

(Jslo in Norway, and the American Museum of Natural History. (The cur- rent guest book also contains the name of Da\'y Crockett, from the Wild Frontier!) Empty Pockets For many years Barro Colorado had heavy financial going. At first it was

financed almost entirely by gifts and by

the "table contributions" of scientific institutions and universities; that is, each

institution or university financed a laboratory table. Wealthy friends gave money, buildings, or equipment but still, and especially during the depression

years, Mr. Zetek had to scrounge and

stretch to make ends meet.

In 1940 Congress passed a bill "authorizing the setting aside of an area within

the Canal Zone to preserve and conserve

its natural features for scientific study," and authorized up to $10,000 a year for

its support. The act did guarantee the permanency of the Biological Area but

Congress did not follow through with an

appropriation. During the war years, when important work—much of it still secret—was done on Barro Colorado, funds came from several government

agencies. Finally, in 1946, the Canal Zone Biological Area became a Depart- ment of the Smithsonian Institution and

its financial plight was somewhat eased. Some support still comes from scientific groups and from universities, and small

fees—just enough to cover board and

lodging—are charged scientists and the day-to-day visitors. Two of the important projects on

BaiTo Colorado are what are called "continuing ones." For many years Mr.

Zetek has experimented with various types of treated wood to {See pag; is)

BOLG.\ TREES are among the island's giants. The base of this tree extends on either side beyond

the group of hiliers. Lianas, ferns, and air plants cover the trunk which towers almost 100 feet.
10 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW March 2, 1956

BALBDA'S ianer harbor, sean from a plane, shows Pier 18 protruding over 1,000 feet into the quiet water. On the right are Docks 14, 15, and 16, separated by a launch landing from the completely sheJded pier. The line of railroad cars on Pier IS shows part of the cargo handling facilities available.

Balboa Has High Repute As World Port

For Facilities And Service To Shipping

ations, for they touch every major unit of the Canal organization. Those larger units having direct responsibilities in port operations include the Health, Engineering and Construction, Supply, Civil Affairs, and Railroad and

Terminals Bureaus, and the Oifice of the Comptroller. The matter of bringing ships into port and dispatching them, as well as the coordination of all activities relating to

their supply and service, is the responsibility of the Balboa Port Captain. The

unloading and loading operations are conducted by the Terminals Division, and

passengers are handled by the Customs

Division. The enforcement of health

regulations for ships, cargo, and pas- sengers is a function of the Preventive Medicine and Quarantine Division. An

important service to shipping is the work

of the Aids to Navigation Section which

provides aids to navigation throughout

the Canal waters. Man-Made Harbor

Balboa is not a natural harbor. It was

first named Ancon, a Spanish word meaning an open roadstead. Late in the

1890's the Panama Railroad Company

built a pier at the present site of La Boca.

Additional docking facilities were added

during the Canal construction period from

1904 to 1914, but most of the port facili- ties as they exist today were built about the time of the opening of the Canal in 1914. Construction of the terminal facilities was begun in June 1912 by the removal of the native village of Balboa and the remnants of the village of La Boca, both

clustered around the foot of Sosa Hill. This project included the construction of the system of wharves and piers, marine

repair and fueling facilities, and the Terminal Building. The first two piers to be finished were

Nos. 15 and 16 along the Industrial Division Shop Area. These were completed in 1914. Pier 18, where shipjjing

activities are centered todav, was completed in 1916 at a cost of $l',7U0,U0U, the most expensive of any of the pier installations. All other piers were completed in 1917, as was the Terminals Building. When the port facilities were completed

one of the most expensive and imposing

features was the big dialing plant which

has since been dismantled. Most Isthmian residents look on the Amador Causeway as a means to get to

EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the second and last of a series of articles on the Port

of Balboa. A similar series will be carried

later on the Port of Cristobal. The operation of a modern port with al' the facilities required by shipping is a complex and expensive proposition. The Port of Balboa, while small in comparison with many in the amount of cargo and number of passengers handled, can be ranked among the best in most of the cardinal points which give a port its international reputation as good, bad,

or indifferent. Some of these are: Facilities for handling cargo and passengers; mooring and

docking arrangements; navigation features, such as water depth and currents; weather; pilotage; customs and inspection

service; health control; repair and sal- vage; fueling, chandlery, and supply; fire protection; communications; rail and highway connections; and other factors. The representative of one of the largest shipping agencies here which handles

vessels calling at ports from Alaska to the southern tip of Chile summed up these

factors by saying of Balboa:

"It is the best working port on the

entire Pacific coast. Here we handle 40

tons of flour an hoiu- as compared with

20 tons handled in some of the larger ports of the United States. We can handle 10 tons of frozen tuna at Balboa

while three or four tons are handled in an

hour in California ports." Savings To Shipping Such expeditious handling of cargo, plus the other factors, represents a tremendous savings to shipping interests, for the operation of a big cargo ship can run at the rate of several hundred dollars an hour. Weather is also an important

factor for shipping. Balboa is a year- round good-weather port. It is never fog-bound and snow and ice never

hamper' cargo operations. There are occasional winds strong enough to make

hoarding in the bay difficult and torrential tropical rains sometime slow down

loading or unloading, but these unfavorable weather conditions are rare and of

brief duration. The Port of Balboa was declared offi- cially open in January 1901. Since that time improvements and facilities have

been added which today would cost in the neighborhood of $100,000,000 to

replace, exclusive of the now-idle ship

repair and dry-docking facilities of the

Industrial Division. The cost of dredging the inner harbor

to date amounts to $8,775,000. Digging

the Canal channel from deep water to Miraflores Locks cost $26,500,000 and more than half of the dredged channi'l lies south of the harbor. The piers were

built at a cost of almost $6,000,000. Over $400,000 was spent in building Amador Causeway, an important harbor

installation, while another $500,000 is invested in tanks and the fuel distribu- tion system, and $125,000 represents the

cost of the fire-protection facilities. Most of this money was spent 40 or more years ago, and today's cost would be

three or four times as much. More Than 1,000 Employees More than 1,000 employees in the Canal organization are directly dependent upon the operation of the Port of Balboa for their livelihood, in addition to the many who are employed by shipping

agencies and oil companies. Most of the Canal employees engaged in port operations are on the payrolls of the Port Captain's Office or the Terminals

