cjCj^j-:i]L^'(3) Panama Canal Museum Gift ofthe ^^ PANAMA /T^^McB CANAL,

VoL 6, No. 4 BALBOA HEIGHTS, CANAL ZONE, NOVEMBER 4, 1955 5 cents

Five Members Of Canal Subcommittee CANAL PAYROLL

Scheduled To Arrive Here December 1 TO BE UNIFIED

Five members of the House Merchant NEXT JANUARY Marine and Fisheries Committee are scheduled to arrive in the Canal Zone unified payroll for December 1 for a 10-day visit during A system which hearings will be held on various the Canal organization, as an- Canal matters. nounced last month by Gov- The five Congressmen are members of ernor Seybold, will become fully the Subcommittee on Panama Canal effective at the end of next Affairs of the Merchant Marine and first Fisheries Committee. The group will be January. The pay checks headed by Rep. Edward A. Garmatz, under the new system will be Democrat, of Maryland, Chairman of delivered in February. the Subcommittee. With the adoption of a unified payroll, are Repre- The other four members salary checks will be delivered to all sentatives T. James Tumulty, Democrat employees the same day by units of the of New Jersey; Francis E. Dom, Repub- organization. The present U. S.-rate William K. Pelt, lican of New York; Van pay period will be used as the basis for of Wisconsin; and James A. Republican all employees and timekeeping procedures Pennsylvania. All Byrne, Democrat of will be adapted to that schedule. will five members of the House be accom- Because of the size of the organization their wives. panied by and the workload involved, it will be Also accompanying the group will be necessary to stagger the paydays. The Bernard Zineke, Counsel of the Merchant exact schedule for the paydays will be Marine and Fisheries Committee, and announced later. Mrs. Zineke, and Mrs. Frances Still, Chief The unification of the two payrolls will Clerk of the Committee. require a change for hourly employees The visit of the House group was an- (mostly employees on the piers) who are U. S. REPRESENTATIVE Edward A. Garmatz the last session nounced near the close of Chairman of the Panama Canal Subcommittee of the now paid weekly. The change for this of Congress by Mr. Garmatz. Merchant Marine and P'isheries Committee, will group to a two-week pay period, coincid- The Committee will consider legisla- head a group of Congressmen due here in December. ing with the present U. S.-rate pay tion pending in Congress during their periods, will be made in December. visit to the Canal Zone. Administration Two Civic Councils Hold Policy Sailing November 25 The consolidation of the payrolls into The legislative group is scheduled to Elections November 8 a single system is a part of the Canal sail from New York November 25 aboard administration policy of eliminating any the Panama liner Ancan, arriving here The first step toward an overall election practice which may seem to differentiate

December I. They will return 10 days day in the Canal Zone to coincide with conditions of employment opportunity, later, sailing December 10 on the Panama. election day in the United States—will enunciated last month by Governor Sey- The Subcommittee Chairman has an- take place next Tuesday when Zonians bold in an address at the dedicatory cere- nounced that formal hearings have been go to polling places in their respective monies of the new Paraiso Civic Center. tentatively scheduled on Monday and communities to elect representatives to An important phase of this policy, Tuesday after the Committee's arrival. the Civic Councils representing Cristo- he said, is the centralization of employ- These will be held in the Board Room of bal-Margarita and Gatun. ments and the standardization of em- the Administration Building. The first Provisions of the constitutions of the ployment conditions for both U. S.- day will be devoted to hearings on the Pacific and Garaboa Civic Councils prevent citizen and non-U. S. citizen groups. Railroad and the group will spend its the residents of the communities repre- Most of the units of the Employment second day on legislative problems. sented by those groups from participating and Utilization Division of the Personnel The remainder of the stay in the Canal in the November 8 elections. Bureau have now been moved to the Zone will be devoted to making a study Council members said, however, that Central Labor Office on Roosevelt Avenue of Canal installations and operations. an amendment to the constitutions to in Balboa. This move permits the con- Four members of the subcommittee provide for November elections will be solidation of all work pertaining to em- have made previous visits to the Canal presented to Civic Council constituents ployments, processing, placement, trans- Zone; Representative Tumulty is the only at their next election. fers and promotions, record keeping, and Congressional newcomer of the group. Local-rate Civic Councils will continue Civil Service procediu-es. Representative Garmatz, subcommit- with their prescribed election dates this The Cristobal office of the Personnel tee chairman, and Mr. Zineke, its Counsel, year but are expected to take the neces- Bureau has handled all emplojonents were here together last November. At sary action so that next fall their repre- through the single office since it was the time the Congressman was making sentatives will also be chosen at a general opened, although further consolidation of studies of Canal operations in his capacity election day. records and procedures will be accom- as a committee member. The idea of a single date for a Canal plished coincidental with the changes A native of Baltimore, he represents Zone Election Day has been considered made on the Pacific side. Maryland's Third Congressional District, for some time. It was suggested some The adoption of the unified payroll one of two covering the city of Baltimore. months ago to Council Representatives system early next year will necessitate He has been a member of Congress by Governor J. S. Seybold at one of his several transitional changes which wOl since 1947. Shirtsleeve Conferences. affect principally the pay {See page is) _

THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW November 4, 1955 Commendations Outnumber Recommendations In Evaluation Of Cristobal High School

(Following is the second in a series of school in attempting to meet the educa- is given to the need for more extensive four articles reviewing reports on Balboa tional needs of youth. audio-visual aids and for facilities for and Cristobal High Schools and the Canal Getting dowTi to specifics, the report wider use of such materials. In prac- Zone Junior College as prepared by Visit- provides these insights, among others, tically every one of 17 divisions of the ing Committees representing the Middle into the school's operation as seen from a report which give consideration to indi- States Association of Colleges and Second- professional and objective viewpoint: vidual subjects of study, ranging from ary Schools which were here in February Staff and Administration—A well qual- mathematics to physical education, there and March 1Q54 for the purpose of evalu- ified and competent staff with high mor- is set forth a strong recommendation that ating the three schools for accreditation.) ale, excellent community relations and additional attention be given to the an excellent pupil-teacher relationship. utilization of audio-visual aids. Although the citizens in the Zone have The most emphatically presented rec- Commendations literally outnumber less direct connection with the operation ommendation is in behalf of art, a course recommendations for the Cristobal High of the school than is commonly found in not included in the curriculum this year. written report from the School in the the States, the Government of the Zone The lengthy statement on this subject Visiting Committee of the Middle States has succeeded in analyzing the needs of advises "it is evident that it is necessary of Colleges and Secondary Association youth in the Zone quite well and has a to justify art in the Cristobal High emphasizes that "the basic Schools which lively and intelligent interest in the wel- School's curriculum. Take art out of the preparation given in this high school is fare of the pupils in the school. luxury category ... it contributes as students in college preparatory sound for High Mental Ability much to the needs of the adolescent in and vocational work." Student Body—The mental ability of preparation for adulthood as, for example, In reference to the overall curriculum, the students of the Cristobal High School music." exhaustive examination conducted at the is higher than that found in the average The only division of the school curricu- forth conclusion that Cristobal brings the high school in the United States, probably lum to bear the scrutiny of the Commit- "the members of the evaluating commit- due to the careful screening which parents tee and to come through without a single the varied tee would like to commend and receive before they come to live in the recommendation for improvement is the studies, extensive program of especially Zone. Approximately 46 percent of the Reserve Officers Training Corps. One of noticeable for a school of rather lunited graduates of Cristobal High School attend the commendations for this activity enrollment." The report adds that "there institutions of higher learning. states that "the Army R. 0. T. C. staff at is participation in many extra- a wide School Plant—The school is designed this school is excellent; well qualified in curricular activities with a larger per- for a tropical climate and the aesthetic the work in which they are instructing, of the students taking part than centage quality of the setting is an inspiration to they have had not only educational prep- is often the case." good study. This locality, including the aration, but the experience which is so In each of those vital phases of the school building, is slated to be transferred essential to instruction in this field." In evaluation process which involve the to the Republic of Panama and will have this instance the report commends the determination whether a school's oper- to be replaced by a suitable building in "exceptionally large number and amount ations and accomplishments are in con- another locality. We express a hope that of visual and audio aids available and formity with its purpose Cristobal High as much care be given to planning the in use." scored favorably. It is noted that the new building as was given to the planning A high commendation is given the philosophy of the school accepts the fact of this present building. English language program of study and that the school does not constitute the Throughout the report, which will be the English teachers. Along with the entire educational life of the child; that one of several factors under consideration commendation is a recommendation that the faculty recognizes the necessity of the by the Middle States Association next the school not admit foreign students to home, the church, and the Civil Govern- month in determining whether Cristobal English 9, 10, 11, and 12 without a ment sharing the responsibility with the High School should be accredited, stress demonstrated knowledge (Se« page i)

oor Fair GiMxi \"er> Good E.xce

1 2 ,? 4 5

Ill 1 D—Program of Studies

I D -D 1 6 Subject Fields

I. Organization

II. Nature of Offerings

III. Physical Facilities

1 1 1 1 1 1 I\'-A. Instructional Staff . .

IV-B. Instructional Activities IIIllllllllll 1 1 IV-C. Instructional Materials III IV-D. Methods of Evaluation.. lil^HIIIIII V. Outcomes

E—Pupil Activity Program ^\

1 1 1 1 1 F—Library Services III! ^^^^^^^^ G—Guidance Services

1 1 1 1 1 H~School Plant ^^^^^^^

1 1 1 1 1 I—School Stafif and Administration November 4, 1955 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW

Suez Canal Company Blood Bank For Canal Zone To Give Panama Canal Will Be Established Soon

Bust Of De Lesseps Plans have been completed for the Executive Order of the President in establishment of a Canal Zone blood bank December 1951, and the American Red as soon as it can be determined if public Cross was designated as the coordinating interest is sufficient to provide volunteers agency for blood collection for the Depart- to donate blood and to administer the ment of Defense and the Federal Civil program. Defense Administration. The plans have been developed by the The Red Cross has been instrumental Canal Zone chapter of the American Red in the establishment of blood banks Cross in cooperation with the Health throughout the United States on a vol- Bureau. Responsibility for collecting, unteer basis; these are available both for processing and distributing blood will be military and civilian personnel. assumed by the Health Bureau, while the Similar To U. S. Red Cross will conduct a campaign for Although not directly a part of the volunteer donors as well as volunteers to National Blood program, the Canal Zone assist in recruitment and record keeping. program for volunteer donors and for the It is planned to confine the campaign maintenance of the Canal Zone blood to residents of the Canal Zone, and the bank will be conducted along the lines Armed Forces have been invited to par- adopted by the American Red Cross in ticipate. In a recent letter to Lt. Gen. the United States. W. K. Harrison, Commander-in-Chief of the Caribbean Command, Carl J. Browne, The same general limitations on volun- Chairman of the Red Cross chapter, out- teer donors will be adopted in the Canal lined the proposed program and invited Zone program as those for the national the cooperation of the components under program. In general, these are: Any his command. person between the ages of 18 and 59 may give blood if he or she weighs 110 Would Provide Ample Supply pounds or more. Parental consent is The proposed plan would make avail- required of persons from 18 to 21 years of able an ample supply of fresh blood to age. meet the requirements of the two Canal While the primary objective in the Viscount FERDINAND de LESSEPS Zone hospitals and the mercy missions, campaign will be to secure an adequate plus a small reserve for emergencies. A bronze bust of Viscount Ferdinand number of volunteer donors, the Canal With a large list of volunteer donors the Marie de Lesseps, whose name is perma- Zone chapter of the Red Cross is inter- blood bank could be replenished at nently linked with the early history of the ested now in obtaining volunteer workers frequent intervals by calling donors on a Panama Canal, will be formally presented to administer the program. These vol- rotating basis. to the Panama Canal Company on unteers are needed to assist in the clerical At present, Gorgas Hospital maintains November 23 by the Board of Directors work and record keeping required during a blood bank but recipients are required of the Suez Canal Company. the drive for volunteer donors and later to replenish the bank, with the amount of The presentation ceremonies will be in administering the program. Volun- blood used, by volunteer donations from held in the Administration Building; the teer nurses will also be required to assist their families or friends, or to pay $25 a bust will be placed in the rotunda to at the two hospitals when the blood pint which is used to buy blood from become a part of the permanent statuary banks are replenished. professional donors if necessar>\ No of the Canal Zone. The presentation bank is maintained at Coco Solo Hos- Volunteer Workers Needed marking the 150th anniversary of de pital but a list of volunteer donors is Volunteers for this type of work have Lesseps' birth on November 19, 1805, will maintained and they are called when been requested to communicate with Mrs. be a feature of a world-wide observance transfusions are required. Thelma Monagan, Chairman of the Vol- of the Ferdinand de Lesseps Sesquicen- The necessary equipment for the main- unteer Services, or at the Red Cross tennial Celebration. tenance of a blood bank at Coco Solo offices in Ancon or Cristobal. Volunteer Participating in the ceremony at Hospital is on order and one will be workers may communicate with Mrs. Balboa Heights will be a group of officials established there in the near future. Monagan by telephoning Curundu 6194, of the Suez Canal Company, the French Gorgas Hospital maintains a supply of or writing to Box 322, Balboa Heights. Embassy in Panama, and the Comite about 75 pints of blood at all times. The Volunteers on the Atlantic side have been France-Amerique of France and Panama. hospital uses about 150 to 175 pints a requested to write Box 5045, Cristobal, or Gov. John S. Seybold will accept the bust month, including the supply which is call personally at the Red Cross office on on behalf of the Panama Canal Company. issued for mercy missions in the air-sea Roosevelt Avenue in Old Cristobal. Following the presentation, the official rescue operations. The campaign for volunteer blood party will visit Miraflores Locks and The establishment of a Canal Zone donors will be conducted throughout the make a trip through Gaillard Cut. The bank is consistent with the National Canal Zone, including the military estab- party will then be guests at a buffet blood Program in the Office of Defense lishments, during the coming few weeks. luncheon at the Tivoli Guest House. Blood Mobilization. This was established by Pledge cards will be (See page The bronze bust will be mounted on a 4) pedestal of striped Brocadillo marble with a verde antique base. The pedestal I Volunteer For The is three feet, nine inches in height, and Am A one and a half feet square. Mounted on the pedestal just below the bust of the CANAL ZONE BLOOD BANK Suez Canal builder will be a bronze tablet, six by twelve inches, on which is inscribed the name and tribute to the man whose memory is being honored. The placing of the bronze bust of de Lesseps in the Canal Administration Building will take place just 75 years Your Mailing Address after he visited the Isthmus of Panama to inaugurate the work of building the Office Phone Home Phone Panama Canal. It was under his leadership that the Blood type (If known) International Congress met in Paris in May 1879 to decide on a canal route PLEASE TYPEWRITE OR PRINT through the Isthmus joining (See page 1-5) THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW Novembei 4, 1955

