Vol. 8, No. 1 BALBOA HEIGHTS, CANAL ZONE, AUGUST 2, 1957 5 cents

Gift Ofthe Panama CanalMuseum
Mooring facilities For two big ships north of Pedro Miguel Locks would reduce

congestion and increase Canal capacity during Pacific Locks overhaul periods. IMPROVEMENTS

For A Few Years Ahead

A short-range plan of improvements

for increasing the transit capacity of the Canal to meet expected requirements of world shipping for the next one or two

decades has been approved by the Board

of Directors of the Panama Canal Company for submission to the Bureau of the Budget and appropriate Congi-essional Committees for review. No action will be taken to implement

the report and recommendations of the Ad Hoc Committee on the Canal capacity problem and no distribution of the

report will be made until these reviews have been completed. The proposed improvements would in- crease the dependable capacity of the Canal by about 25 percent. Dependable

capacity is rated on the number of lock- ages possible in a 24-hour period at Gatun

Locks during overhaul periods. The pres- ent lockage capacity at Gatun is 35 in normal operating periods with current

clear-cut rate, -30 during Pacific Locks

overhaul, and 2S during part of the Atlantic Locks overhaul. These would be

increased to about 45, 36, and 35, re- spectively. The plan adopted by the Board at its meeting last month is the initial phase

of an exhaustive study undertaken by

the Canal management to determine what

the requirements of world shipping will be for the remainder of this century and what alterations to the existing waterway

are needed to meet those requirements. A report on the study is to be sub- mitted to the Board of Directors by the end of next year. The short-range plan proposes five major improvements, which are:

1. The purchase of five additional towing locomotives. This item has al- ready been budgeted.

2. Lighting Gaillard Cut and improved lighting of the Locks for safe night-time operation.

3. Provision of mooring facilities for two large vessels just north of Pedro Miguel Locks.

4. Widening Paraiso and Cucaracha

reaches in Gaillard Cut to 500 feet and

deepening the widened part by five feet.

5. Widening Bend IhbO, a curve in the channel at the olil construction town

of Empire which is considered one of the most hazardous sections of the Canal. The cost of these improvements, not

including the purchase of the additional locomotives, would be $18,9.56,000. The

program could be financed by the Company over a four-year construction peril id, requiring neither special appropriations nor borrowing.

WTiile the short-range plan embodies

no new features that have not been given

consideration in prior studies of the Canal

capacity problem, it attacks the problem

at the most immediately critical points. Of importance in the long-range planning,

virtually all of the proposed improve- ments would be beneficial in almost any

permanent improvements or changes considered probable for the Panama Canal. The study of the Canal capacity prob- lem is being conducted by an Ad Hoc

Committee appointed last January by

Assistant Secretary of the .Army George H. Roderick. Members aie Governor

Potter, Chan-man, Maj. Gen. Julian L. Schley, and Ralph A. Tudor. The Ad Hoc Committee's first report was based on statistical and other data developed by a Working Committee, composed of a group of Canal officials intimately acquainted with operating problems. This v>-as headed by former Lt. Gov. H. W. Schull, Jr., until his departure

last month. He has been succeeded as Chairman by Lt. Gov. Hugh ^L Arnold.

Efforts of the Working Committee

were warmly praised by Board members,

especially plans for illumination of the Locks and Gaillard Cut which were de- veloped largely through Colonel Schull's

initiative. In effect the short-range plan will provide for 24-hour operation of the waterway under safe conditions; partial elimination of a serious bottleneck

in traffic at Pedro Miguel Locks; and a major decrease in the delay time now

caused by clear-cut ships. The initial report to the Board of Directors also proposed a plan for the re- distribution of the daily traffic pattern when the improvements are completed.

.Although the proposed rearrangement of transit schedules will not increase traffic capacity under the new conditions, it will mean an average saving of some three

houi's in "waiting-and-transit" time for ships using the Canal and effect monetary

savings for shipping which will aggregate some $2,000,000 a year. The widening of Paraiso and Cucaracha

reaches will bring the channel to a mini- mum of 500 feet in more than half of Gaillard Cut. Culebra Reach, which adjoins Cucaracha north of Gold Hill, has

already been widened to 500 feet. In connection with this project, it was recommended that the widened part of the channel be deepened five feet since the work can be performed economically

in connection with the other excavation.

Also, all future improvement plans considered include a deepening of the Canal

channel. The widening and deepening project would cost an estimated $11,609,000 and

would require the removal of approxi- mately 6,200,000 cubic yards of material. This yardage is exclusive of material ex- cavated in widening of Bend isiis, located

in the Paraiso Reach, on which work is now being started. All of the material

in both reaches will be removed from the west bank of the channel. The section of the channel to be widened has been the scene of many

accidents and is considered particularly hazardous because of its narrow, rocky banks and by the surges of water there

THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW August 2, 1957
from lockages at Pedro Miguel. When

the project is completed, it will permit

large ships, and others requiring clear-cut

transit, to meet and pass for more than

half the distance of the Cut section, materially decreasing loss of time in handling

these vessels. The report to the Board said that full advantages of the two lighting projects could be realized only by the completion

of both. Of the expected results of these, the report said in part: "These projects would, in addition to improving safety of Canal operations,

greatly increase the capacity of the Canal by reducing the number of daylight

clear-cut ships and by permitting two- way traffic in Gaillard Cut during darkness. While it is impossible mathematically to predict the reduction in daylight

clear-cut ships, an analysis of expected

increases in sizes and types of ships and

expected traffic seems to indicate that, with this improved lighting, daylight

clear-cuts will probably not exceed four

a day in the foreseeable future." The estimated cost of the two lighting And A Forecast

For Many Years Ahead

A long-range forecast of the cargo ton- nage and ship transits which the Panama

Canal may expect from now until the year 2000 "will be in the hands of Canal

authorities by the end of the calendar

year. The report is being prepared by the Stanford Research Institute, of Menlo

Park, Calif., which has been retained by the Panama Canal Company for this purpose. The study is part of the pro- gram toward solving the Canal capacity problem which has occupied the time

of a special, or Ad Hoc, committee, and a Working Committee for several months.

In charge of the studies for the Stanford Institute is Dr. Neil T. Houston, a senior economist and head of the program

in regional economics of the Institute's Economics Research Division. Dr. Houston spent the first two weeks

of July on the Isthmus and is returning

here in September or October for further work. During his July visit, he reviewed commodity and statistical data, saw how

the Canal "obtained its information on the

origin and destination of cargoes, and got

statistical data on cargo movements in past years. He also transited the Canal, rode in a

helicopter over Gaillard Cut, and visited the locks and docks, to get an idea of Canal transit operations. Although several forecasts of Canal

traffic have been made in the past decade,

these must now be brought up to date. The Stanford report will be confined

to commercial freight traffic through the Canal and will not include military' cargo. The study will include a prediction for the movement of the major commodities which make up approximately 75 percent

of the Canal's cargo tonnage.

Dr. Houston is well-known in the field of economics. He is a graduate of Washington and Lee University and did grad- uate work at Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and at Harvard University. He has had both business and educational

experience and has been with the Stanford Research Institute since 1953.

projects is $1,550,000. \Vhile it is planned

to install lights along a 3,400-foot section

of the Cut between Culebra and Empire

reaches on an experimental basis this

fiscal year, the work approved by the Board would not start until the begin- ning of next fiscal year and would require about 20 months for completion. The

experimental lighting system to be in- stalled will give engineers and Canal

operating personnel an opportunity to study the eff'ectiveness of the mild illu- mination system and to make changes

in the permanent installations if found

desirable. The provision of a mooring station on

the east bank of the Canal just north of Pedro Miguel Locks would cost $1,359,- 000, and it is estimated the project could be completed in a year's time. Since this

will greatly facilitate the handling of ships

at Pedro Miguel and in the Cut, this work would be scheduled to start and be completed during the coming fiscal year. The area will become a part of the 500-

foot widening project.

The proposal to widen Bend 1660, under the short-range plan, is considered

essential as a safety factor in view of the

present type of Canal traffic. The change

in dir-ection of the channel at this point

is more than 37 degrees and the bend has

a record of more bank-strikings and collisions than any other in the Canal. Deeply-laden vessels and "Super" ships

are difficult to maneuver at the bend

because of bank suction. With the channel widened at that point more space

will be available in which to maneuver

ships entering or leaving the bend. This project, including deepening the

channel, would cost an estimated $4,- 438,000, and would require the removal

of 2,377,000 cubic yards of earth and

rock. Most of the work to be done under the

five-point, short-range plan would be ac- complished by contract. The wet exca- vation would be done by Canal forces, but the dry excavation, the lighting projects, and construction of the mooring

station would be ofi'ered for contract. Ships will hove a 500-Foot channel For about halF the distance oF Gaillard Cot

aFte( widening projects are completed on two reaches just north oF Pedro Miguel.
Visitor — Master Key For Panama Canal Locks

Novi Ready For Prominent Visitors

Mezzo-Soprano Blanche Thcbom fook

time out from her music in July to see

the Panama Canal locks in operation.

The key to a city is a traditional mark

of respect and welcome given to visiting

dignitaries. The Canal Zone has many

cities but it has, also, massive locks which no city in the world can duplicate.

So, instead of being presented with a key to the city, eminent visitors to the Canal Zone will be given a Master Key

to the Panama Canal Locla. With it will go a handsome certificate which

attests that the recipient is a member of the Esteemed Order of the Bearers of the Master Key to the Panama Canal. The Order will be bestowed in three

grades, without rank. They are: Honorary Pilot, Honorary Lockmaster, and Honorary Aide to the Governor.

First to receive the keys and membership in the new Order were Assistant Secretary of the Army George H. Roderick, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Panama Canal Company,

and members of the Board of Directors. Gov. W. E. Potter made the formal

presentation of the Master Keys and

certificates last month at the quarterly meeting of the Board in Washington.

Since the Panama Canal is a niocca for distinguished visitors from all points of the globe, the new Order is expected ulti- mately to have representatives in practically every part of the world. And from Timbuktu to Oslo, members of the Order

will be able to show their friends the golden key and the certificate which says,

in part: "The Esteemed Order of Bearers of the Master Key of the Panama Canal has

been established to join together all Pan- ama Canal advisors in a favored fellow- ship of perigrinating potentates who have

viewed the marvels of American enterprise and Panamanian geography at the Crossroads of the Earth, shared the tropical delights of the Canal Zone, observed

the fiesta and the siesta, seen the sun rise in the Pacific and set in the Atlantic, angled in the bay of abundant fish, and

drunk deep of the waters of the Chagres which assures their return."

Pacific Area Bid Opening, Lock Advertisement

Start Conversion Project Toward Final Stages

With the opening of bids for the Pacific area conversion this week and the adver- tisement last week of conversion of the Locks, the 60-cycle power conversion program moved into its last stages.

It will still, however, be between two

and three years before all frequency-sensitive electrical equipment in the Canal Zone will have been converted to operate on 60-cycle current. The Pacific area contract, on which

bids were opened this week, too late for

this issue of The Review to include the amounts bid, includes the entire Pacific side south of Pedro Miguel, with the ex- ception of the West Bank and Mirafiores. Bids on the West Bank-Miraflores conversion are to be opened September 13. The contract for conversion of the Locks covers all frequency sensitive equipment for all of the Panama Canal

locks, from the equipment in the control towers to the little motors which

open and close the huge lock gates. The process of conversion of the locks

will take about two years after the successful contractor is given notice to proceed.

Still to be advertised is a contract for the installation of remote control and

relays of the power stations. At the

present time this contract is scheduled

to be advertised September 1 . Also scheduled for the future, probably next summer, is a contract for rebuilding one of the Gatur hydro-electric generators. At the present time, Atlantic area conversion is about 60 percent complete. The residential areas of Margarita, Gatun

and Rainbow City have been converted and the contractor is working in the Industrial Area. In the Central Area, all household equipment in Gamboa has been converted and that in the town of Santa Cruz is about half finished.