Division. Aside from these, however, hundreds of other Canal employees

devote a considerable part of their working time to matters concerning port operBIGt'iM8T SHIP ever to duck in Balboa ii the I". .S. .\ircraft Carrier Franklin D. Roosecelt, shown

here alongside the docks. The 45,000-ton ship is 968 feet long and has a 113-foot beam—too wide

to pass through the Can.il locks. The carrier made her intercoastal trip via Cape Horn.
March 2, 1956 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW 11

Amador Beach or a pleasant drive with a magnifieent \'ie\v of Panatiia City. However, it is one of the most important

features of Balboa Harbor. It is, in

effect, a dike or breakwatei-, and was so

called during the years when it was being

built. Its purpose was described as fol- lows in the 1913 annual report of the Isthmian Canal Commission:

"This dike will extend from the shore

of east Balboa to Naos Island, a distance

of 3.29 miles from the mainlaind, and is being constructed for the purpose of shutting off the swift currents which at flood

tide flow across the Canal channel at

right angles, causing a heavy deposit of

silt and tending to carry vessels out of the Canal to the westward."

Difficult Piece Of Construction The report added: "The construction

of this dike has proved to be one of the most difficult pieces of construction work

ever attempted in the Central Division (which included Gaillard Cut excavation). Yet, owing to the fact that a very large supply of suitable materia! has been avail- able up to the present time, the cost has not been excessive." The material used in its construction was spoils from Gaillard Cut and at one

time as many as 12 trainloads of material were being dumped there daily. The dredging of Balboa harbor was

done coincidentally with the cutting of the Canal channel from Miraflores Locks

to deep water in the Pacific and the

construction of the terminal facilities. At

the time the harbor was completed the dredging costs, exclusive of the Canal

channel, were $3,320,000. Since that time the harbor has been deepened and

expanded at a cost of $5,500,000. In depth and navigation features, Balboa Harbor compares favorably with

the best in the world. It can accom- modate any ship afloat at anchora,i;e or alongside the piers, for it has a depth of 42 feet at mean low water. Because of the discharge of fresh water from Miraflores Locks, the water has less salinity than most seaports. It is free from cur- rents which interfere with navigation at any point. Natural Anchorage The harbor covers an area of about

7,000 acres, although most of this is in outer anchorage. This is a natural and unmarked anchorage where the United

States Fleet frequently dropped anchor

during the period between the two World Wars when massed fleet concentrations were held for maneuvers. The explosives anchorage, west of the Canal extrance, covers 4.35 acres. It is dredged and partially marked. The in- ner harbor covers 175 acres and the dredged and marked area at Rodman,

opposite the Canal channel from Pier IS, covers 35 acres. Because of the heavy Canal traffic, Balboa Harbor would be a busy port even if no ships came to dock. Last

fiscal year there were 7,760 vessels which went through the harbor in transit through the Canal. In addition, 475

vessels entered the port but did not

transit. Of the latter, 61 were ships of more than 1,000 tons. Figures for the

past fiscal year also show that the Terminals Division handled 796 ships, exclusive of banana schooners, of which

371 were docked. The handling of Canal traffic and port

operations are so intertwined that it is hard to define exactly where some phase

THESE MEN are vitally concerned with the day-to-day operations of the Port of Balboa. Above

are Capt. A. C. Roessler, Balboa Port Captain, right, and the Assistant Port Captain, Elmer G.

Abbott. Below, left to right are, B. E. Lowande, Chief Inspector, Balboa Customs; A. G. Kinsman,

Assistant to the Superintendent of the Terminals Division, and R. M. Collins, Harbormaster.

of an operation ends and another begins. The terminal ports are administered

for the Governor by the Marine Director

w^ho is also in charge of the Aids to Navigation Section, an important adjunct

to Canal and poit operations. The

Balboa Port Captain, who reports to the Marine Director, actually heads the Port. Under his supervision are 667 employees,

of whom 133 are employed on the U. S.- rate rolls. These employees include the Assistant Port Captain, Harbormaster, pilots, tow- boat and launch crews, marine traffic controllers (whose principal duties are concerned with Canal traffic), signalmen,

linemen, and office workers. Responsibilities of the Port Captain's Office cover

a wide range, including the ship boarding

operations; enforcement of navigation

regulations; supervision of the entrance and clearance of vessels; maintenance of charts, records, and the usual data needed

for navigation; assistance in fire protection; investigation of marine accidents; salvage and rescue work; and coordination of these functions with the various bureaus and divisions providing direct or supporting services in port operations. The Port Captain operates two harbor

tugs, the Arraijan and Gatun, both equipped for fire-fighting; 14 launches, named for birds and fish; and an assort- ment of work boats, pilot boats, and

several pangas. In addition, the operation of the Taboga Launch Service is a

responsibility of that office. The operation of Thatcher Ferry is a function of the Navigation Division but is coordinat- ed with ship movements in the harbor. "Handling" A Ship The term "handling a ship" connotes many duties related to its entrance and

clearance. Thanks to modern communications, the handling of a ship in any

port has been greatly expedited. Before

the advent of radio, the plans for handling a ship in port gener-ally could not be made before its actual arrival. Today, a ship gives 48 hom-s advance

notice of its an-ival in the Port of Balboa. Among the infor-mation fur-nished by

radio is the ship's name; its last port of

call; number of passengers landing; report of any communicable disease aboard; any structural changes made

since its last visit in por-t; pr-obable

arrival time; w'hether it will transit the Canal; and what repair's or ship stores

will be needed, if any. In (See page IB)
12 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW March 2, 1956

Canal Zone's Barro Colorado Island Is Unique Natural Wildlife Preserve

COATI MUNDIS, also known as gato solos, come running when the lunch bell rings on Barro Colorado. Mrs. Adela Gomez, the Biological Area's Administrative Assistant, hands out bread to a few

of them. Two paccaries stayed at one side and would not come within camera range.