Company Income Statement Last Construction-Day

A net income of $581,134 (tentative) $244,700 had been budgeted. Post Office Is Closed was reported for the past fiscal year by The financial statements showed the the Panama Canal Company, according Canal Company paid the U. S. Treasury to financial statements issued during the $9,043,766 in interest, the latter an Only a few collectors of first- and last- past week by Gov. John S. Seybold, increase of approximately $200,000 over day postal covers took advantage last President of the Company. the previous fiscal year. month of the closing of the last of the The net income figure for the past Canal Zone post offices which had been The release of net income in tentative fiscal year corresponds to a net income of open continuously since the construction figures is necessitated by the fact that the $4,160,010 in the previous fiscal year. period and of the re-re-re-establishment final determination has yet to be made, The substantia] decrease was attributed (to make up a word) of the Paraiso as required by the Company's Federal principally to lower gross revenues from post office. charter, on the capital values of prop- tolls and other sources and to the in- Postal officials reported that only about erties acquired at the time of the Com- creased interest rate on the Government's 50 covers were received at Pedro Miguel pany's reorganization on July 1, 1951. investment and employee benefits granted post office to be stamped on its last work- by Congress. The favorable balance was The condensed income statement for ing day, October 14, and at the Paraiso shown last year although a deficit of the fiscal year 1955 is shown below: oflice which opened the following Monday. Pedro Miguel post office was opened Condensed Income Statement Year Ended June 30, 1955 August 9, 1905, and had been in operation continuously since that date, according canal and allied maritime operations to records of the Postal Division. A number of well-known past and Revenue: present Zonians have served as post- Tolls from commercial vessels $33,918,993 master at Pedro Miguel. Among them Tolls credits from U. S.-Government vessels 1, 217,-536 are Gerald Bliss, William D. Taylor, J. Other revenue . 9,195,027 Wendell Greene, William Hodges and $it,:« 1,556 Harry Corn. Mr. Corn now heads the Operating Expenses: Mail Handling Unit at Balboa. post oflRce, Direct expenses and supporting services $18,661,733 Paraiso which was re- established October 17 for the fourth Depreciation on canal and allied maritime facilities, is Canal Zone office exclusive of depreciation or amortization of channel, time, the only post to history. It one harbors, treaty rights, and similar costs 2,383,405* 21,045,138 have such a was of the Canal Zone postal units opened in Janu- Net Operating Income, Canal and Allied Maritime ary 1906; there are no records to show Operations $23,286,418 its original date but it is included in a list dated January 20, 1906, as being in sales of supporting services operation at that time. Other records show the date of its establishment as

Sales to employees and others $39,485,846 January 1, 1906, and that date is used Cost of goods sold and other direct expenses. . 37,412,812 officially by the Postal Division.

Net operating income, sales of supporting services 2,073,034 report carries recommendations for facili- Total Net Operating Income_-_..,--- $25,359,452 ties for swimming instruction, for a program of corrective physical education general corporate expense and for an adjustment so that all students get some regularly scheduled physical Net cost of Canal Zone Government $9,779,271 education throughout their high school Intel I'st payable to U. S. Treasury (tentative) 9,043,766 career. "The practice of substituting Administrative and other general expenses 5,955,281 $24,778,318 R. 0. T. C. for physical education deprives many students of opportunities and values Net Income, as Tentatively St.\ted $581,134 which can be derived from physical edu- cation," in the opinion of the (Committee. *Exclu.sive of depreciation on service and general facilities amoiintini; Specific extends to to $2,552,977 which is included in the costs of the activities served. comment other fields, as in the case of Business Educa- tion where "there is obvious need for Blood Bank For Canal Zone Commendations Outnumber Recommendations better equipment;" Health and Safety "the content of lessons is practical, Will Be Established Soon where (Continued from page 2) of English suffi- of immediate daily value to students; cient to understand the class discussions, Science where "outstanding use is l)eing (Continued from page 3) distributed through- directions, and assignments. "These made of local specimens of plants and out the Canal organization and these may classes are designed to teach advanced animals in biology;" and Social Studies be filled out and mailed to the Red Cross English to students who had had eight where consideration is warranted to Offices at Balboa Heights or Cristobal. years previous study in the language." offering courses in Latin-American His- The Panama Canal Review carries One highlight of the report is the com- tory, Consumer Economics, and Asiatic on page 3 a coupon which may be clipped mendation that "the Industrial Arts History and Society, and to having more and mailed to the Red Cross oflSces. program is being conducted admirably. field trips. In the Pupil Activity Program The processing of these applications Enthusiasm for their work is apparent it is recommended that a greater variety will require some time, depending upon in both students and teachers." Simi- of clubs be offered for students in order the number of volunteer workers to assist larly, "the ease and informality of stu- to meet a wider area of student interest, in this task. Some information will be dent^teacher relations" in mathematics that a study be made of objectives and required in addition to that appearing and the high percent of the student body functions of the homeroo?n, and that on the volunteer pledge cards or in the (aj)pr()xiniately 66 percent) enrolled in changes in the time schedule be made to coupon carried in this issue of THE mathematics courses is singled out, as is allow for more homeroom t<>acher guid- Review. The Red Cross will communi- music which earns the comment that ance. The report also proposes a greater cate with volunteer donors for this in- "this is a well balanced small high school variety of assemblies and an increase formation as soon as possible after music department doing an excellent job. in the number of issues of the school

receipt of the pledges. It is gratifying to not

bank, please fill out and clip the coupon showing fine musicianship and effective well Balboa High and the Canal Zone will on page 3, mailing it to: RED CROSS, training." Junior College scored individually be Box 322, Balboa Heights, or Box 5045, While the Physical Education program discussed in the next two issues of The Cristobal. is treated favorably so far as it goes, the Panama Canal Review. November 4, 1955 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW PICTURES OF THE MONTH

OCTOBER was an eventful month in the Canal Zone; a few of its happenings are shown in the photographs on this page. Speaking at the formal dedication of the new Paraiso Civic Center, Governor J. S. Seybold, above, took the occasion to outline some of the administration's policies affect- ing local rate employees. These included a repetition of his earlier statements un hous- ing in the Canal Zone and the adoption of a unified payroll system. After the ceremony in the Paraiso Thea- ter, the crowd of several himdred moved to the Civic Center next doer where Ellis Faw- cett, Civil Council President, cut a large cake made especially for the opening of the Paraiso luncheonette. Top right: P. S. Thornton, General Manager of the Service Center Division, and Wilson H. Crook, Community Services Director, together with a group of pleased Paraisanos watch the first slice cut from the commemorative cake. The theater was filled to capacity during the Governor's speech and was again packed during the evening when free movies were shown to end the day's celebration.

Earlier in October, the Canal Zone had observed Fire Prevention Week. In the cen- ter photograph, a fireman dangles from the 75-foot e.xtension ladder to the delight and awe of pupils in Ancon Elementary school. During the week the school children were given simple hints on fire prevention, and had a chance to swarm over fire equip- ment as well as to gape at Sparky, the Fire Dog, who was called by the children in the Latin American schools. Sparky, El Perro Bombcro.

During the month, the Canal Zone re- ceived a distinguished visitor. President Jose Figueres of Costa Rica. During an official visit to Panama, President Figueres asked to see how the Panama Canal Locks work, and was escorted one day to the Mir- aflores Control Tower.

.'\t the bottom, right. President Figueres, flanked by Mrs. Figueres and Major David H. Smith, Military Assistant to the Gover- nor, listen to Emmett O. Kiernan, Control

House Operator, as he explains all about rising stem valves. —

THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW November 4, 1955

FOR YOUR INTEREST AND GUIDANCE IN ACCIDENT PREVENTION VDUi. JLL Cac SAKirS MONUMENT

Did you realize that the Panama Canal workers from human and mechanical I know the floor is slippery, or the nail is itself stands as one of the greatest monu- dangers but the element of nature, cruel protruding, or there is a loose rung to be ments ever created by man for a Safety and untamed in a jungle wilderness was stepped over." You know about them Program? Stop to think about it for a too much to cope with in its natural state so you won't get hurt. moment. and the project was abandoned. But perhaps the man who follows you What is a Safety Program? It is a However, the dream remained in the doesn't know about them and so he is program designed to protect man against hearts of men. And man is an amazing injured. Who is to blame? He or you? injury from human, mechanical, and creature. He not only fights to protect Never take if for granted that because natural dangers. Its records show the himself against human and mechanical you know a machine must be handled in number of man hours lost on the job. failure but he even battles nature itself. a certain way that the next man to use If those records show a high figure for So man designed a Safety Program to it will know that too. Perhaps you can lost man hours, the job cost goes up. If protect himself against nature. He fought handle a machine without a guard on it the records show an extremely high figure, and won against the heat and damp. He and not get hurt but it is possible that the job cost is going to be so high that the fought the battle of malaria and yellow the next man is not so clever or so careful job cannot be finished. fever. He fought against jungle and as you are. Don't leave Safety to chance. all. That is what happened to the Panama swamp and he conquered them We Taking chances causes accidents. Wipe Walter Reed, Canal idea when it first came into being. remember those men today: up the slippery floor! Bend down the There were just too many lost man hours Goethals, and Gorgas. We see their liv- protruding nail! Get the loose rung in and the job failed. Perhaps there were ing monument to a Safety Program fixed! Don't just skip over it. good safety measures to protect the the Panama Canal. It may be regrettable but nevertheless Yes, the battle against nature was won it is a fact. We don't live in a glamorous for you. And so perhaps you say to world, today. We live in a practical one. HONOR ROLL yourself, "there are no new worlds to Be practical—be careful—and do it for conquer." Don't belittle your part in the other man too. Bureau Award For the Safety Program today just because BEST RECORD Let us make the monument created by the glamour of being a great doctor who those early giants a monument to be SEPTEMBER is part conquers yellow fever no longer a honored today the world over as a living of that program. A human life is still COMMUNITY SERVICES BUREAU symbol of a fine Safety Record. the most valuable thing in the world. And there are things you can do to save THIS CALENDAR YEAR AWARDS lives or to save a man's ability to earn a DID YOU KNOW. . . Community Services 5 living. Don't miss an opportunity. You Supply 3 may not have a monument built for you That the eagle is one of the world's

Engineering and Construction 3 on this earth if you prevent an accident, oldest national symbols, having been used Health 3 but you will have the satisfaction of by the Mesopotamian city of Legash Transportation and Terminals 1 knowing that you or a fellow worker have some 5,000 years ago? Civil Affairs 1 a lifetime of earning power ahead of you. Marine Don't look for worlds to conquer When the "eagle screams," it's pay-day look for the little things—the slippery for millions of workers. You'll always Division Award For spot on the floor, the protruding nail, the have a better chance of being around to NO DISABLING INJURIES loose rung in the ladder. Don't be pick up that pay check if safe habits and SEPTEMBER safety-conscious just for yourself. Don't attitudes are your constant partners oa be satisfied to say, "I'll be careful because the job. NAVIGATION DIVISION SERVICE CENTER DIVISION Disabling Injuries per 1,000,000 Man-Hours Worked

ELECTRICAL DIVISION SEPTEMBER 1955 ( Frequency Rale) INDUSTRIAL DIVISION GROUNDS MAINTENANCE DIVISION Communil; Services Bureau STOREHOUSES DIVISION Supply Bureau SANITATION DIVISION

HOUSING DIVISION Heallh Bureau AIDS TO NAVIGATION Civil Affairs Bureau

AWARDS THIS CALENDAR YEAR Engineering and Conslruclion Bureau Aids to Navigation 8 Housing 8 C. Z. Govl.-Panama Canal Co. ( This Month) Sanitation 8 Marine Bureau Maintenance 7 Electrical 6 C. I. Govl.-Panama Canal Co.( Last 3-Year Av.) Grounds Maintenance 6

Industrial 6 Transportation and Terminals Bureau Motor Transportation 6

Service Center. _ 6 Storehouses 6

Railroad 5 Number of Disabling Injuries 19 Man-Hours Worked 2,222,689 Dredging 4 LEGEND Commissary 3 I Amount Better Than Canal ^jne Government—Panama Canal Company Last 3-Vear Average Hospitalization and Clinics 3

