iii'sst MiifKaS;!

U ofFLibrary

9 86.3005

P187

V I

i
Digitized by the Internet Archive

in 2010 with funding from

University of Florida, George A. Smathers Libraries

http://www.archive.org/details/panamacanalrevie114pana


OVEMBER 4, IE 60 New Face For Landmark
\V. A. Carter, Governor-President

John D. McElheny, Lieutenant Governor Will Arey

Panama Canal Information Officer

On sale at all Panama Canal Service Centers,

1^.

Official Panama Canal Company PuUicalion

Published Monthly Al Balboa Heights, C. Z. Printed at the Printing Plant, Mount Hope, Canal Zone

N. D. Christensen, Press Officer Joseph Connor, Publications Editor

Editorial Assistants: Eunice Richard and Tobi Bittel

William Burns, Official Photographer

Retail Stores, and The Tivoli Guest House for 10 days after publication date at 5 cent each. Subscriptions, SI a year; mail and back copies. 10 cents each.

Postal money orders made payable to the Panama Canal Company should be mailed to Bo.\ 5084. Cristobal. C. Z.

Editorial offices are located in the Administration Building. Balboa Heights. C. Z.

No LONGER is this impressive structure in downtown Panama

City the scene of train-time hustle and bustle. Its use as the

Pacific terminus of the Panama Railroad ended last month and

the new joassenger station in Ancon replaced it in that role. The masonry building in Panama was built during Canal

Construction Days to replace a frame station located at the same point. It was at the site of this station that thousands of

passengers bound for the gold fields of California landed on

the Pacific side of the Isthmus, ready to board a ship to complete tlie trip. The site also served as the Pacific-side terminus

for many of the workers recruited during Construction Days.

As a result of the October 29 change in stations, Panama

Railroad passenger trains now make their transcontinental

crossing entirely within the Canal Zone.

Before this month ends, the freight house in Panama Citv

also will be moved to new quarters at Ancon and the Panama

Railroad Yard, which has served the Pacific side of the Isthmus

since the railroad was completed 105 years ago, will be trans- ferred by the United States to the Republic of Panama in accordance with the 1955 Treaty and Memorandum of Understandings between the tw^o countries.

In This Issue

Rope, as most any sailor can tell vou, has been

used for centuries on both land and sea. On shipboard, rope long has been more than merely useful,

it has been vital. Harbor

craft are no exception. They

not only use rope on board

the vessel, but also over the

sides. As this view of the Canal

tug San Pablo clearly shows,

sexeral hundred feet of rope dangle o\er its sides at all times. It is, of course, placed

there for the purpose of protecting the sides of the tug

when it rubs against other

craft, docks, and piers.

These protective clumps

of rope are not merelv knotted together haphazardly,

however. The)' are carefulh' fashioned b\' Canal work- men in a shop at Cristobal and even the fraved ap- pearance is deliberate—and useful, as a stor)' on page 12 reports.

The big boa in the hands of Kenneth W. Vinton was a pet of his for almost 20 \ears and traveled with

him to many places in Central and South America

during World War II. The

USO sign on the side of the panel truck might indicate

that Mr. \'inton was a member of a traveling entertain- ment troupe, but such was

not the case. With the use of the boa

and other jungle creatures, Mr. \'inton lectured to thou- sands of U.S. soldiers during

the war on the nature of the

tropics. This "Jungle Scientist" recentl)' has eaiTied new honors for his studies, as you v\'ill learn on page 9.

ON THE COVER

Contractors Hill, historic Canal landmark, has

lost a lot of its menacing appearance in the current Cut-widening project. The green line on this month's cover shows approximate contour of hill before 1954. The photo on which the line is printed

shows what it looked like last month.

November 4, 1960
Contractors Hill section of Cut as widening nears completion. Dredging Division is to remove most of material between Canal and road. "Big Ditch" Is Getting Bi

With Cut-widening project nearing halfway mark, Canal

officials look toward accomplishment of other improvement3

Status of Canal Improvements

Widening of Gaillard Cut: —More than five miles will have been widened

by late 1963 and the remaining three miles tentatively is scheduled for completion by mid-1967.

Lighting banks of the Cut: —X'irtualh all of the lights have been installed along the east bank. Those along the west bank will be installed as the widening

is completed.

New locomotives for Locks: —Being detailed b\' Mitsubishi Shoji Kaisha,

Ltd., in Japan, which also will manufacture them. The first six are to be

delivered next year and a minimum of 33 more by mid-1963.

More maneuverable and powerful tugs: —The first of three new tugs being

built at Savannah, Ga., by Diamond Nlanufacturing Co., Inc., was launched

last month and will be on its wav to th? Canal before the end of December.

The two others will be delivered early in 1961. Marine Traffic Control System: —Design work on the electronic svstem now

is being done b)' the New York firm of Gibbs & Hill, Inc., and it should be in use by Jul\- 1963. New Locks maintenance method: —Plans now are being made, with the help

of the Arm\' Coq^s of Engineers, to reduce the time which Lock lanes must be

out of sendee for major maintenance. Preparatory work for inauguration of the new method will be started next vear.

The Panama Canal rapidly is pro- gressing toward the day when its restrictive "big ditch" section from Pedro

Miguel Locks north to Gamboa will have a channel .500 feet wide instead of the present 300 feet. The biggest earth-moving project on

the Isthmus since Construction Days is almost 40 percent completed and the topographx' along the west bank of Gaillard Cut is taking on a new look. Completion of the current Cut-widening job and the other improv ements now

underway or on the planning boards is expected to increase total transit capacity of the Canal to a level sufficient to handle predicted traffic for several

decades. A major factor in this boosted capacity, as a direct result of the Cut-widening, will be a substantial reduction in the number of ships classified as "clear Cuts." The number of such vessels now

using the Canal is approaching the level of 1,500 per year and is increasing

steadih'. The widened waterway will

The Panama Canal Review
Sidewalk superintendents are on the job. make it possible for many of these ships

to pass each other in the Cut, thus re- moving them from the clear-Cut classification. The greater width, combined

with the bank lighting now partially installed, also will provide greater usability of the Canal at night, thus enabling more ships to pass through the Cut—and

the Canal—in any 24-hour period.

A secondary benefit from the Cut- widening is expected to be elimination

of a number of slides which might block

or restrict Canal traffic. Current contracts and activated plans

call for five miles of the eight-mile Cut

to be widened to the new .500-foot width

by late 196.3. Tentative planning for widening the remaining three miles is aimed at completing the entire job by

mid-1967.

By that same time. Canal officials expect to have accomplished the related Canal improvements of lighting the Cut,

installation of an electronic Marine Traffic Control System, acquisition of new

and more maneuverable tugs, installa- tion of the new and more powerful

electric locomotives at the Locks, and

inauguration of an improved Locks

overhaul procedure to reduce the length

of time Lock lanes are out of service for major maintenance.

In the process of widening the water- way at the Continental Divide, one of the famous landmarks of the Canal, Contractors Hill, has been reduced from a 420-foot high mass of rock to a hump

of stone 370 feet high. The menacing

face it presented to the Canal for 40

years has been cut back 2.50 feet and

terraced into a symmetiical, stairstep

profile.

It was, in fact, a big bite off the face and top of Contractors Hill which

marked the beginning of what since has become the Cut-widening project.

A crack, which was discovered in 1939

in the hill's face, started a disturbingly

rapid separation in the early 1950's,

» ^'im.

Powdery rock dust Kil> drill crew sinks another

leading to a 1954 contract with the

Tecou Corporation of Dallas, Tex., for removal of almost 2,500,000 cubic yards

of material from the top and face of the hill. Since Tecon started work in 1954, ap- proximately 18,000,000 cubic yards of

soil and rock have been stripped from

Caillard Cut, all of it being removed

from the west bank. An additional

29,300,000 cubic yards is yet to be re- moved before the job is completed.

Following completion of the Tecon

contract in 1955, a contract was awarded

to \'entas Generales of Panama for retlie air as contractor s hole to blast rock loose. moval of slightly more than 100,000

cubic yards from the slope just north

of Contractors Hill. A second contract

\\ as awarded to Tecon and Bildon Corporations, on a joint basis, for removal

of 2.50,000 cubic yards of material be- tween Pedro Miguel Locks and Paraiso.

First major contract after the Tecon

work was one awarded to the firm of

Merrit, Chapman & Scott in 1959. It provided for removal of .5,388,66.5 cubic

yards of material from a strip which

included Contractors Hill. The hill, which had been cut back about 1.50 feet by Tecon, lost another 100 feet from its

Dynamite blast at base of Contractors Hill loosens rock for removal by Dredging Division.

4 November 4, 1960
face in the course of the Meriitt, Chap- man & Scott work.

Second major contract after Ti'con was the one on which the firm of Foster- Wilhams Brothers no\\ is working. It calls for removal of some 7,300,000

cubic yards of material and is scheduled

for completion in mid-1962. Approximatel>' 2,000,000 cubic yards already has been removed by Foster-\Villiams.

Contractors working on the Cutwidening will remove all material lo- cated more than 95 feet abo\e sea lc\'el and will drill and blast the underwater

portion, which is being removed by the Canal Company's Dredging Division. When the entire Cut, from Pedro Miguel to Gamboa, has been widened to 500 feet, excavation in this eight-mile

stretch of the Canal, from the days of the French effort to the present, will

total approximately 244,000,000 cubic

yards.

Of this total, about 21,000,000 cubic

yards \\ ere removed bv the French and

158,000,000 by the American Constiuction Day forces. Since the opening of the Canal in 1914, the Canal's Dredging

Di\ision and contractors have removed

a total of 35,700,000 cubic yards. Still to be removed are 29,300,000 cubic

yards.

Thus far, the current Cut-widening

has created slightly more than a mile of 500-foot wide channel above Pedro

Miguel Locks. This section already has

proved of benefit b)- providing more

space in which to maneuver ships enter- ing and leaving the upper le\el of the Locks. Two other short sections of the widening also ha\e been completed.

Breaking the eight miles of the Cut

into four segments of one to one and a

half miles each and a fifth segment run- ning south from Gamboa for three miles,

the current status of the mammoth

earth-mo\ing project is:

1. Paraiso and Cucaracha Reaches,

the alreads completed area above

Pedro Miguel Locks;

2. The area which includes Contractors Hill, on which Merritt, Chap- man & Scott is nearing completion

and the Dredging Division is follow- ing through with its part of the job;

3. Culebra Reach, which was

widened to 500 feet by the Dredging

DiNision between 1930 and 1955;

4. Empire Reach, where Foster- Williams has completed about onefourth of its work and the Dredging

Division share remains to be started;

5. Bas Obispo and Las Cascadas

Reaches, which cover the three-mile segment from the north end of the Foster-Williams job to the mouth of the Chagres River at Gamboa, no

contracts ha\e been awarded, but

engineering work has started.

