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OCTOBER 1, 1979
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yteM I Ink From The Governor of the Canal Zone
T.his year, the Panama Canal We must now turn our celebrated its 65th anniversary. attention to the future. Much has Since the SS Ancon made the been done in that regard. The
first official transit of the initial changes taking place have
waterway, August 1, 1914, more been anticipated and carefully than half a million ships have planned to avoid any major moved through the Canal disruption in the operation of the transporting a wide variety of Canal. But the best of plans will
commodities to all parts of the fail without the enthusiastic world. efforts of those who must carry The Panama Canal treaties, them out. In this regard I am which go into effect today, mark confident that the keen sense of another significant milestone in responsibility and devotion to the history of this important duty which have prevailed will world utility. They mark the continue to be reflected in the beginning of a new era bringing efficient operation of this world changes that challenge all utility. associated with the waterway. To those who are leaving the
For Canal employees, the Canal, I wish you Godspeed and passing of jurisdiction over the good luck. For those who are Canal Zone to the Republic of staying on with the Commission, Panama and the creation of the other U.S. Government agen- new and smaller Panama Canal cies, or the Republic of Panama, Commission call for major the days ahead will demand the adjustments in lives and best that you have to offer in livelihoods. terms of continued commitment The Canal Zone has passed to your duties and willingness to
into history. It has been unique adapt to new situations. Judging
in American political history and from the dedication you have a showcase of American shown during these last organization. All have uncertain years, I know that you At left: A ship moves through Gatun who Locks on a nightime transit of the worked and lived here can take are equal to the task. Panama Canal. pride in the standard of excellence set during construc- e 0 The Panama Canal Review Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2010 with funding from University of Florida, George A. Smathers Libraries http://www.archive.org/details/panamacanalrevie1979pana HAROLD R. PARFITT WILLIE K. FRIAR ^ PANAMA ||g|| CANAL Governor-President g Editor JAMES H. TORMEY Lieutenant Governor Write s VICTOR G. CANEL _ „ „ J' ... , , ,. ~„. Fannie P. Hernandez, Dolores E. Suisman. Acting Information Officer Official Panama Canal Publication VlCKJ M Boatwright All articles and illustrations in the Panama Canal Review may be reprinted in full or in part without further permission by crediting the PanamaCanal Review as the source. The Review is normally published twice a year. Yearly subscription is $3 for regular mail and $6 for airmail. The price for back issues is $1.50 for regular and $3 when sent by airmail. For subscriptions, send check or money order made payable to the Panama Canal Commission to Panama Canal Review, Panama Canal Commission Public Information Office, A.P.O. Miami, Fla. 34011. The editorial office is located in Room 100 Administration Building, Balboa Heights, Republic of Panama. In This Issue -"THIS EDITION OF THE REVIEW MARKS AN END AND A BEGINNING. 1 It takes a nostalgic look at the past —at the buildings, the symbols, the living J ~ anc> working environment of the Canal Zone an optimistic l*£&| —and view of the challenge of change facing the Canal organization. ... * '-m Taking the place of both the summer and winter editions, this special edition of ^ 'n ^Sft&P — ^*&&&%^m { he Review is being published to mark the day of the implementation of the new 8fetSJn,j.-*£fe^di Panama Canal treaties. The October 1 edition will be the last time the Review will appear as an official *^_ ' * logo since it began publication May 5, 1950. The retiring of the Canal Zone seal will leave a hole in our logo but for the next edition there will be a Panama Canal Commission seal to take its place. Special thanks go to our guest writers who include Pandora Aleman, formerly an Information Office writer but now with Records Management Branch; Janet Len-Rios, free lance writer; Robert Burgess, retired Curator of Publications for the Mariners Museum in Newport News, Va., and Veterinarian Nathan B. Gale who collaborated on the wildlife story with Dolores Suisman, recently retired editor of the Spillway, the Canal's weekly newspaper. The new Spillway editor, ^k Vicki M. Boatwright, assisted in the layout and design of this edition. a&^Sa'ddi ' I Photographers whose work is included in this edition are: Mel Kennedy, who ^&$Pt& M designed the cover and served as art and photo director, Arthur L. Pollack, Don Goode, Kevin Jenkins, Alberto Acevedo, Gerry Laatz, and Bob Rogers, all of the Graphic