Locks. 1 J Amount Worse Than Canal Zone Government—Panama Canal Company Last 3-Year Average Terminals 1

Navigation-,------,,, 1 Accumulative Frequency Rate This Year November 4, 1955 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW OF CURRENT INTEREST

Official Panama Canal C^ompany Publication

Published Monthly at BALBOA HEIGHTS, CANAL ZONE

Printed by Ihe Prinling Plant

Mount Hope, Canal Zone

John S. Seybold, Governor-President

H. W. ScHin.L, Jr. Lieutenant Governor

William G. Arey, Jr. Public Information Officer

J. RuFUS Hardy, Editor

Eleanor H. McIlhenny Assistant Editor

SUBSCRIPTION—$1.00 a year

SINGLE COPIES— S cents each

On sale at all Panama Canal Service Cen- ters, Commissaries, and Hotels for 10 days CHECKS ranging from $10 to $2.5 each, and totaling $120, were presented last month to six Com- after publication date. pany-Government employees who had submitted suggestions accepted by the Incentive .\wards Com- mittee. Five of the award winners are shown above with Henry L. Donovan, far right. Chairman SINGLE COPIES BY M AIL-10 cents each of the Incentive Awards Committee. The award winners are, left to right: George Brathwaite, Clerk with the Division of Storehouses who suggested the elimination of typed specifications on Stock BACK COPIES— 10 cents each Protection and History cards; Cecil F. Haynes, also a Clerk in the Division of Storehouses who sug- gested a change in design in Section B, where he works; Mrs. Ruby L. Willa, Accounting Clerk in On sale, when available, from the Vault the Office of the General Manager of the Commissary Division, whose suggestion concerned parking Clerk, Third Floor, Administration Building, at the Margarita Post Office and Commissary; George D. Gregory, Chief Foreman of the Dredging Division who suggested that barge sheathing be cut diagonally; and Mrs. Bernice E. Stephen- Balboa Heights. Shops, sen, Chief Clerk in the Northern District of the Motor Transportation Division, whc suggested an improvement in the system of distributing local-rate identification-privilege cards. Not present when this photograph was taken was Charles K. Cross, of the Records Management Section of the Postal money orders should be made pay- Administrative Branch, who suggested a change in handling drawings and cartographic records. able to the Treasurer, Panama Canal Com- pany, and mailed to Editor, Panama The Approximately 113 buildings and more Applications for the 1956 Canal Zone Canal Review, Balboa Heights, C. Z. than 76 apartments are scheduled for ex- vehicle license plates will be made available this week-end; applications will accepted terior and interior painting under the first be by the Canal Zone License Section in the large group-maintenance paint project to be Civil Afifairs Building any time after Mon- advertised for bids by the Panama Canal day, November 7, it has been announced by Retires Company since the last dry season. In- the Canal Zone License Section. the group of apartments are cluded in 48 The forms can be obtained at the License Miguel which are sched- located in Pedro Section, at all police stations, Commissary uled for assignment to personnel of the and Post Exchange gasoline stations, as U. S. Air Force. well as the office of the License Examiner Listed for exterior painting are 15 houses in Cristobal. in Gamboa, 22 houses in Paraiso, 19 The annual drawing of low license plate houses in Gatun, 12 houses in Margarita, nimibers will be held at 8:30 a. m. Novem- one house in San Cruz, and 44 in Rainbow ber 18 in the License Section oflSce under City. On the list for interior painting are the direction of Michael Zombory, Chief Civic four buildings and three apartments in of the License Section, and Council representatives. The low numbers will be Mindi, 14 buildings and 25 apartments in drawn from the applications received by Rainbow City, three rooms in the Cristobal the License Section up to the close of Administration Building, several rooms in business, Thursday, November 17. Building in Ancon, the the Sanitation and Each applicant for a personal automobile toilet and locker rooms in Section B of registration must enclose with the applica- Gorgas Hospital. tion his current registration card and a fee Bids on the project will be opened at of S5 in the self-addressed envelope pro- 10 a. m., November 7, in the Balboa vided for the purpose. The envelope Heights Administration Building. should be securely sealed and the return address enclosed. Remittance should be check or order payable to People who have relatives and friends made by money the Treasurer of the Canal overseas, which means almost any place Panama Com- pany. Currency should not be mailed, the except the United States, should get their License Section advised. Christmas packages in the mail pretty soon now. In their annual "mail your Christ- CIL\RLES F. HIXZ. senior Postmaster in the mas packages early" request, the Canal A public auction, or "old hoss sale," of Postal Division, ended 32 years of postal work, 30 Zone Postal Division emphasized that Nov- unclaimed freight will be held at 9 a. m. years of which was in the Canal Zone, when he ember 15 is the last date on which packages November 26 in Building 42 of Section I of retired last month. He had worked as a postal clerk and letters can be sent overseas with any the Storehouse Division. The items, which in Milwaukee, his birthplace and his future home, assurance that they will arrive before represent an accumulation of freight refused before he came here in 1924 with the .\rmy. Most Christmas. Airmail letters and packages or left unclaimed on the Panama Canal of his postal service has been on the Pacific side. He however, can be sent overseas as late as piers for many months, include such things was postmaster at Balboa Heights when he retired December 15. as toys, angel hair, and a shipment of but he has also been in the post offices at Ancon and Ordinary Christmas mail being sent any- Christmas cards, in addition to hundreds

Fort Clayton. Mrs. Hinz is one of the most accom- where in the L'nited States should leave the of other miscellaneous items. An inspec- plished linguists on the Isthmus. She speaks Canal Zone anytime from December 1 to 10 tion of the collection can be made by English, .Spanish, French, Dutch, and some Portu- and airmail can be sent out as late as interested parties November 22, 23, and guese and Italian in addition to Papamiento, the December 18. A list of boat schedules will 25, from 7 a. m. until 4 p. m., in Building language of her native Curacao. be announced by the Postal Division later. 42, where they will be on display. THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW November 4, 1955 Suez Canal, 86 Years Old This Month, One Of World's Most Strategic Waterways

The Suez Canal, a 100-mile sea-level The idea succeeded at Suez but failed at channel joining the Mediterranean and Panama. Red Seas, is one of the most strategic The dissimilarities of De Lesseps' ex- waterways in the world. Constructed in periences at Suez and Panama are both the 10-year period between 1859 and striking and tragic. 1869 it made accessible a vastly shortened At Suez he won world renown for his trade route from industrialized Europe success. to the Far East. At Panama he was vilified for his Opened in a period when sailing ships failure. were still a mainstay of world merchant He overcame problems of terrain, labor fleets, the Suez Canal was buOt to accom- supply, health conditions, and climate at modate vessels of only a few thousand one spot but they contributed to his tons with a maximum draught of less defeat at the other. than 22 feet. The channel has been Interoceanic Canals widened repeatedly, deepened, and im- The Panama and Suez are the only proved; today it can accommodate the two canals in the world which can be largest ocean liners of a draught up to called interoceanic. The Panama Canal 35 feet. is a direct Imk between the Atlantic and Traffic through the Suez has risen Pacific while the Suez provides a water phenomenally during recent years. In connection between the RIediterrean and the calendar year 1954 there were more Red Seas and thence to the Atlantic and than 13,000 transits. Until recent years Indian Oceans, respectively. ships using the waterway were princi- Perhaps the greatest contrast between pally of European registry. British, the two canals is in the terrain through Norwegian, French, and Italian flag ves- which they are cut. The Isthmus of Suez sels made up more than half the traffic in is a relatively flat land with some areas 1954, although the number of ships flying below sea level and none more than about the flags of the United States, Panama, 50 feet higher than sea level. The Pana- and Liberia have greatly increased since ma Canal is cut through a mountainous the close of World War "ll. region with the highest point 312 feet Two Anniversaries THE SUEZ CANAL BUILDER, Count Ferdinaiul above sea level. Two anniversaries of great significance de Lesseps is memorialized by this statue at tlie A striking similarity of the two water- harbor of Port Said. in the history of the Suez Canal occur in ways is the fact that both run north and the month of November. This month south to connect seas which lie Since Panama Canal employees are to the marks the S6th anniversary of the official east and west. well acquainted with the waterway join- opening of the Canal, which took place One of the great oddities in comparison ing the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, a November 17 to 20, 1869. of the two Canals is the fact that the better understanding of Suez can be The other anniversary is that of the original plans for both were changed. gained by listing some of the likes and birth of Count Ferdinand M. de Lesseps. Suez was first planned as a lock canal unlikes of the two projects. but He was bom November 19, 1805, and became a sea-level waterway. Original Activating Genius this year, the 150th anniversary of his plans for the Panama Canal called for a Such a list might well be headed by birth, will be the occasion of a world-wide sea-level channel but it became the observance. On the Isthmus, where he Count de Lesseps, activating genius of world's greatest lock canal. exerted great influence on the course of both projects. Other fact sheet comparisons: history, special ceremonies are being De Lesseps visualized both Canals as SUEZ PANAMA planned. These are described elsewhere international channels of commerce which Opened in this issue. would benefit all mankind. In the Nov. 17, 1869 Aug. 15, 1914 As in the case of most great enterprises names of both companies he organized Construction cost of the same general nature, there are was included the word "universelle." 8148,500,000 $380,000,000 many parallels and dissimilitudes between It was this idea of universality which he Excavation at completion the Suez and Panama Canals. These are followed in promoting both enterprises. (cubic yards) interwoven in the history of the two In both instances he "allocated" blocks 97,000,000 284,500,000 waterways and are to be found in their of stock to the major maritime nations Minimum channel width (feet) physical characteristics and operations. so that they might share the benefits. 197 300

^ *"^

;1

THIS NEW BY-P .\SS channel is nearly seven miles long and provides for latest of seven major improvement projects of the Suez which have been two-way traffic at a point about one-third of the way between the Medi- made since it was opened to traffic. A total of 15,650,000 cubic yards of terranean and the Gulf of Suez. The new channel was a part of the material were dredged to complete the channel, which was opened in 1951. —

November 4, 1955 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW

operations recommended for the Panama Canal when plans for it,were first discussed. Lavalley served on the International Congress convened in Paris in 1879 to consider the Panama Canal. His name became well-known to contemporary Panama Canal employees by the big dredge Laralley which was in Panama Canal service for 65 years. It was built for the French and was part of the equip- ment bought by the United States. After ser\ ice throughout the construction period

it became the first self-propelled vessel to make a complete transit of the Canal. It was later converted into a quarterboat for Dredging Division employees and was sold only a year ago. The successful completion of the Suez was hailed as one of the fabulous engin- eering feats of the Nineteenth Century just as the completion of the Panama UJMIX ATI.NG THE VIEW of the harbor at Port Said at the MeditCTranean end of the Canal is the Canal was called the engineering miracle Company's principal offices. building housing the Suez Canal of the Twentieth Century. Difference In Terrain

Minimum depth ((cvi i strong enough to induce actual surveys. Largely because of the terrain the 41 42 After personally inspecting the route and engineering problems in building the Normal transit time remains of the Canal of the Ancients in Suez Canal were minor compared with 15 hours 8 hours 1798, Napoleon directed a survey of the those of Panama. The Isthmus of Suez Rates' of Toils Isthmus. From then until 18.54, when is actually what most visitors expect but SO. 97 ton vessels laden So. go De Lesseps obtained concessionary rights fail to find when they \'isit the Canal 0.445 ton vessels in ballast 0.72 from Mohammed Said, Viceroy of Egypt, Zone— a relatively flat land. Cutting a of transits, ocean-going the idea of joining the two great bodies of Number ship channel through the Isthmus was ships water by waterway was alive in the minds not, however, without many engmeering 13,215* 8,584** and hopes of world maritime leaders. problems of a formidable nature especi- Annual cargo tonnage The Suez Canal Company (La Com- ally with the excavating and hauling 96,881,000* 39,085,000** pagnie Universelle du Canal Maritime equipment then available. de Suez) was formed in 1858 and work on Calender year 1954 * 'Fiscal year 1954 One of the great problems at both Suez the Canal was begun in April 1859. Al- and Panama was water. At Suez it Like Panama, the Isthmus of Suez was though it was estimated the channel was getting fresh water, while engineers at one time under water as evidenced by could be dug in six years, slightly over building the Panama Canal fretted over sea fossils along the highest points of land 10 years were needed for its completion. controling the over-abundant supply. on each canal route. The history of the Dredging Experts The problem at Suez was solved by two lands is buri?d in the geological ages De Lesseps employed some of the most digging a fresh water canal from the Nile and the history of canals cut through the eminent engineers of France to assist in to bring drinking water to the Isthmus Isthmus of Suez is of such antiquity that the great task. Although excavation was and later laying conduits to Port Said. there are no wTittsn records of the begun with picks and baskets these im- Disease also was a problem at both beginning. plements were soon replaced with modem places—at Suez it was cholera and at First Canals excavating and dredging equipment, some Panama it was malaria and yellow fever. Efforts to cut a passage for vessels of which were invented for the job. Both Have Lakes between the Mediterrean and Red Seas Among the engineers assembled to dig An outstanding physical characteristic began with the dawn of historj', perhaps the Suez was one whose name became common to both canals is a great lake soon after man learned to build and pad- well-knowTi on the Isthmus of Panama forming a part of the channel. Both are dle, canoes. The first successful water- Alexandre Lavalley. He and Borel, artificial lakes and both were considered way was completed between 1800 and another French engineer, were in charge in their day engineering achievements of 1200 B. C. Fragments of history pieced of dredging operations and at one time no small proportions. The Great and together indicate that it was a rambling 60 dredges were in simultaneous opera- Small Bitter Lakes of Suez required five passage connecting the Nile with the Red tion. It was Lavalley who hit upon the months to fill and were brought to the Sea, large enough to accommodate war idea of flooding certain sections of the maximum level only a few weeks before vessels of the Pharoahs as well as small Canal route and dredging the channel the Canal was opened. trading craft. 0\-er the centuries it was through these depressions—a mode of The official opening of (See page is) silted up by shifting sands or filled at the whims of temperamental monarchs and re-dug by ambitious Persian, Roman, Arab, and Turk rulers. It was last reopened in the middle of the Seventh Century and remained in service for about 1.50 years. It was finally refilled^by the Abbasid Caliph to prevent supplies from being shipped to Medina which had revolted against his rule, and because of his fear of attracting outsiders into the Islamic World. Napoleon's Support The modern idea for a Suez Canal seems to have been bom at about the same time as that for a canal through the Isthmus of Panama. Navigators were just beginning to learn of the shape and scope of the world and were seeking shortened water routes to the Far East. The idea for a Suez Canal was born after Vasco de Gama made his trip arotmd the Cape of Good Hope in 1498 and thus established a new water route to Europe.