Workmen prcpaie to renunint t.aillard Plaque on its contrete .suppcji tin;; \\ ail on a slielf of Contractors Hill after completion of current Cut-widening work on the face of the hill.

The Case Of

The Traveling Plaque

The G.\ill.\rd Memorial Plaque is back in place on the rocky face of Contractors Hill after the most recent of two

trips which it has made up and down the

hill since being installed there in 1928. The new location of the plaque,

which weighs almost a ton, is 105 feet above the normal surface of the Canal. This is just two feet higher than the

position which the 9- by 11-foot placjue

first occupied.

The bronze tablet is dedicated to the memor\- of Lt. Col. David DuBose Gaillard, head engineer of the Central Di-

\ision, which carried out excavation of the Cut from July 1908 to July 1913. The bas-relief scene on the face of the plaque is symbolic of the removal

of the last shovelful of earth from the Cut. Two steam shovels are shown in the background, while two heroic-size

figures in the foreground of the scene remove the last shovelful of dirt from

the bottom of the Cut. The tablet was pro\ided b\" the family and friends of Colonel Gaillard, in- cluding his wife and the Memorial Association of the Third United States Vol- unteer Regiment of Engineers, the unit which the colonel commanded during

the Spanish-American War.

When first installed bv the Dredging Division in 1928 the plaque was moimted directly on the rock of Contractors Hill. In August 1954 the placjue was removed from its rocky display

place in preparation for cutting back

the face of the hill. Rigging was at- tached to the plaque and connected by

cable over the brow of the hill to a winch truck which controlled its movement. The plaque was taken loose, then

lowered by crane to the base of the hill, where it was crated and removed to storage until a new location was read\'. In April 1956, the plaque, newly fas- tened to a free-standing concrete backing wall, was hauled back up the rock face to a location on the third shelf,

from where it was clearK' visible from

passing ships. Earlv in 1959, as a new

assault on Contractors Hill was started

in connection with the current Cut- widening project, the plaque again was remo\ed from the hill. With current work on the hill now

complete, the plaque has been reinstalled on the hill in a location not far

diff^erent from that selected by Mrs.

Gaillard 32 years ago. Today, howe\'er,

it o\'erlooks a Canal that has been in- creased in width b\ almost one-third.

The Panama Canal Review
Building

Toward

The

Future

Scholarships are helping Latin American

youngsters become

teachers, engineers

and professionals

in other fields

Future teachers, engineers, scientists, and accountants whose talents might otherwise have been lost to these

fields, now are attending schools in the Republic of Panama, the United States, and the Canal Zone, at least partially as a result of financial assistance by the Latin American Scholarship Committee

and b\' the Club Altamira of the Canal

Zone. The Latin American Scholarship

Committee was organized in 1956 at the suggestion of Henry L. Donovan, Director of the Civil Affairs Bureau. Its

Beverly Best, Canal Zone Junior College.

Latin American Scholarship Committee members, from left: Harold Williams; Louis H. De Armas; A. E. Osborne, treasurer; Miss Emily Butcher, assistant secretary; E. L. Fawcett,

president; William Jump; Aston Parchment, secretary; Henry L. Donovan, Director of the Civil Affairs Bureau, honorary president, and Ra>mond George. Two other members,

A. C. Cragvvell and S. S. Josephs, were unable to be present when the picture was taken.

objecti\es are to promote and support

scholarship and educational opportimities for graduates of the Latin American

high schools of the Canal Zone. The Club Altamira, with the motto

of "Progress Through Education" and a membership limited to 25 members, was

organized in 1952 for the express pur- pose of raising funds and promoting activities for the support of deserving and

needy students. The majority of scholarships awarded

through the Latin American Scholarship

Committee have been to colleges in the United States. The Club Altamira, on the other hand, has never sponsored a scholarship outside the Republic of Panama

and the Canal Zone.

lioth organizations carefidK' screen

the students the\' will help. The Latin

American Scholarship Committee re- ceives the names of top-ranking gra- duates from the two Latin American

High Schools in the Canal Zone. From

these, one candidate is selected from

the Pacific Side of the Lsthmus and one from the Atlantic Side. The student with

the highest scholastic standing and

greatest need for financial assistance re- ceives the Committee's scholarship.

The lottery drawing plays a part in the Club Altamira's selection of a scholarship student. Candidates are recom- mended b\' teachers and principals and

careful in\estigation is made before 10

scholarship candidates are listed. From

these 10, the winner is chosen through

the lottery drawing held closest the date of the award.

The present Club Altamira scholar- ship student, William G. Millett, |r., who is completing his second and final

year at the Canal Zone Junior College, wrote his own letter to the Club Alta- mira, setting forth the facts on which

his recjuest for scholarship aid was

based. He also sent along his scholastic records. Mr. Dono\an is honorarv president of the Latin American Scholarship Committee. The other officers are: E. L. Fawcett, president; Aston Parchment,

secretary; Miss Emil)' Butcher, assistant secretary, and A. E. Osborne, treasurer. There are si.x other members: William

Jump, Louis De Armas, Alfredo Cragwell, S. S. Josephs, Harold Williams,

and Ra\mond George.

Through the efforts of \\'alter Oliver, a former member of the Latin .American

Scholarship Committee, now a professor

of Spanish at Taylor University, Upland,

Ind., the Committee obtained Taylor

Ra>mond Oakley, now student in States.
University scholarships for five graduates of Canal Zone Latin American

schools. Three of these students are still at Taylor, one was graduated as a

teacher in June 1960, and there has been

one transfer for specialized schooling.

The first of the Canal Zone Latin

American scholarship students to gra- duate from Taylor University is Cecilia Parchment, a graduate of Paraiso High

School, who recei\ed a four-vear scholarship and was graduated \\ ith a Bachelor of Arts degree in education last June. She was appointed teacher of general science of a junior high school in Elkhart, Ind. Annetta Josephs, a graduate of Rainbow City High School, completed three years as a scholarship student at Ta\lor

University and has transferred to a

school of nursing in New York City.

Two of the three students now at ra)lor Uni\ersit\' are graduates of Rainbow City High School: Jacinta Griffiths, now a member of the junior class on a

full scholarship, and Clarence Stuart, a senior at Ta\lor. The latter received a scholarship and substantial financial aid from the Latin American Scholarship

Committee. Eric Atherly, fifth member

of the Canal Zone group at Taylor University, is a sophomore there. William Fredericks, a graduate of Rainbow Cit^• High School, received a four-year scholarship to study at Dakota

Wesle\an Uni\ersitv in Mitchell, S. Dak., where he is completing his senior

year. Claudette Solev, a graduate of Paraiso High School, received a four- year scholarship to Ohio University

through the efforts of Las Serv'idoras,

Inc., of New York City, and substantial

financial aid from the Latin American

Scholarship Committee. She is a fresh- man at the Ohio school. With assistance from the Latin American Scholarship Committee, Ra\mond

Marion Clarke, University of Panama.

Club Altaniira officials, seated from left: Edmundo F. Joseph, president, and Clemente V.

Jones, treasurer. Standing, from left: Thomas L. Edghill, secretary, and George Thomas,

chairman of public relations committee. The Club has awarded seven scholarships.

Oakley graduated from the Canal Zone

Junior College and left last month to study at the University of Illinois, where

he will major in electronics. On the local scene, financial aid is being given Marion Clarke, a medical

student at the University of Panama.

Beverly Best, who attended Canal Zone

Junior College, also received aid from

the Committee.

Club Altamira scholarships, which

are financed through public support,

have been awarded to seven Latin

American boys and girls. Milton A. James, the first Club Alta- mira scholarship award winner, recei\'ed a six-year grant to study at the Artes y

Oficios "Melchor Lasso de la Vega"

School in Panama City. He completed

his studies in construction and is planning to continue studies in architectural engineering at Wisconsin State College,

River Falls, Wis.

Esmeralda Lopez, who in 19.55 was

given a three-year grant to study at the Professional High School in Panama

City, was graduated with honors in 1958

and received an outright contribution

of $50 to help her continue her studies

at the National Institute of Panama.

After graduation, she plans to enter a nursing school. Judith Kidd of Colon has been a twotime Club Altamira Scholarship winner.

In 1957 she received a two-\ear grant

to study at Abel Bravo High School in Colon, after the original winner, Augusto Diaz, moved to the Pacific side. As

a goodwill gesture. Club Altamira gave

Mr. Diaz a S50 contribution to assist him in entering school in Panama. Receiving a 1960-1961 scholarship to study

at Abel Bravo, Miss Kidd is taking a preparatory course in nursing and

sciences.

\\'ilfred Sinclair, who was graduated

from La Boca High School in 1955 as an honor student, received a one-year

grant to study at the Canal Zone Junior

College and now is pursuing engineering

studies in the United States. William G. Millett, Jr., received a one-year grant for his second and final year at the Canal Zone Junior College,

where he is completing his final year in medical technolog\

.

Dora Castro and Olga Zuniga of Colon, who are studying at Colegio San

\'icente de Paul in Colon Citv', a parochial school and a charitable institution operated by the Vicentian Fathers and

taught by nuns, are the other two Club

Altamira scholarship winners.

William Millett, Jr., Zone medical student.

I V
This artist's concept of the new Paraiso Junior-Senior High School plant shows pool, shop building at left, and extended masonry buildings.