Commissaries, Storehouses

Merge Into Supply Division

The consolidation of the CommissaryService Center Division and the Store- house Division into a new unit, known

as the Supply Division, was effective last month. The Division is headed by R. L. Sullivan as Acting General Manager. The new Supply Division is composed

of two branches, the Commissary Branch

and the Storehouse Branch. The former includes all commissary,

service center, laundry, and theater operations. T. G. Relihan is Superintendent

of this branch. The Storehouse Branch, headed by H. E. May, includes all former

Division activities, such as warehousing,

scrap and salvage, and the furniture pools. —More Visitors

ON THE COVER

Try as they might, these young

Texans could think of nothing in their home State to equal the Pan- ama Canal Locks. The boys were

part of a group of 17 Texas high

school Junior Ambassadors on a goodwill tour of Latin America under the sponsorship of the East Texas Chamber of Commerce. The

picture was taken for "The Review"

by George F. Nadeau, Acting Official Photographer at the time.

In a Budget Bureau-Canal conference last month were, left to right: Percy Rappaport, F. A. Baldwin, Philip L. Steers, Jr., Earl J. Donnelly, Arthur Focke, and Carl H. Schwartz. Mr. Rappaport is Assistant Director of the Bureau.

THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW August 2, 1957
WATER

BABIES

They're Wishing For Rain

A couple of dozen lithe and limber young Isthmians wish

it would rain, and they have a special reason for their wish. They are the members of the Panama Ski Club, one of the newest local hobby groups, currently a club without a home. And it's all because of the unseasonable drought. Out at Madden Lake, where they'd like to be zipping along on their skis in the wake of a skillfully-handled fast- moving boat, the water is so low that their brand new

launching float is stranded high and dry and their boats cannot maneuver among the newly-uncovered hill tops and

treacherous stumps.

Although water skiing has been a sport of a handful of young

people here for some time, there had not been an organized

ski club until about a year ago when a group of the more

ardent aficionados got together and decided that they could have more fun, more easily and less expensively, if they pooled

their skills and resources. That way, the more expert could

teach the novices and they could share their boats. Today there are 29 dues-paying members and a handful of youngsters who are classed as junior members. The youngest

in the group is about 10, the oldest pushing 40.

Several of them are exceptionally good, like the Club's

President, Frank E. Hirt, of Balboa, and Beth Little, of Diablo Heights. They appear in the accompanying picture. Another sldlled skier is Stephen Powelson, Deputy Comptroller, who did a lot of water skiing in Europe but who is currently beached because of a bad back. Margie Daniels, a 14-year-old, not only can stage a most

creditable performance on skis, but is quite frequently the "high girl on the totem pole" the totem pole in this case being Mr. Hirt—when they try some of their fancy one-skier- on-skis-and-the-other-on-the-skier's-shoulders stunt.

Billy Benny, who is only 10, is becoming an expert on the slalom skis and another 10-year-old, Bobby Daniel, is going to be giving his elders a run for their money in a few more months. Books on water skiing say that anyone who can swim

can water ski, but there's a great deal more to it than that. Beginners practice on land the tricky process of standing up on the thin slats of wood, and it is not until they are familiar with this that they try to repeat it on water. As

they become more skillful they learn to steer by leaning

their bodies in the direction they want to go, just as snow

skiers do. The proper shift and the correct bank can bring about anything from a gentle curve to a sharp twist. After the simple banks and turns come the more intricate

tricks, the jumps, the skiing backwards, the one-foot skiing and all of the othei stunts familiar to viewers of Florida-made movie reels. Of course, they have the help of the long tow-rope which

connects them to the speeding boat but a novice has to learn to let go of the rope,, fast, when he takes a spill. Otherwise,

he'll be dragged along undei the water until his breath gives

out.As soon as the level of Madden Lake returns to normal, the club expects to build an informal, bohio-type shelter on a point

of land near Madden Dam. Several floats will dot the surface

of the lake. Meantime, they are keeping their skis crossed and hoping for rain.

August 2, 1957 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW T

r- %, tm

MMlPk.'
FOR YOUR INTEREST AND GUIDANCE IN ACCIDENT PREVENTION

Pictured above is what one housewife

discovered when she went into the kitchen

to prepare breakfast one morning. The

automatic electric toaster was plugged in but not turned on. Yet the filament on

the side nearest the stove was glowing. WTien she took hold of the handle of the

toaster to see if the switch was somehow HONOR ROLL

Bureau Award For BEST RECORD

JUNE

ENGINEERING AND CONSTUCTION BUREAU HEALTH BUREAU

CIVIL AFFAIRS BUREAU AWARDS THIS CALENDAR YEAR

Health 5 Civil Affairs 4 Engineering and Construction 3 Supply and Employee Service . 2 Marine 1 Transportation and Terminals

Division Award For NO DISABLING INJURIES JUNE

HOSPITALS AND CLINICS MAINTENANCE DIVISION HOUSING AND GROUNDS DIVISION DREDGING DIVISION ELECTRICAL DIVISION MOTOR TRANSPORTATION DIVISION RAILROAD DIVISION STOREHOUSE DIVISION POLICE DIVISION

FIRE DIVISION AIDS TO NAVIGATION

SANITATION DIVISION AWARDS THIS CALENDAR YEAR

Aids to Navigation 6 Electrical 6 Fire 6 Housing and Grounds 6 Sanitation 6 Dredging 5 Hospitals and Clinics 5 Maintenance 5 Motor Transportation 5 Railroad 5 Storehouse 5 Industrial 4 Police 4 Commissary and Service Center 3 Locks 2 Navigation 2 Terminals 1

stuck, she moved the toaster slightly and

noticed a spark where the aluminum pan

handle was touching the side of the

toaster. The filament ceased glowing immediately. An investigation proved that the fila- ment on that side had broken and was

touching the case. The pan handle completed the electrical circuit from the stove which is grounded. Had the handle not been touching the toaster, and had the housewife touched both the toaster and

the stove simultaneously she would have

received a severe shock which could have

killed her. All electrical appliances should be kept in good repair. The very first time that any electrical appliance "bites" you, take it out of service and have it repaired. That little white piece in the pull-chain

in the picture above is called a puU-cham

insulating link. They would be highly

desirable in all similar chains used to operate electric light switches but a "must" when the light is located over a sink or near any object which offers a "groimd"

for electric ciurent. In many ways electricity is like water

if there is a place for it to leak, it will leak provided there is a "pipe" for it to

travel in. Frequently light socket switches develop "leaks" and the electricity is in the chain looking for some way to get to the "ground." If you happen to be barefoot on a tile floor -or worse yet—holding onto a water faucet or pipe and at the same time touch a "leaky" chain, you

become that "pipe" and receive a shock

that could kill you. IN CASE OF ELECTRICAL TROUBLE

CALL YOUR DISTRICT WIREMAN

FREQUENCY RATE Disabling injuries per 1,000,000 eraployees hours worked. JUNE 1957 BUREAU

Engineering and Conslruction Bureau

Heallh Bureau

Civil Affairs Bureau

Transporlalion and Terminals Bureau

Supply and Employee Service Bureau

C.Z. Covl.-Panama Canal Co. (This Monlh)

Marine Bureau

Number of Disabling Injuries 10

LEGEND

5 10

Employee Hours of Exposure

I Frequency Rale this monlh

tSS^^W.-M-.-J^y'l Accumulalive Frequency Rale this Calendar Year

1 1954-19551956 Calendar Year Average

THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW August 2, 1957
OF CURRENT AND FUTURE INTEREST

On the receiving end of the polio shots are Kay Hummer, Norman Davison, and

Alice Roche. Dispensers are Dr. Eric Osterberg, Joan Astrid, and Erma Forbes. More than 19,000 inoculations against

poliomyelitis were given to Canal Zone

children during the past fiscal year, according to Canal Zone Health Bureau figures. In addition, 3,680 injections were given to Canal Zone adults between December and

June 30. Figuring that there were still a large number of adult Canal employees and their dependents who had not yet received the vaccine injection series, the Health Bureau

last month set up vaccination stations in central locations for the convenience of the employees.

In one day a total of 424 employees and

their dependents took advantage of a sta- tion situated in the rotunda of the Administration Building at Balboa Heights. A

large number also received their polio vaccinations July 24 at a station set up in the

Industrial Division for the convenience of Maintenance and Commissary Division employees. Mrs. Erma Forbes, Canal Zone school nurse, is in charge of the stations, and administers the injections. Earlier in the year she vaccinated 202 teachers and Civil Affairs Bureau employees by making a

tour of the schools and the Civil Affairs Building. The vaccinations for adults are being provided free of charge through the Canal

Zone Chapter of the National Foundation

for Infantile Paralysis. The children under

ig years of age are vaccinated free by provision of the Poliomyelitis Vaccination Assistance Act of 1955. The new Maintenance Division shops, now located in Building 8 in the Balboa

Industrial Division, will soon be the best- lighted shops in the Canal Zone. Work was

started in July on the complete alteration

to the lighting system. The improvements

planned include the installation of a new

type of mercury-vapor lamp with a built-in rellector which will give a nonglare shadowless light in all parts of the work areas. F"hiorescent lighting, which has been used

successfully in other Canal Zone buildings,

will be installed in the office section of the

building. Bids on the project were opened July 15; the contract for the work was given to the

Electric Service Company, a Panama firm, which made a low offer of $12,730. According to the specifications, the work will be completed in approximately eight months.

JSbJ^

Official Panami Canal Companjr Publication Published Monlbij At Balbaa Heights, C. Z. Printed by the Printing Plant, Mount Hope, CgtuI Zone W. E. Potter, Governor-President Hugh M. .'\rnold, Lieutenant Governor W. G. Arey, Jr., Public Information Officer

J. RuFUs Hardy, Editor Eleanor McIlhenny, Assistant Editor Eunice Richard, Editorial Assistant

On lale at all Panama Canal Service Centers. Commissaries, and Hotels for 10 days after publication date at 5 cents each. Subscriptions, 91 a year; mall and back copies, 10 cents each.

Postal money orders made payable to tiie Pan- ama Canal Company should be mailed to Editor. Thb Panama Canal Review. Balboa Heights. C. Z. Capt. Peter Grosz, above, is the new

Military Asisstant to the Governor.

Books in Braille, for sightless readers, can

be made available immediately on request

to the Canal Zone Librarv through the courtesy of the Library for the Blind of the New York Public Library. Residents of the Canal Zone may make their selections from

lists available in the Main Library at Ancon. Books may be borrowed for one month,

with the privilege of renewal. The titles in Braille include biographies of famous persons, mysteries, and many current titles. The Library for the Blind is a branch of the New York Public Library and provides

city-wide service through New York's five boroughs. Long Island, Connecticut, Puerto

Rico, the Virgin Islands, and in the Canal

Zone, if requested. ®

CIVIL DEFENSE

NEWS

Before a crowd of about 300, certificates that they had completed the Civil Defense

First Aid Course were presented last month

to 36 residents of the Canal Zone's Latin American communities. The program was

sponsored by the La Boca Civic Council. Several in the group of 36 were Girl Scouts; they received, in addition to their diplomas.

First Aid Merit Badges to be worn with

their uniforms. The diplomas were presented by Philip

L. Dade, Chief of the Civil Defense Unit. The group had been trained by First Aid

Instructor William Gordon of Paraiso, who

was given a sport shirt and overnight bag

by the graduates. The program was ar- ranged by Chris E. Haywood, President of the La Boca Civic Council. The list of graduates follows: Lois AUeyne, Elvira Bailey, Melva Bailey, Virginia Brathwaite, Magdrie Callender,

Patricia Callender, Loretta Chong, Priscilla Chong, Vilma Chong, Sarah Clark, Shirley

Clark, Wilma Daniels, Gloria Davis, Wolsey Dickens, and Eleanor Dickens. Mavis Donowa, Glenda Farrell, Miriam

Farrell, Pearl Farrell, Clarence Fenton,

Lester Ferraro, Emilia Flemmings, Alexander James, Winifred James, Paulina King, James Kennedy, Wilhelmina Layne, and

Gloria Llewelyn. Doris Livingston, Ilene Pilgrim, Iris Pil- grim, Gladys Sandiford, Sadie Sinclair, Carrie Turner, Marcelina Wilson, and

Pearlina Wilson.