Branch, and Vic Brown and Fred Robinson, of the Canal Zone Police, who provided most of the wildlife photos. Artwork is by Carlos Mendez of the Graphic Branch and Dante Fiori of the Division of Schools. Contents Buildings 7-24 Symbols 25-35 The Panama Railroad 36-37 Flora and Fauna 38-49 The Canal Today 50-53 The Canal Yesterday 54-58 Looking Backward 59-63 The Canal Zone at Night 64-67 On The Cover Lights from the many new highrise buildings of the Panama City skyline are a dramatic backdrop to the classic lines of the Canal's Aaministration Building in this night photograph by Mel Kennedy, who went to the top of Sosa Hill to get this view. Back in 1915, "Red" Hallen chose the same site for a night photograph of brand new building and the Prado. It appears on page 65. A comparison of the two photos makes clear the dramatic changes that have taken place over the past 64 years. 6 October 1, 1979 v By Vicki M. Boatwrighl THE POWERFUL SCENES OF Canal construction that dominate the walls of the Rotunda of the Balboa Heights Administration Building hold employees and visitors alike in their thrall. For the murals depict in bold brushstrokes of pale ocher, bright orange and brick red the monumental Administration labor that went into building the Canal. They tell us of what used to be. Building But the very quiet of the rotunda and Unites Past, the air-conditioned coolness distance us from the realities of construction Present and Future days. They seem far away in time and space. But face north in the rotunda and walk forward a few steps. All of a sudden the gap between past and present is bridged. In the central staircase, laid down in pink Tennessee marble in 1914, the steps are grooved from the treading of thousands of pairs of feet that have passed this way since the building was completed. As you take hold of the mahogany banister and begin to climb, you become part of that throng: hurrying to work on a breezy dry season morning in 1915; carrying blueprints up to Engineering in 1923; worrying about war news in 1942; or trudging back to work in 1957 after a 5 banister, the building, all link us in an unbroken chain with those who walked this way before. In 1912, about the same time that the finishing touches were being made to Gatun Locks and Gatun Lake was filling up, Chief Engineer George Goethals, who by this time was also Chairman of the Isthmian Canal Com- mission, turned his attention to the construction of a permanent building that would centralize the administra- tion of the waterway. The engineering department had moved to Culebra in 1906, the disbursing and accounts offices were in Empire, and most of the offices concerned with material and supplies had been relocated at Cristobal. Unaware, surely, that he would be the first Governor to occupy its executive office, Goethals named a The arched window at the third story landing of the central staircase is typical of Italian Renaissance architecture. The Panama Canal Review ^^r 2*V bbp« .^N T% **- <*.>;- . .1*' AkC rf#1 high-powered committee boasting such notables as colonels Gorgas, Hodges and DeVol to find a suitable loca- tion on the Pacific side for a building that would be "well fitted to the pur- pose and character of an edifice which is to guard and direct the interests and operation of the Canal, overlooking . . . what will be the first permanent town of the Zone." They considered five locations, four on or near Sosa Hill and one on a knoll of Ancon Hill west of the quarry that gave Quarry Heights its present name. When the committee decided on the latter site, which they described more precisely as "30 feet back of the former triangulation station on Lone Tree Hill," Goethals approved the choice with the stipulation that not a LumilllllllTlltf spoonful of earth was to be moved until a competent architect had gone over the ground. At left, in January 1914 the exterior of the Administration Building neared Goethals' idea of a "competent completion, but Albrook Field was still a swamp and the Ancon Cemetery had yet to be moved to what is now Corozal to make way for new houses. architect" was Austin W. Lord, head Miraflores Locks is visible in the distance. Above: It's 1916 and a payday at the of the department of architecture at building, where employees line up at the pay windows located at the Columbia University and a senior west wing to receive their wages in gold. Down the hill the First Baptist Church member of the firm of Lord, Hewlett is under construction. Below: Males were still in the majority at the Tallant of York. But theirs and New building in 1929, judging from this scene in the Record Bureau. The group difficult association. was to be a seemed to be divided right down the middle on the bow tie versus the four-in-hand. The Record Bureau handled the Canal organization's general files Lord spent the month of July 1912 and was situated on the second floor in the space now