Coming: Shift In Paraiso Schools

Melva Lowe and her classmates

who complete Junior High School studies at Paraiso in January won't have to move across town to the Paraiso High

School next year. The High School will come to them, instead. Fifth Grader Hugh Warren, who

plans to attend sixth grade in the Paraiso

Elementary School next year, will move,

however. He and his classmates will go

across town to the building which has served as the Paraiso High School since 1956. These youngsters are only two of the 1,404 students now attending school in Paraiso who will be affected by a shift in the school plants which is to be

carried out during the coming dry

season. The switch is being made be- cause of enrollment increases and to provide sufficient facilities for the Junior

and Senior High School students of Latin American schools on the Pacific

side.The switch between the elementary

and secondary schools will follow conversion of the existing Elementary and

Junior High School buildings, which are located near each other, into a combined

Junior-Senior High School plant, thus leaving the present High School building

for use as the Elementary School. The conversion will include such

basic jobs as raising the blackboards in one building and lowering them in another, thus adjusting them to fit the

size of the students who will be using

them. More importantly, however, it

will include the addition of several class- rooms and laboratories, a shop building,

a swimming pool, and consolidation of

all High School and Junior High School

activities, including physical education

and recreation, in a single area. The combined Junior-Senior High

School plant will utilize both the present frame building of the Junior High

School and the masonrv building which

has housed the Elementar)' School. In the frame building, a study hall will be

established on the second floor and part

of the basement will be converted into a communitv-school library. The base- ment also will house two home econo- mics classrooms and the offices and

clinic of the Junior-Senior High School. The new classrooms and laboratories to be added to the new, combined

Junior-Senior High School plant will be

constructed as an addition to the exist- ing masonry building and will be de- signed on the general plan used for the new schools at Diablo and Los Rios. Along with the conversion and the switch in locations of the Elementary

and Senior High Schools, four of the classrooms in the two-story masonry

building which now houses the Ele- mentary School will be air-conditioned

for use as music and audio-visual in- struction rooms for the combined Junior- Senior High School. The present Ele- mentarv School kindergarten rooms will be converted to High School classrooms. The shop building, which is to be

located adjacent to the gymnasium off

Hamilton Street, will provide wood and

metal shop facilities for the Senior High

School and general shop facilities for the Junior High School. The swimming pool to be built in connection with the changes in school ar- rangements will be located on the east side of the gymnasium. It will be divided

into two sections by a bulkhead at one end which will separate a 20-foot section with a maximum depth of three

feet from the main part of the pool.

The swimming pool will include

covered seating for spectators, while

bathhouse facilities will be provided by

the locker rooms and shower facilities near the gymnasium, which were de- signed to serve both the gymnasium and

the pool.

The present High School building,

which is to be used as the Elementary

School after this year, was constructed

as an industrial building in 1943 and

converted into a high school in 19.56. The only major change needed in this structure—except for reducing things to a size suitable for its new occupantswill be the conversion of the present

shop into a covered recreation area. The

present study hall will be divided into two kindergarten classrooms and the

library and household arts room also will be changed into classrooms. Bids for the work will be sought this month and the work is scheduled for completion by the time Latin American

schools open for the next school term, which starts in May.

8 November 4, 1960
JUNGLE

SCIENTIST

Kenneth W. Vinton has differed

with Darwin, dabbled in archeology, tramped through South

America, put pen to paper—and

earned honors at all of them.

New honors have come to a scientist and instructor in the Canal Zone

Junior College who has been studying

the jungles, seacoasts, and archeology

of Central and South America virtually ever since arri\ing on the Isthmus more

than 30 years ago.

Scientific recognition of his work is nothing new for Kenneth W. Vinton,

head of the Department of Natural

Science in the Canal Zone Junior College. But having two papers about his studies in this part of the \\ orld accepted

at the 34th International Congress of Americanists in Vienna, Austria, this summer certainly was a major highlight

in his honor-winning career. Mr. \'inton, who spent two and a half months in Europe this past smnmer, personally presented both papers at the Vienna meeting and both will be printed

in the minutes of the sessions. The two

papers also were acclaimed by other ex- perts attending the Sixth International Congress of the Sciences of Archaeology

and Ethnology in Paris, where only lack

of program time prevented Mr. \'inton

from again presenting them personally.

Author, college instructor, hiking enthusiast, scientist, and amateur archeologist, Mr. Vinton's latest ventures have

been aimed in two directions: attracting a well-financed organization into archeological exploration of the Belcn-\'eragua

River area on the north coast of Panama

between Boeas del Toro and Colon, and

showing that the gradually rising coast- line of Panama Bay is important to

archeological investigations along its shores. He has another project on tap, but

will not pursue it until next summer, when the end of college sessions will give him time to spend several weeks

in an attempt to locate the old Spanish

settlement of Ada, where Vasco Nunez

de Balboa lost his head, by order of Pedrarias the Cruel.

"It's on the north coast of Panama,

almost to the Colombian border," Mr.

\'inton says. "No one ever has been able

to locate it positively, but I believe I know where it was and think I'll be

able to establish the exact site by an onthe-spot visit." Those who know Mr. Vinton's interest

in and knowledge of Panama and large

parts of Central and South America—

and his determination in searching out

previously unknown facts—will not be

surprised if he succeeds in locating Ada.

In fact, they probably will be more sur- prised if he doesn't locate it. Man) times in the past 30 years, Mr.

Vinton has pursued the elusive answers

to scientific cjuestions and has met with

remarkable success on a number of

occasions. Articles which he has written

as a result of his studies have appeared

in such influential and varied publications as the American Journal of Surgery, the National Geographic Magazine, the American Journal of Science,

Natural History, the Scientific Monthly,

and School Science and Mathematics,

as well as in book form, including a complete book. The Jungle Whispers, which

Kenneth W. Vinton, author and scientist, in clothes he normally wears on jungle trips.

is a collection of lectures which he gave

to servicemen during World War II and

stories of his experiences in Central and

South America.

An article which Mr. Vinton wrote on

"Origin of Life on the Galapagos

Islands," first published in the American

Journal of Science in May I95I, later was reprinted in Panorama of Science,

1952, the annual supplement of the

Smithsonian Series, a well-known encyclopedic work on the natural sciences.

It was one of 27 articles reprinted in the supplement that year and put Mr.

Vinton in such distinguished academic

company as Sir Harold Spencer Jones, Maria telkes, Harold C. Urey, H. H.

Nininger, and Arthur W. Hummel, all of whom had articles included in the same book. As this cursory listing indicates, the

Junior College department head and in- structor has let his curiosity keep him

busy at spare time pursuits practically ever since his arrival here in 1930

aboard a Panama Line ship which in- cluded the present Dean of the Canal

Zone Junior College, Roger C. Hackett,

among its passengers. One of Mr. Vinton's early—and more mimdane—ventures on the Isthmus was

to walk from Cristobal Bay to Pier 18

in Balboa, accompanied by Dean

Hackett and three high school bo\s, tw^o of whom failed to complete the 14-hour

hike. Onl\- one of the youths to walk the

entire distance with tlie two teachers was Perry \\'ashabaugh, now with the Admeasurer's Office in Cristobal. James

The Panama Canal Review
Wood, now with the Admeasurer's Office in Balboa, dropped out at Gamboa,

and W'ilham Hollow ell, now Lead Fore- man in the Water Distribution S\stem

on the Atlantic side, who did not join the other four until they reached Gatun,

made it to Pedro Miguel before stopping.

In the years since, Mr. Vinton has

abandoned hiking as an a\'ocation, but

still is agile afoot and thinks little of heading into the jungle for a hike lasting

several days. Nowadays, though, his

hikes are designed to carry him to a place which he wants to visit for some

serious, scientific purpose.

It was such a purpose which, in Jul)* 19.59, induced he and John Knick, a biologv teacher in Balboa High School,

to hike for two days from La Pintada

toward the Atlantic coast, then spend a

third day traveling in native dugouts

with two Indians to finish the journey

to the sea. The trip from La Pintada across the mountains to the ocean was part of the

third visit which Mr. Vinton has made

into the Belen-\'eragua River area. A

year earlier, in July and again in August,

he had entered the area twice, but both

times by sea. The purpose of all three

trips was the same: to study the region

where Christopher Columbus spent

three months after it was pointed out to him as the center of the gold trading

region on the Isthmus. It was Mr.

Vinton's interest in the archeology of the

area which led him to make the trips

and to prepare one of the two papers which were accepted at the European

meetings this summer.

Mr. Vinton says the powerful chief who ruled the Belen-Veragua River area

at the time of Columbus' visit eventually

forced the great discoverer to abandon

the region, but not before making a col- lection of gold pieces which still are

virtually the only native artifacts ever

taken from the area. It is because of such

limited research that Mr. Vinton and

other members of the Panama Archaeological Society would like to see a well- financed expedition visit the region. In his paper, the Junior College

department head says he and other

members of the Society have observed

"evidence of ancient roads or passage- ways in the mountains and uncharted

jungle areas surrounding the Belen- Veragua Rivers." He says, "These old

features have been severely eroded in places and obscured by dense jungle

growth, but nevertheless hint that active trade routes existed between the two

oceans long before Columbus arrived

in the Americas."

The area, Mr. \'inton points out, has remained virtually uninvestigated by ar- cheologists and others because of the

CARIBBEAN

BELEN-VERAGUA

PA C/ F/C OCEAN

This outline map shows location of La Pintada, from where Kenneth W.

Vinton and John Knick walked to Belen-Veragua River area. It also shows

the approximate location of Ada, which Mr. Vinton hopes to locate next year.

difficulties in getting to it. Some of the

deterrent conditions are: A mountain

range along the coast with elevations up

to 11,000 "feet, 12 feet of rainfall per

year, rivers with large sandbars closing

their entrances, a heavy surf most of the

year, and a very small change of tide

level.

It is not surprising that Mr. Vinton

visited the area despite these physical

barriers. Neither geographic deterrents nor formidable scientific opinion have

prevented him from pursuing his scientific endeavors in the past. In fact, some

of those endeavors seem to have been

induced, at least in part, bv just such

factors. In 19.38, he led a two-month expedition into the Amazon River area of South

America to collect specimens of animal

life in that region and study some of the customs of the natives. It was from in- formation gathered on this trip and

further studies later that Mr. \'inton

developed an article for the American

Journal of Surgery on a tiny fish which

attacks humans and other animals un- wary enough to enter the waters where

it lives. During this expedition, Mr.

Vinton and his companions traveled ap- proximately 1,.500 miles through the

mountains and jungles, much of it bv

raft on rivers, but a considerable portion

of it by walking.

World War II forced Mr. \"inton to pause in some of his pursuits, but his knowledge of tropical jungles led him

into a new area of activitv which kept

him extremelv busy: Lecturing on the

plants and animals of the jungle to thou- sands and thousands of U.S. service- men headed for service on the jungletangled islands of the Pacific. During

this period, he also visited the Gala- pagos Islands and became intrigued by

a problem which had troubled scientists since Charles Darwin used his obsenations of life on the islands to support the theories he adv'anced in his monumental work. Origin of the Species.