Identification cards for all members of the Civil Defense Corps have been ordered and will be distributed soon, P. L. Dade,

Chief of Civil Defense announced. The

cards will be given to all official and volunteer members of the Corps. Mrs. Charlotte Kennedy, Coordinator of Volunteer Womens Activities, will handle

the volunteer town-meetings during the ab- sence on leave of Ralph Edwards who has been assisting in the work on the Pacific

side. Two Canal Zone towns, Santa Cruz and La Boca, arranged special civil defense

functions during the latter part of July. Over 500 persons attended the Santa Cruz

party given at the Service Center under the

direction of Mrs. Ruby Wilson. The pro- gram of songs, recitations, and addresses contained something of interest to those of

all age groups. At La Boca, a graduation

exercise for 36 persons who received cards and diplomas for first-aid training, drew a crowd of nearly 300 persons.

Augusts, 1957 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW

IGUST VOLUNTEER CORPS MEETINGS

Town Place Hour

Balboa USO-pSfB 9 a.m.

Margarita and Service Center 9 a.m. New Cristobal Margarita Gamboa Civic Center 8:30 a. m

Santa Cruz Service Center 8 p.m. Rainbow City School 6:30 p. m

Paraiso School 7:30 p. m.

Gatun Service Center 9 a.m.

Diablo Service Center 9:30 a. m.
ALERT

J. Rufus Hardy and Philip L. Dade brief newsmen on what's going on in the alert.

In the board room, acting Gov. W. S. Rodimon and members of

his staff discuss the extent of the damage and what must be done.

J. J. Pearce and Herschel Gandy manned one of the telephones in the field.

The afternoon of July 12 was bright and sunny, and it was no sort of day for trouble. But at 1:30 p. m. an enemy

.submarine lobbed a guided missile with an atomic warhead, powerful as 100,000

tons of TNT, toward the Canal Zone. It burst on the West Bank near Miraflores Locks. In a matter of seconds, the locks were

breached, water was spilling from the shambles of Miraflores Dam, the control house and the power station were reduced to rubble. Miraflores bridge disappeared. In Miraflores Locks, the Inui San Mam

and the Balao became twisted smoking

masses of steel. Other ships in the area, the P&T Leader, the Portunus, and the Edgar Luckenbach, were less severely damaged. Lethal radiological fallout blew toward Empire in an almost elliptical pattern, 17 miles long. The events which occurred that sunny

afternoon were all on paper. They were

part of a nation-wide civil defense exercise, the fourth in which the Canal Zone

has participated. They set in motion the wheels within wheels of the local organization, halted all motor traffic, and sent Zonians scurrying for shelter. A few of

the events are shown in the picturi'S on

this page. The local Civil Defense Corps has a ready-made nucleus. The Canal Zone's

experts in communications, housing, food and such things, which would become

even more important in time of disaster than they are in every-day living, are integrated into Civil Defense in exactly

the same jobs they do every day. The Canal Zone plan utilizes all of these experts, and the skilled care of trained personnel will be supplemented by

volunteers who have been specially trained. Nurses and doctors, for instance,

will be assisted by tramed Fii'st Aid

workers; Zonians who have no professions which will be needed urgently in time of trouble will be trained for such duties as

litter-bearers or members of decontamination teams. For the July alert. Civil Defense forces were mobilized, but for a nose-count only. Except for those who staff the control- centers and man communications, they

did not go into action. But whethei they were at home or at work, Zonians every- where took shelter and remained "under

cover" until the second blast of the sirens told them to return to business as usual.

Warden John Hammond checks to be sure that everyone in the Engineering Division hod taken cover.
Lester A. Ferguson, a restless young man with a crew haircut and a perpetu- ally-askew bow tie, is the Panama Canal's

personal shopper. His official title is Manager, New York

Operations, and his status is that of a Bureau Director. But his job consists in great part of seeing to it that the shoes you wear, the bed you sleep in, and the canned tomatoes you eat are purchased and delivered to the Canal Zone. Since he also is responsible for the buying of items for Company-Government

use, such as new automobiles for the Motor Transportation Division and steel for locksoverhaul, the purchasing job is a big one. It runs to almost $20 million a year. He does his buying either competitively, through open bidding, or proprietarialy. The latter is the case when the Company-Government organization buys

from a specific company which is the only source for the particular item needed. The pui-chases range in size from pennies to over half a million dollars, which

is the case when a contract is let for a tanker-load of gasoline. At the present time some of the largest purchases being made arc for nickel steel for locks overhaul. Food represents an important part of the New York Operation buying, as it involves not only selection and ordering, but also methods of packing. Considerable experimental work has been done by

the New York Office in cooperation with

shippers, he said, to ensure that merchandise for the Canal Zone makes the long humid trip from the United States

in good condition. This part of his job is known as pro- curement and is handled by three "Commodity Branches" and one administrative branch. The commodity branches are

split into the food section which pur- chases all food items plus paper products, medical and school supplies, deck and

engine ship supplies, etc.; the industrial materials branch which buys the electri- cal and mechanical equipment for the Canal, both finished and unfinished ; the apparel and home furnishing branch which

handles such buying as drygoods, shoes, and housewares and notions. And they do

this in such quantity that during the past

Here's The Man

Who Does The Buying

He'd be lost without a telephone in his tremendous buying job.

calendar year the New York Office proc- essed 6,640 requisitions, and issued 20,737 purchase orders covering 75,029 items. Mr. Ferguson likes to use potatoes as an illustration of quantity buying. The

24 million potatoes which his outfit buys

each year would, laid end to end, stretch from New York to Cristobal. Some of his purchases are emergency

ones, and he is justifiably proud of the dispatch with which the office has been

able to handle them. A year or so ago,

for instance, he got a radio telephone call at 4 p. m. that two rocking polio beds were needed urgently at Gorgas Hospital.

It took several airlines, the Coast Guard, and police departments in New York and

Massachusetts to do it, but 12 hours later the two rocking-beds had been flown —Air Freight

This is what happens when ait-borne fruit and vegetables are put on sale in the Commissaries each week. The new program has been a great success.

August 2, 1957 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW

from a factory in Massachusetts to Tocu- men Airport in Panama.

All of the things which Mr. Ferguson's

outfit buys in the United States have to be transported to the Canal Zone, of course. By far the largest amount is shipped on the two Panama Line ships, which also come under his direction. He

is ultimately responsible for the physical operation and maintenance of the SS

Ancon and the SS Cristobal, the Panama

Line's 500-foot pier on New York's North

River, and the Haiti Office, with its 11- man staff, in the heart of Port-au-Prince's business district. During the past fiscal year, the two

present ships of the line and the SS "Panama," prior to its sale in December, carried a total of over 9,000 passengers and some 175,000 tons of cargo between New York and Cristobal. As head of the New York Operations, Mr. Ferguson is the Governor's business

representative in the United States. This means not only that he is the Company's

contracting officer in the United States, but that he is also the "go-between" when

it comes to retaining consultants and obtaining information needed in such studies as the current capacity program, and

also the individual who is the recipient

of suits in legal matters such as cargo

claims or personal injuries connected with

the Panama Line. Another part of being the business rep- resentative is paying bills. Through the Accounting Division of his office, he

writes over 40,000 checks a year. The biggest headache in his job, he

says, is finding time to do it all. The

most enjoyable part is the diversification. "You never know what's going

to happen, when or where." He was born in Cleveland, Ohio, 39

years ago, which makes him one of the youngest of the Canal's top personnel. He studied business administration at Western Reserve University and has be- hind him 16 years as an executive with

such well-kno^ii retail {See page is)

For the Civil Affairs Bureau, fiscal \en 1958 will be largely a year of physical improvements, although it will also

see the beginning of a program for han- dicapped children. The largest project

of the year will be the start of construction of two buildings which will be

I adjuncts to Balboa High School and the

I Junior College but will also serve the

adult public. One building will be located on the

, iriangidar plot of ground between / Roosevelt and Morgan Avenues. This y will contain a 600-seat auditorium, a

J i stage with dressing rooms, and lighting

facilities for stage presentation, and a

soiHidpniolc I niiisit room. The other building, to be located at the cnriicr of Lawrence JohnsoEi Place and O'Connor Road, wdl

house R() rC ( lassrooni^ and armory, and an audio-visual room

where educalioiial Idms can be shown. The main Library in the Civil Afairs Buildmg is now being complclclv air conditioned. The system is being inslallcd by

l)iMrli)iiidor.i Klectrici, S. A., of Panama, and should be operating before the end of ihis nioiilh.

i

iiployet

We expect thai the Bureau of the Budget will approve the value placed on the

properties taken over by the Company

at the time of its reorganization in 1951.

This will make it possible finally to es- tablish the amounl of the V. S. Government's investment in the Panama

r;iii,il Company on which the Company

III- III pav interest. We shall the i con-

(I nil, III- on simplifying our procedures

ill .Kinunting for the Company's properly, and on effecting economies whereever possible.

.Ml rates presently being charged by

ilii ri.mpany and Government to the

v II iiiiivi|i\isii)ns within the organization,

111 .1111 nlri-. will lie reviewed to determine

ue to cooperate in the long-range program of rnment to bring about operating economies

iiiiiling in all agencies of the Government.

Whe Ihis liscal year ends, tests ^^^^^^^1 h on the first significant ^^^^^BH^^^^^I change operating procedures of the ^^^^^f ^^^^H P,ui,ima Canal since it was planned and ^^^^Kj^ ^^^H constructed nearly 50 years ago-~two ^^^^^^% '^^^^H "'^"' ship-towing devices for use at the ^^^^Km ^^^H locks, i'he new devices have been de- ^^B^^B-^ j^PRH signed and are being manufactured by ^^n^^M'->~ ,» 'rWiPm |, J- L,.'Pin,rneaii, Inc., under a con- ^^^^^tt\. ir.ui .idminislered b\' the Engineering

,iiul t'dnstriiclion Bureau. The results

V,

'' of the.sc tests hmII vitally alTcct plan- ^ I V ; nliig for the operation of the waterway

,, j for many decades to come. % \ I 1 This is only one of several areas in which the problem of handling the

stea-lily-increasing flow of ships through the Canal will be ap- proached by a po.sitivc design and construction program this vear. Two others aro a long-raii'je program of widening Gaillard Cut to a niininium of 500 feel and lighting the Cut and Locks

for Impro\e I iiiL;hl-opcr.iliiig conditions. We expect that design of the high-level bridge at Balboa will be started this year. This will be done by an architect-engineer

still to be selected. Completion of the bridge will take about 4H years after initial funds are appropriated for the design. Prospects at the outset of fiscal year 1958 promise one of the

busiest >-ears for the Kngineering and Construction Bureau since conslruction days. Coniinualion of the power conversion project, deepening of Cristobal anchorage, conslruction of the new

.'\ctivities Buiicling at B ilboa High School are some of the more

impiiri.int active phases of the Bureau's work which, when

fitted into an overall improvement program, will determine how

the Panami Canal will operate and how ihc Canal Zone will look for pi'rh;ips the next half century.

The fiscal year will start slowly for the Health Bureau but by next June we

should be well into the long-range planI niiig based on Dr. L S. Falk's detailed

j survey of Canal Zone health activities. This stud\-, which was started last February .inri which should be in its final liinn thi^ fill, is the only comprehen-

^i\ (• sliicK on medical facilities since the Canal was begun. Its recommendations \A will influence, in large part, not only A what will be done for the remainder of H this year, but for several years to come. TM In his survey, Dr. Falk is placing » particular emphasis on statistical studies, the adequacy of hospital facilities, saiiitaiioa, .uul dental and veterinary services, and the develop- me 11 of a long-range plan for hospitalization and medical care.

.Msi) slated for this fiscal year are: The appointment of a new

Superiniendent of Coco Solo Hospital to succeed Dr. J. M.

Wilkerson, who retired last month; completion of a year's train- ing program for 21 nursing assistants at the two hospitals, and

the start of training for a second group; and completion of the new parking lot at Gorgas Hospital.