occupied by on the Isthmus studying the topog- the Personnel Bureau. raphy of the land and local conditions that would affect the design of the buildings. The agreement was that he would return to New York to work out a general scheme in which all of the buildings "from Toro Point to Taboga Island would be of a prevailing style." He was to visit the Isthmus every couple of months during the construction period. The arrangement never suited Goethals. The Chairman wanted the architect to leave his 5th Avenue offices and come to the Isthmus until the job was completed. Their cor- respondence reflected the basic con- flict — the hard-driving Goethals sent curt memorandums demanding to know what the hold-up was and com- plaining of delays caused by having to do business by mail; Lord wrote long letters back, explaining that the Com- how much space they would require building that appeared in The Canal ." mission hadn't authorized him enough or how they would be correlated. . . Record on December 30, 1914, but draftsmen, and more importantly, Goethals had been very firm on one memoranda indicate that the final Canal officials had made no decisions issue, however. He informed the figures far exceeded the estimates. as to how the offices would be layed architect that the Administration At $25 per square foot, the rotunda's out. Building was to cost, when completed, Van Ingen murals alone would run The Canal Record was later to com- "$375,000 and not one cent more, as nearly $25,000. ment, "The entire building was we have no more and are going to ask Lord's direct involvement with the planned without any definite knowl- for no more." No final costs are Isthmian Canal Commission appar- edge of what offices were to occupy it, recorded in the detailed story on the ently terminated in 1913, but not The Panama Canal Review before he had developed the plans for the Administration Building, the lay- out and design for the Prado-type quarters and terminals buildings of the town of Balboa, and the plans for the hydro-electric station at Gatun, as well as the three locks control houses. He had decided on the "E" shape for the building to keep it narrow enough to maximize the efficient use of natural light and because, had it run end to end in a line, the amount of floor space required would have made the building too long. The style he chose is Italian Renaissance. With Lord out of the picture, his assistant at Culebra, Mario J. Schia- voni, was given the title of architect. With it came the responsibility of carrying out the plans of his pred- ecessor and all the headaches as- sociated with the undertaking. Schiavoni had an artist's imagina- tion, a quality not altogether ap- preciated by either Goethals or the resident engineer in charge of con- struction, Frank Holmes. With the latter, Schiavoni became engaged in a feud carried on by memorandum, centering mainly around the archi- tect's tardiness in getting final drawings for the building completed. At one point, apparently fed up by Holmes' habit of sending a copy of every The overpowering beauty of the high, domed ceiling, the dramatic murals and the marble columns and floor make the rotunda the main attraction of the Administration Building. The murals, executed by artist W. B. Van Ingen at the request of Col. George W. Goethals, depict, below from left, the digging of Gaillard (Culebra) Cut at Gold Hill; the erection of a lock gate; the construction of Miraflores Locks; and the construction of the spillway at Gatun Dam. memorandum to Goethals, Schiavoni Library of Congress and the Philadel- memorandum concerning payment let fly this memo to Holmes: "I beg to phia Mint, was hired to paint murals due on the eight marble columns in state that I consider your attitude in for the rotunda that would preserve in the rotunda. Commenting that the making repeated written statements art form something of the monumen- columns were a first class job of about my work very unco-operative tal labor involved in building the marble work, he added that the and uncalled for." Canal. supplier was not to blame for the fact Among the suggestions made by At Schiavoni's request, each week's that construction workers had set the Schiavoni was that a decorative title progress on the Administration Build- top member of the column bases in panel in honor of the Canal builders be ing was recorded by Commission upside down. Visitors to the rotunda placed above the main entrance to the photographer Red Hallen, whose today will notice that with the excep- Administration Building. It would be work on the Isthmus using bulky glass tion of one column, the outer edge of sculpted to show an American con- plate negatives was to later become the round marble disc upon which struction worker flanked on either invaluable in visualizing the history of each of the columns rest is ridged, side by a Negro, a Spaniard, a French- the construction era. indicating