Darwin and man}' other authorities had theorized that the forms of life found on the islands arrived there with

the flotsam and jetsam carried by

oceanic cuiTents, had been transported

there b\' the wind, or were carried to the islands bv migratory birds. Other,

equallv distinguished, scientists had

argued that the islands once were joined

to the mainland bv an archipelago ex- tending from the Costa Rican area. After

his studies, including three visits to the islands, Mr. \'inton combined the

theories of both groups to offer a new

possibilitv. It was this article which was

selected for the supplement to the

Smithsonian Series and placed its author

alongside many of the leading scientists of the dav. Mr. Vinton's thesis is that an archi- pelago did extend from Costa Rica to w ithin about 100 miles of the Galapagos

Islands. This theory, he maintains,

makes it more plausible for the life forms

found on the islands to have reached

there, while also providing a reasonable

explanation for wh\- certain forms of life common to the Costa Rican area—in- cluding cockroaches—are not native in

thi^ Galapagos. He points to submerged

sections of the land mass which he says once extended far into the Pacific above

ocean level as proof of his viewpoint.

In less than two years, Mr. and Mrs. X'inton-who describes herself as "an

outdoors girl " and savs she abandoned

exploration trips with her husband "to take care of oiu' two daughteis when

they were small"—will be retiring. But anyone who knows Mr. Mnton's stu- dious nature and love of exploration

doesn't believe he'll really "retire, " but

soon will find something new to investigate and write about.

10 November 4, 1960
Doctor

From

The

San Bias

Olowitinape doesn't have a degree,

but his treatments utilize methods

similar to many in modern medicine

Olowitinape prepares native prescription in home of

his host, Dr. A. W. McFadden of Gorgas Hospital.

Olowitinape, noted inatuleti or herb

doctor and medicine man from the

Ishind of Muhitupii in the San Bias

Island chain, was a guest last month in the home of Dr. A. W. McFadden, Chief

of the Dermatology Section of Gorgas

Hospital, while instructing the Gorgas

physician in some of the secrets of San

Bias medicine. Olowitinape, swaying

gentlv back and forth in a hammock,

thinking, and chanting, demonstrated

man\' of the rituals he follows as an

"inatuleti," the title a medical practi- tioner carries in the San Bias Islands. Dr. McFadden, who has visited Olowitinape at his island home, believes he

is the first dermatologist to investigate the area of Cuna medicine which covers

the Indian ideas on the types of skin

diseases, the causes, and the appropriate

treatments. The latter includes gathering

the ingredients for native prescriptions

and the necessary chants to activate

them.

Language barriers were \irtualK' nonexistent for the two, although Olowitinape speaks Cuna primarily, with a sprinkling of Spanish, and Dr. McFadden speaks English and Spanish. Gestures were used to fill in for words where

necessary, and when a disease was dis- cussed for which neither Spanish or English translation from the Cuna was

known, a discussion of the symptoms

usually gave the key to the specific ail- ment being considered. In\aluable assistance was lent the two

doctors, one \\'ith medical degrees and

the other imable to read or write, by

the Rev. Peter Miller, an Americaneducated San Bias Indian, who has a degree from a college in North Carolina. Another United States-educated San

Bias Indian, Claudio Iglesias, who has a Bachelor of Science degree from Redlands, Calif., was instrumental in Dr. McFadden's meeting with Olowitinape. Mr. Iglesias, who is married to a North

American girl, conducts a private school

for children in the San Bias Islands and

it was while visiting at his home that Dr. McFadden met the herb and medicine man from the Island of Mulatupu.

When Dr. McFadden invited Olowitinape for a visit at the McFadden

home near Gorgas Hospital, he also bought a hammock from the island so

that the herb doctor would feel at home.

Olowitinape comes from a family of medicine men in the San Bias Islands. He studied under his father on Mulatupu and also under famous Neles, or physicians, of the islands of Ustupu and

.'Vchutupu. His father, he says, was

famous as a specialist in the treatment

of snake bites. All of Olowitinape's

training has been oral. Working, learning, and chanting, it took about eigth years before he was recognized as a

practitioner. Now he has a general medical practice, but treats obstetrical and

dermatologic patients for the most part. Chanting, he says, is an important

part in his practice of medicine, because

certain chants are required to make the ingredients used in treatments active and effective. Dr. McFadden sa\s there are many

real similarities in modern demiatology

therapy and Cuna medical practice. He

cited methods in both which involve warm and cool soaking for certain in- flamed or weeping rashes and the use

of pastes or creams in the treatment of itching and infected eruptions.

Ingredients used in the Cuna prescriptions are almost entirely from the

botanical field, just as are many of the

ingredients used in modem pharmaceutical preparations. The Cuna preparations include bark, sap, young plant

shoots, quinine, and certain bitter shrubs

for treatment of fevers. Olowitinape feels that modern medicines may be superior to his herbs in two aspects. Certain diseases, he points

out, are of foreign origin and under the influence of foreign disease spirits.

These require foreign medicine for treat- ment, he says. The other aspect is the tremendous advantage which modern

pharmacy offers in the concenti-ation of ingredients in preparing prescriptions.

However, Olowitinape does not think

that America's medicine would be effective against many of the conditions he

encounters in his practice. The thorough

knowledge and proper use of the many

purifying and healing chants, he says, are more important than individual

herbs in many cases.

The Panama Canal Review 11
As two rigger helpers make a fender mat

of untwisted rope strands, two others tie the half-hitch knots used as a protective

covering for the core of a big bow fender.

A Shaggy

Rope Story

Fenders which protect harbor

craft are more than clumps of

rope. They're carefully made

and that frayed appearance is

deliberate.

The ordinary landlubber knows,

in a vague sort of way, that the kimpy

clusters of rope which are a trademark

of tugs, launches, and other harbor craft arc carried as a kind of protective

bumper foi' the frequent contacts which

the vessel has with large ships and piers.

Few ever give a second thought to these bimdles of rope, however, unless it is to wonder why one is never seen which

isn't frayed.

Like many things which are taken for granted, however, there is more to these "rope fenders," as they are called, than

the impression received in a casual

glance. For one thing, they are not just masses of old rope knotted together to form a haphazard bundle. For another

thing, their shaggy, frayed appearance

is deliberate and useful, not the result of wear. The well-made rope fender—and considerable care does go into their making

—not only is a highly useful and versatile object, but also is somewhat a work of art, roughly resembling a gi- gantic crochet or knitting job. Just as knit one, purl two, is the key to knitting, half-hitch knots are the key to making

rope fenders. With a 16-foot long bow fender for a tug weighing as much as 2,500 pounds

and held together by .3,000 or more

knots, it is understandable why the job of making them gradually has been

shifted from busy ship crewmen to dryland shops, such as the one in Cristobal where all rope fenders for Canal craft now are made.

Establishment of the shop was part

of the recent consolidation of all launch

repair facilities in the hidustrial Division. Previously, fenders were made

when and where they were needed, by

crews maintained at each of the operating divisions. The new, consolidated shop has two

major advantages over the previous

method. It assines that the work will be

done uniformly by a well trained work

force. It also makes it feasible to use a maximum of mechanical aids rather

than doing all the work by hand.

First Class Rigger John Danaher,

who laid out the plan for the shop under

direction of H. E. Clarke, Jr., Chief

Foreman Rigger, drew on his ingenuity

and experience in the field to devise

several mechanical innovations to speed

the work, particularly the most time- consuming parts of it. One of these devices eliminates the need for employees who formerly were needed to help in tying all those knots on a big fender. Another ended the former practice of rolling the fender to and fro on the floor or on sawhorses as the core was formed with old rope and

the encasing network of knots were tied. Two of the most troublesome and

time-consuming factors in this process

are the accurate forming of the core and

straightening out the rope being used

to bind it together after each knot is made. In the past, the core had been

built up like a big ball of snow—by rol- ling it on the floor to make the old pieces

of rope wind around the center length.

In the Cristobal shop, thanks to one of Rigger Danaher's innovations, the center

length of rope is stretched taut on a motor-driven device resembling a lathe. The center length is rotated by the motor while the old pieces of rope are wound onto it. Normally, old rope is used to form the fender core. In the second step, the knot-tying

process, past practice had been for two men to form the knots and pull them

tight, while a third man trotted back

and forth with the long end of the rope,

first pulling it away from the fender to straighten it out and then returning it so the ne.xt knot could be tied. But a second innovation by the inventive Mr. Danaher has speeded this

process. Now the pulling away and re- turn are done semi-automatieally by a motor-operated dragline which first pulls the rope taut after a knot has been

tied, then returns the loose end to the workmen so the next knot can be

fashioned. Once the enveloping network of knots has been completed, the two ends of the fender are fastened to separate

cables on a railroad crane, the center is tied to the bed of the crane and the

12 November 4, 1960
Denny, left, and Juan Melgarejo, Jr., tie one of the half-hitch knots which make up fender's cover.

crane then hoists away, bending the fender into the desired shape in the

process. Once the bending is completed,

the two ends of the fender are lashed

together with a chain jack to hold them

in place imtil the fender is fitted to the

bou' of a tugboat.

The fender is ready, yes, but its blanket isn't. It's this blanket, or mat,

which gives big, bow tenders that

frayed appearance. The mat is a woven

sheet of individual "lays," or strands,

which have been imwoimd from what

once was a regular, three-strand rope, then put back together in a different form to make the mat, which is placed

o\er the knotted cover of the fender to protect it against unnecessaiT wear. A "nap" is knotted into this mat, but

is left unwoven, the strands simply

being permitted to bail off into space. Each of the strands is made up of hundreds of somewhat looselv twisted manila fibers, which soon separate when

the strand is not wound into a rope, thus forming the well-soaked beards nor- mallv seen drooping from bow fenders. Separation of the rope into strands

for use in making these blankets led to another of the simple but effective

devices with which Rigger Danaher has equipped the shop.

The job now is accomplished with

the aid of the wheels from a discarded

roller skate. Rigger Danaher fastened a hook to one end of the a.xle of each

wheel and a handle to the wheel itself. One of the resulting devices is fas- tened to the wall of the shop and a piece

of rope is fastened to the hook. The

otlier three devices are cli\ided among

the three strands of the rope, with one man holding two of them and the re- maining one attached to a post. When

the man starts pulling, all the hooks—

and the axles on which they are fas- tened—start spinning like whirling denishes and in five minutes the length of rope is split into three neat, straight strands. 'The same task formerly re- quired 4.5 minutes.