WHAT'S

To ine. Fiscal Year 1958 could well be titled THE YEAR

OF THE FUTURE for the Canal organization and personnel. The past year has been the YEAR

OF THE TREATY. A large part of the effort of the administration has been in preparing the plans to imple- ment property transfer and the Single Wage Plan required under the 195.5 Treaty, in addition to commitments im- plemented last .January. Testimony has been given on implementing legisla- tion before the Congress. I feel confident this legislation will be passed

before Congress adjourns or soon after ^ it reconvenes next January.

In any event, we here are ready to put into effect the requirements of the Treaty. This has been a difficult, time- consuming task, involving as it did coordination with the

agencies of the Department of Defense and the Congressional Committees whose interest in this legislation has been

intense. So many things will happen in the fiscal year just beginning, not "only with respect to Treaty items but also with

respect to the Canal capacity studies and master-plan items, that a start into a better fiiture will really be made by the end of next June. The land transfer legislation will permit the start of construction of housing and service facilities at Margarita and,

while very few, if any, new houses will be completed, our

plans will be ready for consolidating our important Atlantic

side forces in Gatiin and Margarita. The future of these two

areas will then be clearly definable by the individual and

by the administratiDn. The job of the Civic Councils on the

Atlantic side will be of overriding importance in the develop- ment of the best communities possible. The capacity studies which are now nearing completion and which are a monument to Colonel Schull's engineering

ability will be carried forward under the leadership of our

AHEAD

In Fiscal '58

new Lieutenant Governor. The two most obvious accomplishments we can list this year will be the testing of the new towing devices at Gatun and the initiation of experi- mental lighting in the Cut and on the locks. Completion of these will open entirely new possibilities in assuring a more

rapid transit and cheaper costs for the shipping industry which, again I repeat, is our majoi customer and the one we must steadily strive to satisfy as to the adequacy of our

services. Next June will S3e the last phases of the power conversion program under way, foreshatlowing a day not too distant when all housing areas will be completed. When that day

anives you can once more buy the best of modern electrical appliances. No longer will we have to read, with a sense of

frustration, about air conditioners, dehumidifiers, modern re- frigerators or fans. Our way of life can become that of a normal citizen in the United States. Dr. Falk's studies of our hospitals and medical services

will give us clear goals as to the future of these important community facilitiss. It seems obvious at this time that his studies will provide for better service by both Coco Solo and

Gorgas Hospitals. The new high school at Margarita, to be started within

the year, and the new activities building at the Balboa school

will permit much bettor utilization of the fine teaching staff that has always been available. For most of us the year of the future will be the year of continuing hard work. All forces will be bent to the task

of taking care of the steadily-rising number of Caral transits. The locks force, the pilots, the police and the firemen will find themselves faced with the same necessity for dedication

to theii tasks that has always characterized their organizations. Too much may not be completed but, in my book, fiscal year 19-58 is the opening of a new way of life and a new

scale of activitv in the most remarkable area under the control of the United States.

This is one of the new LeTourneau towing devices

For the Locks which will be tried here this year.

?^

During fiscal year 1958, the Marine lin rcau expects to conduct two expi

mental projects leading to improver

operations of the Panama Canal. Thes

will be test lighting to improve night- | transit conditions, and tests on new | towing devices now being manufactured . by LeTourneau. The year's budget includes $125,000 j for experimental lighting of the locks This will be tried out at Pedro Miguel ' Locks to improve and expedite nightj transits. If the results are successful, the lighting system of all locks will be ' changed. The budget also contains the sum of S70,()tllJ iur experimental

lighting of a portion of Gaillard Cut. If successful, this project

will be completed for the entire Cut. We hope that by having

the Cut adequately lighted, two-way traffic can be handled at night instead of the present one-way only. In this connection,

six pilots, now on States leave, have been detailed to inspect

lighting of Cape Cod and Chesapeake and Delaware Canals. Tests with the new towing devices, a radical change from

present equipment, will begin during the second quarter of the

fiscal vear.

i

Three major developments are in sight

this fiscal year for the Personnel Bu- | reati, provided present plans materialize and treaty legislation is passed by

the Congress. These are: Implementation of the Single Wage Plan; the 1 physical move of the Employment and

Utilization and Wage and Classification ] r^i\-isions to new office space in .-\ncon; and an expanded Management and j Employee Development program.

Plans are well tinder way to put the

Single Wage Plan into effect if the necessary legislation is passed by Congress this fiscal year.

In the physical move the Wage and

Classification Division will transfer from the -Administration Building at Balboa Heights to office space in the former Ancon

Commissary. The Employment and Utilization Division, which

includes the Central Labor Office, will move from Building 69

on Roosevelt Avenue in Balboa to the remodeled Commissary

and its annex.

Ill line with long-range plans to make!

the heart of Balboa into a modern shop- ? ping center, a start will be made iIti-- year to modernize the Balboa rci.ul commissary. This will include del.iilnl planning for expanded selling >|i

Meantime, during the coming m n

both the commissaries and service i. i ters will continue to broaden their nu-i chandise assortments. In the commi;

saries, the stores will keep pace with

| the conversion to 60-cycle current by

stocking more and more household appliances which operate on the new current. Other retail outlet developments during the coming year include plans for advancedftraining classes

for salespeople on the order of those taught in up-to-date depart- ment stores in the United States, and the continued air-lifting of fresh fruits and vegetables from Miami which will go on as long as there is seasonal top quality produce which can be delivered in garden-fresh condition. Shipments to date have proved

to be overwhelmingly successful.

.Also during fiscal 1958, the Storehouse plans to install a scrap

press which will make the processing of salvage much easier, the finished product more readiK- saleable, and the loading operations safer.

While all units of the Transportation and Terminals Bureau will continue I their normal, busy existence during the I coming fiscal year, attention will be I focused on the Railroad Division which I will undergo important reorganizationall changes. The Division is now headed [ by its new manager. George M. Smith, former Transportation Officer for the | Pennsvlvania Railroad. Some of the proposals under consideration to revit.ilize the Panama Rail

road are: Revision of the railroad oper

ating table to improve freight deliver-

[ ies and augment passenger-train serv' for greater passenger convenience; in- stallation, ill the near future, of mechanical refrigerating units capable of handling all froze.i commodities; and the adjustment

of freight-rate structures to offer more attractive rates. Legislation to implement the 1955 Treaty with Panama re- quires the Railroad to move out of its passenger-aiul-freight

facilities in the Republic. Plans call for the building of a freight house and passenger station in .Ancon, near Panama City, and

a passenger station in Cristobal. These are to be adequate in

all respects to handle the present traffic and the increased traffic which is expected because of the greater convenience and

service of the proposed new schedules.
Last Look

50 Years Ago

Panama City's venerable Star & Her- ald—it was already over half a century

old—was concerned 50 years ago this month with dangers of a lock-type Pan- ama Canal. In an editorial, the paper

declared that the danger to which the terminal cities would be exposed from

"vast quantities of impounded water at

either end escaping and sweeping everything before it in its rush to the sea" had

been pointed out in the United States by

Lindon W. Bates of sea-level fame.

In August 1907, the Isthmus icas alive with rumors that at least 50 percent of the Canal icorking force would be laid off, he- cause appropriationsfor thefiscal year, which

began July I, were not as large as before. Two appointments were announced for the Canal force. Maj. H. F. Hodges of the Army Engineer Corps was put in charge of the Isthmian Canal Commission's Washington office. His chief duties were to be supervision of material and

supply purchases. And on the Isthmus,

Charles A. Merritt. who had had hotel

e.xperience in Jamaica and New York, was

appointed manager of the Tivoli Hotel. Bids were opened in Washington for 500

12-cubic-yard steel duinp cars —the low bid was $554,000 -and 115 four-ctibic-yard

steel cars, for which the low bid was $19,515. Also from the States came word that the "Ancon," one of two 288-foot suction

dredges, was en route to the Canal Zone from Sparrows Point, Md.; the second, the "Culebra". would get underway in about

three months hut would have to go through

the Straits of Magellan en route to Balboa. Joseph Bucklin Bishop, Secretary for the ICC, arrived on the Isthmus, accompanied by S3veral thousand books for the

first public libraries on the Isthmus. The

libraries were to be installed in the four YMCA's, at Cristobal, Gorgona, Empire, and Culebra, and in the University Club

in Panama City. The fiction would rotate among the libraries, non-fiction stay put. 25 Years Ago

Canal traffic, slipping steadily since the beginning of the depression, continued to decrease. July's commercial transits totaled 326, those for August were 314, the lowest for any month since December, 1922. Meanwhile, employees continued to feel

the impact of the Economy Bill which, the "Star & Herald" con^wnted, dealt employee morale "the hardest jolt it has yet been called on to absorb." Panama Rail- road personnel learned officially that they would be affected just as employees of the Panama Canal were, although unlike the

others, they could get cash payment of their accumulated leaves if the leave were .'icrved during fiscal 1933. At the end of the month

three married women, employed in the Receiving and Forwarding Agency, were noti- fied that they were to be furloughed for six months, under the one-working-member of a married couple provision. Word came from Washington, during August 1932, that Lt. Col. Clarence D.

Ridley was to be the Canal's next Engineer of Maintenance, succe?ding Col. J. L. Schley. Colonel Schley's appointment

as Governor was not announced simultaneously, although it was generally ex- pected. Thatcher Highway was practically completed and trial runs were made by the ferry, preparatory to inauguration of operations September 1. At the request of Panama, the Canal Administration considered a 24-hour operating schedule. Formal cere- monies for inauguraiion of highway and

ferry were postponed because Representative Maurice Thatcher was unable to be present at the time. On August 23, 1932, the windows and

terrace of the Balboa Heights Administration Building overflowed with spectators as five men from the Army Air Corps

gave a parachute jumping demonstration

at Albrook Field. Since there were only

three "jumping parachutes" on the Isth- mus, they had to be collected and flown back to France Field for repacking before the last two men could jump.

.4s a contraband control measure, offi- cials from Panama suggested to their Canal Zone colleagues that all Panama Canal

employees carry identification cards. This came on the heels of a Canal announcement

that the organization would take no steps to prevent nonemployees from attending movies in the Zone but would raise admission

prices for all except employees. Also in August 1932: Dr. W. C. Todd

was named the Canal Zone's flrst Public Defender; Panama Line ships were no

longer to carry mail because the eight- day trip between New York and Cristobal was considered too slow; work on the New Cristobal High School reached the

place where it was possible for school

ofliicials to announce that the building would be ready for use in January; the

first concrete was poured at Madden Dam; the Canal was considering plans to replace all construction-day quarters in Gatun; and an alligator bit through the

insulation on a cable crossing Santa Cruz

Island in Gatun Lake, killing himself and

shorting the circuit. 10 Years Ago

Construction of the new $1 million

obstetrical building for Gorgas Hospital became a certainty as the President

signed the appropriation bill containing Panama Canal funds. Canal Zone speed limits were rai.'ied. Motorists could now legally do all of 40

miles an hour on the open road and 25 in town, except where otherwise specified. The worst outbreak of infantile paralysis in many years caused one death during August 1947; by mid-August, there were S3ven polio patients in Gorgas Hospital and four others in military hospitals

in the Canal Zone. The Central Labor Union endorsed plans

to close four Panama Canal commissaries

during the noon hour as an economy measure. These were the stores at .1 neon. Balboa,

Cristobal, and La Boca, then open all day. A sentence of death by hanging was

handed out in the District Court at Cristobal against Edward J. Kemp,

charged with murdering a shipmate in May. Appealed to the Circuit Court in

From the gangplank of the SS Heredia, Lt. Gov. and Mrs. H. W. Schull,

Jr., said goodbye to the Canal Zone

last month. Col. Schull is joining an

engineering company in Miami, Fla.

Here's The Man Who

{Continued from page 9) merchandising

outfits as the Hecht Department Store

in Washington, and the E. A. Filene branch in Arlington, Va. During World \^ar II he served as a

lieutenant in the U. S. Coast Guard, in both Atlantic and Pacific theaters of war.

If pressed, he will admit to having been

decorated twice for uncovering the only two cases of sabotage to be found during

the war on ammunition ships in New

York harbor. In 1951, he left private business to enter the government service as a consultant for the Oflice of Price Stabilization and stayed on as Director of the Consumer Goods Program. Two years

later he joined the Panama Canal Company as Administrator of its Procurement

Division. He lives with his wife and two children, Sandy, 14, and Judy Ann, 4, in a new

house they have just built in Syosset on

the north shore of Long Island near Huntington. For the past few weeks his family has been on the Isthmus, taking

their first look at the Canal Zone with which he has been doing business for over four years.