It was not until the time of Napoleon THE IT.\LIA.\ LINER Asia passes a palm-fringed section of the Suez Canal in transit of the that thoughts of a Suez Canal were 100-mile sea-level waterway. 10 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW YOUR TOWNNovember 4, 1955 recondition it, they found in one room records of the French Company, letter presses (small machines used for copying letters), a safe, and maps of Paraiso and Pedro Miguel. Another French building which became American quarters was a two-room mission hi;use which, when the Americans came, still had its church bell o\er the door. The French Company had had small machine shops at Paraisc. These the American forces enlarged by moving seme buildings from Culebra and adding a shed where locomotives were hostlcd. Light repairs were done at the Paraiso shops to all kinds of equipment at the southern end of the Canal Zone; heavier repairs were made at Gorgona or Empire. In 1908, when the Canal work was reorganized, the Paraiso shops were abandoned, the 265 men who had worked there were distributed to Empire and Gorgona or elsewhere, the buildings themselves were used for storehouses for material for Pedro Miguel locks, and Paraiso became more or less a residential community for the locks forces or for the railroad engineers who worked out of PARAISn IS still the graceful undulating valley descrik-'l a century ago; the section in the fore- Pedro Miguel. ground is Beverly Hills, with Dogpatch just below. From Beverly Hills to the lower end of Para- iso near the ball park is just a little less than a mile. Construction Days

A good many Isthmians still remember Paraiso isn't quite like the mythical the first French Company began work in Paraiso in those early days. J. J. phoenix which had the ability to resurrect 1882, Paraiso was the southernmost spot McGuigan, once chief clerk of the Sani- itself, and quite frequently, too, from its where dry excavation was carried on. tary Service of the Canal Zone and much own ashes. Paraiso was never reduced Years went on, the French encountered more recently District Attorney for the to ashes but it has had more incarnations troubles, but the work at Paraiso con- Canal Zone, lived in Paraiso from 1906 to than any community in the Canal Zone. Herald tinued. In 1888 the Star & 1908 when it was headquarters for the In the days of the buccaneers, it was a trains of reported that "large and heavy Chief Sanitary Inspector, J. A. LePrince. stop on the "dry-season trail" between Decauville dumping cars" were hauling In 1906, he recalls, Paraiso's railroad the Atlantic and Pacific; early Canal Zone load after load "out of the work and up a station was on the west side of the Canal fable had it that Sir Henry Morgan first steep incline." Work had been started excavation. A passenger from Paraiso saw Old Panama from a hilltop near to relocate the railroad clear of the cut had to make his way down one bank, Paraiso. Whether he did or not is im- built the and a bridge was being on which across the almost inevitably muddy flat portant only to historians, but the tower railroad would cross the Canal. which lat^r became the bottom of the at the old city can be seen plainly on a Eventually, the French construction Canal, and up another steep embankment. clear day from the crest of the hill across became little more than a token effort Most people stayed home or took a train Gaillard Highway from Paraiso. and its force dwindled away; at the turn at Pedro Miguel station. And in the past hundred years, Paraiso of the century Paraiso's population was Mrs. Dorothy Hamlin of the Account- has been: A station on the Panama Rail- "125 houses about 800, living in frame ing Division was only a small girl when road; the headquarters of a chantier, or and 100 huts." she and her family, the Charles Magnu- working section, for the French Canal When the United States bought the sons, moved to Paraiso in 1910. She Company; an American construction day rights and properties of the French Com- remembers getting off the train at Pedro town; Dredging Division headquarters; a pany in 1904, some of the Paraiso build- Miguel and boarding a "brake" for the colored community; an Army camp; and, ings were still usable. Among them was ride to Paraiso. The conveyance was today, the largest local-rate town south a 10-room office building, a two-story drawn by two mules and driven by an old of the Canal Zone's continental divide. affair with five rooms on each floor. colored man named Dixon. For years he Beautiful Paradise When carpenters and painters began to and his mule team were Paraiso's taxi. During the 1850's, when surveyors and As in all Canal towns, the size and engineers were laying out the railroad line, quality of quarters depended on the they found a pass which led into what salary of the family head; locomotive Otis, few later, as a years described "the engineers, who drew good salaries, were beautiful valley of Paraiso, undulating or the aristocracy of Paraiso and lived in Paradise, surrounded by high conical hills the town's better houses. Bernard Mc- where Nature in wierd profusion seems to Intyre, now the Panama Railroad's have expended her choicest wealth." The senior engineer, was the son of one of railroad laid in tracks were a 40-foot deep Paraiso's elite. cut; slides brought on by heavy rains Slides and Socials once covered them with 20 feet of earth Construction-day Paraiso lay right on and rock, and weeks of work went into the edge of the Canal excavation. B]very clearing the rails again. once in a while the unstable banks slid Paraiso itself, eight miles from Panama into the cut, houses and offices were hur- City, was the first Pacific coast stop after ri(>dly vacated and their occupants moved the trains had passed "The Summit." t(; safer spots farther from the edge. In During the mid-nineteenth century, it was 1908 slides necessitated the removal of little more than a native settlement, a great block of the "native" quarters. although a fine natural spring gave it more importance than most way stops. The commissary and post office were Toward the end of the 1800's, Paraiso close to the excavation; the two-story became important for the first time. It lodge hall used on Sundays for church was a key spot in all the French Canal services and the rest of the week for social or fraternal activities were farther plans and was repeatedly selected as a ELLIS L. FAWt'ETT site for one or more of the locks. When President, Paraiso Civic Council inland. There was a hotel- which today November 4, 1955 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW 11 P A R A I S O would be called a bachelor mess, a 16-bed hospitil, one of the half dozen bandstands in th.> Canal Zone, and a public market which handled fresh vegetables and fruits to supplement the commissary's supply.

Paraiso's social life was pretty well self-contained. It had a Woman's Club, orga'ii^ed in 19J7; its original president was Mrs. J. C. Barnett, one of the first women to nuke her home in the Canal Zone. A D.incing Club held practice sessions every Monday night and dances on Saturday; there were chapters of the Eagles, Kangaroos, Red Men, and So- journers at Paraiso. A unique organiza- tion was the Texas Whist Club, whose members wjre mirri^'d couples who had purchased prop'rtv ii southern Te.xas with the idea of making their eventual homes there. Paraiso has played host to two Presi- dents. Early one morning in November 1906, a construction train shunted down through the Cut to Paraiso, bearing Miss M.\RIE V. BRAUER .\OLA.\ A. BIS.SELL President Theodore Roosevelt—the first Nurse, Paraiso First Aid Station Postmaster in Paraiso's post office President to leave the United States dur- ing his term of office. Accordmg to Mr. the organization which succeeded the Johns of Paraiso water to the McGuigan, "Teddy made one of his towns Sixth Division of the construction period. along the line. short, forceful talks to the workers gath- The old machine shop was refitted to ered there, complimenting them for being "Silver" Town replace the shops at either end of the on the job notwithstanding the heavy By 1918 the danger from slides had Canal where the dredges had been re- rain that was falling and the muddy abated and the Dredging Division's force paired up to that time. From this base ground underfoot." Paraiso's second was reduced. That year, Paraiso's Amer- at Paraiso, dredges worked day and night Presidential guest was President William ican families were moved to Pedro Miguel during the period soon after the Canal was H. Taft who gave an address at Paraiso and their old quarters, together with the opened when slides repeatedly blocked in 1910 when he was on his fifth visit to one-time hotel and other buildings were and eventually closed the waterway for a the Isthmus. converted to homes for "silver" families. nine-month stretch. For the next decade or so, Paraiso was Canal Crossing About the time the Dredging Division an undistinguished, run-of-the-mill, Canal During the construction period the moved into Paraiso, one of the town's settlement. The quarters were grouped railroad crossed the canal channel at oldest activities moved out. This was in little subdivisions known as Jamaica Paraiso on a 500-foot wooden trestle. the Coca-Cola Bottling Plant, which had Town, Hamilton Hill, and Spanish Town. As construction progressed this was set up operations in 1905 on the west bank The Paraiso school, however, was out- replaced by another bridge closer to the of the Canal opposite Paraiso. It had standing. For years its principal was the locks. After the Canal was finished and been started by W. N. Seitz, who oper- Rev. D. A. Osborne, known far and wide the railroad located entirely on the east ated it mainly as a soda water factory as "Teacher Osborne." His son, Alfred side of the Canal, a pontoon bridge, whose until it was sold to the Panama Coca- E. Osborne, is today Supervisor of In- base was built at Mount Hope and towed Cola Company. The Paraiso site had struction for the Canal Zone's Latin through the Canal to Paraiso where the been chosen because of its proximity to American Schools. The building itself superstructure was erected, provided the Paraiso springs which shared with the was the first modem school in Pacific access to the west bank. Before the idea springs on Taboga Island the reputation side colored communities; its school gar- of a pontoon bridge was adopted, a tunnel of being the purest water in this part den was the pride of the town; and the under the Canal at Paraiso had been con- of Panama. quality of its teaching was borne out by sidered, and the idea discarded These same springs had for years sup- because the number of Paraiso students who went of the cost. plied drinking water for Corozal and on to the Normal School to become Canal other construction towns. In July 1913, Paraiso was selected for day A special Zone teachers. headquarters of the Dredging Division, train each day hauled dozens of demi- During the latter part of the 1930's, headquarters of the Dredging Division moved to Gamboa and Paraiso went out of existence entirely as a Canal Zone community. In November 1939, just a year after the Canal abandoned it, Par- aiso became a military post. Camp Paraiso

Troops of the Fifth Infantry moved in, built barracks and quarters, a movie theater, and a post exchange. Bayonets bristled in the "beautiful undulating val- ley of Paradise." For a while, the Army postal locator unit was at Camp Paraiso. Close beside Paraiso what was known as a killer net stretched to a hilltop across the Canal to trap uinvarj' dive bombers. But as war mo\ed farther from the Canal Zone Paraiso's forces began to dwindle and in 1943 it was closed as a military camp. The following year Paraiso again be- came a Canal Zone town although for a time the Army retained a few buildings at the upper edge of the old camp. Quarters R. G. ROWE C. C. GITTEXS built by the Army were remodeled into Manager, Paraiso Commissary Acting Manager. Paraiso Luncheonette family residences and barracks became 12 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW November 4, 1955 Your Town Paraiso CANAL ZONE CLERGY

Elmer 0. Nelson, who is Pastor of the

Church of the Nazarene in Ancon, is, at 30, probably the youngest clergyman now heading a Canal Zone congregation. And the church which he heads here, organ-

ized two years ago in August, is probally the youngest in the Canal Zone, although its parent body is many years old. When young Elmer Nelson was grow- ing up in Velva, N. D., he had no idea of making the ministry his career ard planned, as much as a youngster does, that some day he'd probably be a farmer. It wasn't until he went into the Army during Wcild War II —he served in the South Pacif c with the 27th Division and saw combat in Okinawa—that he became interested in the church. And it wasn't until he had been out of the service for three years that he felt that his future lay in the ministry. By that time he was married, to a girl PARAISO 50 years ago lay close along the excavation for the Canal. From timr ti tinn-, as the who was also a native North Dakotan. banks crumbled, buildings had to be moved out of danger. In the middleground, toward thu right. is the Lodge Hall with the bandstand close by; the commissary and postoffice were on the edge of the excavation on the right, but out of sight here. bachelor quarters. The Army theater live, for the most part, in modem, con- and post exchange became a clubhouse, crete, two-family houses, the first of the commissary was reopened, and a new- which were occupied in February 19.53. school, now the Junior High School, was Paraisanos have their own names for the built for the elementary grades. various parts of their town. Lakeview is near the Canal; Spanish Town along Giil- Modern Paraiso lard Highway; Ghost Town, naturally, Today Paraiso is one of the most close to the cemetery—where the graves modern of the Canal Zone's communities. of two French engineers are evidences of