While the making of large, bow fenders is about half of the shop's work, there

is a continuous requirement for side- and quarter-fenders for both launches

and tugs. These also are turned out in production-line style, using jigs and fbc- tures. In recent vears, rubber fenders ha\e

gained considerable acceptance in the shipping world, especiallv on the bows

of tugs, but there is a feeling among old- timers that a well made rope fender is more versatile in the var\ing situations

in which tugs become in\ohed. bias- much as the mechanical innovations now being used in the Cristobal fender

shop are helping to keep rope competitive, it looks as though rope fenders,

with shagg\' beards and all, will contiTiue to be used on Canal craft for manv

\ears to come.

Swan Stewart, fender-niaker-in-training,

tapers the "whiskers" on a rubbing fender

so they can be braided into final shape.

.\ fender on a bender gets the cur\e which

will characterize it when on bow of a tug.

The P.\x.\m.\ C.'Vxal Review 13
Harold 1. Perantie, Chief of the Administrative Branch, confers with Gerard Schear.

The Men At The Top

Harold I. Perantie, Chief of the Administrati\e Branch and Agency Records

Officer since February 1954, was born

in Duluth, Minn., on January 22, 1908. He came to the Canal Zone as an employee in the former Executive

Department in October 1939. Deputy

Director for Selective Service in the Zone and a member of the Executive

Committee of the Zone chapter of American Red Cross, he lives in Balboa. Harold L. Anderson, Chief of the General Ser\ices Section since October

19.56, was born in Springfield, Mo., on April 16, 1917. He became an employee of the Canal organization's

former Correspondence Bureau in 1940. He lives in Balboa. William D. Hardie, Chief of the Records

Management Section since the fall of 1957, was born in Grafton, W. Va., on November 28, 190.3. He came to

tlie Zone as an employee of the former

Service

The Administr.\tive Br.\nch is pri- marib' a service organization w hich per- forms a variety of ser\ices for the various units of the Company-Government.

Under the supervision of 21-year Canal

\eteran H. I. Perantie, the Branch operates a wide range of specialized service units. These units of the Branch include a printing plant, a photographic studio and laborator)-, a mail and messenger

sei-vice in the Administration Building,

a central file system, a tra\'el and tran- sportation service for employees, a

records management section, which in- cludes the agencv records center, and a

di\ersified section that pro\ides trans- lating, interpreting, preparation of correspondence, shorthand reporting,

t\-ping, and related services. Of the six formal Sections which

make up the Branch, the General Senices Section headed by Harold L. Anderson probably is the least understood.

It is this section which provides official translating, interpreting, shorthand

reporting, and the related senices mentioned earlier. Some of its miscellaneous

Record Bureau in 1929. He now lives

in Ancon.

Charles K. Cross, Chief of the Communications and Records Section since March 1960, was born Januaiy 21,

1903, in Baltimore, Md. He came to the Zone on vacation in 1922 and re- turned the following \ ear to take a job

with the Electrical Di\'ision, moving

to the former Record Bureau in July 1924. He now lives in La Boca.

^ I LL> '

Harold L. Anderson William D. Hardie

14

C. K. Cross

November 4, 1960
Is Their Business The Administrative Branch provides manyfunctions in a routine

day to help keep the CompanyGovernment operating smoothly.

functions arc to serve the public in general, rather than employees only. For

example, a Canal Zone )outh of draft age has occasion to \isit this Section to register with Mrs. C. L. McAmis, who

performs the functions of local board

clerk for both the Atlantic and Pacific Area Selecti\e Service Boards. Applicants for U.S. immigration visas come

to the Section to seek the assistance of Louis Poletti in applving for the visas. And starting earlv in December, the desk of Mrs. Fannie Sosa is likely to be

swamped bv parents wanting Canal

Zone entrv permits for children coming

home from college for the holida)'S. In addition, this Section prepares a variety of permits, purchase authorizations, and various certificates, as well as

staff work in the preparation of reports, recommendations or correspondence on

projects assigned b\ the Executi\e Secretary's office or bv the Chief of the Administrative Branch.

In addition to serving as Chief of the Branch, Mr. Perantie also is official Agency Records Officer for the Company-Government. \\'iniani D. Hardie

heads the Records Management Section,

which, in his words, is concerned with

"controlling the ever-increasing bulk of paper produced by the organization."

Every record of the Company-Government has three phases in its life where controls may be applied. First phase is in the production and design of forms which eventually will become

records. The second phase is in the use

of records, where the Section offers standardized procedures and, when

asked to do so, conducts files and systems

analvses.

In this latter role, the Section recently

prepared and installed a new file system

in the central files which are maintained

by the Communications and Records

Section. The new system, developed

principally by George H. Logan, re- duces the number of subject classifica- tions from more than 10,000 to slightly

less than 1,000, presents subjects in a more logical order, and is expected to reduce the time required to train a

skilU'd file clerk by at least one-half. The third phase in the life of a record

is disposition of it. The Agency Records

Center operated by the Branch provides

storage space for non-current records of the Company-Government, thus releas- ing valuable office space and equipment

for current records. In connection with

this disposition of records, a more comprehensive schedule for temporary stor- age, destruction, or permanent retention

of records now is being prepared by the

Section headed by Mr. Hardie.

^Laintenance of the central records s\stem for the Companv-Government

does not come within the province of Mr. Hardie, but is one of the duties assigned to the Communications and

Records Section, which is headed by

Charles K. Cross. The Section headed by Mr. Cross not only maintains the central records sys- tem, but also performs a number of other

services, including general messenger

service in the Administration Building

and the receiving and dispatching of all

official mail and messages. It also ar- ranges for the publication and distribution of official circulars and reports and

maintains a vault for the storage of en- gineering drawings and certain other

George Vieto, Chief of the Transportation Section and Panama Line Pas- senger Agent since June 19.59, was

born Januarv 9, 1 92 1 in Costa Rica

and joined the Canal as an employee

of the Panama Railroad in Julv 1944. Mr. \'ieto, who now is serving as Department Commander of the Panama

Canal Zone American Legion, lives

in Ancon.

John B. Coffey, Superintendent of the Printing Plant since January 1960, was born in Jersey City, N.J., on

Februarv 7, 1908. He was brought to the Zone by his parents in 1910 and

took his first job with the Canal, as a vacation messenger bov in the Mount

Hope Printing Plant, in 1920. Ex- Commodore of the Panama Canal

Yacht Club, he lives in Margarita.

William E. Burns, Chief of the Photographic Section since May 1960, was bom in Abilene, Tex., on June 18, 1927. He came to the Canal Zone in 19.52 as a photographer with the Inter American Geodetic Survey teain and

went to work for the Canal organization in the Panama Canal Information Office in December 1959. He

lives in Panama.

George Vieto

The Panama Canal Review

John B. Coffey William E. Bums

15
This new lecoids storage center on Diablo Road, is more spacious than the former center.

records of tlie Company-Government.

The central records system maintained

by the Section is a vital factor in carrying on the business of the Canal organization. The background of virtually every problem which any segment of the or- ganization ever has faced can be found

in these records. For example, if you

want to know what past practice has

been in naming floating craft of the

Canal organization, or information on

the times that the late Gen. John J. Per- shing visited the Isthmus and the pur- poses of his visits, or any of thousands

of other topics, chances are good that the central records imit can supply the

information. Another Section of the Branch, and one with which every Stateside employee hired for Canal service has an

early contact, is the Transportation

Section, headed by George Vieto. This

Section arranges official travel of Company-Government employees and their

families. Personnel of this Section not

onlv handle travel arrangements for personnel, but also arrange for the trans- portation of household goods of employees in connection with recruitment,

leave, official duty, and repatiiation, re- gardless of the means of travel. Through an intimate knowledge of

air, land, and sea schedules and their close working relationships with the

carriers. Transportation Section employees ease the travel problems faced

by employees. The Section also performs

the function of passenger ticket agency

for the Panama Line in the Canal Zone,

selling and issuing tickets and assigning

cabins and berths on the ships. Official passes for the Panama Railroad also are

issued by the Section, and cards authorizing departure from the Zone via Tocu- men Airport may be obtained there. The two remaining Sections in the Administrative Branch are the Photographic Section, headed by William E. Burns, who succeeded Clyde S. LaClair

after his retirement about si.\ months

ago, and the Printing Plant, managed

by Superintendent John B. Coffey.

The Section headed by Mr. Burns per- forms all official photographic work for the Company-Government and maintains facilities for preserving all official negatives and pictures. It is this Section

which provides virtually all of the photographs which appear in the pages of The Panama Canal Review, while it

is the Printing Plant which prints the magazine.

One of the projects currently being

worked on by the Photographic Section,

in addition to its regular duties, involves the preservation of a photographic re- cord of the Canal dating from construction days which now is preserved on an

estimated 16,500 glass plate negatives

stored in the basement of the Administration Building. Mr. Burns and his staff

in the Photographic Section now are in the process of transferring the images

recorded on the aging glass negatives

to other negative material and making

prints of all the pictures.

At the present time, the Printing

Plant headed by Mr. Coffey actually

consists of two separate units, one at Mount Hope and the other a duplicating

unit in the Administration Building at Balboa Heights. The main plant at Mount Hope is scheduled to be moved

to the Pacific side of the Isthmus and

consolidated with the Balboa Heights

shops in a new location in La Boca in about 2 years. The necessity for the move is tied in with plans for greater

conversion to the offset printing process and the fact that most of the Mount

Hope unit's workload originates on the

Pacific side of the Isthmus. As can be seen from this rundown on

the various services provided by the Administrative Branch, many units of the Company-Government which are not

part of the Branch would find their functions much more difficult to achieve if these services were not readily available.

This scene of the mail unit in the Administr ployed there, including Edward Jones, wear

from left, are V. E. Johnson, Fred Pond

ation Building shows five of the personnel eming tie, who supervises the unit. Others .shown, James Howell, seated, and Henry Thousand.

16 November 4, 1960
New Clinic Going Up

Lt. Col. Ralph E. Conant, right. Superintendent of Coco Solo Hospital, and David C. Mcllhenny, Administrative Officer, examine plans for out-patient clinic rising behind them.

About the time that 1961 becomes

a reality, patients seeking clinical out- patient senices at Coco Solo Hospital

will find themselves in a completely air- conditioned addition now moving rapidly toward completion.