New Orleans, the sentence was later changed to life. One Year Ago

Assistant Secretary of the Army,

(leorge Roderick, Chairman of the Board

of the Panama C^anal Company, here to confer on treaty provisions, laid things on the line in a public statement. Neither

the treaty nor plans for its implementation, he said, provides for a general overall wage increase; on the other hand there would be no wage reduction. THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW August!, 1957
Director !s Employed

For Program To Assist

Handicapped Children

An educational program for the Canal

Zone's handicapped children is gradually moving toward reality. Within the next few weeks a Director

of Special Education and a teacher for speech therapy will arrive in the Canal Zone and before manj' more weeks remedial reading classes should be under way

for children who need that help. The new Director of Special Education is James Merle Wolf, who has been

Coordinator of Special Education in McLean County, III. His particular area is known as Unit District Five

James Merle Wolf

which has a school population of about 3,000. He has been liaison officer between that area and the Hlinois State

University Special Education School. Teaching speech therapy will be a for- mer Canal Zone girl, Mariljun Flynn. Daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Peter G. Flynn,

she grew up here and is a graduate of Bal- boa High School and the Canal Zone Junior

College. She was graduated in speech therapy at Bradley University and has been serving as speech therapist in the Orlando, Fla. schools. The remedial reading classes, which

will be the first step in the program for handicapped children will be in charge of a qualified elementary school teacher who

will be transferred to this work. Mr. Wolf will spend most of the coming

school year studying the potential student body of about 250 children and screening them to see which children need which

special education. He will also decide on

the school buildings where the special

classes should be located and the type of equipment which must be purchased. Plans for a program for handicapped Canal Zone children have been studied

foi' several months. Early this year, Dr. Ray Graham, of Illinois, spent several months here looking into the local situation and making his recommendations. An appropriation to establish some of the

special education facilities is included in the budget for the present fiscal year. Mr. Wolf, who will head the program, was highly recommended by Dr. Graham. A native of Sterling, 111., he was graduated from the Illinois State Normal University in 1950 and holds a Master's Degree in Education from the same school.

The war-babies are growing up.

This year, according to the best-edu- cated guess of the Canal Zone School

oflicials, there will be more students in Balboa and Cristobal High Schools and

in the junior college, than ever before in the history of the local school system. As a matter of fact, the officials, whose

predictions have a way of being uncannily accurate, have stuck their necks

out again this year to forecast a record enrollment of 7,044 students when the United States schools open here September 4. The figure includes enrollments from kindergarten through junior college, but does not include CZJC's extension

division, and represents ar increase of SI over last year's school population of 6,963. The expected enrollments are: Kindergarten, 603; elementary, 4,022; junior high schools, 938; senior high schools,

1,286; and the junior college, 175. This

is a slight decrease in kindergarten through eighth grade but an increase of 13 percent in senior high school enroll- ment, and 12 percent in the number of junior college students. The major construction project for the Schools Division this year will be

at Balboa High School. Work will begin on the two new activities buildings, one near the Balboa Fire Station and

the other behind and to one side of the High School building.

I'hese will provide space for musical

organizations, dramatic activities, ROTC

classes and the armorv' and for a 600-seat auditorium. If funds are available, there

will also be space for a cafeteria. In number, the teaching staff of the

regular schools will remain the same this school year as last. A number of new

teachers have been recruited in the United

States and a Director of Special Education and a speech therapist have been employed.

In the kindergarten, 10 full-time teachers will replace a number of part-time

assistants as a first step in a plan to staff the kindergartens with teachers who hold

college degrees. In the larger schools, kindergarten assistants will work with the

full-time teacher's. There are two major changes in the

supervisory staff. Miss E. Frances Fanning who has been principal at Gamboa, will replace Mrs. Gladys Light, Supervisor of Instruction, who is on a year's leave of absence in the United

States. Miss Fanning, in turn, will be

replaced by William Garber, who has been on the teaching staff of the Cris- tobal Junior-Senior High School. A few changes are planned in school

districting. Because of expected crowded

conditions in the Balboa and Diablo Heights elementary schools, students from the Ancon district who attended

these schools last year will be retur-ned

to the Ancon school this year. First and

second grade students from Los Rios will be assigned to the Balboa school instead

of to Diablo Heights. Kindergarteners from Coco Solito will continue at the

Augusta, 1957 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW

Cristobal ebmentary school but fir-st through sixth graders will go to North

Margarita this year. In addition to the major construction

at Balboa High School, many improve- ments will be made in the physical plant

of the schools this year. New toilet

facilities ar-e being installed at the Balboa stadium, and the rifle ranges at the two United States high schools have

been improved as a safety measure. A

new covered passageway has been built at the Gatun school. Also scheduled for this year is considerable work at the Balboa gymnasium. A concrete playing slab will be laid and

the dressing rooms will be enlarged. Protective hoods will be installed to keep the

rain from blowing into the gymnasium.

Bus Behavior

A code of behavior has been drawn up for approximately 900 Canal Zone

students for whom free bus service has been or will be provided this year, according to an announcement from the Division of Schools. When the United States schools open

September 4, free bus service will be

provided for approximately 530 boys and girls who live in districts which do

not have appropriate school facilities. Another 80 pupils living a considerable

distance from the schools will also be

transported without charge. Kinder-garten children in areas where traffic hazards

are considerable will also receive the free transportation. In the Latin Ainerican communities,

free school bus service has been pro- vided since July 1 to 264 pupils. A majority of these are boys and girls from

Santa Cruz who are attending high

school at Paraiso. Other communities

having the bus service are La Boca, Chiva Chiva, and Cocoli, from which

students are driven back and forth to Paraiso; and Mindi, whose boys and

girls attend school in Rainbow City. A change will be necessary September

3 in the hours at the Paraiso schools, so that sufficient busses will be available for both U. S. and Latin American school

service. Effective on that date the Paraiso school day will be 9 a. m. to 4 p. m.

instead of S a. m. to 3 p. m. This will free a number of busses to aid in trans- porting children in the U. S. communities. When they accept the free transportation, each student agr-ees to the following: Each pupil riding the school busses

will be expected to obey the bus drivers promptly and must be on time at the

designated bus stops. Pupils are not to

cross behind a bus when crossing a highway.

In the busses, the boys and girls must

keep their hands and heads inside the

vehicles, remain in their seats, and m.ust not cause trouble by teasing, pulling hair,

scuffling, or using unfit language.

Pupils who disfigure or mutilate a bus

will be r"equired to pay fcr the damage. Bus privileges will be denied those who

do not comply with the regulations.
PROMOTIONS AND TRANSFERS

June 75 through July 75

Employees who were pron-ot;cl or transferred between June 15 and July 15 are

listed below. Within-grade promotions are not reported. ADMINISTRATIVE BRANCH

Mrs. Elvera N. Breakfield, from Accounting Clerk, Commissary Branch, to Supervisory Accounting Clerk, Printing Plant. CIVIL AFFAIRS BUREAU

J. D. Barnes, from Patrolman, Locks Security Branch, to Window Clerk, Postal

Division. Richard D. Brown, from Chauffeur and

Truck Driver, Motor Transportation Division, to Substitute Window Clerk, Postal

Division.

Carroll E. Kocher, from Finance Branch

Superintendent to Air Mail Tour Foreman,

Postal Division. John W. Hare, from Real Property AnaIvst. Office of the Director, to Chief, License

Section. Mrs. Annie R. Rathgeber, Secretary (Typing), from Office of the Director to License Section. Wordie W. Burrow, James E. Haas, from

Patrolman, Locks Security Branch to Policeman, Police Division. Mrs. Veva S. Folsom, from Substitute Teacher to Senior High School Teacher,

Division of Schools.

Leslie M. Spencer, from Customs Inspector to Senior Inspector, Cristobal, Customs

Division. Bruce G. Sanders, Jr., from Senior In- spector to Chief Inspector, Cristobal, Cus- toms Division. Mrs. Sally R. Hudson, from Elementary

School Teacher to Substitute Teacher, Division of Schools. Mrs. Frances M. Ackerman, from Substi- tute Teacher to Junior High School Teacher,

Division of Schools. Mrs. Jean C. Morden, from Senior High

School Teacher to Substitute Teacher, Division of Schools. William H. Munyon, from Police Captain

to Warden, Police Division. Mrs. Marion B. Taylor, from Clerk-Typist to Clerk-Stenographer, Division of Schools. Bertha E. Moya, Clerk- Typist, from Accounting Division to Division of Schools. OFFICE OF THE COMPTROLLER

John E. Fisher, from Assistant Chief, Accounting Divisicn, to Assistant Chief Accountant and Chief, Reporting and Special Analysis Staff, Office of Chief, Accounting Division. Miguel Corco, from Chief, Reporting and

Special Analysis Staff, to Staff" Assistant,

Office of the Comptroller. Mrs. Mary H. Foster, Property and Supply Clerk, from Division of Storehouses to Accounting Division. Gertrude M. Milloy, Supervisory Ac- counting Clerk, from Division of Store- houses to Accounting Division. Mrs. Mary G. Livingston, Accounting

Clerk, from Commissary Branch to Accounting Division. Mrs. Lucille M. Flenniken, Mrs. Ruth E. Clement, Accounting Clerk, from Commissary Branch to Accounting Division. Winston P. Abemathy, Voucher Examiner, from Commissary Branch to Accounting Division. Mrs. Elizabeth S. Coleman, Accounting

Clerk, from Service Center Branch to .Ac- counting Division. Johnny Vaucher, Accounting Supervisor, from Commissary Branch to Accounting

Division. Gilberto Young, Accountant, from Methods and Relief Staff to General Ledger and

Proces-sing Brancli. Mrs. Ruth H. Elich, from Accounting

Clerk to General Accounting Clerk, Ac- counting Division. Louis C. Caldwell, Preston G. Gau, Tabulating Equipment Operation Supervisor, from Administrative Branch to .Accounting

Division. Alfredo Lombana, Mrs. Mercedes A.

Borrell, Mrs. Helen M. Cicero, Tabulating Equipment Ojierator, from Adininistrative Branch to Accounting Division. James McKeown, Jr., Student Assistant

(Tabulation), from Administrative Branch

to Accounting Division. George A. Black, Jr., Tabulation Project Planner, from .'Administrative Branch to Accounting Division. Mrs. Margaret M. Janssen, from Clerk- Stenographer to Cle.-k (Stenography), Budget and Rates Division. Mrs. Bertha E. Hayes, Clerk-Typist, from General Office Dixision to Accounting

Division. ENGINEERING AND CONSTRUCTION BUREAU

Mirt Bender, from Pumping Plant Operator, Maintenance Division, to Pipeline Suction Dredge Foreman, Dredging Division. Victor D. Young, from Supervisory Electrical E(]uipment Inspector to Construction

Representative, Power Conversion Project. Frederick A. Ebdon, from Electrical Equipment Inspector to Construction Representative, Power Conversion Project. Mrs. Margaret L. Elder, from Clerk- Typist to Clerk (Typing), Power Conversion Project. George T. McLintock, from Electroplater

I to KlectriipUuer II, Electrical Division. Edmund T. Bleakley, from Foreman to Operator, Pipeline Suction Dredge, Dredging Division. Walter W. Woodruff, from Plant Electrician, Maintenance Division, to Wireman,

Electrical Division. Paul D. Gibbs, from Substitute WindowClerk, Postal Division, to Apprentice Power

house Operator, Electrical Division. Mrs. Kathryn S. Gregory, from Dictating Machine Transcriber to Clerk (Typing), Engineering Division. Mrs. Rose L. Thomas, from Typist to Dictating Machine Transcriber, Engineering Division. John R. Hammond, Jr., from Supervisory Mechanical Engineer to Chief, Electrical- Mechanical Branch, Engineering Division. Rubelio D. Quintero, from Electrical Engineer to Supervisory Electrical Engineer, Engineering Division. John L. Dougan, from Industrial Repair Equipment Foreman II to Maintenance

Machinist II, Maintenance Division. Rialto M. Christensen, from First Assist- ant Engineer to Chief Engineer, Pipeline Suction Dredge, Dredging Division. George F. Reichel, from Engineer to First Assistant Engineer, Pipeline Suction Dredge

Dredging Division. John T. Dillon, from Engineer to Chief

Engineer, Dipper Dredge, Dredging Di\ ision. Robert E. L. Brown, from Supervisory

Electrical Engineer, Engineering Division to Supervisory Construction Management Engineer, Power Conversion Project. John P. Bidwell, from Fleet Machinist

to Motor Boat Maintenance Mechanic, Dredging Division.