that side should be facing man and a "Hindoo," with a steam On July 15, 1914, a little more than a downward against the octagonal shovel at one end of the panel and a year from the day the first steel beam lower base. dredge at the other. was erected, the Administration Build- Between July and September of The Chairman turned down the ing had its first occupants. The time- 1914, the offices at Culebra, Empire proposal with one sentence: "... I am keepers' offices at Culebra, Balboa and the administration building at of the opinion that all that will be and Cristobal were assigned one large Ancon were moved into the new build- necessary will be a plain inscription room extending from the rotunda to ing. By June of the following year, the with letters, V-shaped inset, reading the west end of the building on the first building housed 424 employees, 49 of 'Administration Building, Panama floor. All the heavy construction work them women. Canal, 1914'." had been completed at that point, but Both the location of offices and the The architect's recommendation the 50 employees who were paid in daily routine of the employees that that the Seal of the Canal Zone be laid gold and the complement of clerks occupied them were, in most cases, in marble mosaic tile in the center of and messengers who received their quite different in 1914 from what they the rotunda floor met with a similar wages in silver moved in amidst the are today. In regard to the offices, fate at the hands of Holmes, who sawing, hammering, mortaring and only a few have remained in their declared it to be too costly and time painting that accompanied the laying original locations. When Governor consuming. of the pine flooring, the red tile in the Goethals, his Lieutenant Governor But despite personality clashes and corridors, and the mosaic tile in the (formerly called the Engineer of Main- delays for which each blamed the rotunda, and the finishing up of the tenance) and their secretaries moved other, the construction work pro- carpentry work and electrical wiring. into the second floor north front gressed steadily. Notwithstanding his No landscaping would be done until corner overlooking Balboa and the caution about spending, Goethals the following December, so out- Canal, they set a precedent for the applied the same imagination and fore- side the building the grounds were a location of those offices that has sight to the construction of the Admin- gigantic mudhole. Temporary wooden continued to today. istration Building that he had to the steps led downhill to the Prado level, The Chief Health Officer and Chief Canal itself. He brought Albert where by June of 1915, the houses Quarantine Officer moved out of the Pauley, the developer of a new had been completed and construction old administration building at Ancon process for making concrete tile on Barnebey Street begun. into the Health Department, on the blocks, to the Isthmus to oversee the As with any construction project, second floor, which has since become erection of a plant to manufacture the not every detail had gone according to the Health Bureau. Its offices have blocks for all the permanent buildings plan. The Administration Building's been enlarged, but like the Balboa in Balboa. Artist W. B. Van Ingen of third and final architect, Samuel M. Heights Post Office, the Health New York, famous for his work in the Hitt, wryly pointed out that fact in a Bureau is where it has always been. After winding his way up the spiral staircase located off the central stairway, Panama Canal photographer Kevin Jenkins examines the remains of a safelight in what was once the darkroom of the Canal's first Official Photographer. Below: The building's "E" shape is apparent in this aerial view. short time later two rooms on the third medal holders got her first job with floor now occupied by the Office of the Canal as a clerk in the Claims the General Counsel were set up as Bureau, which took up the area now Office hours were from 8 to 12 a.m. reading and sitting rooms for the assigned to the Budget Branch. and 2 to 5 p.m. the first two years after women. The Paymaster's Office with its two the building was opened, and most Employees could find plenty to read large vaults occupied the end of the employees walked to work. Judging in the library located on the third floor west wing that now belongs to the from a circular from Governor Goe- in what is now the office of the director Office of Internal Security. When Miss thals issued to all Administration of the Engineering and Construction McGuigan received her monthly pay Building employees, at least one temp- Bureau; but there was no room to sit receipt, she walked outside to the tation of office life has not changed at down. The Canal Record reported porch to cash it at one of the barred all. Goethals reproved employees for that "The Canal library is so filled with pay windows still visible