Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-09-23
THE PANAMA CANAL THRIVES
BY FREDERIC ]. HASKIN.

Recently there has been established
memorial which parallels the work of
the man 1t honors. Col. William c.
Gorgas by his monumental achieve
| ment in Kidding the Panama Canal
Zone of fever and plague overcame one
| of the chief obstacles to the conStruc-
ton of the waterway linking the At
| lantic and Pacific. Moreover. in doing
! so he rendered service to his country
and to the world. The monument bear
| ing his name is not alone of stone. but
| is living dedication to his memory
in its service for the United States and
other nations.
Perhaps humanity should be named
| first in the beneflciaries of the work of
Gorgas and of his memorial, for its suf
feringS are to be not only alleviated,
| but prevented. To this end the United
States has made an annual appropria-
| ton OF $50, 900 toward the establishment
! and maintenance of a research labora-
| tory at Ancon. In the name of the
man who made Panama a healthful
| place to live and work, a campaign is
under way to cure and prevent tropical
| diseases
If in "a years of American occupa-
| ton the Canal Zone can become a
thriving country, the prophecies for its
| future may well be rosy. In less than a
quarter of a century successful sys-
tenn of sanitation has been introduced,
the canal itself constructed, government
established and commerce developed.
| The Panama Canal fills a dual role,
being an asset in the national defense
and in commercial enterprise. 1t has
been estimated that $113,000,OOO of the
total investment can be charged to ma
| hot fl1n i,,i,,
$275, 600 900 invested there represents
commercial capital. Not charging So
| 250,000 which would be the amount
of annual interest. the total earnings
are nearly $92, 900 in excess of the
total expenses. The net revenue last
year was almost S18.225, 900, SO it is
| possible that in the course of time past
| deficits can be wiped out.
| Because tolls paid by ships form the
| greatest sources of revenue it is inter
esting to note some of the superlatives
in traffic. Up until this Spring nearly
$4,000 vessels had paid for the priv
lege Of going through the canal, and an
other 1000 had gone through free. AL
commercial traffic pays for the privilege
of going through the canal. Govern
ment-owned ships of the United States
Panama. Colombia and those which are
| SOuIS CAllOuSA W odlUOd 4OT repairs
are the only vessels which do not pay
| toll.
Crossing Records.
The year in which there was the
largest commercial traffic was 1927
when there were more than 5000
transits. December of that year was
the month holding the record for num-
i Der of transits and amount of TOLL $50
and almost $2,500,000, respectively In
one day of october, 1927, the same
class of vessels going in both directions
was 49, Back in 1924 the high point
was reached when 81 Government and
commercial vessels made the transit
in one day.
The United States destroyer Law
renee was the Nurmi of ships, making
the crossing in hours 10 minutes
The largest ship to go from Cristobal
to Balboa is the U. S. S. Saratoga, an
airplane carrier. 1t has a length of 88e
feet and beam of 1919 feet.
| That the Panama Canal has been an
asset to the world as well as to the
United States is demonstrated by the
! fact that in the last five years %
countries have been represented by
ships in the cross-canal Journey More
| than a quarter were vessels from Great
Britain. 1t is not surprising that
American ships numbered a little over
half of the total. Intercoastal trade
is a busy enterprise as shown by the
fact that AZ per cent of the cargo
was so bound.
| Some 5000 miles have been neatly
| clipped off the Journey from New York