J. Bartley Smith, from Assistant to Project Engineer to Project Engineer, Power

Conversion Project. Leslie D. Wood, from Wireman to Lead

Marine Electrical Foreman, Electrical Division. George W. Wertz, from Lead Marine

Electrical Foreman to Lead Marine Electrical Foreman II, Electrical Division. Richard Swearingen, from Electrical Equipment Inspector (Public Works) to Construction Representative (General, Power Conversion Project. Willard W. Huffman, from Power and Communications CaMcsplicer to Automatic

Telephone Conununication Equijiment Maintainer I, Electrical Division. Walter E. Marek, from Pipefitter, Industrial Di\ision to Quarters Maintenance Lead Foreman, Maintenance Division. William J. Stevenson, from Power Plant

Electrician I to Wireman, P^lectrical Division. OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR-PRESIDENT

Col. Hugh M. Arnold, from Engineering and Consi ruction Director to Lieutenant Governor-Nice President. Warren H. Smith, from Supervising

Safely Kngijieer to Chief, .Safety Branch. HEALIII BUREAU

Dr. Jose A. Filos-Diaz, Medical Officer,

from General Medicine and Surgery to Internal Medicine, Gorgas Hospital. Dr. Benjamin P. Kietzman, Dr. Robert H. Buker, Dr. Clifford S. Reusch, Dr. Floyd

L. Pollard, Jr., from Intern to Hospital Resident, Gorgas Hospital. Dr. Rogelio Arosemena, Dr. Roderick L. Esquivel, from Hospital Resident to Medical Officer (Surgery, General), Gorgas Hospital. Dr. Gabriel Kourany, from Hospital Resident to .Medical Officer (General Medicine and Surger\), Gorgas Hospital. Dr. G. Josephine Garner, from Intern to Medical Officer (General Medicine and Surgery), Gorgas Hospital. Dr. Charles H. Glines, from Hospital Resident to Medical Officer (General Medicine and Surger\), Gorgas Hospital. Capt. Gordon L. Verity, from Chief, Radiology Service, Coco Solo Hospital, to Assist ant Chief, Radiology Service, Gorgas Hospital.Mrs. Jacqueline C. Gilbert, from ClerkTypist, Office of Health Director, to Clerk- Dictating .Machine Transcriber, Gorgas

Hospital. Dr. Julien C. Kennedy, from Chief, Neuro-Psychiatric -Section to Chief, Psychiatric Ser\-ice, Gorgas Hospital. Mrs. Marcia H. Van Home, from Secre- tary (General) to .Administrati\-e -Assistant, -Administrative Section. MARINE BltREAU Donald L. Gifford, from Towing Locomoti\e Operator to -Machinist, Locks Division. George A. Harter, from Patrolman, Locks

-Security Branch to Towing Locomotive Operator, Locks Overhaul. Hugh C. Christie, from Machinist to Machinist Foreman, Locks Division. Milton L. Nash, from Machinist Foreman

to Lockmaster, Locks Division. Charles H. Colburn, from Motorboat

Maintenance Mechanic, Dredging Division,

to Machinist, Industrial Division. Roger J. Rios, from Patrolman to Ser- geant, Locks Security Branch. William F. Mornhinweg, Jr., from General Electrical Foreman III to Chief Fore- man Locks Operations, Locks Division. Kennth L. Middleton, from Control House

Operator to Lockmaster, Pacific Locks. William C. Keepers, from Lockmaster to General Electrical Foreman III, Pacific Locks. Ehner J. Moolchan, from Electric Welder, Dredging Division, to Signalman, Navigation Division. Robert G. Stern, from Apprentice to Sheetmetal Worker, Industrial Division. Robert J. Byrne, from Commissary Supervis-or. Commissary Branch, to Patrolman, Locks Security Branch.

Ollin P. Strickland, from Planing Mill Lead Foreman to Lead Joiner Foreman,

Industrial Division. Joseph H. Kueter, Glenn C. Dough,

John Van der Heyden, William Wirtz, Jr., from Industrial Shipwright to Shipwright,

Industrial Division. Alexander McKeown, William E. Stanford, from Planing Mill Hand to Shipwright, Industrial Division. Vincent Canamas, Ralph H. Kirkpatrick, from Cabinetmaker to Joiner, Industrial Division. Wiltz J. Schexnayder, from Sfu'pjoiner to

Joiner, Iiidustri.d Division. Roland C. Casanova, from Planing Mill Hand to Joiner, Industrial Division. PER.SONNEL BUREAU

Mrs. Beatrice L. Hanlen, from Clerk- Typist to .Appolatnieni Clerk (Typing), Emplovmein am! Itilizaiion Division SUPPLY AND EMPLOYEE SERVICE BUREAU

Mrs. Hilda E. Wickens, from Accounting

Clerk, Accoimting Division, to Checker, Commissary Branch. Mrs. Norma E. Hamilton, from Clerk

(Typing), Division of Schools, to Secretary (Stenographv), (Jffice of the Director. Mrs. Gertrude A. Connard, from Supervisory Steward, Service Center Branch,

to Commissary Supervisor, Comnu'ssary

Brancli. Mrs. Margaret M. Nash, .Accounting

Clerk, from -Accounting Division to Commiss.iry Bniiich. TRANSPORTATION AND TERMINALS BUREAU

Mrs. Glendora A. Dorsey, from Clerk-

.Stenographer, Commissary Branch, to Cargo Clerk, Terminals Division. James H. Rheney, Rep.iir Shop Foreman

THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW August 2, 1957
I, from Terminals Division to Motor Transportation Division. Harry M. Witt, Repair Shop Lead Fore- man II, from Terminals Division to Motor

Transportation Division. Mrs. Mildred L. Randall, from Accounting Clerk, Division of Storehouses, to Casli Accounting Clerk, Motor Transportation

Division. James A. Dorsey, from Construction and

Maintenance Superintendent to Lead Track

Foremanll, Railroad Division. OTHER PROMOTIONS

Promotions which did not involve change

in title follow: Daile D. Keigley, Accountant, Reporting and Special .Analysis Staff, Accounting Division. Donald M. Luke, Chief, General Ledger and Processing Branch, Accounting Division. Richard M. Conover, Position Classifier, Wage and Classification Division. Mrs. Martha W. Keller, Supervisory Steward, Ser\ice Center Branch.

Dr. Walter H. Maloney, Hospital Resi- dent, Gorgas Hospital. William L. Brooks, Administrative Assist- ant (Tvpingl. Power Conversion Project. Dr. Frank P. Smith, Assistant Chief, Medical Service. Gorgas Hospital. Mrs. N. May Stokes, Supervisory Accounting Clerk, Printing Plant, Adininistrative Branch.

Dr. Richard Ostenso, Medical Officer, Ear, Nose, anrl Throat, Gorgas llospital, Norbert H. McCauley, Stuart Wallace, William B. Lloyd, Ralph R. Grassau, Budget .^nal\ St, Budget and Rates Division. Mrs. Hamner C. Cook, Accounting Clerk Commissary Branch. Mack F. Bailey, Supervisory Sanitation

Inspector, Sanitation Division.

Retires

RETIREMENTS

Retirement certificates were presented at the end of July to the following employees who are listed alphabetically, together with

their birthplaces, posiitions, length of Canal

service, and future addresses. Hazel A. Alsing, California; (Gen.) Head

Nurse, Gorgas Hospital; 30 years, 7 months,

23 days; San Francisco, Calif. Mrs. Marione Campbell, New York;

Time, Leave, and Payroll Clerk, Office of Comptroller; 31 years, 6 month?, 21 days;

Springfield, Ark. Samuel J. Deavours, Georgia; Locomotive Engineer, Railroad Division; 22 years,

5 months, 24 days; Florida. Paul M. Disharoon, Virginia; Chief Engineer (Floating Crane) Dredging Division; 3i years, 6 months, 15 days; Cape Charles, Va.Wallace E. Gibson, Wisconsin; Supervis- ory Cargo Clerk, Terminals Division; 14

years, 8 months, 11 days; Port Arthur, Tex.

Francis X. Moser, Ohio, Machinist; In- dustrial Division; 15 years, 3 days; California. Otis M. Ramey, Mississippi; Lead Yard

Foreman, Railroad Division; 23 years, 4

months, 21 days; California. Kathryn P. Stapf, New York; Supervisory Accounting Clerk, Terminals Division; 20 years, 6 months, 8 days; Sunland, Calif. Dr. John M. Wilkerson, Oklahoma; Superintendent, Coco Solo Hospital; 7 years, 4 months, 23 days; St. Petersburg, Fla. AUGUST SAILINGS

FROM CRISTOBAL

Cristobal August 10 A neon August 1

7

Cristobal August 28 FROM NEW YORK

Cristobal August 2 A neon August 9

Cristobal August 20 A neon August 27

Southbound ships which leave New York Friday

are in Haiti the following Tuesday. Tliose which

sail from New York Tuesday spend Saturda.v in Haiti. Northbound, the ships stop in Haiti two days after clearing Cristobal: Monday for those which sail from

Cristobal Saturday, and Friday for those which clear Cristobal Wednesday.

.^

.t £^

Paul M. Disharoon Over 33 of his 40 years of Government

service were at the Dredging Division. ANNIVERSARIES

To three .'\tlantic siders goes the honor

of sharing the top spot on the July list of anniversaries. The trio has much in common. They share the same service date, July 1, 1927; have 30 years of Canal service and, as adults, continuous service with the

unit where they still work; are native-born Isthmians; and were born the same year. They are, alphabetically: Joseph A. Corrigan, Jr., Supervisory Cargo Officer, Ter- minals Division; Herbert K. Peterson, Chief

of the Planning Section of the Industrial Division; and Anastasio Sogandares, Plan- ner and Estimator for the Inrlustrial Division.Mr. Corrigan was born in what is now

Gorgas Hospital, the son of Joseph A. Corrigan, who came to the Canal Zone in 1905

as a carpenter. He was graduated from Cristobal High

School in 1927, one of a class of 16. His

first job was as a checker with the Receiving and Forwarding Agency, now the Terminals Division in Cristobal. He has been promoted through the ranks of foretnan checker, stevedore foreman, storekeeper,

traffic clerk, supervisory traffic clerk, and

supervisory freight traffic officer to his pres- ent position. Mr. Peterson is another second generation Zone employee; his father, Walter D. Peterson, was a boilermaker in the Cristobal Shops. Born in Cristobal, he attended

Cristobal High School. His first job was

that of a helper in the Cristobal garage of the Motor Transportation Division. A few months later he transferred to the then Mechanical Division and began an apprenticeship as a welder. He worked at this trade at the Cristobal shops until he was

promoted to shipfitter. Successive promotions led to his present position which he

has held since September 1953. Mr. Sogandares was born on Taboga

Island but is a naturalized United States

citizen. He started his Canal career as a messenger and helper in the Mechanical

Division at Balboa and in 1927 began an

apprenticeship as a boilermaker. He has been assigned at times, during the past 30

years, to the Locks and Dredging Divisions and to Madden Dam, on a loan basis, but

has remained on the rolls of the Mechanical

Division, now the Industrial Division. In 1954, he was promoted from boilermaker leadingman to planner and estimator, the

position he now holds. Both he and Mr. Peterson have been commended for several special jobs; one coinmendation which they share was for work on a damaged Colombian ship, the Ciudad de Qiiibdo, in 1956. July's remaining 30-year employees come

August 2, 1957 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW

from all parts of the country. They are: C

F. Bertoncini, General Engineer, Surveys

Branch, Panama; Nolan A. Bissell, Foreni.in. Mail Handling I'nit, Postal Division,

Mississippi; Lyman Jackson, Locomotive

Machinist, Railroad Division, Indiana; Jacques K. Lally, Clerk-in-charge, City

Division, Cristobal Post Office, Missouri; Lew W. Mcllvaine, Assistant Supply OffiI er for Housewares for the cominissaries, Ohio; and Wells D. Wright, Assistant De-

~ii;ning Engineer, Engineering Division, Massachusetts.