(Continued from page 9) find Some barrier against omnivorous termites. He is too modest to admit it, but he is considered an outstanding authority on

termites and their ways. The other continuing experiment is carried on by the Tropical Research Branch of Eastman

Kodak. In a special laboratory on the

island, papers, film, lenses, glues, and

other Eastman products are tested for the

effects of the tropics, especially in connection with fungus and the effectiveness

of various fungicides. Because of a recent bout of ill health, Mr. Zetek is not making many visits to the island right now. He runs its affairs

from his Amador Road Office in a build- ing which was built from the shell of the

old Culebra Post Office. There he is ably assisted by Mrs. Gomez, who makes

trips to the island at least once a week,

assists scientists and visitors, and, be- tween times, helps with the voluminou.s- paper work any such job entails. Last June the Smithsonian Institution paid tribute to her efforts. In the pres- ence of more than 60 top scientists and

officials of the Smithsonian, she was given a Certificate of Award for her "outstanding accomplishments in the administration of the Canal Zone Biological Area."

Balboa Has High Repute As World Port

(Ciinlimwl from page 11) the caSC of a tanker, the information includes the grade of cargo, if loaded, and if it is gasfree when in ballast. By receiving this information well in advance the Port Captain's Office can

plan for its handling and expedite its departure. The pertinent information is posted on a blackboard and telephone

notice is given of any special service required of any Canal unit. The information about repairs, fueling, water, and

ship stores required is furnished the

ship's agent for handluig. Boarding operations in both Canal

terminal ports have been conducted on

a round-the-clock basis for the past

several months. When a ship is sighted coming into Balboa, the vessel is met at the outer anchorage by the boarding

party for customs, immigration, and

quarantine inspection. A Panama Canal

pilot boards all vessels at anchorage whether they are (-oming into dock or proceeding through the Canal. Tug

assistance is normally used in the docking

of all seagoing ships. The piers of the Port of Balboa arc equipped to handle any type of cargo that

is shipped, differing in this respect from many large ports which are equipped to handle only some special type of bulk

cargo, such as cotton, oil, ore, or lumber. Boss of the cargo operations is a Canal

veteran with 39 years of service of which

all but two have been in his present type

of work. He is A. G. Kinsman, Assistant

to the Superintendent of the Terminals

Division. His office is on Pier 18 where most of the port operations are centered. There is more than a mile of berthing space at the 13 wharves (commonly

called docks) and piers, all of which are of masonry construction. All are equipped

for servicing vessels with fuel and water, although oil handling is usually done at Docks 4, 6, and 7, with tankers usually being berthed at 4 and 6. Passenger

vessels usually tie up at Pier 18 or Dock

6, while most of the cargo is handled at Pier 18 or across the slip at Docks 15 and

16. All of the piers have railway and highway connections. Modern Equipment

The handling of cargo is done by modern equipment. The Terminals Division has 23 lift trucks which do the bulk of the work. These are supplemented hy older- type platform lift-trucks which use skids. Most ships have cargo-handling equip- ment aboard making it unnecessary to use heavy equipment on the piers. Pier

IS, where most cargo is unloaded, has

outrigger equipment, and the Industrial Division has a 5()-ton crane which is occasionally needed for heavy lifts. On

rare occasions some shipments come into Balboa requiring the use of the Dredging

Division's 2.50-ton floating crane. Pier 18 is the only completely enclosed

pier of the port. Its inside measurements

are larger than the Canal lock chambers,

being 1,000 feet long and 160 feet wide.

The pier floor has a rated carrying capacity of 750 tons per square foot. The Terminals Division employs a regular force of 12 U. S.-rate and 51

local-rate employees, in addition to 280

intermittent dock workers. In addition

to these, there are 17 U. S.-rate and 37

local-rate employees of the Oil Handling

Plant, a unit of the Supply Bureau.

Practically every type of cargo and commodity known to mankind passes over the Balboa piers at one time or another, from elephants and locomotives

to pins and perfumes. Some of the cargo which once made up the bulk of shipments arriving in Balboa is now

rarely handled. The first balsa exported from Ecuador was brought here in logs and transshipped to the United States, hory nuts and crude copper bars, once important commodity shipments, are no

lunger handled. Cargo stevedored at Balboa during the past fiscal year amounted to 184,000 tons.

of which 106,000 tons was incoming

local cargo. Balboa is today a busy port with an

a\'erage of more than one big ship an

hour passing through the harbor or coming to dock, but it presents a placid appearance compared to the wartime

aspects of World War II, when it was

the home base for about 200 tankers

serving the Allied forces in the Pacific. Then it was a den of activity day and

night with the Industrial Division shops

going full force. It was not an unusual

sight during the five-year period to see the inner harbor crowded with ships and

rows of big tankers berthed two and three abreast at Balboa piers. The wartime period was also a busy

one for the cargo-handling forces and

Pier 18 was generally stacked with ship- ments and Docks 1.5 and 16 were often stacked high with lumber or steel. The

all-time month record for cargo handling was set in August 1942, when 97,000 tons were stevedored, more than half of the

total handled during the past fiscal year.