today, just the practice of leaving work early at reading matter as to leave little room as her parents had done since 1914. noon and in the afternoon "in order to for readers." Not long afterward, it Only back then, she remembers them secure an advantage in being served in was moved to the first floor area now saying, the payroll was delivered by the lunch room or securing seats on occupied by the Press and Informa- horse-drawn wagon and their wages the motor buses." tion offices. were paid in gold. While the opportunity to leave Kathleen McGuigan, retired ad- As a child, she remembers climbing during the two-hour lunch break was ministrative assistant to the Comp- the winding stairway to the photog- obviously available, it would appear troller of the Panama Canal Com- rapher's studio located in the attic at that many employees chose to stay in pany, recalls that when she went to the center of the building directly the building during the heat of the day. work at the building in 1934, the coffee above the main staircase. Offices were locked during the break, now a mainstay of Administra- The photographer Hallen took her noon hour; but with commissary tion Building life, was non-existent; portrait using the north light coming coupons employees could buy a light but an employee could buy cigars and through the paned skylight window lunch consisting of sandwiches, coffee, candy from a stand that had been in that since has been covered over with and pie from the basement restaurant existence in the small room on the the red tile of the roof. that ran the length of what is now the landing between the first and second Many years later the Graphic Graphic Branch. Pool and billiard floors since the building opened. Branch was to find several thousand tables were set up in the basement for As a matter of fact, very little about tiny glass plate negatives of employee the men. The female contingent at the the Administration Building's offices identification photos stored in the building must have complained about or routine had changed when the wooden filing cabinets of what must wanting equal consideration, for a 20-year-old daughter of two Roosevelt have been Hallen's office under the 12 October 1, 1979 sloping eaves. To get to it he had to great deal of the writing was handled marching band on the circle of grass walk around the top of the rotunda by employees of that bureau. below. dome, which rises out of the attic floor Today, only a few hardy souls come Office supplies were kept in a like something from the science fiction and go by way of the 113 stairs that stationary storeroom, Miss McGuigan film "Close Encounters of the Third architect Lord had so carefully de- recalls, just as they had always been. Kind." The Graphic Branch was able signed to emphasize the majestic Government forms and writing paper, to distribute a few hundred of the sweep from the building to the Prado, as well as the ubiquitous paperweight negatives to relatives still living on the an effect now broken by the presence to anchor them against the dry season Isthmus. of the Goethals Memorial. breezes that blew through open The years have brought many- Today the attic is a storage place for windows, were among the items changes to the Administration Build- old engineering plans, bound volumes requisitioned on a weekly basis. ing. Offices have been moved from of Canal studies, civil defense sup- present Director of the The Com- one floor to another and in some cases plies, and the bulky air-conditioning pany's Office of Equal Opportunity to other buildings. Windows have equipment that cools the building. But Bruce Quinn, who grew up on been blocked with concrete, and the peeling black paint on the walls of Barnebey Street in Balboa, says his others have been created where no what was once a darkroom is a silent vivid of the Administra- most memory windows existed. Billiard tables and witness to its original use. tion Building is when as children he reading rooms are a thing of the past. C. A. Mclvaine, Executive sister at Sec- and his stood the bottom of Paychecks are cashed at the base- retary under Governor Goethals, still the stairs each afternoon, starched ment vault that once housed valuable held that position Miss waiting for their when Mc- and pressed, father to records. The scars in the concrete to for the Guigan came work Com- get off work. At closing time, Quinn retaining wall at the end of each wing pany. To employees, she says, he recalls, great waves of people poured of the building are all that remain of was "like God." Governors came and out of the building and down the broad the hitching rings of the horse and went but C. A. Mclvaine endured, expanse of stairs. buggy era. carrying such broad responsibility as Indeed, the stairs played a signifi- Governor Parfitt will walk down the to him, in effect, the make working cant role in community life at one time. stairs one