The Panama Canal Review
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UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA LIBRARIES Digitized by the Internet Arcinive in 2009 witin funding from University of Florida, George A. Smathers Libraries http://www.archive.org/details/panamacanalrevi1972pana ^{J David S. Parker PANAMA CANAL Morgan E. Goodwin, Press Officer Governor-President Publications Editors Charles I. McGinnis Willie K. Friar, Jose T. Tunon Lieutenant Governor Writers Rivftw Eunice Richard, Fannie P. Hernandez, \ Frank A. Baldwin Panama Canal Information Officer Official Panama Canal Publication and Franklin Castrellon Review articles may be reprinted without further clearance. Credit to the Review will be appreciated. Subscriptions: $1 a year, airmoil SS a year; back copies (regular mail), 50 cents each. Published twice a year. Make postal money orders payable to the Panama Canal Company, Box M, Bolboa Heights, C.Z. Editorial Offices are located in the Administration Building, Balboa Heights, C.Z. Printed at the Printing Plant, La Boca, C.Z. Contents OurCover John F. Stevens THE TOKYO BAY, THE LARG- An amazing engineering ge- est container ship in the world nius, he knew there ivas more and the largest ship to transit the Pan- to digging the Canal than ama Canal, is a snug fit in Miraflores simphj making the dirt fly. Locks with her beam of nearly 106 Modish Molas feet. The 950-foot-Iang British flag vessel, which transited April 19, 1972, San Bias needlework is adding is the largest to go through the Canal a splash of color to clothing. since the 936-foot Bremen, a German Funny Things Happen 12 passenger liner, made her only transit For the the men who put in 1939. ships through, a day may in- The giant ship, like many other reg- clude anything from platy- ular customers of the Canal, was de- puses to pigeons. signed to fit neady into the 110-foot Culinary Capers 15 by 1,000-foot locks. Several years ago, Whether Boquete oranges or the maximum size for ships using the cashew-apples, Panama's fruits waterway was set at appro.ximately make exquisite preserves and 800 feet for length and 102 feet for sauces. beam, but subsequent changes in ship design improvements in "Tokyo Bay" Topples Records 18 and Canal capacitv have given shipowners and Largest container ship in the designers a bonus. world transits. Mobile Masterpieces 20 The new Cunard liner. Queen Eliza- beth II, was built with the idea of tran- Imaginative husdrivers deco- siting the Canal although her length is rate their vehicles with por- 963 feet. There was some hesitation on traits, pet names, and prov- the part of Canal officials not long ago erbs. when the 990-foot United States was South America on a (?) day 23 scheduled to transit on a cruise. She Coping with old and new never did but the Canal has decided to money is one of the hazards. give it a try on an experimental basis Medical Sleuths 26 if she does plan a transit in the future. Excellent medical resources More photographs and the story of the transit of the on are available to students plan- Tokyo Bay appear pages 18 and 19. The cover photograph ning a career in medical is by Melvin D. Kennedy, technology. Jr. A Different Way to San Jose 29 Travel off the beaten path. — Q^ 4/ kji Shipping 31 A look at the elegant cruise Artwork in this Issue: Toni McGrath ships which use the Canal. (page 3); Fcter Gurneij (pages 12 and 14); Carlos Mendez (page 15); and Leslie High Canal History 35 (page 20). Fall 1972 John F. Stevens, an amazing engineering genius used to the challenge of the frontier, knew there was more to digging the Canal than simply "making the dirt fly" J N THE SUMMER OF 1905, AL- saw convinced him that the President I though President Theodore Roose- had not exaggerated the difficulties. The velt was telling everyone that he was challenge, however, did not dishearten going to "make the dirt fly," privately him. In Culebra Cut (later to be named he was admitting that things on the Gaillard Cut) he saw steam shovels Isthmus were in a "hell of a mess." standing idle and seven work trains de- John F. Wallace had just resigned as railed and lying in a ditch while workers chief engineer and the President was milled about uncertain as to what they seeking a successor. He chose John F. were supposed to do. Stevens, a forthright leader who He watched two laborers lift a wheel- brought to the office a new vigor, cour- barrow, which they had loaded with age and determination, which many dirt, onto the head of a third man, who believe saved the Canal project. balanced it precariously and solemnly The new chief engineer arrived in marched off to the dumping area. Colon on July 25, 1905 and