Nearly 100 Canal Employees Ready To Serve U. S. As Reserve Officers

{Conlinuedfrom page 5) Comdr. P. H. W.

Olander, minister of the Margarita Union

Church, secretary-treasurer.

Atlantic—Capt. Thomas W. Drohan,

of Norton Lilly and Co., president; Col. Leon V. Heim, of the Cristobal Customs

Oflice, vice president; and Capt. Rufus

C. O'Neal, a Marine Traffic Controller,

secretary-treasurer. Air Force Paci_fic^Lt. W. L. de la Mater, of the Executive Planning Staff, president; Maj. Roger W. Adams, Superintendent of the RIotor Transportation

Division, vice president and secretarytreasurer. RONS Pacific-U. W. G. Purdy, of the Point IV Organization, president;

Lt. J. Paul Sidebothani of the National City Bank, vice president; and Capt. Jack H. Vaughn of the United States Embassy in Panama, secretary-treasurer. Leo A. Mclntire -Maj. M. M. Morton;

of the General Counsel's Oflice, president,

Lt. Col. M. E. Deerwester, of the Army

and Air Force Motion Picture Service,

first vice president; Capt. E. J. Kirkus, of the Canal's Internal Security Branch, second vice president; Maj. J. C. Twomey

of the Caribbean Regional Office, treas- urer; and Lt. Col. N. M. Newport, of the Medical Service at Gorgas Hospital, judge advocate.
March 2, 1956 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW 13

Bureau Merger This Month Consolidates

Units Primarily Concerned With Supply

(Continued from pags 1) are planned for some time in any of the services provided by the two bureaus. No date or specific schedules have been set for the changes which will I'esult from the consolidation, and Governor Seybold has reiterated that any such changes affecting service to the

public will be announced at least a month

in advance, whenever possible. The consolidation of the Supply and Community Services Bureaus follows the

transfer of several smaller units which was accomplished last month. These

were: The Printing Plant and Duplicating Unit, from the Supply Bureau to the Administrative Branch; abolishment of the Grounds Maintenance Division and

the transfer of those functions to the Housing Division of the Community

Services Bureau; abolishment of the Real

Estate Unit in the Community Services Bureau; and merger of the Contraband

Control Section with Customs Division. With the abolishment of the Real

Estate Unit, the licensing of public lands

will be done bj- the Civil Affairs Bureau,

while the assignment and rental of Company-Government properties w'ill be

administered by the Housing Division. Jerome Bairas, chief of this unit, has been transferred to the Housing Division, and the other personnel ha\'e been trans- ferred to the Civil Affairs Bureau, where John W. Hare, Realty Inspector, will be

in charge of land lic2nsing. The new Supply and Employee Service Bureau will be headed by Wilson H.

Crook, who has more than 25 years of Canal service in the Commissary and

Service Center Divisions and who has been Communitv Services Director since June, 1954. With the change, F. R.

Johnson, Supply Director, will become

Staff Storehouse Supervisor. Other personnel changes are: Paul H.

Friedman, Assistant Supply Director, to Assistant to the Supply and Employee

Service Director; and B. J. Elich, Assist- ant to the Supply Director, to be trans- ferred to the Commissary Division. R. 0. Theriault, Administrative Assistant

in the Community Services Bureau, will contmue in that position when the consolidation is effected. Walter R. Lindsay, Chief of the Grounds Maintenance Division, has been

reassigned to the position of Agronomist and will be in charge of the Canal Zone Exp?riment Gardens, with Roy Sharp, now assigned to the Gardens, as his assistant. All other personnel of this Division have been transferred to the Housing Division. The present offices of the Supply

Bureau, Rooms 262-270 in the Administration Building, will be used as headquarters of the new Supply and Employee

Services Bureau. The assignment of the Community Services Bureau office on the third floor of the Administration Building has not been determined. Other office assignment changes include

tfie closing of the Grounds Maintenance

Division Office in Ancon and its transfer

to the Housing Division Oflice in Balboa;

transfer of the Contraband Control Office from the Civil Affairs Building to the Customs Division in the Balboa Port

Captain's Building; property rentals to the Housing OflSce, and land licensing operations to the first floor of the Civil Affairs Building.

New Recreation Room Opened

For Chest Patients At Gorgas

H.\\DICRAFT of all kinds is turned out by chest patients at Gorgas Hospital in the attractive new

recreation lounge, recently opened. Two Gray Ladies, Mrs. W. N. Pence, left, and Mrs. D. P.

Paolucci, right, serve as instructors and help the men and women patients with their projects.

Belts and bracelets, wallets, and woven

purses, are being turned out these days by patients in Gorgas Hospital's chest

section, working in a bright, new recreaCommissary Betterment Suggestions Received At Forum In February

{Continued from pag? 2) commissary managers any improper price markings or other divergence from this fixed policy. New items or changes in procedure

suggested by the local-rate representatives during the February forum in- cluded: New shades of women's face powder and new shades of women's

hosiery, plus addition of a color chart at hosiery counters; earlier deliveries, especially of bread, to the Paraiso Commissary;

provision of shelter from sun and rain

for customers buying salad oil or kerosene

at Paraiso Commissary; addition of birthday, anniversary, or other greeting cards to the stock of all commissaries;

a slight change in the bus stop at the Rainbow City Commissary to alleviate the congestion from those waiting for basses and those waiting to buy salad oil; return of low-priced cooking eggs as a

regular commissary item; better reserve stocks of packaged meats and staples—

"Let's have things waiting for the cus- tomers instead of the customers waiting

for things," as one representative put it; retention of the Industrial Laboratory and its products; additional salesclerks at the Rainbow City Commissary shoe

section and additional help during rush

periods at the shoe section at Gamboa; home delivery of ice cream.