last time and the Office of governor. His office in was located On Memorial Day in years gone by the Governor will become the Office what is now the Governor's Board wreaths were placed against the of the Administrator. But the grand- Room. The Correspondence Bureau, bronze plaque embedded in the base father clock there that dates back to later to much become Administrative of the original flagstaff to honor the the French canal effort will go on Services, took up the space on both Canal's World War I dead. On the ticking away the passage of time. And sides of the hall that now belongs to Fourth of July refreshment booths the grooves in the pink Tennessee the Office of the Executive Secretary. were set up on the concrete terrace marble stairs will keep getting deeper, Nearly all of the secretarial work for around the building, and the stairs reminding us that past and present the Administration Building and a were alive with people watching the are one. Col. George W. Goethals was the first Governor of the Canal Zone to use this second-floor office overlooking the town of Balboa, and Maj. Gen. H. R. Parfitt is the last. The Panama Canal Review 13 THE GOVERNOR'S HOUSE, THE painted in 1913 and 1914 by E. J. Read, building most intimately linked A Link With that has been acquired by the Canal with the construction days of the Zone Library-Museum, is displayed on Panama Canal, will become the official loan in the house, along with oils by residence of the Administrator of the The Past Alwyn Sprague, well-known Canal Panama Canal Commission, with the Zone artist. When the Tivoli Guest departure of Governor Harold R. House closed, some of the fur- Parfitt, the last Canal Zone Governor. Walker, 1924-28, some general altera- nishing, including one of the famous chairs, The historic house, built as a tions were made, the main one being wicker rocking were trans- residence for the Chief Engineer of the the doubling of the width of the side ferred to the Governor's House. Isthmian Canal Commission, was veranda. Most of the original equip- Entertaining at the Governor's located in the construction-day town ment and furniture was replaced House includes formal dinners and luncheons for to of Culebra, overlooking what is now during the administration of Col. 10 60 guests and receptions, dinners, Gaillard Cut. Its first resident, John F. Harry Burgess, 1928-32. At this time, informal teas and Stevens, canceled plans for an elab- the Governor's House acquired its coffees accommodating up to 200 or orate new residence for the chief first official china and flat silver which 300 guests using the spacious recep- engineer which was being built in bears the Canal Zone seal. It was in tion areas inside as well as the patio Ancon because he wanted a simple that era also that the Canal Zone seal and garden. Because of sudden house close to the work site. The was woven into table and bed linen. showers during the rainy season, from building originally designed to be the Major changes were made in 1959 May to December, a large awning is part official residence is now the District and 1960, under the supervision of placed over the main of the patio. Mrs. E. Potter, Court Building. It is featured in a story Governor and W. who The second floor of the house is for in the interest of history tradition, on page 24. and family living. It includes a large living Lt. Col. George W. Goethals rejected plans for a completely new room; two large bedrooms with baths; moved into the house in 1907 when he official residence. Instead, they re- a study; a wing with a small bedroom tained the original succeeded John F. Stevens as Chief style of the house, and bath; and utility room. Most of with its wide-sweeping Engineer. As Goethals was also verandas, high the upstairs furniture is provided by chairman of the Isthmian Canal ceilings and large gracious rooms, the family occupying the house. Commission House 159 became the characteristic of Canal construction Furniture in the downstairs area quarters of the Canal Zone's chief days. Walls and foundations were belongs to the house but each family executive. reinforced, and wooden flooring was adds a few additional personal pieces tile first It was in the house at Culebra that replaced with on the floor. The of furniture as well as some decorative most of the official visitors, coming stairway was relocated, a modern objects. service section built in the to see the Canal construction, were basement, Through the years, while it stood at and a small bedroom, bath, library entertained and many expressed and Culebra and after it was moved to regret that the commodious house on the first floor were converted into Balboa Heights, distinguished guests was to be dismantled and that the a comfortable air-conditioned guest from many countries including pres- town, with its profusion of attractive suite. Whenever possible, materials, idents of the United