Its elementary school, for two years an days gone by; Beverly Hills is the Isthmian showpiece, is now overshadowed "heights" of Paraiso; and Dogpatch lies by the new Civic Center which was form- in the little depression just below Beverly ally opened last month. Aside from be- Hills. Dogpatch, incidentally, belies its ing the first building designed as a civic comic strip name. It is one of the neatest center—it houses a first-aid station, post and besWandscaped sections of Paraiso office, a luncheonette, and a meeting and its residents take special pride in room, it is also the first canal building their outdoor Christmas decorations. through whose roof trees grow on purpose. Paraiso' school enrollment—children- Future plans for Paraiso call for a new wise— is 818; its elementary school is the commissary adjacent to the civic center, second largest of those in the local-rate and a new high school will open there towns. Paraiso's elders also to But go Thelirv. KLMKR (). NELSON next year. school. Two groups are taking night Last fall's census gave Paraiso's popu- classes in Spanish, under the sponsorship Mrs. Nelson accompanied him to Califor- lation as 3,008, just about that of the of the Civic Council, one of Paraiso's nia when he entered the Pasadena Naza- construction period. Paraiso families most active organizations. rene College and Daniel, 6, and Deborah, 3, were born before their father graduated Suez Canal, 86 Years Old This Month was opened. from the theological school in 1952. The system of handling ships in convoy His first pastorate was in Denhoff, N.D., {Continued from page 9) the Suez Canal through the Suez was adopted in 1949, about 65 miles from his home town. Then was one of the gala international events of with convoys leaving each terminal daily. came a year of youth work, as Young the Nineteenth Century. A convoy of This method obviates the necessity of People's President for the Church of the 55 ships, flying the colors of 12 nations, having ships tie up along the banks when Nazarene in North Dakota. Meanwhile made the initial transit. It was headed meeting in sections other than the lake the Nelsons had asked f(ir foreign service by the French Imperial yacht Aigle with region. and their hopes were fulfilled when they the Empress Eugenie aboard. The development of world trade and were assigned to the Canal Zone last May. The great improvements made in ships specific trade areas has been reflected in The minister of a growing congregation and in the Suez Canal during the past 85 traflSc situations of the Suez in its 85 has little time for hobbies but when he years is reflected in the transit time when years of operation. has a spare minute, Mr. Nelson enjoys the waterway was opened and the time Trade Routes photography. He has already accumu- now. The average transit time in 1870 At the beginning the Canal facilitated lated a fair collection of colored slides of was 48 hours; today ships make the trip the exchange of goods between the Lsthmian scenes, and hopes to get a great from Port Said to Suez in 15 hours or less. highly industrialized areas in Europe with many more in the four years of his Isth- Bypass Channel the nations of Asia which were still pre- mian tour. Three times as much money has been dominantly agricultural or even in the spent in improving and enlarging the pastoral stage. Consequently, the move- Atlantic) with oil being an insignificant channel as the original cost. The most ment of commodities was primarily fin- part of the total cargo. recent improvement and one which will ished and semi-finished products from With the continued growth of industry aid greatly in the dispatching and handl- Europe in return for shipments of raw in nations bordering the Atlantic and the ing of the large number of vessels is a materials and foodstuffs. development of oil resources in the Mid- seven-mile bypass channel about 30 miles This type of cargo remained an essen- dle East, the movement of petroleum and inland from Port Said. tial feature of the traffic up to World its by-products has increased in stagger- The new bypass channel was completed War II, which radically upset the world ing proportions. In 1954 almost 57,000,- as a part of the Seventh Improvement map of international and interconti- 000 tons of petroleum and its derivatives Program of the Suez Canal Company. nental trade rout(^s. Before the first were shipped ndrthliound out of the total Two other such bypass channels are being World War, grains, oil seeds, and ores of 74,.'i(ll),(IO() tons of all commodities. constructed under the Eighth Improve- accounted for the bulk of commodities The preponderance of commodity ship- ment Program undertaken since the Canal moving northward (from Asia to the ments through the Suez {See page li) —

November 4, 1955 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW 13

was that customers would be glad of the Community Representatives Cover Range opportunity to purchase fresher fruits and vegetables, even at somewhat higher Of Subjects At Latest Commissary Forum prices. Those attending the meeting were: Mrs. M. K. Morgan, W. H. Esslinger, Although the agenda on last month's and more careful handling in the vege- Pacific Civic Council: G. K. Shear, Cris- Commissary Forum was to be concerned table sections of easily bruised fruits. tobal-Margarita Civic Council; Mrs. C. primarily with drygoods and hardware, During the forum Mr. Johnson and V. Scheidegg, Gatun Civic Council; the subjects actually covered in the B. J. Elich, Assistant to the Supply Richard Jenks, United States Citizens October 6 meeting at Balboa Heights Director, gave a brief resume of the Com- Association; Mrs. Walter Wagner, Mrs. ranged over practically all classes of mer- missary Division's training program. This C. L. Coate, Central Labor Union; Hers- chandise carried in the Canal Commis- includes a shoppers' service for evaluating chel Gandy, American Federation of Gov- saries and extended to a discussion of sales clerk performance and an incentive ernment F^mployees; Mrs. H. J. Quinlan, Commissary service as well. pay program. Balboa Women's Club; Mrs. Helen The meeting was attended by repre- Mr. Johnson reported on the potato Daniels, Isthmian Nurses' A.ssociation; sentatives of conuinmity groups from situation and said that as soon as they Mrs. Vera Bolek, Emblem Club and the the both sides of Canal Zone and of are in season supplies of the Maine Russet American Legion Auxiliary; Mrs. Patricia Division. special repre- Commissary A potatoes will again be available in the George, American Legion Auxiliary; I^. sentative was Joseph B. McHugh of the retail stores. He also asked for customer M. Brockman, Personnel Bureau. Canal Company's Procurement Office in reaction to an idea that fresh produce in The Supply Bureau and the Commis- York. F. R. Johnson, Supply New season might be flown to the Canal Zone sary Division were represented by Mr. Director, conducted the forum. from the States. The cost would be Johnson, Mr. Elich, Mr. McHugh," R. L. Those attending the meeting agreed somewhat higher than that of present Sullivan, General Manager of the Com- that the previous forums had been help- stock, but reduced spoilage should partly missary Division, V. J. Huber, head of ful to the customers and also said they offset the price increase. The general the Drygoods Branch, and C. P. Shay, felt that some improvement in the Com- reaction of the forum to the suggestion Assistant Chief, Retail Stores Branch. missaries has resulted from suggestions and discussions at previous conferences. Stock Suggestions As usual at Commissary Forums, a number of requests were received for new merchandise or for additional ranges in stock already carried. And a number of suggestions were made, and questions asked, on Commissary procedures. Requests for items concerning mer- VISIONS OF SUGAR PLUMS— »o say At this time of the year and sometimes even nothing of turkey and dressing will chandise included: Shoes for sub-teenage — dance earlier, the Christmas fruit cake is concocted through the heads of most of the small fry on with great ceremony in the fam- girls; girls' dresses in "chubby sizes;" the Isthmus for the next two months. They Easier ily kitchen. Once this was a men's shoes with built-in arch supports; will dance through the head of the lady of Fruitcakes long and tedious business, but white lingerie and hose for nurses; a bet- the house too, whose job it will be to produce modern housewives, including holiday food to with ter stock of dresses suitable for office go the Thanksgiving those in the Canal Zone, con now whip up a and Christmas celebrations —and she, like fruit cake with a minimum of effort. wear; a more varied size range in men's The the Commissary Division, has probably been Commissaries will hove on sale soon nine- suits and khaki trousers; better grade making plans far in advance. ounce jars of mixed fruit chopped in the shower curtains; ordinary electric irons; proper sized hunks ready to be thrown into a greater variety of frozen foods; a larger the fruit cake batter. They will sell at 35 To meet the holiday demands, for instance, cents a jar and one jar is sufficient for a assortment of men's wear in dacron and the Commissary has ordered nearly 90,000 one-pound fruit cake. Prepared fruit cokes orlon; women's hose in shades to wear pounds of eviscerated turkeys also will be sold at Commissary retail stores Gobblers and that is a lot of turkey. They with black or navy blue; a greater variety this month. They have been ordered from for are due to arrive in two ship- of table lamps and several new grocery several different firms with prices ranging Gobbling ments, one early next week and items. from 58 cents to a dollar a pound. the other about the first of Decem- Regarding Commissary service, the ber. The Commissary people believe that employee representatives suggested more this will be plenty of turkey for everyone and OTHER TRADITIONAL DESSERTS include furthermore they have been ordered in sizes mince and pumpkin pie for emphasis on training of employees in the Thanksgiving and suitable for everyone—meaning they will English plum pudding for Christmas. The retail stores' shoe sections. They also run from seven to nine pounds for the small ingredients for the mince pies will be sold by orders for replace- birds up to as high as for questioned whether 26 pounds the the jar. The pumpkin pie mix in tins is a turkeys ment merchandise are being placed on destined for large families. regular item in the Commissary stock. Im- the basis of merchandise sold or mer- ported plum puddings, the Grocery Depart- ment has promised, will arrive here in plenty chandise requested. Some time was THE BELTSVILLE which TURKEYS, aren't of time for Christmas. They are put up in devoted to a discussion of the length of much larger than a good sized capon, will one-pound tins and need only to be warmed also time required by the various Commis- be available at a slightly higher price and ssrved with the family's favorite sauce. per pound but are fine for the small party or saries to obtain, from the Commissary for the hostess who doesn't care to eat cold warehouses, specially requested items. turkey for at least a week. Swanson also Hard candies for Christmas are a "must" Other Suggestions puts out a small, five to seven pound, turkey and again this year the Commissary has complete with dressing —which means there ordered a supply of hard candy Several of the customer representatives si nothing to do but put the bird in the oven. Candy and in five-pound jars due to arrive suggested the need for improvement in Chocolates early in November. The jars, the special-cuts meat section at the Bal- by the way, are practically ant- With the Thanksgiving turkey goes dressing proof and are wonderful to use later in the boa Commissary; among these was a and most good cooks are as fussy over their kitchen. Chocolates in boxes ore available suggestion that remodeling, to provide particular recipes as a Southern most of the time in the Commissary stores. more working space, might solve many of Filling for planter is over his mint juleps. They arrive fresh each week from the States the section's problems. Fowls The Commissaries will be able to and are placed on sale immediately. Holi- supply the ingredients demanded day chocolates in special tins Another suggestion, from Mrs. Vera boxes and by the housewives. These will include im- have also been ordered and will be avail- Bolek of the American Legion Auxiliary, ported chestnuts and fresh select chilled able as soon as they arrive. was that Commissary hours on Saturdays oysters from New York. The Commissary might be from 8 a. m. to 4 p. m., without stores already hove these in stock and more will arrive for the holiday season. OLD FASHIONED CANDELIGHT seems a hour break; she felt that these noon to be as much a part of Christmas as the hours would be more satisfactory than Christmas tree and the glitter of tinsel. Holi- present hours, especially to those who are FRESH CRANBERRIES for the traditional day candles in all shapes and sizes, some of cranberry sauce have been ordered in one- them almost too pretty to burn, will be employed and who concentrate most of avail- pound boxes and will arrive 10 days before able soon in all stores. They will include their shopping on weekends. Thanksgiving. About the same time the candles shaped like turkeys and ears of corn Other suggestions include price mark- Commissary Division expects a shipment of for Thanksgiving; and like snowballs, ever- ing and packaging of such items as lettuce, fresh fruits including oranges, grapes, apples, green trees, and Santa Clous for Christmas. and pears. For the traditional in other years, will cabbage, and carrots so that buyers need Thanksgiving As there be the traditional nut bowl, there will be an ample supply of bayberry candles, large column candles in not wait in line at the vegetable section prepackaged mixed nuts. Other types can Christmas colors, and an ample stock of the to have such items weighed and priced. be bought by the pound in all retail stores. regular red and green table candles. 27