After the discussion period. Commissary Division representatives showed several new items of merchandise and then

served cheese, crackers, and apples. The new merchandise included a special purchase of dresses for little girls; dacron- nylon trousers; pullover orlon sweaters

for women; novelty jewelry; several new

food and hardware items; and a large assortment of shoes for men, women,

and children.

tion lounge—thanks to the coordinated

efforts of the Canal Zone Tuberculosis

Association, the Balboa Woman's Club,

the Red Cross, and the hospital. This sounds more complicated than it actually is. The Tuberculosis Association, which is sponsored locally by the Woman's Club, provided the funds to purchase raw materials for the occupational-therapy program; the Red Cross

pro\-ided the Gray Ladies who supervise

the program, some funds, and helped fur- nish the lounge; and the hospital provided and refurbished a ground floor room in the Chest Building for a recreation lounge. The funds supplied by the Tuberculosis

Association, incidentally, came from the $2,532.52 obtained from the sale of Christmas seals between last November

16 and December 24. The greater part

of this money goes to the relief of patients' families and for educational work toward

the prevention of tuberculosis, but some

funds were available wdth which to buy

raflia, leather, bateas, plastic cord which

is known as "gimp," and other material

for use in the program. Many Use New Lounge

Between 40 and .50 patients, the youngest of whom is 1 7, come to the new- recreation room several times a week.

Others, who are confined to their beds or

for some other reason cannot leave the wards for the time being, are gi\-en instruction upstairs. Their teachers are Mrs. W. N. Pence and Mrs. D. J. Paolucci, both of whom have served as Gray Ladies for the past three years. Mrs. Pence, who is also president of the Balboa Woman's Club, has just returned from a trip to the States, where she saw

the operation of occupational-therapy programs in hospitals in North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Florida. The Gorgas Hospital program for the chest patients is limited only by the space available. The women patients make rugs from chenille, do Swedish embroidery— and turn {See page lo)
14 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW March 2, 1956 PROMOTIONS AND TRANSFERS RETIREMENTS

January 15 through February 15

Employees who were promoted or transferred between January 15 and February 15 are listed below. Within-grade promotions

are not listed. ADMI.NISTRATIVE BRANCH

George H. Sanford, Lead Foreman; Mrs.

Kathryn G. Hummer, Clerk; both of the Duplicating Unit, from the Supply Bureau

to the .Administrative Branch.

Gilbert H. Furey, Superintendent; Robert C. Hammetter, Lithographic Pressman; Frank A. ChoUar, Photolithographer; Mrs.

N. May Stokes, Supervisory Accounting

Clerk; Albert A. Doyle, Head, Monotype

Section; John M. Purvis, Head, Press Section; Will R. Price, Head, Bindery Section; John B. Coffey, Head, Composing Section; Earl A. Dyer, Group Chief—all of the

Printing Plant; from Supply Bureau to .Administrative Branch.

CIVIL AFFAIRS BURE.\U

Mrs. Lucy M. Kelly, from Libran.' Assist- ant to Librarian, Library-. Eugene S. Shipley, from Police Captain

to District Police Commander, I'olice Di\ision. William H. Casswell, from Chief, Cris- tobal Fire District, to District Fire Chief, Fire Division. William E. Jones, from Chief, Balboa

Fire District, to District Fire Chief, Fire

Di\ision. Mrs. Annie R. Rathgeber, Clerk; John W. Hare, Real Property Analyst, from

Office of the Community Services Director

to Office of the Civil .Affairs Director.

Philip L. Dade, from Chief, Contraband

Control Section, Office of the Executive

Secretary, to Customs Inspector, Customs

Division. George P. Bonneau, Jr., Charles E. Stepp, Fred R. Middleton, Edward W.

Isaacs, WiUiam H. Hele, Joseph S. Corrigan, from Contraband Control Inspector, Contraband Control Section, to Inspector, Customs Division. Mrs. Barbara H. Schmitt, Clerk (Typist)

from Contraband Control Section to Customs Division. Amos W. DeRaps, from Policeman, Police Division, to Customs Guard, Customs Division. Joseph C. Hannigan, Jr., from Usher,

Service Center Di\-ision, to Life Guard,

Division of Schools. Mrs. Joan A. Fiala, Mrs. Joyce M.

Pettit, from Substitute Teacher to Ele- mentarv .School Teacher, Division of Schools COMMUNITY SERVICES BUREAU

Donald L. Nolan, from LIsher to Door- man and Usher, Service Center Divisicn. Jerome Barras, from Chief, Real Estate

Unit, to Special .Assistant to Chief, Housing

Division. OFFICE OF THE COMPTROLLER

Frank A. Baldwin, from Supervisory Accountant, Plant Inventory and .Ap- praisal Staff, to Chief, Plant .Appraisal Branch.

J. Patrick Conley, from Assistant Chief, Claims Branch, to Assistant to the Comptroller. Arthur J. O'Leary, from Chief, Accounting Division, to Assistant Comptroller- Accounting. Floyd H. Baldwin, from Chief, Fiscal Division, to General Auditor, Office of the General Auditor. Richard O. Burgoon, from Hospital

.Administrative .Assistant, Gorgas Hospital,

to .Auditor, Internal .Audit Branch. Jose E. Corco, .Systems Accountant, from

-Accounting Policies and Procedures Staff to Internal .Audit Branch. Mrs. Mildred E. Frick, .Accounting Clerk, from Methods and Relief Assignment Staff

to Agents Accounts Branch.