Construction of the $144,.300 out- patient clinic is another step in the current Canal Zone hospital modernization program. The program at Coco Solo also will include remodeling part of the

existing hospital, where the emergency room and laboratories will be located. The new building, constructed of ter- racotta block made in Panama by

Clayco, incorporates the latest ideas in hospital design and will be divided into

a number of separate rooms. It will in- clude a main waiting room adjoining

the offices of the physicians and several smaller waiting rooms for the various

clinics housed in it, such as eve, ear, nose and throat, chest, medical, and

X-ray, as well as the blood bank, which now is part of the hospital's laboratory. E. O. Hauke of Colon is contractor

for construction of the new clinic.

Of Cars

And

Grades

There h.^ve been many arguments,

both pro and con, about teenagers

dri\ing cars. Some think the\' should be

permitted to drive \\ ith little restriction, others think they shouldn't be permitted

to dri\e at all and still a third group

thinks there should be a compromise to permit them to drive under very restricted conditions. The safety aspect of the problem is pretty well understood by both parents

and insurance companies, but a recent survey by the .Allstate Insurance Company focused attention on a part of the problem which generally is overlooked. The sur\e\, which included 20,000

high school jimiors and seniors, showed

that the grades of teenage students who

dri\'e cars usualK' are lower than those

of students without cars. The details of the sui"vev might help Canal Zone

parents decide whether or not to let their children dri\e or own a car. Car ownership had more effect on

grades than permission to use the family

automobile, according to the sur\ev. Of

the juniors surveyed, only 16 percent of the top students owned cars, while 42

percent in the failing group owned some

kind of automobile. When extensive use

of a car was permitted during the week,

those who went out e\'er\' night were more likely to be failing in their studies,

in a ratio of 20 to 1. On the other hand,

when car usage was restricted to Satur- dav and Sunday, there was no adverse

effect, the survey showing that a great

percentage of top students was in this group. Although no information is available on the subject of automobiles and stu- dents in Canal Zone schools. Dean Roger

C. Hackett of the Canal Zone Junior

College now is in the process of making

such a studv. Results are expected the

latter part of February.

P—ACCIDENTS.

FOR

THIS MONTH

AND

THIS YEAR

SEPTEMBER

ALL. UNITS

YEAR TO DATE

Auto se.\t belts and redesigned door

latches ha-.-e been two of the major

dexelopmcnts in recent years which are aimed at reducing traffic accident injuries, according to John O. Moore, Director of Cornell University's automoti\e-crash injury studv program. Mr. Moore said that studies of acci- dents since 1956 show that the injury

rate involving cars with seat belts is 60

percent less than in cars without seat

belts. Mr. Moore also pointed out that considerable action still is necessary to re- duce the number of crippling injuries

from automobile accidents. There now

are about 50 million such injuries per

vear in the United States.

FIRST AID

CASES

•so "59 213 187

2213 2039

DISABLING

INJURIES

•60 •SS 9 13

102 100

DAYS

LOST

•60 '59 173 214

14114 9055

The P.\nama C.\.\al RE^^EW 17
ANNIVERSARIES

(On the basis of total Federal Service)

CIVIL AFFAIRS BUREAU

Harry H. Com

Foreman, Mailing Division /n ENGINEERING AND CONSTRUCTION BUREAU

Romang AHjhbold

Leader^aj^nl

HEALTH BUREAU

Percy M. Greenidge

Nursing Assistant

MARINE BUREAU

David Bonaparte

Carpenter

AND COSmifNfrY

SERVICE BUREAU

Cecilia Crocker Laundry Cliecker

SUPPLY AND COMMUNITY

SERVICE BUREAU

Harold E. Graham

Helper Optieal Worker

Edwin N. Ellis Laborer Cleaner Augustus A. Nelson

Kitchen Atteudaut ,__^__

TRANSPORTATION AND

TERMINALS BUREAU,

Edgar W. Best Timekeeper

Alfred S. Spence

Helper Automotive Macjfini/

MARINE BUREAU

Benjamin Y. Denny

Fireman

Cyril Fairclough

Rope and \\'ire Cable Worker

James R. Shurland Launch Operator

Stanley T. Spence

Clerk

CIVIL AFFAIRS BUREAU

Roger C. Hackett

Junior College Dean

Kenneth VV. Vinton

Instructor at Junior College G. C. Lockridge

Supervisor, Physical Education

and Atldetics^ii Elmer J. Hack ^V

Clerical Assistai^ l\lice Division I

ENGINEERING^AN ENGINEERINCAND CONTRUCTION BUREAU

Kenneth George

Painter

Carlos H. Castillo Machine Operator

Percival G. Piggott

Maintenanceman

ADMINISTRATIVE BRANCH

Cirilo Alexander

Duplicating Unit Supervisor

CIVIL AFFAIRS BUREAU

Henry E. Argue

Police Sergeant

Edward W. Isaacs Contraband Control Inspector Arnold R. Bjomeby

Police Private Percival B. Scott

Firefighter Canute A. Rodney

Laborer Cleaner OFFICE OF THE COMPTROLLER

Arthur J. Wynne

Supervisory Accountant

Elsie N. Smith

Accountant

ENGINEERING AND CONSTRUCTION BUREAU

Charles J. Connor

Dipper Dredge Mate

Rubelio D. Quintero

Supervisory Electrical Engineer

Reginald A. Muir

Maintenanceman

Vivian J. Roberts Helper Electrician Paul E. Ackerman

Electrician Eloy Lozano

Painter Braulio Perez

Transmission Lines Maintenanceman

Richard F. Daniel Water System Controlman

William C. Harrell Ship Maintenance Mechanic

Charles S. Mahnsbury

Meteorological Aid

Louis Bryan

Laborer Cleaner Theophilus L. Bowen

Winchnian

Lloyd K. Wheatley

Helper Telephone Electrician Delmas A. Swafford Lead Foreman Electrician Lineman

Anastasio Ayarza

Laborer HEALTH BUREAU

Olive E. Hardie

Staff Nurse

Mildred Kopf

Super\'is<)ry Physi

Clifford Francis Clerk

Isaiah Brown

Chauffeur Gladys V. Notice, Baker

Joseph N. Reid

Cook

W. Gallimore Formula Room Attendant

Isabella L. Wright

Baker MARINE BUREAU

Edward N. Belland Admeasurer

Jose L. Cedeiio Seaman

J. M. Vandergrift

Lead Foreman, Lock

Operations

Fred F. Schwartz Lead Foreman, Lock

Operations

Victorino Garcia Helper Lock Operator

Antonio A. Aguirre

W inchman

Florentine Pedroza Helper Lock Operator

Wilfred A. Campbell

Deckhand

Marino Ortega

Laborer

Carlos Ospino

Painter PERSONNEL BUREAU

George J. Moreno

Employment Suitability Assistant SUPPLY AND COMMUNITY

SERVICE BUREAU

Enid L. dc Holder

Ketail Store Sales Checker

Mary K. Ferguson

Icibe Counter Attendaij Lawrence Ajlito'

"^ Laborer Cleaner Pedro L. Lara

Laborer

Marcelino Maclao

Laborer

Jose A. Muiioz

Cook

Lena Brathwaite

Sales Clerk Edna I. Flemmings

Sales Clerk

Valentin Arias Warehouseman

Harold D. Spencer

Stock Control Clerk

Avis B. Ramirez

Warelioiisemaii Ina M. McFarlane

Sales Clerk

Ida E. Lvnch

Clerk

C. S. Cadienhead

Utility Worker _ Gladstone N. Lewis

Washnian

Carlos A. Smith

Supervisory Clerk-Typist

Julian Gil Laborer

Alipio Galvan

Milker Marie L. Beresford Clerk TRANSPORTATION AND

TERMINALS BUREAU

Adolphus L. Jordan High Lift Truck Operator

Victor M. Iglesias

Truck Driver

Frederick A. Jordan Stockman

Herman V. Cameron

Truck Driver Clarendon Griffith Truck Driver

Christopher C. Layne

Truck Driver

Jorge A. Castellanos Clerk Checker

Garfield Brown

High Lift Truck Operator

T. E. Russell Truck Driver Harry William

Helper Machinist Courtney W. Thomas

Truck Driver

Alberto Stewart Truck Driver Abraham H. Ambulo

Helper Automotive Mechanic

George A. Douglas

Brakeman

Philip A. Dunmoodie

Truck Driver

18 November 4, 1960
PROMOTIONS

AND

TRANSFERS

Employees who were promoted or transferred between September 15 and

October 15 are listed below. Withingrade promotions and job reclassifica- tions are not listed. ADMINISTRATIVE BRANCH

Mrs. Florence Derrer, from Clerk-Typist, Division of Schools, to Clerk-Stenographer.

CIVIL AFFAIRS BUREAU

Jasper L. Long, to Assistant Foreman, Mailing Division. Division of Schools Mrs. Emily R. Conklin, Mrs. Mildred S. Rowe, to Elementary and Secondary

School Teacher.

Mrs. Helen E. Lyons, to Kindergarten Assistant. Juan Phillips, to Junior High Teacher, Latin American Schools. Josine D. Choy, Clerk-Stenographer, from

Canal Zone Employment Office. OFFICE OF THE COMPTROLLER

Mrs. Jolie A. Seeley, from Clerk-Stenographer, Office of Director, Engineering and

Construction Bureau, to Rates Accounting Clerk, Budget and Rates Division. Raimundo Dixon, to Bookkeeping Machine

Operator, Accounting Division. ENGINEERING AND CONSTRUCTION

BUREAU

Contract and Inspection Division Joseph E. Flynn, to Supervisory Construction Inspector. Richard J. Mahoney, to Superxisory Construction Representative.

Engineering Division Roger M. Howe, to Supervisory General

Engineer.

Dredging Division Harry P. DePiper, to Dipper Dredge Engineer. Charles L. Miller, to Dipper Dredge Mate. Harry W. Gardner, Engineman, from Locks

Division. Pedro Smith, to Boatman.

Vicente A. Smith, to Launch Operator.

Electrical Division William L. Bingham, to Chief, Power Plant (H\dro-Gatun).

Reginald A. James, to Truck Driver. Maintenance Division Ashton M. Russell, from Deckhand, Navigation Division, to Helper Refrigeration

and .\ir Conditioning Mechanic.

Alfred A. Moran, to Guard. Benjamin J. Waterman, to Mobile Equip- ment Mechanic.

Wenceslao Gomez, to Work Order Clerk. Samuel E. Foster, Alexander Joseph E., Teodoro Nuiiez, and Epifanio Hernandez M., to Quarr\man.