14 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW November 4, 1955

PROMOTIONS AND TRANSFERS ANNIVERSARIES

September 15 through October 15

Employees who were promoted or trans- Draftsman (General) to Engineering Drafts- ferred between September 15 and October man (Electrical), Engineering Division. 15 are listed below. Within-grade promo- HEALTH BUREAU tions are not listed. Maj. Walter H. Goggans, Medical Officer, ADMINISTRATIVE BRANCH from Gorgas to Coco .Solo Hospital. Mrs. Nelma L. Rommel, from File Clerk Mrs. Evelyn S. Slowick, from Staff Nurse, to Mail Clerk, Records Section. Coco Solo Hospital, to Head Nurse, CIVIL AFFAIRS BUREAU Atlantic Medical Clinics. Robert A. Engelke, from Motorcycle Dr. Jaime L. Barraza, from Hospital Officer and Policeman to Motorcycle Ofificer, Resident, Gorgas Hospital, to Medical Policeman, and Detective, Police Division. Officer (Ophthalmology), Coco Solo Hos- Herman W. Lynn, Howard J. Toland, pital. from Policeman to Policeman and Detective, Dr. Evelyn K. Barraza, Medical Officer Police Division. (Ear. Nose, and Throat), from Gorgas to John T. Glancy, from Chief, Customs Coco Sc.lo Hospital. and Immigration Service (Cristobal), to Mrs. BobbieH.Freschi, Staff Nurse, from Chief Inspector (Cristobal), Customs Divi- Gorga?. Hospital to Coco Solo Hospital. sion. Dr. Glendy G. Sadler, from Hospital OFFICE OF THE COMPTROLLER Resident, Gorgas Hospital, to Assistant to Lucas, Richard W. Coy, Edward J. Chief, Pathologic, Anatomy and Clinical to Auditor, Ernest A. Bishop, .Accountant Pathology .Section, Board of Health Labor- Internal Audit Staff. atory. to Norman J. Tewes, from .Auditor Dr. David Senzer, District Physician, Supervisor.- Auditor, Internal Audit Staff. from Pedro Miguel to Gamboa. J. Patrick Conley, from Claims Examiner Dr. William E. Prier, from Hospital Resi- (Supervisor) Chief, to Assistant Claims dent to Medical Officer, Orthopedics, OTTO L. SAVOLD Branch. Gorgas Hospital. COMMUNITY SERVICES BUREAU C. Louise Zug, Mrs. Evelyn R. Koperski, Along about the time that Otto L. Savold, B. from Account- Mrs. Sarah Rothwell, Staff Nurse, from Gorgas to Coco Solo now Postmaster at Cristobal, got his first to (Genera(), Hous- ing Clerk Supply Clerk Hospital. razor, he got his first joli: Car clerk and ing Division. MARINE BUREAU baggage man at the Chicago and North- Richard S. Brogie, from Clerk to Account- Fred E. Whipple, from Foreman, Aids to western Railroad's station in Oakes, N. D. ing Clerk, Housing Division. Navigation Section, to Lead Foreman, Trains carry mail and mail needs post offices ENGINEERING AND CONSTRUCTION Navigational .Aids. so it was logical step from the railroad job BUREAU a Mrs. Helen C. Light, from Typist, Com- to one in the Oakes post office. Ever since Mrs. Gail A. Ward, from Clerk-Typist to missary Division, to Accounting Clerk, then he has been in postal work; last month Clerk (Typist), Electrical Division. Industrial Division. he completed 40 years of government serv- Ocus S. Kleinfelder, Contracting Officer, Charles W. Garden, from Locomotive ice, continuous with post offices except for from Contract and Inspection Division to Machinist, Railroad Division, to Lock a brief time during World War I when he Engineering Division. Operator ( Machinist), Pacific Locks. was in the Infantry at Camp Lewis, Wash. Mrs. Lila M. Arosemena, Clerk-Typist, Frank R. Costanzo, from Guard, Locks Mr. Savold came to the Isthmus 29 years from Contract and Inspection Division to Security Branch, to Towing Locomotive ago to work with the Canal Zone Posts. His Engineering Division. Operator. Locks Overhaul. first Canal Zone position was at Cristobal. Frank R. Turman, from Foreman Jr., Charles M. Swisher, from Apprentice Then came Aneon, Cristobal again, Balboa Crater and Packer to Lead Foreman, Crater Pipefitter to Pipefitter, Industrial Division. Heights, Cristobal for the third time, Aneon, and Packer, Maintenance Division. Eviyn W. Brandt, from Postal Clerk, and finally back to Cristobal where he has Victor D. Young, from Operator-Foreman Postal Division, to Supervisory Adminis- been postmaster since 1954. Electrician, Power Branch, to Supervisory trative Assistant, Industrial Di\ision. Outside of the office he has two hobbies: Electrical Inspector, Power Conversion Charles W. Brown, from Supervisory Wirehair terriers and gardening. "Biff," the Project. Storekeeper (General) to Supervisory Clerk current vvireh.air is the latest of a long line. Charles F. Magee, from Super\ising Con- (Typist), Pacific Locks. He is currently boarding at the Corozal ken- struction Inspector, Contractors Hill, to SUPPLY BUREAU nel while his master is on leave in the United Mate, Pipeline Suction Dredge, Dredging Mrs. Elizabeth Z. Beall, from Clerk- States. As far as gardening is concerned, Division. Stenographer to Clerk-Typist, Division of Mr. Savold is no rank amateur. At his Phra A. Ashby, from Maintenance Storehouses. place in Santa Clara he has done a lot of Mechanic Leader, Corozal Hospital, to Richard Koperski, from Storekeeper e.xperimental work, trying to develop a bet- Hospital Maintenance Foreman, Mainte- J. (General), Division of Storehouses, to ter line of avocados, grapefruit, and the like. nance Division. Procurement Officer, Commissary Division. His latest venture is attempting to adajn to Carlos M. Badiola, from Construction TRANSPORTATION AND TERMINALS Panama a tropical cherry native to Puerto Hill, to Engineer (General), Contractors BUREAU Rico. General Engineer (Surveying and Carto- Arthur B. Rigby, from Road and Yard 35 YEARS graphic), Branch. Surveys Conductor to Road and \i\rA Locomotive Harry H. Corn, another post office old- Mrs. A. Elizabeth Lester, Clerk-Typist, Engineer, Railroad DivisioTi. timer, is second man on this month's list of from Communications Branch to Electrical anniversaries. Born in Kansas, he came here Division. in 1932 but had worked in post offices in the Joaquin N. Ponce, from Engineering United States for some years before that. RETIREMENTS For almost 10 years he was postmaster at Pedro Miguel and then was transferred to He is now clerk-in-charge of the NOVEMBER SAILINGS Retirement certificates were presented the Aneon. Handling Unit at Balboa. is a end of October to the following employees Mail He enthusiast and has who are listed alphabetically, together with small-boat made a num- ber of long trips on craft considerably smal- From Cristobal their birthplaces, titles, length of Canal serv- ler than the Queen Elizabeth, or the Cristobal, * ice, and futiu'e addresses: Crislohiil - November 4 Howard C. Anderson, Virginia; Leading- for that matter. A neon November 1 man, Navigation Div'ision; 14 years, 9 30 YEARS Panama November 1 months, 29 days; address undecided. Two of October's 30-year employees are Cristobal November 26 Daisy D. Fortner, Wisconsin; Elementary teachers who came to the Canal Zone on From New York School Teacher, Pedro Miguel; 24 years, 6 the same date —October 1, 1925 —and who months, 14 days; Galesville, Wis. both teaching in A neon November .? today are the Balboa ele- Charles F. Hinz, Wisconsin; Postmaster, Miss Panama November 1 mentary school. Thev' are Alida Drew, Balboa Heights; 30 years, 8 months, 22 Cristobal November 1 whose hometown was .Ardock, \. 1)., and days; Milwaukee, Wis. Miss McDonald A neon f November 25 Mary Grace who was born Mrs. Laura C. McLintock, Pennsylvania; in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, not Michigan. * Because of the .Armistice Day holiday, Clerk-Stenographer, Contract and Inspec- Miss Drew teaches first grade and Miss Cristobal leaves one day early, arriving Mc- tion Division; 17 years, 5 months, 15 davs; donald third, at Balboa. New York November 10. Canal Zone. Other 30-year employees, whose Canal Because of Thanksgiving Day, t Aneon Frank R. Molther, New York; General service has been continuou.s, are: Edward E. sails Friday instead of Thursday, arriving in Engineer, Plant Inventory and .Appraisal Eder, .Sujiply Officer in the Wholesale I lard- Cristobal, December 1. Staff; 20 years, 2 months, 28 days; Panama. ware Section of the Connnissary Division, (Southbound the Haiti stop is normally Allan B. Parker, Maine; Chief Towboat who buys the electric irons and pots and from 7 a. m. to 4 p. m. Monday; northbound Engineer, Ferry Service; 15 years, 6 days; pans and such items that Zonians need in the ships are also in Port-au-Prince Monday El \'olcan, Panama. their homes; Zera K. Esler, postal clerk in from about 1 to 6 p. m. This month, be- J. Milton Reed, Iowa; Chief Towboat the Mail Handling Unit at Balboa who cause of holidays, the northbound Cristobal, Engineer, Navigation Division; 14 years, comes from Lansing, Mich., and who has out of Cristobal November 4, will be in 1 month, 13 days; Bellingham, Wash. never worked for any other Canal unit ex- Haiti Sunday, November 6, and the Aneon, J. Barnabe Robles, California; .Signal- cept the Postal Divi.sion; and George A. southbound from New York November 25, man CarnKui, Railroad Division; 31 years, Sausel, l.ockmaster at Mirafiores who does will be in Haiti Tuesday, November 29.) 8 months, 6 days; Richmond, Va. more w.ilking everv- day beside transiting November 4, 1955 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW 15

shijis tli.ui he ever did as a boy in La Cross, Wis. New Canal Zone Family Two other Zonians completed 30 years of Government service in October. They are Mrs. Marione Campbell, who has spent most of her Canal career with the Health Bureau and a good part of it in the Panama Health Office, but is now a Time, Leave, and Payroll Clerk in the Payroll Branch; and John Hallo, postal clerk with the Balboa Post Office, all of whose service has been with the Postal Division, and who is now a postal clerk at the Balboa Post Office. 25 YEARS All three of October's tiuarter-of-a-cen- tury employees are connected in one way or another with the Sc' ools Division and all have unbroken service with the Canal organization. They are: Roger C. Hackett, Dean of the Canal Zone Junior College and a native of Marion, Ky.; G. C. Lockridge, who was born in Iowa and is nosv head of the School's Physical Education and .\thletic activities; and Kenneth W. Vinton, .Science Instructor at the Junior College whose trips to the Galapagos Islands and prowess with local boa constrictors have entertained many au- diences, both here and in the United States. 20 YEARS Three of the employees who completed 20 years of Government .service in October have unbroken service with the Canal organ- ization. They are: Annie L. Allnut, Dental Hygienist at the Pacific clinics; Robert B. B.\LBO,\'S new Magistrate, .John L. lAmiiig. airiml last iiMiith from his formtr home in Omaha to is Pneumatic Tools Harrison, whose title assume his duties in the Canal Zone. He is shown here with Mrs. Deming and their three sons. and Magnetos Electrician with the Electrical William, 6, is seated between his mother and father. Standing are Dennis, 9, and .John, 13. Division; and Beauford J. Hartley, General Operator with the Grounds Maintenance Division. Those with broken service are: Ralph E. ** Operation Homefront'* Begins Blevins, Pumping Plant Operator with the Maintenance Division; L. t). Bowman, Jr., a Marine Traffic Controller at Cristobal; Weeklong Program Next Sunday Edmimd C. Fishbough, who is Balboa Police District's senior traffic officer and whose title is Motorcycle Sergeant; Jennie G. Jo- "Operation Homefront," a concerted make the circuit of other Zone theaters Gorgas Hospital; hannes, a Head Nurse at educational program urging every family with the feature picture, "Violent Satur- and Mrs. Ora Virginia Stich, Gorgas Hosp- in the Canal Zone to take several basic day," starring Victor Mature and Stephen ital Librarian. Miss Johannes, whose father was Chief of the Canal Zone Police for many civil defense survival steps, opens Sunday McNally. The documentary is a powerful years, and Mrs. Stich, whose father— for and will continue throughout the week. and spectacular picture of the atomic ex- whom she was named —came to the Canal The campaign is a part of Operation plosion and its effects in the test town Zone in 1906, are native Zonians. set for 15 YEARS Home Front Week being sponsored up that purpose. the 15 employees who passed the 15- Of throughout Region III of the Federal year mark in Government service last month Civic all but two have continuous service with the Defense Administration, of which Suez Canal, 86 Years Old This Month Canal organization, although in several the Canal Zone is a part. This region Canal employment was preceded cases their covers the seven southeastern States, by serxice with other Government units. (Conlimedfrom page 12) is northbound, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. Those with unbroken Canal service are: from the East to the West. While this Paul E. Ackerman, Wireman, Electrical The local campaign will have five main has been a feature of the traffic pattern Division; Henry E. Argue, Sergeant, Cris- objectives, which are: tobal Police District; Edward N. Belland, throughout this century, the difference Admeasurer, Navigation Division; Arnold L Learn public action signals has been far more pronounced in recent R. Bjomeby, Policeman, Balboa Police Dis- 2. Join the Warden Service years as more and more oil has poured Charles Connor, Foreman, Pipeline trict; J. through the Canal to feed the industries Suction Dredge, Dredging Division; Richard 3. First Aid training of the West. And, in 1954, the amount F. Daniel, Pumping Plant Operator, Main- 4. Provision of home first aid kits tenance Division; Olive E. Hardie, Staff of goods shipped northbound, 74,.500,000 5. Grandma's Pantry the stock and Nurse, Gorgas Hospital: Edward W. Isaac, tons, more than tripled that of commodity Contraband Control Investigator; Mrs. Mil- maintenance of a three-day sup- shipments southbound, aggregating 22,- dred Kopf, Physiotherapy .Supervisor, ("lOr- ply of canned and non-perishable gas Hospital; George Moreno, Personnel 730.000 tons. J. foods for emergency use. Assistant, Central Labor Office; Fred F. Both the Suez and Panama Canals are Schwartz, Control House Operator, Gatun In connection with "Operation Home- great international utilities serving the Locks; Elsie N. Smith, Voucher E.xaminer, front" in the Zone, a one-reel documen- maritime world on a basis of equality for Agents Accounts Branch; J. M. Vander- tary color film of the atomic test in Nev- gnft. Control House Operator, Gatun Locks. all. De Lesseps' ideal of "neutrality and The 15-year employees whose service is ada earlier this year will be shown on the freedom for all" was spelled out in the broken are Howard W. Blaney, Postal Clerk, Panama Canal Theater circuit. The pic- Act of Concession of the Suez Canal. The Mail Handling Unit; and Rubelio D. Quin- ture, "Survival City" will be shown this principle was confirmed the Interna- tero, Supervisory Electrical Engineer, Engi- by neering Division. weekend at the Balboa Theater and will tional Convention of Constantinople in 1888 and is still in force today. Suez Canal Company To Give late in 1879 to inaugurate the great work. The Suez Canal, unlike the Panama One ceremony was held at the mouth of Canal, is operated under a concession Panama Canal Bus t Of De Lesseps the Rio Grande River on January 1, which has a time limit of 99 years. (Continued from page S) North and 1880, and a second was held near the Editors Note: This is the first of a South America. Because of his outstand- continental dinde on the canal route on series of articles which will appear in The ing success in the construction of the January 10. Both ceremonies were gala P.\NAMA Ca.v.^l Review on great canals of Suez Canal which had been opened just affairs and attracted wide attention. the world. 10 years before, his influence at the Today, however, it is difficult to relate International Congress had great weight. with any degree of accuracy the success He became President of the first of the two ceremonies because of the route and prepared a formal report on the French Canal Company, or Compagnie conflicting stories arising from prejudices gigantic task. While the company's Universelledu Canal Interoceanique, which about the Panama Canal project. project was doomed to fail, the passing was organized after the Congress met and De Lesseps spent si.x weeks on the decades have added luster to De Lesseps' had bought the Wyse concessions for the Isthmus durmg which he and his party name and his imaginative genius in Panama Canal granted the year before visited various sites of the proposed work initiating a project which was not com- by Colombia. and the technical commission accompany- pleted until 3.5 years after he took it out Count de Lesseps visited the Isthmus ing his party made an inspection of the of the talking stage. 16 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW November 4, 1955