Florian B. Hopson, from Accountant, .Ac- counting Division, to Systems .Accountant, Accounting Policies and Procedures Staff. Mrs. Helen M. Rhodes, from .Accountant, to Time, Leave, and Payroll Clerk, Payroll Branch. ENGINEERING AND CON.STRUCTION BUREAU Max C. Conover, from Cirpenter Foreman to Head Carpenter Foreman, Mainte- nance Division. Mrs. Marguerite Rienks, from Clerk- Tipist to Clerk (Typing), Communications

Branch. HEALTH BUREAU

Mrs. Louise E. Griffon, Clerk-Stenographer, from Housing Division to Gorgas

Hospital. Dr. Henry de la Garza, Medical Officer, from Pacific to .Atlantic Medical Clinics. Mrs. Florence S. Terry, Clerk-Typist, from Gorgas Hospital to Board of Health

Laboratory. Mrs. Sarah S. Keegan, from Clerk- Typist to Clerk-Dictating Machine Transcriber, Gorgas Hospital. MARINE BUREAU

James M. Walsh, from Towing Locomotive Operator, .Atlantic Locks Overhaul, to Marine Inspector Assistant, Navigation

Division. Frank P. Marczak, from Supervisory

Clerical .Assistant, Dredging Division, to Marine Traffic Controller, Navigation Division. Nancy A. Ramsey, from Clerk (Typist),

Electrical Division, to Clerk-Stenographer, Navigation Division. Charles R. Progler, from Frequency Changer Operator, Electrical Division, to Lock Operator Wireman, .Atlantic Locks. Mrs. Katherine E. Foulkes, Mrs. Clara M. Chambers, from Clerk-Stenographer to Clerk (Stenography), Navigation Division. Mrs. Vema A. Barnett, from Time. Leave, and Payroll Clerk, to Clerk-Stenographer, Navigation Division. Mrs. Myrtle P. Hughes, from Clerk- Typist to Time and Leave Clerk, Navigation Division. Robert B. Lord, from .Admeasurer to .Marine Inspection .Assistant, Navigation

Division. To Locks Overhaul

Mrs. Gladys B. Humphrey, from Time

and Leave Supervisor (Typist), Atlantic Locks, to Time and Leave Supervisor; Kenneth E. March, from Carpenter, Pacific Locks, to Foreman Carpenter; William J. Holthusen, from Distribution and Window

Clerk, Postal Dix'ision, to .Air Hoist Operator; Harold R. Rodell, from Stockman

Foreman, Commissary Division, to Loco- motive Crane Steam Engineer; John Van

der Heyden, from Industrial Shipwright.

Industrial Dixision, to Lead Carpenter Foreman; Genaro Hernandez, from Heavy

Labor Lead Foreman, Industrial Division,

to Scaling and Painting Lead Foreman; Delma L. Blalock, from Boatbuilder, Industrial Division, to Lead Carpenter Foreman,

A. Robert Kent, from Steam Locomotive Crane Engineer to Towing Locomotive

Operator. TRANSPORTATION AND TERMINALS BUREAU

Karl J. Mellander, from Wireman, Electrical Division, to Battery and Ignition

Electrician, .Motor Transportation Division. Roy M. Steele, from Lead Stevedore Fore- man to General .Stevedore Foreman, Terminals Division. Albert B. Collins, Cargo Handling Equip- ment M.iintainer. from Maintenance Division to Motor Tr.msportation Dixision. MARCH SAILINGS

From Cristobal Panama- . - - March .^ CristobaL- March 1(1 A neon. - March 17 Panama March 24

Cristnhiil - . - March .U From New York

CrislabaL. March 1 Ancon.. . _ . . March 8 Panama March 15

Cristobal . .March 11 Ancon _ March 29 North-bound and sauth-bound ships are

in Haiti Mondays.

Retirement certificates were presented

the end of February to the following employees who are listed alphabetically, together with their birthplaces, titles, length of service, and future addresses: Earl R. Baltozer, Pennsylvania; Meat

Cutter-in-Charge, Commissar\' Division; 29

vears, 6 months, 21 davs; St. Petersburg,

Fla.Joseph M. Coleman, Ohio, Customs

Guard, Customs Division; 15 years, 27 days: Berkele\'. Mo.

Robert E. Dawn, New York; Foreman

Lineman, Electrical Division; 22 years, 6 months, 20 days, Florida. Harry W. Peterson, Wisconsin; Postal

Clerk. Postal Division; 39 vears, 6 months,

5 days; Glendale, Calif. George A. Sausel, Wisconsin; Lockmaster, Pacific Locks; 29 years, 5 months,

9 days, Florida. Frank L. Taylor, California; Filtration Plant Operator, Maintenance Division; 20

vears, 11 month.^. 8 davs: Panama. ANNIVERSARIES

Twehe months ha\e passed since William Jump last appeared in the .Anniversaries' Column of Thk Review and the oldest "oUl- timer " in the Industrial Division has now

completed a record 51 years of Canal service. He is senior man on the LInited States

rolls and has the longest continuous service with one unit of any employee. A complete story about this Industrial Division timekeeper appeared last March

in The Review. Highlights of his career: Born in Gorgona; went to work as a "boy"

in the Gorgona shops in 1905 for 5 cents an

hour; moved with the shops from Gorgona

to Empire to Balboa to Cristoba'. Last year a community celebration was held at Rainbow City honoring his half century of continuous Canal service. Five emplo\ ees, three of whom have ccjn tinuous Canal service, completed 30 yeais

of government service last month. .As it happens, the first three alphabetically are

also those with continuous service. They are: William Brown, with no middle initial, .Assistant to the Health Director since