.All but Mr. Lally have continuous Canal

t-ervice although in some cases the total

\ ears include government service elsewhere.

25 YEARS

One woman and four men celebrated

their silver anniversaries in government

ser\ice in July. On the distaff side of the rolls is Caroline Hunt, who hails from North Carolina and who is the Nurse Supervisor at the E. N. T.

Clinic and the E. N. T. operating room at Gorgas Hospital. Others who completed 25 years of service

last tnonth are : Oliver C. Culp, a native of Mammoth Springs, Ark., Lead Plumbing Foreman II in the Maintenance Division; Leon V. Heim, from York, Pa., Customs

Inspector in Cristobal; Donald H. Spencer, from Colorado Springs, Colo., Lead Fore- man Painter and Diver, Pacific Locks; and

John R. Szima, who comes from Dayton,

Ohio, and is an Electrician in the Motor

Transportation Division.

20 YEARS

Five of the nine employees who celebrated twentieth anniversaries last month have

unbroken service with the Canal organization. These five—the town following each name

is his birthplace —are: Errett R. Albritton, Train Dispatcher, Railroad Division, Carterville. Mo.; Philip T. Green, Industrial Training Coordinator, Electrical Division, Kalamazoo, Mich.; Teddy A. Marti, Lock

Operator, Pedro Miguel Locks, Detroit, Mich.; William J. Stevenson, Power Plant

Electrician, Electrical Division, Harrison, N. J.; and R. H. McConaughey, Pipefitter, Pedro Miguel Locks, Balboa, C. Z. Mr. McConaughey is a second generation Canal

employee. Two of the other four employees, Robert

B. Grier and John A. McLain, Jr., are also second generation Canal employees. Both

were born in Ancon. Mr. Grier is a Machinist at Pedro Miguel Locks. Mr. McLain,

Jr., is a Marine Bunkering Steam Engineer, Terminals Division. The other two employees are: Gather T. Brownlee, Lead Foreman, Heavy Labor, Maintenance Division, Calhoun, La.; and

Dorothy W. Webb, Personnel Clerk in the Central Labor Office Division, Pasquo Tank

County, N. C.

15 YEARS

Of the 23 employees who coiupleted 15 years of government service last month,

19 have continuous service with the Canal

organization. These 19 are: Reginald R. Colby, Window

Clerk, Ci\il Affairs Bureau, Postal Division; Joel L. Cook, Policeman; Xenia de Bermudez, Clerk-typist in the Railroad IDivision; Cyril D. DeLapp, Policeman ; Joseph F. Dolan, Fire Sergeant; William G. Dolan,

Fire Marshal; Willard F. French, Chief, Dental Service, Coco Solo Hospital; James

D. Herblin, Accounting .Assistant, Accounting Division; Donald V. Howerth, Police Lieutenant; Jessie O. Lindsay, Procure- ment Clerk, Division of Schools; John F. McDowell, Police and Motorcycle Officer; R. B. Mcllvaine, Jr., Customs Guard; William J. Monzon, Customs Inspector; Horace

J. Orgeron, Jr., Special Operator for Automotive Equipment, Motor Transportation

Division; Joseph J. Pustis, Supervisory Steward for Service Center Division ; George

J. Roth, Pclice Sergeant; John B. Spivey, Foreman for Navigation Aids, Marine Bureau; Herbert F. Taake, Plant Electrician, Maintenance Division; and Hilda C, Viglietti, Clerk-typist, Employment and Utiliza- tion Division. Others who completed 15 years of govern- ment service are: Michael J. Burza, Machinist, Industrial Division; Gene E. Clinchard, Lead Foreman, Grounds Maintenance, Housing and Grounds Division; Ruth S. Dunscombe, Position Classifier, Wage and

Classification Division; and Arthur L. Smith

Machinist, Mirafiores Locks.
No Tenderfoot, He

The boa and fhe marmoset,above, were only parf of the menagerie which accompanied Canal Zone Boy Scouts to ihe National Jamboree at Valley Forge.

After swapping ideas and souvenirs with 60,000 other Boy Scouts from all over the United States, the 31 Canal Zone Scouts who attended the Fourth

National Jamboree in Valley Forge

last month are due to return to the Isthmus the second week in August. According to plans made before

their departure last month, the boys

expected that the highlight of the trip

for them, anyhow, would be the construction of a native hut with materials brought from the Canal Zone and

the display of several native animals and a pet boa constrictor. In addition they were to be taken on sight-seeing

trips to historic spots in Philadelphia, hike into nearby mountains, and at- tend huge area shows. Following the Jamboree, the m^mbei s of the local troops were to make

a 116-mile hike in the Appalachian

iMountains where they were expected

to encounter several non-tropical situations such as a cool mountain night and, perhaps, poison ivy. Accompanied by three adult scout

leaders led by William H. Taylor of Balboa, the boys will complete their

trip in New York early in August and

are expected to sail for the Canal Zone

August 6 on a transport. The boys making the trip are shown

in the picture above. In the front row

are Jay Bialkowski, Jorge Arias, David Dunlap, Peter Richard, Frank

Townsend, Jan Dykhuis. Federico Fer- nandez, Leo Trujiilo, and Vito Trujillo. In the second row are Frank McLeod,

Lloyd Brown, Patrick Trujillo, Peter Denton, Dougie Major, and Walter

Dryja. And in the back row are Clair Walizer, Ronald Nessler, Frank McLeod, Randy Gangle, Michael McBride, Peter Thibodeaux, Rudolph

Burda, Robert Arthur, and Rusty

Glazer.

Section "B"

Has A Party

You don't necessarily have to have an

excuse for a party, but employees of Section B of the Storehouses had an especially good reason to stage one last month. They had just completed a complete in- terior redecorating program for their section and a relocation of their stock in a manner unique in the Canal organization. Today, the intericr of Section B's

stock-bins is a bripht buff, trimmed in light green; this replaces the drab old black and white and gray color scheme. The walls are light green, instead of white, ard are trimmed in a darker green. The

color scheme is known to the Storehouse

personnel as the Demada Color Code (for

J. L. H. Demers and Robert H. Adams). The actual paintmg was done by Store- house personnel, urder supervision, in their spare time.

WTiile the new colors make all the dif- ference in the world in the appearance

of the building, the stock location sj'stem

is even more revolutionary. Until a few months ago, there was no

location given on the cards which list the thousands of items can'ied by Section B. A new stock-clerk, looking for stationery

supplies or automobile parts, might have

a bit of trouble finding them until he

learned his way around. Today, the cards listing the stationery

supplies are stamped, in large letters, that these may be found in Massachusetts on Shettlewood's Place. The laige

areas, known as bays, have been named

for States, and the individual rows of bins

in them have been named for Storehouse

personnel. This simplifies the location of any given item, to a terrific degree. The naming of the various little alley- ways has had another effect. The men

for whom they are named take pride in seeing to it that their particular aieas

are kept spotless. When the redecoration and location was complete, the Section B people gave

a party. In addition to their own group, they invited Commissary and Service Center personnel from the building next door. Fishing Trip

Twelve lucky Canal Zone Isaac Waltons will take part in the Fifth Inter- national Marlin and Sailfish Tournament

this month aboard a Panama Canal Company boat. The boat which is being entered by

the Company in the tournament this year, is scheduled to make two trips of four days each and will carry six Company-Government employees on each

trip.The first trip will be from August M through August 6 and the second trip from August 10 through August 13 with the boat returning to Balboa on the afternoon of the fourth day. The Canal contestants were selected by the Bureau heads from among appli- cants on the basis of the number of employees in each unit. Each participant will pay .$15 which

will include entrance fee and subsistence

for himself and share foi the crew.

To Mrs. Wilma Siler went ihe honor of opening fhe redecorated storehouse. 16 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW August 2, 1957
SHIPPING

Maiden Transit

Another first for the Canal lost month was the transit of the guided missile ship USS "Boston". She was part of the detachment on the midshipmen's cruise. MONTHLY COMMERCIAL TRAFFIC AND TOLLS

Vessels of 300 tons net or over

(Fiscal years)

CANAL RECORDS FALL FOR SIXTH CONSECUTIVE YEAR

Cargo, Traffic, Tolls

-.^ Figures Are New High

In Waterway's History

With its sixth record-breaking year

just concluded, the Panama Canal is now

on its way into another fiscal year which

will be marked by a historic event in the Canal's history. When the past fiscal year ended, a grand total of 197,547 large commercial

ships had transited the Panama Canal

since August 15, 1914, when the SS Ancon made the first commercial ocean-to-oc«an

passage. Transits of all classes of ships

since the Canal's opening exceeds 260,000. Before tlie end of October, the 200,-

OOOtti ocean-going commercial stiip will have been put through the Pan- ama Canal.

This will happen just about 18 years

after the 100,000th transit- -the Canal had been opened for a little over 25 years

before that figure was reached—and less than eight years after the SS Nevadan

of the American Hawaiian Line was honored, on April 26, 1951, as the 150,000th

vessel to make the Canal transit. Not only did last year's figures set new highs in traffic, tolls, and cargo but

they also provided some interesting comparisons for those statistically inclined. Cargo tonnage carried through the Panama Canal in fiscal year 1957 ex- ceeded the 50,000,000 mark for the first time in the Canal's history. The record- breaking 50,624,373 tons were 4,355,210

tons higher than the previous year's 46,- 269,163 tons, over twice the tonnage

carried through the Canal either in 1946 and 1947 when shipping was beginning its post-war upward swing, and 20,000,000 tons higher than the peak shipping year of 1929 and 1930 in the pre-depression period. The fiscal year's total of 8,579 large commercial ships was not only 370 more

than the total for the previous fiscal year,

it was also 55 percent higher than the

total for fiscal yeai 1938, the last normal

pre-war year. It was 101 percent more

than fiscal year 1947, just a decade ago. The table below shows the steady in- crease of traffic in this postwar decade.

In addition to the large commercial ships there are, of course, the small commercial

vessels and the large and small govern- ment ships which go to make up the amazing total of ship transits each year. These figures, however, are for large commercial ships only. 1947 4,260 1948 4,678 1949 4,793 1950 5,448

1951 5,593

1952 6.524 1953 7,410 1954 7,784 1955 7,997 1956 8,209 1957 8,579

Tolls, likewise, have risen in the past

decade. This year's figure of $39,653,712

Month

Transits

Tolls

(In thousands of dollars)

1957 1956 1938 1957 1956 1938

Tulv - --- 669

653

646

699 654

751

701 673

808

767 783

775

727 676

686

709 627 658

664

681

712

692

703 674

457

505 444

461 435

439

444 436

506

487

465 445

$3,054

2,888

2,861 3,083 2,876

3,420

3,161 3,033

3,603 3,430

3,551 3,484

$3,247

2,980

3,053

3,065

2,705 2,944

2,844

3,008

3,069

3,021 3,210

3,008

$2,030

2,195

1,936

1,981 1,893 1,845

1,838

1,787 2,016

1,961 May 1,887

1,801

Total for fiscal year 8,579 8,209 5,524 $38,444 $36,154 $23,170

CANAL TRANSITS—COMMERCIAL AND U. S. GOVERNMENT

Fiscal Year —

1957 1956 1938

Atlantic

to

Pacific

Pacific

to Atlantic Total Total Total

Commercial Vessels: 4,495 475

4,084 433

8,579 908

8,209 8965,524 Small* -- 931

4,970 4,517 9,487 9,105 6,455

U. S. Government vessels, ocean151 146 118 235

269

381 266

337

441 Small*

Total commercial and U. S. Government 5,267 4,870 10,137 9,708 6,896 Vessels under 300 net tons or 500 displacement tons. •Vessels on which tolls are credited. Prior to July 1, 1951, Government-operated

ships transited free.