George A. Foster, from Laborer, Community Ser\ices Division, to Chauffeur. James L. Anderson, to Asphalt and Cement

\A'orker.

September 75 through October 15

Ernest Stephenson, from High Lift Truck

Operator, Terminals Division, to Helper

Painter.

Isidro Castillo, from Dock Worker, Terminals Di\ision, to Laborer. Orlando James, Francisco Peiialosa, Casi- miro Lozano, to Heavy Laborer. Aniceto Jimenez, to Heavy Laborer, Water

and Laboratories Branch. HEALTH BUREAU

Gorgas Hospital Mrs. Arilla H. Kourany, to Clerk-Dictating

Machine Transcriber. Mrs. Ida E. Morris, to Stock Control Clerk. Mrs. Bessie L. Heilman, to Clerical Assistant. Celedonio Vergara, to Cook.

Ricardo Henry, Laborer, from Locks Division. Leonidas Alveo, Vicente Espinosa, to Heavy Laborer. Coco Solo Hospital Miss Rae F. Flicker, to Director of Nursing. Mrs. Ruth R. Beck, to Statistical Clerk. MARINE BUREAU

Industrial Division Franklin S. Ford, from Stock Control Clerk, Supply Division, to Clerk. Anthony Williams, to Paint and Varnish Maker. Juan Melgarejo, Jr., to Maintenancenian.

Nathaniel A. Daley, to Foundry Chipper.

Tomas E. Obeso, from Laborer, Community

Services Division, to Helper Boilermaker. Locks Division Bruce M. Morrow, from Machinist, Rail- road Division, to Lock Operator Machinist. Baldur Norman, Walter D. Johnston, to Lead Foreman Carpenter. Robert M. Merrill, to Lock Operator Machinist. Robert L. Austin, to Tour Leader Interpreter. Frank J. Stewart, from Truck Driver, Motor Tran.sportation Division, to Towing

Locomotive Operator.

Jorge Morales, to Leader Boatman.

Robert A. Christie, John J. Christopher, to Hclner Lock Operator. Gerald Burkett, from Quarryman, Mainte- nance Division, to Laborer. George A. Thomas, to Truck Driver. Luis E. Rodriguez, Laborer, from Community Services Division,

Navigation Division William E. Johnson, from Dipper Dredge

Engineer, Dredging Division, to Chief Tou'boat or P'crrv- Engineer.

Alfred E. Ferdinand, to Leader Seaman.

Richard Holmes, to Seaman. Lanson T. May, from Oiler, Terminals Division, to Floating Plant Oiler. PERSONNEL BUREAU

Florence Lao, from Staff Nurse, Gorgas

Hospital to Visiting Nurse, Employment

and Utilization Division.

SUPPLY AND COMMUNITY

SERVICE BUREAU

Community Services Division Mrs. Amelia Paddy, to Housekeeping Assistant. Inocencio Torrero G., Laborer, from Maintenance Division. Supply Division Varona U. Allen, to Sales Clerk. Arturo Smith, to Laborer Cleaner. TRANSPORTATION AND TERMINALS

BUREAU

Motor Transportation Division Mrs. Rena L. Givens, Clerk Stenographer,

from Personnel Bureau. Leo Chandler, to Truck Driver. Terminals Division Dolph E. Pascascio, to Lead Foreman Ship

Cargo Operations.

Ralph Anderson, to Lead Foreman High

Lift Truck Operator.

Edward J. Atherton, to Cargo Clerk. Franklin R. Samuels, to Freight Rate Assistant. Arturo E. Arriaga S., to Laborer. OTHER PROMOTIONS

Promotions which did not involve

changes of title follow: Arthur L. Endicott, Finance Branch Superintendent, Postal Division. Kathleen M. McGuigan, Administrative

Services Officer, Office of the Comptroller. Mrs. Faye C. Minton, Administrative Services Officer, Office of the Director, Engineering and Construction Bureau.

Mrs. Nell W. Self, Mrs. Maxine C. Fitz- gerald, Staff Nurse, Gorgas Hospital. Mrs. Cybele I. Koontz, Clerk-Typist, Division of Preventive Medicine and Quarantine. Mrs. Armenia Y. De Ucros, Clerk-Dictating Machine Transcriber, Gorgas Hospital. Mrs. Gladys B. Humphrey, Time and Leave

Supervisor, Locks Division. Janice A. Dreitlein, Clerk-Typist, Accounting Division. David Rosenblatt, General Engineer (Es- timates) Engineering Division. Joseph M. Corrigan, Sanitation Inspector, Division of Sanitation. Vem H. Christoph, Admeasurer, Navigation Division. Carl H. Thomas, Cargo Clerk, Terminals

Division. Canute S. Cockburn, Supervisory Cargo

Clerk, Terminals Division. Leonard N. Martin, Guard Supervisor, Locks Securit\- Branch. Clarence E. Rienks, Apprentice Machinist,

Industrial Division. Robert G. Laatz, Jr., Apprentice .\rmature

Winder, Electrical Division. William L. Bennett, Apprentice Electrician,

Electrical Division. Enririue Castillo M., Engineering Drafts- man, Engineering Division. Mateo Mitchell, Meter Repairman, Maintenance Division. The Panama Canal Review 19
CAMAl

HISTORY

50 Years Ago

November 1910. was Visitors' Month

in the Canal Zone. Top ranker was Pres- ident William H. Taft and others in- chided members of the House Appropriations Committee. On his fifth visit to the Canal Zone, the President found

himself face-to-face with one of the most

serious labor problems to occur during

construction days. Skilled boilcrmakers.

who had a.sked the President for more

pay and longer leaves, declared they

would resign unless their demands were

met. Although the President promised

to give the matter his attention, more

than 100 of them refused to wait and

submitted their resignations. By the end

of the month, only 11 of the original 122

boilcrmakers were .^till on the job. But

despite the labor dispute and despite

still another of the .slides which had been

occurring with increasing frequency for several months, the President found that,

in general, things were going well. In a speech at Paraiso, he praised the Canal

force for its efforts, adding "And it (the

Canal) will come to be regarded, 1 hope,

as a permanent evidence to the world

of the generous tvillingness of our country to expend from her great national wealth hundreds of millions for the general improvement of the world's trade." After a 13,000-mile trip around South

America, the tug Mirafiores arrived in Panama Bay just a few days short of three months after she left her shipyards

at Wilmington, Del. All but three members of tlie original crew deserted during

the \oyage, but the tug reached Balboa w ith a crew of 12, not counting her captain and mate. 25 Years Ago

Heavy rains flooded the Isthmus 25

i/cars ago this month. Although November rainfall is usually the heaviest of the

year, the rains in Novr mbsr 19.35 caused

(me of the ivor.it floods in Canal history

and slides occurred in Caillard Cut,

along the Panama Railroad line, and

along the highway leading to Madden

Dam. On the Atlantic side a neiv rainfall record icas reported and near the Panama town of Chepo, 100 people

were marooned by flood tvaters. Mystery subs weie leported sighted near the Galapagos Islands. Residents

of the area reported here that they believed them to be Japanese. The Japa- nese disclaimed all knowledge of the

craft. The cpiestion of the Panama Railroad

Steamship Line, long opposed by private

.steamship companies, was taken up by

the "An7uj and Navy Register," which

stated in an article that the Panama Line was an essential link in the satisfactory

and economical operation of the Panama

Canal. Construction of the new Balboa Dock

facilities, which were to cost almost a million dollars, was begun by the Canal

Division, which was known as the Municipal Division at the time. 10 Years Ago

Health authorities i;i both the

Canal Zone and Panama were tvorried 10 years ago this month by a polio epidemic ichich .started in September and

increa.sed to alarming proportions. By

the end of November 1950, a total of 59 polio cases had been diagno.sed on

the isthmus since September I, icith 26

of them in Panama City, 15 from other

parts of the Republic and 18 from the Zone. Competitive sports ivere halted in Panama for those under 16 years of age, uhile the Canal Zone Joint Medical and

Advisory Committee announced that

everything possible was being done to curb any further spread of the disease. Panama Foreign Minister Ricardo

Brin retinned from Washington, D.C.,

to report that it was possible that double

license plates, one for the Canal Zone

and one for Panama, might be eliminated

for motor vehicles on the Isthmus during

the coming year. Mrs. Eleanor Mcllhenny, later to be

Editor of The Review, but then star reporter on the English section of "The

Panama-American." was presented with

a Veterans of Foreign Wars Citizen.ship

Medal and citation in recognition of her

efforts in promoting good citizenship

through the press. One Year Ago

While flag-decked carloads of Pan- amanians and groups on foot circulated

freely through the Canal Zone, as they

had done for many years in celebration

of the Republic's Independence Day,

unruly mobs, unrestrained in Panama,

caused unfortunate disturbances at several points along the Canal Zone

border. Before it ended, the month of November 19.59 had brought the most

violent anti-American demonstrations

ever seen in the history of the unique,

close relationship between the United

States and Panama on the Isthmus. The

rapidity with which the emotional scars

left by the events of November 3 and

28 began to fade was a credit to the

longstanding friendships among res- idents of the Isthmus, in the opinion of many observers.

RETIREMENTS

Retirement certificates were pre- sented at the end of October to the employees listed below, with their birth- places, positions, years of Canal service,

and future residence. Dionicio Arrocha, Gatim; Laborer, Comnninity Services Division; 15 years, 10

minitlis, 3 days; Panama.

Hubert A. Barclay, Panama; Laborer, Electrical Division; 35 years, 6 months, 14

da.vs; Panama.

Claude E. Campbell, Virginia; Lead Fore- man, Maintenance Division; 28 years, 3

months, 23 days; Levittovvn, Pa. Pascual A. Flores, Panama; Seaman, DredKini; Division; 20 years, 7 montlis, 18

days; Panama. Miss Marguerite Flynn, North Dakota; Time, Leave, Payroll Clerk, Office of the Comptroller; 20 years, 3 months, 26 days;

California. John VV. Forrest, Texas. Machinist, Industrial Division; 18 years, 7 months, 18

(lays; Arizona. Daniel A. Gordon, St. Vincent; Seaman,

Dredging Division; 45 years, 1 month, 29 days; Panama.

Wilford A. Lowe, Jamaica; Lock Operator

Helper, Pacific Locks; 41 years, 7

months, 19 days; Panama.

James Lynch, Barbados; Dock Worker, Terminals Division; 32 years, 5 months, 9

davs; Colon. Ralph T. Mairs, Jamaica; Medical Technician, Health Bureau; 36 years, 2

months, 14 days; Panama.