1951. Born in Omaha, Neb., he has never worked for any other unit but the Health

organization; he has facts and figures on

per-patient cost and hospital censuses at

his finger tips. Raymond S. Euper, Chief Towboat

Engineer for the Na\ igation Division. Born

in New Orleans he has been working with

floating craft most of his life. In his spare time he is one of the Gamboa Golf Club's

"hottest shots." William E. Jones, District Fire Chief at Balboa. He has been with the Fire Division ever since he came to the Isthmus. He

was born in Tonkawa, Okla. In addition

to burning down buildings for training purposes, his main hobby today is raising

tropical fish; some years ago he was a crack

trapshooter. James G. Raymond, regularly .Assistant Commissary Manager at Camp Bierd and

more recentl.v .Acting Manager at .Margarita Commissary. Born in .New York City he came here while still a youngster and

worked several sunnners as a boy. Most of

his adult service has been with the Commis.sary Division.

Clifton W. Ryter, one of the three Senior Towboat Masters for the Dredging Division. He serves as relief senior master for the Division's tugs or pilot for its lioating e<iuipment. He was born on the other .side of the Brookhn Bri<lge from Mr. Raymond,

and has never worked for any other Panama

Canal unit except the Dredging Division: outside of working hours he is a teer.age baseball fan.

2.S YEARS

Februirv vas silver—or twenty-lifth- - anniversary month for another six Canal

employees. Those whose service with lie Canal is unbroken are: James R. Doran, .i native of Long Island, who is Supervisorv

.Accounling Assistant in the Division ol Storehouses; WilLam F. Grady, who was

born in Wilmington, .\. C, and whose job
March 2, 1956 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW 15 Marine Biologists Fish "Long Line"

To Track Down Large Pacific Tuna

i:^..' SHIPS >ND SHIPPING J.^.

The habits and habitats of tuna in the

Pacific from California to Peru will soon

be better known to fishermen and scienTHIS BABY sailfish measured ?.ve inches from tip to

tail and was about three weeks old. Tom Jow, one

of the marine biologists aboard the .V. B. Scofield, holds the specimen.

is Supervisory Pharmacist at Coco Solo

Hospital; Anthony R. Nard, Chief of the

Civil Engineering Branch in the Engineering Division. A native of Tom's Creek.

\'a., he is a newcomer to the Canal organization and the bulk of his 25 years service has been in the United States with the Corps of Engineers; and Herbert Newhouse,

was was born in New Jersey and is now a Policeman in Balboa. The 25-year employees whose service is broken are: Otto W. Helmerichs, a native Zonian, Chief of the Employment Branch

of the Personnel Bureau; and Joseph J. Riley, Lock Operator Foreman Machinist

for the Pacific Locks. Mr. Riley was born

in Quincy, Mass.

20 YEARS

Both of February's 20-year men ha\e unbroken ser\"ice, not only with the Canal

but also with the division for which the\' work. They are: Irving G. Hay, formerly

of Long Island, now a Canal pilot; and Thomas G. Relihan, a native of \Iassachusetts, who is Superintendent of the General Products Branch of the Commissary

Division.

15 YEARS

Nine of the 19 employees who completed

15 years of government service in February have unbroken service with the Canal. They are: Richard T. Bailey, Guard, Locks Security Branch; Dr. Albert Blanshaft, of the Pacific Medical Clinics; Quentin R. Cooper,

Tractor-Bulldozer and Construction Equip- ment Operator in the Maintenance Division; Mrs. Helen R. Hobbs, Time, Leave, and Payroll Clerk in the Community Services Bureau; Alfred Houston, Restaurant Manager, Balboa Service Center; Robert

G. Laatz, Maintenance Engineer, Mainte- nance Division; Mrs. Thelma G. Lowe, Commissary Supervisor, Commissary Division; Lionel L McPherson, General Steve- dore Foreman, Terminals Division; and

Paul M. Runnestrand, E.\ecutive Assistant

to the Governor-President. February's other 15-year employees are: Frank A. Anderson, jr.. Lock Operator

Pipefitter, Pacific Locks; John E. Borden,

Machinist, Industrial Division; Joseph M.

Coleman, Customs Guard, Customs Division ; Fred Engel, Sheetmetal Worker, Maintenance Division; Mrs. Ida H. Fuller, Time, Leave, and Paxroll Clerk, Payroll Branch; Mrs. lone M. Newland, Cargo

Clerk, Terminals Division; R. L. Permington, Toolmaker, Industrial Division; Alex- ander Rienks, Elevator and Crane Inspector, Industrial Division; Max M. Schoch, Road Maintenance Lead F"<)reinan, Maintenance Division; and Benjamin Suisman,

Construction Inspector, Contract and In- spection Division.

tists through the efforts of three marine

biologists who visited the Canal Zone last month aboard the California Department

of Fish and Game's IS6-ton craft, the

.V. B. Scofield. The scientists are Kenneth Mais, Thomas Jow, and Ralph Soholt. They

left California January 10 and spent about a month doing "long-line fishing" along the Central American coast from