August 2, 1957 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW 17
RUNNER UP— Principal commodities shipped through the Canal

(All figures in thousands of long tons) ATLANTIC TO PACIFIC

Commoditv

Petroleum and products (excludes asphalt) Coal and coke

Iron and steel manufactures

Phosphates

I\Ietal, scrap Sugar

Various metals Soybeans

Ores, various Paper and paper products

Cotton, raw

Sulphur Machinery Ammonium compounds —

Chemicals, unclassified

All othersTotal

Runner-uptofhe record-holding Porfunus OS the Canal's most frequent customer Is the banana carrier, Vanda, above. She made 49 transits during FY 1957.

for tolLs and tolls credits is over twice

the $17,634,361 collected in fiscal year

1947, only ten years ago, and over $2,- 200,000 more than tolls and tolls credits

for the fiscal year 1956. Figures on the leading commodities

carried through the Panama Canal reveal

interesting trends. Petroleum and petro- leum products continued to occupy the top spot which they have held for a number of years in the list of the 15 leading commodities in the Atlantic to

Pacific trade. In the past year, 5,242 thousands of long tons of petroleum were

carried through the Canal, 68,000 long

tons less than the previous fiscal year but

over five times as much as was transport- ed in the Atlantic to Pacific trade in 193S. The largest percentage increase in the

Atlantic to Pacific list was in various

metals; 752 thousands of long tons went

from Atlantic to Pacific last year compared with 122 thousands of long tons

the previous year. Scrap metal also showed a great increase, 1,497 thousands

of long tons for the past year as compared

with 498 thousands of long tons for the year before. Raw cotton shipments and ship- ments of various ores were almost

double in fiscal 1957 the tonnage carried

in fiscal 1956, and there were also in- crease^ in coal and coke, and in iron and steel manufactures. Some decline appeared in fiscal year figures for ammonia, sulphur, and soybeans.

In the Pacific to Atlantic trade, ores and lumber continued to hold the two

top places in that order, although lumber

shipments were down about a fifth from

the previous year's figures. Ore .ship- ments, in this trade, incidentally, were

triple those of the pre-war years. Other Pacific to Atlantic commodities showing increases from fiscal year 1956

were: Petroleum and petroleum products, wheat, sugar, canned food products, metals, refrigerated food, wool, and copra. Neither wool nor copra had appeared

last year in the list of the 15 bading

commodities.

In the same trade, in addition to the decrease in lumber tonnage, other commodities showing a decrease were: Nitrate

of soda, barley, bananas, coffee, and raw

Fiscal Year

25,430

1956

5,310 2,996

2,131

1,257 498

787

122 746

317 433

212 469

301 464

271

4,972 21,286

1938907

137

1,859 328 999

57 647

3 104 423

142 297

168

71 109 3,438

9,689

PACIFIC TO ATLANTIC

Commodity

Fiscal Year

1957 1956 1938

6,401 2,900

2,688

1,446

1,311 935 870

867 800

752 444

315

302 289

262

3,690

5,137

3,549

1,478

1,425

1,301 742 936

1,167 618

1,875

1,083 234 258

315 290

3,425

2,127

2,851 Wheat -- 706

1,487 991 698

53

1,401 Food products in refrigeration (except fresh fruit) Petroleum and products (excludes asphalt) 2,875 237 Wool - - --- - - 123

164 Coffee -- - 175

127 3,347

Total -- - 24,272 23,833 17,697 TRAFFIC MOVEMENT OVER MAIN TRADE ROUTES

The following table shows the eight main trade routes:

:art!o shipments in thousands ol" long tons segregated into

United States Intercoastal East Coast of V. S. and South America

East Coast South America—West Coast U. S./Canada _ II. S. /Canada East Coast 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

Fiscal Year

1957 1956 1938

4,576 6,276 6,395

7,353 6,192 2,652

1,642 1,460 161 12,779 9,651 4,912

1,216 1,279 943

5,982 5,616 4,237

3,590 3,161 2,974

2,961 2,271 1,251 9,603 9,213 3,861 49,702 45,119 27.389

cotton. Ships flying the flags of 37 different nations, an increase of three over last year, transited the Panama Canal during

"the fiscal year 1957. Of the 8,579 transits made by commercial ocean-going vessels during the 12-month period. United States

flag ships led all other nations with a

total of 1,919 transits, and British vessels came in second with a total of 1,309

transits. This represented a decrease of 1S3 transits for U. S. flag ships and an

increase of 267 transits for the British. Third place was held by ships of Norwegian registry with a total of 9 13 transits, while Liberian and German vessels ran

close behind with 690 and 689 transits respectively. Seven Canal passages were made by Soviet ships as compared to two

last year, and there were five transits by

Swiss-registered ships. Irish ships, the

first to appear at Canal ports since 1954, made five transits during the fi.scal year. Gas Tanker

Propane gas is being delivered to the Isthmus these days by the SS MaTian R.

Billupx, the first of a fleet of new gas- tankers built especially for the transportation of this type of fuel. The vessel makes a round trip through the Canal

each month on its delivery \'oyage be- tween Houston, Tex., Caribbean ports, and the west coast of Central America.

It stops in Balboa on the return trip from San Jose de Guatemala, and dis- charges a load of propane gas into the storage tank located in Balboa. The tanker was placed in service during December and already has made eight trips through the Canal. Ford Company, Inc., are agents for the ship in the C.inal Zone.

THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW August 2, 1957
ToAving Devices

A REVIEW Preview

OfFicials afop new lowing device give it serious thought. L. to r.: Gov. Potlet, R.G.LeTourneau, R.C.Stockham, R. L. LeTourneau, and Lt. Gov. H. M. Arnold. Above right: Canal officials watch operation of fender car on towing devices.

Canal Commercial Traffic by Nationality of Vessels

Fiscal Year

1957 1956 1938

Nationality Number of transits Tons

of cargo Number of transits Tons

of cargo Number of transits Tons

of cargo

Argentine 24

2 1,3097854

207

33

566

10,40186

8,744,366 468,514

403,692 281,320

230,281

3

1 8,661

1,1427536 23226

7,299,912 452,731 271,169

293,191 171,869

1,2819

2

6,417,016 Chilean 28,787

13,113 Colombian

Costa Rican

2 331 223

1 51

1,361,009 337 1,154,339 865,235 Dom. Republic. -- Ecuadorean 92,526 66 79,985

2

1 105 35794

22

5

4,695 33

88 689

118 394

139,445 503,464

2,337,445

1,100,113 335,118

22 112 509

114 423

109,888 683,920

1,500,863

1,031,982 372,424

4,021 567,288

1,518,593 525,351 Honduran 8,478

24,411

Irish 6 51,395

2 126 476

17

20,200 756,773

3,516,810

77,477

157 553

4

859,864

3,924,367 20,915

52 300

153,417

1,877,502 Korean (South) _.^ 3 4,900 690

5 16446 913

443

42

19

2

7 40

160

5

1 1,919

6,184,022

7,404 844,742

102,878

5,401,478 2,230,720 203,768

110,807

496

8 140

53 985

431

3124

2

2 48

163

4,252,066 27,624

778,152 82,720

4,954,149

1,959,097 165,367 144,368

Netherlands Nicaraguan Norwegian Panamanian

285 749,642 667

182

53

3,433,571 415,561

7,151 Philippine Portuguese

Soviet (USSR)._._

8,441

32,224 151,740

784,736 38,920

1,339 12,729,163

1,927 197,814 816,0595

2 119

10,419

15,280 763,049 T }

' U United States 2,102

22

1

13,909,995 9,498

8,851

9,161

1,780 9,892,619

Venezuelan

Yugoslavian

8

1 4,7308,642 4

14

3,971 73,413

Total 8,579 49,702,200 8,209 45,119,042 5,524 27,385,924

August 2, 1957 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW

Another few months will see two

.strange new devices on the towing tracks

of Gatun Locks. The new machines being manufactured

for the Canal by R. G. LeTourneau, Inc., of Longview, Tex., were inspected last month by a group of Canal officials bended by Governor Potter. Accompanying him were Lt. Gov. Hugh M. Arnold, R. C. Stockham, Chief of the Locks Division, and John R. Hammond, Chief of the Electrical-Mechanical Branch of the Engineering Division. They found one of the locomotives ready for track testing and made the

first, but unscheduled, trip up the steep

incline which exactly duplicates the in- cline the locomotives must climb and

descend when they go into service at Gatun. They also saw the operation of the fender-car which is fitted with big pneumatic tires to hold off ships from

the lock walls. The locomotive most nearly advanced

in construction had not been fitted with

the tall line-boom which will be used for passing messenger lines to connect the

ship with the locomotive. At present, messenger lines are passed from the locks

to ship by hand from rowboats. The new towing plan calls for cnly two

locomotives to be used for each ncrmalsize ship, one fore and one aft. Each

would have towing and braking power.

Since they v/ould both be on the same

lock wall, the vessels would be held off the wall by a fender-car pictured on this page in a lowered position. The Canal officials were accompanied

on their inspection by R. G. LeTcurneau,

President, and other officers of the firm, who came to the Isthmus to make a first- hand study of the ship-towing problem

before the new locomotives were designed. Both locomotives are scheduled, under the contract, for delivery early next year and their manufacture is ahead

of schedule. They will be given extensive

tests at the factory before being dalivered. New Grace Liners The Grace Line, which recently started a new weekly service from New York to Canal ports, has also announced the

addition of two more C-2 type freighters to their West Coast of the United States- West Coast of South America service. They are the SS Utah and SS Oregm,

former States Steamship line freighters which, like other Grace Line ships on this run, will stop at Central American ports.
Before The Rains Came UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA

Sights like this are seldom visible, fortunately for Canal traffic. This year's protracted drought, which dropped the

level of Madden Lake to the lowest mark since it was formed, exposed hilltops and hillsides which had not been seen

for years. The photograph above shows the junction of the Boqueron and Pequeni rivers, above the dam. Normally

at this time of the year the entire foreground of this area would be a sheet of water. Below, left is an aerial view of Madden Lake, looking toward the dam. The white line shows the 30 feet which

the water had receded from its normal level. The picture below, right, shows the water level in Gaillard Cut before

the rains came.

From his rowboat a Canal seaman can

barely reach the normal water level. TRANSITS BY OCEAN-GOING

VESSELS IN JUNE

1%Q 1957 Commercial 674 775 U.&. Government 21 28

Total 695 803 TOLLS*

Commercial $.3,013,659 $3,490,051 U.S. Government. 70,817 148,053

Total $3,084,476 $3,638,104

'Includes tolls on all vessels, ocean-going and small. TOTAL CARGO TONS

Commercial 3,816,804 4,523,432 U.S. Government, 56,745 76,879

Total 3,873,549 4,600,311

Cruise Preview

Although the cruise saasor is still al- most half a year away. Isthmians who

read travel magazines are already getting a preview of things to come.

According to recent issues of Holiday, two Swedish-American liners will be among early Isthmian visiters this sea- son. The MS Kungxholm is scheduled to stop in Cristobal on a "Thanksgiving

Cruise," on which she leaves New York November 16 with an itinerary of St. Thomas, Port-au-Prince, Cristobal, and

Havana. On December 21, the new 23,.500-ton 631-foot MS Gripsholm, is scheduled to leave New York on a 14-day Christmas

cruise which will take her to Port-auPrince, Kingston, Cristobal, and Havana.

Roth the Kungsholm and thi'Giipslwlm

are due for Canal transits this season,

the former in January on a crui.se to the South Seas and the Far East, and the Gripsholm about a month later on a cruise around South America. A new Cunard liner, the Sylvania, is scheduled to make her maiden cruise in December arriving in Cristobal December 2S. The 22,000-ton vessel recentlj- joined four other sister ships on the Liv- erpool-to-Quebec run. She is partially air conditioned and on her regular runs can

carry 900 passengers. Another Cunard liner, the Maurciania.

is also scheduled for cruises which will take her to the Canal Zone next winttT. For this cruise season the big ship has been complct<'ly air conditioned.

SO THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW August 2, 1957