Charles L. McDonald, Panama; Janitor, Division of Schools; 13 years, 6 months, 1 day; Panama.

Leoncio Rodriguez, Panama; Helper, Locks

Division; 40 years, 4 months, 21 days; Panama.

Albert N. Ruoff, Missouri; Diesel Operator,

Electrical Division; 16 years, 9 months,

1 day; Missouri. Linford Siley, Jamaica; Guard, Navigation

Di\ ision; 31 years, 2 months, 1 day; Panama. George A. Smith, Scotland; Lock Master,

Pacific Locks; 23 years, 11 months, 14

days; Costa Rica.

20 November 4, 1960
Beauty

In A

Scrapyard

A patch of ground in danger

of becoming a scrap collection

point has been made into a

flower garden by two Storehouse Branch officials.

Francis W. Hickey, wearing hat, takes a whiff of a flower from

the garden plot at the scrapyard building in Diablo, while the two gardeners who planted the plot, Joseph Deiners and

Sumner E. Ewing, watch. An unidentified wag erected the sign.

Green thumbs are not among the items carried on the inventory lists of the Supply Division's Storehouse

Branch, but there is some evidence that they should be. The mute l^ut eloquent

evidence is in the colorful flower garden

outside the door of Building 42 on

Diablo Road.

The garden, which has attracted the attention of numerous motorists who

drive past the building, is the work of Joseph L. H. Demers, Chief of Warehousing in the Storehouse Branch, and

Sumner E. Ewing, Lumber Inspector

in the Branch.

Originallv the plot of land outside the door of the building had only a few

tufts of grass growing on it and had all the earmarks of an eyesore-in-themaking. But Messrs. Demers and Ewing

took a hand in the matter and created

a spot of beauty. Mr. Demers furnished the flower

seeds and both men worked on preparation of the garden plot. Emplovees of Building 42, taking pride in the project,

pitched in to help with the weeding

until the voung plants took hold. In what seemed like no time at all, the door of the building opened onto a mass

of color, with purple and white periwinkles, huge flamboyant zinnias, and

delicate lady slippers all blooming in the 10 by 1.5 foot plot.

To give the spot a name, someone

with a waggish sense of liiniior made

a sign reading "Joe's Periwinkle Farm"

and staked it in the center of the flower garden. Maybe that's the reason so many

gardeners have stopped and begged to buy some plants, but to no avail. Although the plants in the small tract suffered some damage in the heavy

windstorm several weeks ago, they

pro\'L'd their hardiness bv staging a mass

comeback.

The two men primarily responsible

for the flower garden have a number of things in common. Both originally came

to the Isthmus with the U.S. Army and

both of them left it to become emplovees of the Supply Division. Mr. Demers, a native of Berlin, N.H., was the first of the two to arrive here and now has been on the Isthmus about 25

years. Mr. Ewing, a native of Creston,

Ohio, was a civilian employee of the Army when he arrived here in 1941. Mr. Demers was a member of the military when he came here, but he dofted Army togs for civvies to join the Canal

organization as a storekeeper. Mr Ewing

switched from Army emplo\' to the

Canal about a year after arriving here. During his sei-vice with the Canal

organization, Mr. Demers has distin- guished himself as a frequent recipient

of awards in the Employee Suggestion

Program. In 1948, while working in the Balboa storehouse, he was presented

the highest cash award made up to that time for an employee suggestion. His

approved proposal was that the Canal

adopt a slightly lower grade of grain alcohol so it could be shipped to the Isthmus at a considerably lower freight

rate. In 1957, a suggestion by Mr.

Demers, which reduced transportation expense in the Storehouse Branch, was

rated the best suggestion of the year and he received the annual award of an

18-carat gold watch. In 1958, he re- ceived a check for a suggestion which

resulted in conservation of scrap steel. Mr. Ewing, who comments that he

has some soil in his blood, ha\ing been

born and reared on a farm in Wayne

Count%', Ohio, is one of the many ardent

"rockhounds" among Isthmian residents. He collects rocks from the beaches and

rivers of the Isthmus, then uses his saws,

tumblers, and other equipment to trans- form them into decorative items. He and

his wife, \\'ho also enjoys the hobby,

have made some jew elry, he notes, "but

just for the fun of it." The flower garden, too, was started bv the two men "just for the fun of it." But like anything of beauty, it has pro- vided enjoyment not only for them, but

also for the hundreds of persons who

have seen and admired it.

The Panama Canal Review 21
TRAFFIC MOVEMENT OVER MAIN TRADE ROUTES

The following table shows the nvmiber of transits of large, commercial vessels (300 net

tons or over) segregated into eight main trade routes:

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

East Coast of U.S. and Far East

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

Europe and South America

Europe and Australasia

All other routes

Total traffic.

First Quarter, Fiscal Year
CANAL TRANSITS — COMMERCIAL AND U. S. GOVERNMENT

Dutch Liner Calls

The 20,0(X)-gross ton air-conditioned, round-the-world liner Orcinje

made her first trip through the Panama

Canal October 30 on her \\ a\' from New

Zealand to Southhampton, England.

Carr\ ing approximateh' 8.50 passengers, the Xedcrland Llo\d \essel docked in Balboa at noon October 29 and began

the Canal transit northbound the fol- lowing day at 6 a.m. She berthed in Cristobal to take on bunkers and sailed

at midnight October 30 for Miami, Ber- muda, and Southhampton. After leaving

England, the ship will go to Amsterdam

and begin another vo\age around the world by way of the Suez Canal and

New^ Zealand. She is due to arrive here

again February 3. The Orauje is being

operated in conjunction with vessels of the Royal Rotterdam Lloyd Line and is expected to make two more visits here

in 196L Agents for the line are C. B. Fenton & Co. New Moore McCormack Ship

The first of two fast cargo liners being built for Moore McCormack Line,

Inc., by the Todd Shipyards Corp. in Los Angeles is scheduled to make her

maiden voyage to the east coast of South

America via the Panama Canal in Jan- uary 196L The vessel, the SS Mormaccape, of 10,460 deadweight tons, is the

first major ship to be constructed in the Los Angeles area since the war. It in- corporates man\- features speciallv de- signed for the operating conditions en- countered on her owners' many trading

routes. She is 458 feet long and will accommodate 12 passengers. No infor- mation has been received by the United

Fruit Company, local agent for the ship,

as to which trade run the new vessel will be assigned.

Peruvian Cargo Service

The Corporacion Peruana de Vapores, which has operated ships through

the Canal ever since the waterway

opened, recently inaugurated a regular

independent monthly service from Gulf

Ports to Callao, Matarani, and Arica,

Chile. Ships making the run are the MS Tinnhcs and the MS Hotison. The

Peruvian Line ships also operate up the West Coast of the United States. They

are handled here by the Panama Canal

Company.
o H

Shipping trends for the past several months indicate that traffic thiough the Panama Canal has reached a phitcan

and possibly will level off in the months

immediately ahead. Figures compiled by the Executive

Planning Staff of the Canal show that while traffic for the first quarter of the

current fiscal year is continuing on a high level, some specific types of ships,

such as tankers, decreased slightly in comparison with the number using the waterway diu-ing the similar period last year. Ships in the categories of ore

carriers, banana vessels and general

cargo vessels remained at a high level, although there was some change in the general movement of cargoes. Petroleum and petroleum products,

which are among the major commodities

shipped through the Canal, were on a

level with the first quarter of last fiscal year. Crude oil from Venezuela to the West Coast of the United States made

up 20 percent of the average monthly

total. Nitrates and ore products, mostly

from Chile and Peru, increased during

the last three months, with Chilean and

Peruvian iron ore in the lead. West Virginia coal, loaded at Hampton Roads, Va., was being brought south through the Canal in large quantities,

with 90 percent of it going to Japan.

This was attributed to the continued

demand by the growing Japanese heavy

industry, which must import coal and

coke for the manufacture of steel. Crain movements from the West

Coast of the United States and Canada

fell off in the three-month period, possibly because of competition from the

St. Lawrence Seaway and the increas- ing movement of Russian wheat into countries in Eiuope which formerly dePANAMA LINE

SAILINGS

FROM CRISTOBAL

Cristobal November 1 Ancon November 12

Crisfobdl November 23

Ancon November 30

FROM NEW YORK

Ancon November 4

Cristobal November 15 Ancon November 22

Cristobal December 2

TRANSITS BY OCEAN-GOING Statistics for the quarter show that

ships using the Panama Canal still are VESSELS IN SEPTEMBER increasing in size. During the month of

1959 1960 August the average ocean-going ship

Commercial 823 847 transiting the Canal was measured at

U. S. Government 8 14 ^,763 Panama Canal net tons. This

compares with an average of 5,403 net

'T"*'^' °^^ ^^^ tons for ocean-going ships transiting in TOLLS " August 1959. Commercial .$3,830,969 $4,176,482 The average cargo load for oceanU. S. Covermnent. 32,252 46,397 going commercial vessels was 5,878 long

Total $3,863,221 $4,222,879 T' "h "^"^h"''

'^'"' '' ^^'^ '°?^

' ' ' * . . more tlian the average cargo loadTlof CARGO (long tons) 5,115 long tons in August 1959. Commercial 4,33.5,716 4,844,190 The United States continued to hold

U. S. Government. 18,.351 35,445 first place in number of transits by ships

Total 4,354,067 4,879,6.35 ^>''"g '*^ ,^^8' F^^ '''^ '} ^J"^ ^ver since the Canal was opened. Second place,

•includes tolls on all vessels, ocean-going and small however. Went to Norway during the quarter, while Germany dropped to —^————————-^^ third place and British shipping, which

was slowed by a seaman's strike, ended

pended on the Canadian and U.S. West the quarter in fourth place. Coast supply. This was an unusual position for Banana shipments, moving north- "''t'^'i shipping through the Canal. On

bound through the Canal from South ^'" annual basis. Great Britain was

and Central American ports, fell off second only to the United States in use

slightly, with the last three-month totals "f the waterway from the time it opened

behig under those of the similar period ""til fiscal year 1960, when it was nosed

last year. Bananas are shipped mainly to out b)- Germany, which sent 1,295 ships the East Coast of the United States and through, compared to 1,294 British

to Europe. ships.

OCEAN-GOING TRANSITS


DATE DUE

u u t RETURNED

^SPToiloJO^

3 1262 00041 5843

LATIN AMERICA
'i^iifi*;::

m