(Guatemala to Cocos Island, fishing mostly about 300 miles offshore. According to Mr. Mais, the biologists are interested principally in the distribu- tion of large sub-surface tuna and other marine life. To obtain these specimens

they use a method of fishing which has

long been utilized by Japanese fishermen but which has been used from the Scofield for only the past three years. About 8 miles of line, divided into 210- fathom sections, are stretched out on or

just below the surface behind the Scofield. Orange flags on upright bamboo poles are used to indicate its location. From each

section 11 hooks, baited with frozen

sardines, are dropped to sub-surface waters on secondary lines varying from

30 to 100 fathoms "in length." It takes about an hour and a half to set out the long line and about two hours to winch

it back to the Scofield. When tuna grow older, Mr. Mais said, they do not travel in the surface schools which are the usual thing with younger

fish. The more adult fish tend to dis- perse and to live well below the surface. In addition to the tuna, sailfish and

marlin have been brought in on the biologists' sub-surface lines, both inshore and

offshore. They have varied in size from

those four inches in length to whoppers

weighing in at 150 pounds. On the

Scofield's previous trip, the biologists found both sailfish and marlin 1,800 miles offshore. While Mr. Mais and his companions

specialize in tuna and large sub-siu'face

fish—this is primarily a "long-line trip," they say, they do not reject any minute,

interesting specimens which may come

their way. Most of the smaller fish which they have caught and preserved for

later study have come from the stomachs

of larger fish or from nighttime dip net

fishing. Frequently at night, Mr. Mais

says, the biologists hang a night light over the side of the Scofield; when fish congregate under the light, they are dipped up in hand nets. Green Headlight

So far they have collected some smallscale sailfish, only a couple of inches long, and some tiny tuna, but have yet on this

trip to turn up as fascinating a spec'men

as one they found on an earlier e.xpedition. This particular fish had a green light on its head and fangs like a snake. So

far it has been identified as a rare, deep- water fish of the Aatronichichys species. The Scripps Oceanographic Institution at La Jolla. Calif., now has this specimen and

marine biologists there are attempting to make a more definite classification of it. While the work of classifying, collect- ing and reportmg on the tuna and other

fish is primarily the work of the tbee

marine biologists, they are assisted by

Capt. Richard Mitchell, in command of the Scofield, and his crew of 12.

Transits by Ocean-Going Vessels In January

1956 1965 Commercial 664 668 U.S. Government 19 31

TutaL. _._ 683 699

Commercial $2,847,465 $2,834,926 U.S. Government 98,842 100,700

Total $2,946,307 $2,935,660

*Include tolls on all vps«-Is. occan-Boini! and smaM.

South Margaritans Will Have 60-Cycle

{Continued fn.m page 1) players 48 hours. Hobby shop equipment seven days.

All other frequency-sensitive equip- ment—48 hours. Under this schedule, all of the essential

electrical equipment in a home will be converted and ready for use within a

period of three hom-s, and power for

lights, stoves, and other non-sensitive equipment will be interrupted for a maxi- mum of one hour. Generally, the contractor will convert equipment in homes

served by one transformer simultaneously since practically all transformer

units in residential areas have duplicate

feeder lines. Pacific Side Contracts With the Power Conversion Project

well advanced on the Atlantic side, interest will be centered during the next few months on some of the major contracts for work on the Pacific side. Notice of the award of two large conversion contracts were made last month,

one on the Pacific side. These were for increasing the size of the transmission

lines from the Madden Power Plant, and

the construction of a new switch and

transformer yard at Agua Clara Lhtel

plant. The former was awarded to Bildon, Inc., for the installation of aluminum conductors, while L. R. Sommer was awarded the bid for the work

at Agua Clara. Bids for another major project on the

Pacific side- -the conversion of Madden Dam generators for 60-cycle use- were opened this week at Balboa Heights. Bids for the conversion of the first domestic equipment on the Pacific side are to be opened April 4. The contract

for this work will cover the conversion

of all domestic, commercial, and industrial equipment in the central area of the Canal Zone which includes the towns

of Gamboa, Summit, Paraiso, and adja- cent areas.

New Recreation Room Opened For Chest Patients At Gorgas Hospital

(Continued from page IS) out Some hand- Some purses in the process manufacture

jewelry from shells, and paint bateas. Some have turned to crochet work and

have become so skillful that they can

follow patterns and directions from

instruction books. The men spend their time working

with leather and turning out belts, wallets, and keycases, making sandals of native

raflna and doing some weaving. Both men and women work with "looper clip- pings"—side products from hosier}^ mills. The clippings are woven into squares which can be used for mats or, when

sewed together, made into purses.
16 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW March 2, 1956 Workers Dwarfed In Empty Lock Chambers Im

' W=u

ca^=<

to i-n

-J ==31

Ol G

x>. >

SOME OF THE AN'T-SIZE figures in tliiii picUm; mv avyi age-sized men

doing one of the biggest maintenance jobs of the Panama Canal—overhaul

of the Locks. This unusual picture of an unusual job was taken early in February when overhaul of the east chambers was in full swing. The overhaul at Gatun this year is slightly ahead of schedule; the changeover to the west chamber was made February 21, about five days earlier than planned. One of the jobs being done at Gatun for the first time since the (^anal was opened is the pouring of new concrete at some of the openings on the chamber floors. Some of the intakes are being reformed to fitthe metal

plugs which will be used to close off the flow of water into the center wail culvert when it is overhauled as the last phase of the Gatun project. Locks oSicials have been highly pleased to note the effectiveness of the

cathodic protection tu the Locks gates. Thi' culhn.la' piotection system was installed at Gatun during the last overhaul there in 11151 and this is the

first opportunity to determine its effectiveness. The big metal gates have been found to be almost free of rust, particularly in the lower chambers where the cathodic protection was more effective

in salt water. As a result, no bituraastic coating is being given the gates as

in the past. They arc, however, all being scaled and given a priming coat. Under the work schedule established for this year's overhaul, the overhaul of the west chamber will be completed by mid-April, after which the

center wall culvert will be drained and the operating machinery there removed

and overhauled. This will be done for the first time with both sides of the Locks in operation by the use of the huge metal plug.s which will be lowered

into the outlets connecting the center wall culvert with the Lock chambers.