Canal Zone Youngsters Enjoy Domestic Equipment Full-Time Athletic Program Survey Starts Soon

At Diablo Heights

The survey of frequency-sensitive equip- ment requiring conversion or replacement in the Power Conversion Project is sched- uled to start in Liable Heights this month and be completed in time for the survey teams to move into the Ancon-Balboa dis- trict early next year. The survey was being completed this week in Los Rics. The work has already been completed in all Atlantic side com- munities and in Gamboa, Summit, and Paraiso on the Pacific side. Bids for one of the major contracts in the power-conversion program -the con- version of frequency-sensitive equipment in the Atlantic area—are to be opened November 29. to SUPERVISED PLAY brings out dozens of children evei-y Saturday morning at the schools where An addendum the Atlantic area con- athletic programs are held. Here Mrs. Mary L. Brophy, far left, puts a group at Diablo Heights version has been issued changing the through their paces. Mrs. Brophy is on the Physical Education and Athletics Staff of the opening date for the bid and containing Division of Schools. changes to the lists of Company-Govern- ment equipment to be converted. These A full-time athletic and supervised play games at 7:30 a. m. and remain on duty changes are being made to provide pro- program, with emphasis on good sports- straight throughout the day until 4 p. m. spective bidders with a more up-to-date manship and muscular control rather than They are also are available Saturdays list of items requiring conversion. on competitive sports, is in full swing this frorn 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. In connection with the survey of do- year in Canal Zone elementary schools. Other school schedules are as follows: mestic equipment, owners have again It is a program which is being con- Ancon Gymnasium—8 a. m. to 4 p. m. been urged to notify the Engineering and ducted under the supervision of qualified on weekdays and from 8 a. m. to 12 Construction Bureau of any new electrical instructors both during the recess periods noon, Saturdays. equipment bought and any changes made and out-of-school hours and is so arranged Gamboa Gymnasium and Playground; in their frequency-sensitive equipment that super\ised |)lay is i.>r(i\ided at most of 8:15 a. m. to 1 p. m. and from 2 p. m. to subsequent to the survey. the schools for limited ])crio(ls before and 5:15 p. m. on weekdays, and from 9 a. m. Should Check Lists afti'r school, during the lunch hour, and, to 12 noon, Saturdays. Residents are furnished with list of in some places, on Saturday mornings. Gamboa Gymnasium and Playground; a their equipment after the survey teams The program is not entirely new to the 8:15 a. m. to 1 p. m. and from 2 p. ni. to visit the homes and these should be Canal Zone schools. It is a reinstatement 5:15 p. m. on weekdays, and from 9 a. m. errors or of a plan sponsored several years ago in to 12 noon, Saturdays. checked immediately and any omission reported promptly. Also, the the lower grades which was curtailed be- Gatun—9 a. m. to 12:30 p. m. and from owner of any equipment requiring con- cuusc (if budget limitations. 2 p. m. to 5 p. m. on weekdays, and from Athletics for the younger children does 9 a. m. to 12 noon, Saturdays. version which was not surveyed during the regular survey in any not include competitive sports, it was em- Margarita Gymnasium and Playground community should report that fact in writing to the phasized by the Schools Division. Games —8 a. m. to 12 noon and from 2 p. m. to Engineering and Construction Director at for the children in grades one to three in- 5 p. m. on weekdays, and from 8:30 a. m. clude rhythm games, relay races, stunts, until 12 noon, Saturdays. Balboa Heights. and gymnastics. The older pupils in Cristobal Elementary School Play- It is particularly important for all At- lantic side residents to report all changes grades foiu- to si.x may take part in track ground—8:30 a. m. to 11 a. m. on week- in their frequency-sensitive equipment and field, volleyball, touch football, and days only. addition of Softball to name a few of the activities. Cocoli— 7:30 a. m. to 11 a. m. from 12 and the any such equipment not already surveyed and inventoried. Swimming instruction is available to all noon to 1 p. m., and from 2 p. m. to 4 Only frequency-sensitive equipment in- children from kindergarten on up. All p. m. on weekdays only. reported in writing the sports with the exception of football, are Fort Kobbe—7:30 a. m. to 1:30 p. m., ventoried, or by to the survey, will open to both boys and girls. weekdays only. owner subsequent be converted or exchanged free of charge. This year physical education instruct- South Margarita—8:30 a. m. to 1 1 a. m., ors instead of classroom teachers conduct weekdays only. People on the Atlantic side whose the play activities held during the school Diablo Heights—8 a. m. to 11 a. m. and equipment has not been surveyed because of moved into the area recently, recL'SS periods. In order that the pupils in from 2 p. m. to 5 p. m. weekdays, and having having been on vacation during the sur- the larger elementary schools can each get from 8:30 a. m. to 1 1 :30 a. m., Saturdays. a chance to participate in the games, the Teachers Added vey, or for any other reason, have been requested to notify the Engineering and recess periods have been staggered and In order to take care of the many chil- Construction Bureau immediately in writ- the children divided into groups small dren enrolled in the Canal Zone U. S. ing so that their e(|uipment can be sur- enough to be organized into working units schools, several physical education teach- veyed and listed \>rwr to con\'ersion. by the athletic instructors. ers have been added to the schools staff. Before and After Some were employed in the United The program has not been limited to States and several were hired locally. A the recess periods, however. Athletic in- few were transferred from other depart- structors are on hand at most of the ments in the Canal organization. Have you made schools by 7:30 in the morning and take Each school works out its own athletic a hand in organizing prc-school games. program and selects the games and sports Some are also on duty during the noon best suited for the children in accordance your gift hours and again after school until four with the facilities provided in that par- o'clock. In schools where there are gym- ticular location. G. C. Lockridge, Direc- nasium and playground facilities, instruc- tor of Physical Education and Athletics, to the tors are on duty Saturday mornings. is in charge of this program. Participation in sports outside of the ac- With two months of the new school tual school hours is on a voluntary basis. term gone, everyone connected with the COMMUNITY CHEST? At the Balboa elementary school, for revised athletic program is pleased with instance, qualified instructors organize the successful way it is being conducted. November 4, 1955 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW 17 STATISTICS ON CANAL TRAFFIC For the purposf of comparison bi'tweon pre-war and post-war traffic through the Panama Canal, statistics for the fiscal year I93« are used in this section, as being more nearly normal for peace time than those for 1939.

Heavy Oil Shipments

Largely Responsible

For Traffic Increase

ContiniR'd heavy shipments of niiaeral oils over the United States intercoastal route during the first three months of this fiscal year were principally responsible for the high level of traffic. Shipments of mineral oils through the Canal from the Pacific to the Atlantic in the first quarter of this fiscal year totaled I,272,()()() tons, being near an all-time peak. This amount was approx- imately five times the tonnage in the first quarter of the last fiscal year. The heavy movement of crude oils from California ports began early this calendar year and has continued to increase since that time. Transits, Tolls Up There were 2,089 transits by ocean- going commercial vessels in the first three months of this fiscal year, as compared with 1,952 in the comparable period of the fiscal year 1954. The number of U. S. Government ocean-going vessels in FLYIN'G the Japanese flag, two former United States destroyer escort vessels were southbound through the Canal last month, en route from Norfolk to Yokosuka, Japan, via San Diego. The ships, transit declined from 88 in the first shown here in Pedro Miguel locks, are the Asahi, formerly Destroyer Escort 168, and the Hatsuhi, quarter of the past fiscal year to 67 this formerly Destroyer Escort 169. They are believed to be the first Japanese men-of-war to transit the year. Panama Canal since the end of World War II. Both ships carry a crew of about 160, arc 306 feet overall, nf ,74(1 tons. Tolls on commercial shipping for the and have a displacement 1 gross Kaneji Takane was listed as the captain of the AsdhI and 'l'aday(.shi Sugiyama of the Halsuhi. first three months of this year totaled $9,280,000, averaging more than $3,000,- CANAL TRANSITS—COMMERCIAL AND U. S. GOVERNMENT 0)0 monthly for the first time in any quarter-year of the Canal's history. The First Quarter, Fiscal Years amount of tolls for the past quarter 1956 1955 1938 tolls in the comparable period of ewesded Atlantic Pacific the previous fiscal year by more than to to Total Total Total $1,250,000. Pacific Atlantic While the principal increase in Canal Cummercial Vessels: traffic for the first quarter of the 1956 1,069 1,020 2,089 1,952 1,406 fiscal year resulted from the tanker trade on the intercoastal route, substantial in- *Small ... 131 130 261 319 211 creases were shown on the routes between Total commercial 1,200 1,150 2,350 2,271 1,617 the east coast of the United States and

Far East, and between Europe and South **U. S. Go\eniment vessels, oceaii- America, in comparison with figures for 25 42 67 88 the first quarter of 1955 fiscal year. *Small . 46 24 70 76 Trade Routes

There were 317 transits in the first Total commercial and U. S. Govern men t 1,271 1,216 2,487 2,435 three months of this fiscal year between the east coast of the United States and *\'essels under 300 net tons or 500 displacement tons. **\'essels on which tolls are credited. Prior to July 1, 1951, Government-operated the Far East, as compared with 288 in ships transited free. the comparable period of the previous fiscal year. Similar comparative figures TRAFFIC MOVEMENT OVER MAIN TRADE ROUTES The following table show-, the numlicr uf transits of large, commercial \esscls (300 net were 184 this year and 162 last year over tons or over) segregated into eight main trade routes: the route between Europe and South America. First Quarter, Fiscal Years The movement of shipping between the 1956 1955 1938 east coast of the United States and South America declined from 502 last year to United States Intercoastal _ ._ . ... 236 149 349 483 this year, while the only other route East Coast of U. S. and -South America . ... . ___ 483 502 97 to show a loss was between Europe and Australasia, with 95 in the first quarter East Coast of U. S. and Central America 146 142 19 of last year and 84 this year. East Coast of U. S. and Far East 317 288 217 Commodities

The list of commodities shipped through U. S. /Canada East Coast and .Australasia 55 49 49 the Canal from the Pacific to Atlantic Europe and West Coast of U. S. /Canada 182 172 194 this year is headed by mineral oils, ores, and lumber. The amount of ore shipped Europe and South .America 184 162 137 in this direction was less than that in the Europe and .Australasia _ _. . first quarter of last fiscal year, but mineral 84 95 44 oils and lumber shipments showed an 402 393 300 increase. Other commodity shipments showing increases were {See page so) Total Traffic 2,089 1,952 1,406 18 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW November 4, 1955

Historic Canal Barge Starts Canal Payroll To Be Unified Next January

New Life As Coastal Carrier (Continued {rum page 1) periods and paydays of local-rate employees and the paydays for a large number of U. S.-rate employees. To implement the system, on January 29 a one-week pay period will be estab- lished for all local-rate employees paid biweekly for the week of January 22-29. Pay checks for these employees will be issued covering one week only, less any deductions. After that date the pay periods for the two groups will coincide.

The first combined pay period for all employees will begin January 29 and end February 11. The delivery of pay checks by units of the organization will begin the following week.

With this change fully effective, all employees of the Company-Government will be carried on the same roll within their organization regardless of citizen- ship or rate of pay.