left imme- As he looked over the broken dcywn diately on a tour of the work. What he undersized rolling stock of the Panama Stevens By Willie K. Friar Sandy Tompkins, art student at Balboa High School, puts finishing touches on her rendering of Stevens' Circle, which has become a favorite site for art exhibits and a meeting place for teenagers. This monument to John F. Stevens stands in a small park in the center of Balboa on the Pacific side of the Isthmus. In the background is the Administration Building of the Panama Canal. The Panama Canal Review Stevens halted all excavation and put men to work paving streets, fighting yelloiv fever and malaria, building piers, machine shops, hospitals, police stations, jails, churches . .-f-,-T7-"iewi=f^-^- - 'T^''mi!^ Fumigation squads. Typical street scene in 1905. Laying brick at Railroad Station. Railroad, someone pointed out proudly dislike to him because he had ordered a who had worked on large construction that there had been no collisions for contractor to bum the carcass of a mule projects in Mexico and Ecuador. One some time. Stevens answered, "A colli- that had died of disease. The men of his first steps was to build a cold claimed it for sion has its good points as well as bad food and a crowd of them storage plant, ice cream plant, bakery, chased him a half mile down the rail- ones. It indicates that there is something coffee roaster, and a laundry. road track waving knives and clubs and moving on the railroad." Stevens saw the need for a com- yelling wildlv. Some of the irreverent Stevens was 52, in 1905, when he missary system on arrival when he thought that it was a good joke on the accepted the position of chief engineer. heard of men going into the jungle for "old man." With these and many other Powerfully built and strikingly hand- bananas or into the swamps for sugar similar experiences behind him, Stevens some, he was a man of cane because they were unable to afford commanding was not dismayed by the problems he presence to buy food from the local merchants. and considerable physical cour- faced on the Isthmus. age. He was not an "office engineer" Eggs were selling for $1.50 a dozen. was the first He to realize that the Fish prices had risen because but a pioneer accustomed to facing fishermen the Canal could not be built until certain refused to make two catches a challenge of the frontier. week Like many preparations were and set made he having discovered that with the other large engineers of that day he had never about creating the fundamental organi- number of new arrivals competing for received any formal training although zation under which the Canal was the limited supply they could make as he had a long career building railroads. constructed. much on one haul as on two. He realized that the needs The Apaches were san- itation, housing and feeding, transpor- No Refrigeration Two stories are typical of his charac- tation, and proper equipment, and he There was no refrigeration service on ter. In the 1870's while working on the ordered a halt at once to all Canal work the Isthmus so he ordered cold storage Arizona Railroad, a construction gang until a proper environment could be equipment installed on Panama Rail- was cut off by the Apaches and the fore- created and all elements necessary to road steamers, a cold storage plant built man offered a reward of $500 to any- the construction assembled. at Colon, and refrigerator cars procured one who could get through to them. for the railroad. Yellow Fever Stevens was the only man to volunteer. Frozen products were brought from the He made the trip on foot through more He handled problems of trans- New York and deposited in cold storage than a hundred miles of Apache portation and equipment himself. For at Colon and daily deliveries of perish- the other fields he found the best territory and led them to safety. men able food and ice were made at towns available and put them in charge. He Ten years later, he set out from Mon- across the Isthmus. recognized Gorgas for the expert that he tana with hvo Indian guides and a mule At first there were problems with was and put him in charge of sanitation, to try to find a route for the Great delivery and Stevens once \vTote to the giving him all the supplies and men he Northern Railroad across the commissary manager, "I cannot imagine Rockies. needed to cope with malaria and yellow why it should take so long to fill this The mule died and the guides deserted fever. Before this, Gorgas had met con- but order, and if this is the way the Chief Stevens pushed on alone to discover stant frustration and had been told by Engineer's requests are to be handled, and survey the vital pass.