For example, all employees of the Dredging Division will be carried on a common roll and will be paid on the same day, although their payday may not coincide with that of the Maintenance No. which sold BARGE 20, waa last month after nearly a half century of Canal service, is shown Division whose employees will also be here on the right after just she and two other barges arrived in Balboa after a 17,500-mile trip from paid at one time. Cristobal, via the Straits of Magellan. The photograph was taken in 1912. The new pay schedule will be announced A Magellan of the Canal's floating by rail. It was finally decided that the well in advance. Once established, all equipment was sold last month after most feasible method would be to tow the employees will be paid every 14 days and nearly 50 years of honorable Canal serv- barges around the tip of South America. on the same day of the week for each ice. Barge No. 20, which once made the pay period. The only difference will be On February 11, 1912, the tug Reliance, trip from Cristobal to Balboa via the that many employees now paid on Mon- a 134-foot craft designed for deep-water Straits of Magellan, is being put into days or Tuesdays may be paid on another work, left Cristobal with the barges in condition by its new owners, Luis Eduardo day of the week. tow. Tug and tow were manned by a Barrera and Cesar Torrientes, to haul crew of 34, under the command of R. C. cargo between Panama and the Darien. Thompson, master of the Reliance. The 1,100-mile run from Para to Pernam- The barge dates back to about 1908. During the first three days out of buco in Brazil, for instance, took only For several years it carried sand and Cristobal they ran into heavy weather nine days and five hours. Other than crushed rock from the Nombre de Dios which kept the decks awash. At times difficulties with their supplies of coal and sand pits and the Portobelo quarry to the towing machine at the stern of the water, the Reliance and her tow made the Gatun where the sand and rock eventu- tug was submerged while the prow of the rest of the trip without incident. ally became part of the Atlantic Locks. vessel was in the air. After several days - About 1912, three old French clapets Finally, after a voyage of 126 days of this battering by waves and wind, the during of which the which were used in a similar service on 86 tug and the Reliance and her triple tow put into the Pacific side had to be replaced. barges were actually under way the Savanilla Bay, not far from Portobelo, craft reached Balboa. It first Barge No. 20 and two sister craft were was the for repairs. selected as the replacements. time that a tow of this sort had ever made Good weather, fortunately, The Canal, of course, had not then followed. a voyage of such length. been flooded. Moving three steel barges, each about 160 feet long, across the MONTHLY COMMERCIAL TRAFFIC AND TOLLS Isthmus of Panama meant that they Vessels of 300 tons net or over would have to be taken apart and shipped By Hscal years

Tolls Transits Supervisors Learning Month (111 tho usands of dollars) 1956 1955 1938 1956 1955 1938 Simplification Of Work July 727 640 457 $3,247 $2,646 $2,030 Forty-nine Company-Government em- -Xiigust-, . ployees in supervisory positions are mid- .. 676 652 505 2,980 2,752 2,195 way through a seven-week course to learn September 686 660 444 3,053 2,756 1,936 how to make the work of their units easier. October 683 461 2,831 1,981 The course, which is being conducted November 636 435 2,630 by James G. E. Maguire of the Executive 1,893 Planning Staff, is known as a study of December ,_. . 676 439 2,853 1,845 work simplification and is described as a "common-sense step-by-step method of January 668 444 2,832 1,838 analyzing jobs so that the methods by February 637 436 2,721 1,787 which they are done can l>c improved and simplified by the supcrvisdrs themselves." March 709 506 3,014 2,016 The 49 emph^yees taking the course are April.. divided into four groups, three of which 685 487 2,938 1,961 meet on the Pacific side and one on the May . 698 465 3,072 1,887 Atlantic side of the Canal Zone. The first meeting was held October IS and the la.st June 653 445 2,804 1,801 will take place November 30. Totals for first 3 months This is the first of a series of work of fiscal year 2,089 1,952 1,406 $9,280 $8,154 $6,161 simplification courses which will be given to Company- Government supervisors. Totals for fiscal year 7,997 5,524 $33,849 $23,170 November 4, 1955 THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW 19

Canal commercial traffic by nationality of vessels Ten Firms Invited First Quarter, Fiscal Years 1956 1955 1938 To Submit Proposals Num- Num- Num- Tons Tons Tons ber of ber of ber of of cargo of cargo of cargo For Towing "Mules" transits transits transits 1 Invitations for proposals for the re- 6 3,331 1 placement of the Canal towing locomo- British 253 1,625,637 298 1,672,060 292 1,667,795 tives were issued last month to 10 large 17 109,443 17 79,100 2 10,096 heavy-equipment manufacturing firms in 10 59,517 7 60,338 2 13,113 the United States. 62 67,476 51 67,811 6 48,473 16 110,248 A four-month period will be given the Danish. . 96 277,578 96 256,192 55 254,567 prepara- manufacturers for a study and 13 14,767 19 22,458 tion of their proposals, with the opening 2 4,695 date set for 10 o'clock in the morning of 4 26,041 French 32 189,908 31 132,318 28 146,788 February 10, 1956. After an analysis of German . . 100 255,436 76 197,864 91 450,641 proposals has been made, the one con- the Greek 43 369,198 38 295,542 31 181,941 sidered best will form the basis for a nego- Honduran 94 103,270 93 96,711 9 2,926 tiated fixed-price contract. The award of 2 11,176 1 10,050 the contract will be made within 90 days Italian 3.^ 217,094 48 249,423 13 39,933 after the opening of proposals. 113 792,263 121 740,027 75 522,490 The firms invited to submit proposals 98 782,465 65 422,401 include the General Electric Company, 3 10,981 173,509 217,168 R. G. LeToumeau, Inc., Westinghouse Netherlands 30 157,913 34 60 Nicaraguan 9 14,191 10 11,579 Corporation, Hyster Company, American Norwegian 251 1,120,682 217 918,113 155 855,770 Baldwin-Lima- Locomotive Company, Panamanian 111 481,679 138 688,177 54 155,169 Hamilton Corporation, Bucyrus-Erie Co., 8 59,398 2 Allis Chalmers Manufacturing Company, Philippine 7 41,445 3 16,888 General Motors Corporation, and Gen- Portuguese 1 13 55,391 14 57,196 2 15,280 eral Dynamics Corporation. 49 234,771 63 220,438 31 206,645 The invitation for proposals provides I'nited States 634 4,405,318 483 2,795,410 495 2,860,814 that prospective bidders may enter offers 2 8,851 2 1,953 5 23,151 for: Towing locomotives of the same gen- eral design of those now in use for which Total 2,089 11,518,205 1,952 9,308.165 1,406 7,642,111 the Panama Canal will provide designs; or for new-type towing locomotives of the manufacturer's design and specifications. Principal commodities shipped through the Canal New-type towing devices will also be con- (All figures in thousands of long tons) sidered. The new towing locomotives will have ATLANTIC TO PACIFIC added towing capacity and will be speed- ier than those now in use, permitting a reduction in the number required from 67 First Quarter, Fiscal Years to 57. The design and specifications pre- Commodity 1956 1955 1938 pared by the Canal Company provide for direct the operation of the locomotives by 1,208,981 913,440 178,635 current with little or no change in the 893,731 822,963 47,077 existing towing track system. 491,615 420,748 646,493 273,237 263,102 111,416 The replacement of the Locks towing 185,054 101,038 3,207 locomotives will be the biggest single re- 144,495 21,076 900 placement order for Canal equipment 118,358 106,431 83,729 placed since the waterway was opened. 115,069 91,488 132,018 98,642 8,871 33,360 Most of the 67 towing locomotives now Corn - -- 69,448 49,839 42,072 40 or more in use have been in service for 67,079 63,579 62,666 years. originally built by the Forty were Wheat - 66,067 99,846 343 General Electric Company before the 65,526 86,520 50,559 58,585 534 Canal was opened. Of the other 27 in 61,317 60,796 63,668 27,985 service, 16 were built by the General Elec- 1,125,697 1,053,184 1,568,015 tric Company from 1916 to 1924, and 14 by the Mechanical and Locks Divisions at Total -- 5,045,112 4,224,378 2,989,009 later dates. The invitations for proposals submitted to the manufacturers contain detailed in- PACIFIC TO ATLANTIC formation as to the locomotives, type of service, weather and other conditions of Fiscal Years operations, and the size and types of ships First Quarter, Commodity also contains to be handled. The booklet 1956 1955 1938 a group of selected pictm-es showing ships of various types in the Canal Locks. Mineraloils 1,272,407 211,324 978,129 Ores, various 990,513 1,138,763 541,685 Lumber 981,476 731,866 877,574 CLIP THIS Sugar 545,825 425,528 439,129 Canned food products 323,200 302,252 306,650 275,901 75,545 53,158 EMERGENCY SERVICE CALLS Barley Wheat 248,463 332,709 40,873 Bananas 244.137 204,288 8,670 Plumbing Refrigeration Nitrate 207,629 288,459 222,756 Repairs Repairs Metals, various -- 197,836 195,312 173,726 Day Night Day Night Refrigerated food products (except fresh fruit) 118,035 112,557 45,205 81,706 61,376 35,092 Ancon f Copra [ 59,681 37,173 Balboa Coffee 73,515 i 9_9Q(w 9_9^Qq ^*' -i -5»ci 45,849 37,071 Diablo Heights. - 2-1522 2-3iaS Cotton 56,233 55,300 24,273 5,966 Pedro Miguel. __ I Iron and steel manufactures 800,917 874,005 850,245 Gamboa 6-360 6-256 1 All others Gatun.. (3-2151 3-2151 ( Total 6,473,093 5,083,787 4,653,102 Cristobal or or ^3-2644 3-1583 Margarita [3-2152 3-2152 so THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW November 4, 1955

Flag Day Celebrated Today in Panama j^.i SHIPS >ND SH IPPING .J ^t Transits by Ocean-Going Vessels in September

As National Holidays Are Continued 1055 l"5/, Commercial 686 660 Few Zonians need to be told that yes- versaries this month, although neither is U. S. Government 24 2i terday their friends on the other side of observed as a holiday in the Canal Zone. Total 710 68,1 Fourth of July Avenue celebrated the 52d The first is on November 10 and is known Tolls* anniversary of the date when Panama as the Primer Grito or First Cry. It is ceased to be a Department of the Repub- the anniversary of the day when, in 1821, Commercial $3,057,606 $2,761 ,07.? lic of Colombia and became a republic in a group of Panamanians met in the little U. S. Government -- 149,310 99,899 its own right. town of Los Santos to advocate the inde- Tola! $3,206,916 $2,860,972 But not all Zonians know that although pendence of the Isthmus from Spain. *Incliides tolls cm all vessel^, ocean-going November 3 is the only Panamanian hol- The second is on November 28. It was aiid small. iday observed in the Canal Zone— it has the date, also in 1821, when Panama de- been a holiday ever since there was a clared itself independent of Spain and Canal Zone—Panama's celebration actu- voluntarily sought inclusion in the Repub- Heavy Oil Shipments Largely four-day period. lic of Gran Colombia. ally covers a Responsible For Traffic Increase The national holidays begin on Novem- Observed Since 1904 ber 2 and extend through November 5. November 3 has been observed as a (Continued from page 17) bat ley, bananas, Later in the month the Republic will cel- holiday in the Canal Zone since 1904. copra, coffee, sugar, and canned food. ebrate two other national anniversaries. On September 2 of that year the Isth- The three leading commodities moved Last Wednesday, November 2, was mian Canal Commission, acting under through the Canal in the first quarter of observed as Memorial Day in Panama. authorization of the President of the this fiscal year from the Atlantic to the

It is All Souls Day and was selected by United States, designated the days and Pacific were mineral oils, coal and coke, the young Republic years ago as the day dates which would be holidays in the and manufactures of steel and iron. All on which to honor those who gave their Canal Zone. Among these was Novem- three showed gains over figures for the lives when the Republic was born. ber 3. The same provision later became first quarter of the previous fiscal year. As the years have passed, November 2 part of the Canal Zone Code. Other commodities which showed sub- has become a general day of remembrance The first proclamation of November 3 stantial gains were soybeans and soybean for the dead. The graves of relatives and as a holiday in the Canal Zone was issued products, corn, ores, sugar, sulphur, friends are decorated that day, just as are by Gov. George W. Davis on October 28, paper and paper products, phosphates, those of the Republic's founders or of na- 1904. and ammonium compounds. tional leaders. The graves of Panaman- ians who are buried in Canal Zone ceme- teries are also decorated on November 2 Easter Island Expedition and the day is observed much as Zonians from the United States celebrate May 30 as Memorial Day. Independence Day Yesterday, November 3, was the anni- versary of the Independence of Panama. Traditionally, Independence Day always begins with dianas, or salutes, blown by buglers throughout the city long before the sun is up. Most impressive of the November 3 events is the mass salute to the flag by thousands of students gath- ered in Cathedral Plaza. This is always followed by a Solemn Mass in the Cathe- dral and iiy a number of other patriotic and athletic events. For several years the day has ended with a fireworks display from the National Stadium or some other central location. Today is Panama's Flag Day, and means the same thing to the people of the Republic as June 14 does to the people of the United States. It commemorates the day when Panama's two-starred, red, white, and blue emblem made its first public appearance. The flag was designed by the late Dr. Manuel E. Amador, whose father was EASTER ISLAND, off the Chilfan coast, was the Panama's first president; it was made by destination of Thor Heyerdahl of Kun Tiki fame and Sra. Maria Emilia de la Ossa de Prescott his 341-ton motorship, Christian Bjelland, when the whose husband for many years has headed Panama's communications system. She Heyerdahl Expedition transited the Canal last month. Aboard the vessel were a number of scientists who is a niece by marriage of the first Pana- will seek evidence to support the belief that the island manian president. The original flag is was populated from the Americas. They will examine kept at her home in Panama City. the famed, hu^e Easter Island statues and drill Today's big event is the annual Flag thniunh rock to determine various facts in the history Day parade. Students from all of Pan- of the South Pacific island. Krom Piaster Island, the ama City's public and private schools i'\pedition will go to Pitcairn Island and some of the march through the streets and rivalry is Pacific. They will return to keen between the various scholastic drum I'Vench islands in the of next year. The Christian and bugle corps. the Isthmus in ,Iuly Ujelland is a former fishing vessel, capable of fair Tomorrow is Colon Day and much of •jpeed. Members of the expedition expected to reach the day's celebration will take place in y.:isU'.r 10 days after leaving Balboa, The that city. November 5 commemorates Island overall and carries a crew the date on which Colombian troops with- M'.s.sel measures \!H feet is Capt. Arne HarNinack, drew from Colon in 1903 and the city of 14. Master of the ship became part of the new Republic. Panama has two other important anni-