States and tropical shrubbery, would be aban- including the polished tiles on the first Panama have visited this historic doned following the opening of the floor and the ornamental iron gates in house. the garden, obtained in Canal. were Panama. Many on the long and impressive list The house and several other The handsome Chippendale dining of visitors who have been entertained buildings were taken down in 1914, table, its 22 matching chairs, buffet, at the house by Governor and Mrs. each section carefully numbered, and and two serving tables were made of Parfitt since his appointment March moved by flatcars to new locations at native mahogany by the Maintenance 24, 1975, came to the Isthmus in Balboa Heights. According to rec- Division to replace the set dating back connection with the negotiation and ords, the Governor's House cost to Goethals' day. ratification of the Panama Canal $19,773 to build in 1906. It cost almost A fountain was added in the front of treaties. the a fish fountain that much $16,300, to move it from house, pond and Included on the list, which reads like built on the patio, a retaining wall Culebra in 1914, and re-erect it at was a "Who's Who" of well-known United Balboa Heights. constructed to terrace the gardens States and international business, Though a number of changes have and considerable landscaping was civic, and political leaders, is a large been made during the tenure of each done. percentage of the members of the Governor, the house on the side of During Governor Walter P. Leber's Senate and House of Representatives. Ancon Hill, the official residence of term, the house was air-conditioned Having a deep appreciation for the Canal Zone Governors for more than throughout. A breakfast porch, in history of the house, the Parfitts have 60 years, remains basically the same keeping with the architecture of the made a special effort to invite Canal house, in as when it was first constructed. was added 1971 during employees to come by for a visit and a Col. Chester Harding, Governor Governor David S. Parker's term. tour of the public rooms and the from 1917 to 1921, had a porte Items that enhance the historic garden. For their Christmas recep- cochere built at the front entrance atmosphere of the house continue to tions, the invitation was extended to over the circular driveway. During the be added. A collection of oils and every member of the Canal work- administration of Col. Meriwether L. watercolors of the Canal and Panama, force. 14 October 1, 1979 '• '.' I "H,} The house as viewed from the garden and the veranda remain basically the same as in construction days except for the screens which were replaced with glass when the house was air-conditioned. Right below: Governor and Mrs. Parfitt take a walk in the garden. The Panama Canal Review 15 Below left: A painting showing the dredge "Cascadas" at work, in the Historic Plaque Lists Governors Canal is displayed just inside the front entrance. Below right: Some of the Engraved the plaque , at left, which is a wall in the is wicker furniture from the Tivoli Guest on on house, the following: House and mola pillows add local color "Moved from its original location in Culebra, a now abandoned construction to a section of the porch. town on the other side of the Canal, old 'No. 159' has housed Governors of the Canal Zone since that time. In one way or another, its occupants have left an imprint on the structure. There have been grounds changes and internal modifications. But the house remains basically the same as built for its first occupant, John F. Stevens, Chief Engineer, Isthmian Canal Commission in 1906." Also engraved on the plaque are the names of the former occupants, which includes 16 Canal Zone governors: Gov. Harold R. Parfitt's name will be added at the end of his term of office. The Goethals family lived in the house, while it was at Culebra and after it was moved to Balboa Heights for a total of 10 years, far longer than any other family. There are seven living former governors. Past governors and their years of service are as follows: George W. Goethals J. C. Mehaffey (1914-1917) (1944-1948) Chester Harding F. K. Newcomer (1917-1921) (1948-1952) Jay J. Morrow John S. Seybold (1921-1924) (1952-1956) M. L. Walker William E. Potter (1924-1928) (1956-1960) Harry Burgess W. A. Carter (1928-1932) (1960-1962) J. L. Schley Robert J. Fleming Jr. (1932-1936) (1962-1967) C. S. Ridley W. P. Leber (1936-1940) (1967-1971) Glen E. Edgerton David S. Parker (1940-1944) (1971-1975) Although they never lived in the Governor's House, other Governors of the Canal Zone or officials who were commonly given the title of "Governor" during the construction period. May 4. 1904 to March 31, 1914, under the Isthmian Canal Commission were: General George W. Davis, Governor of the Canal Zone (Member of original isthmian Canal Commission) May If, 1904 to May 24, 1905; Charles E Magoon, Governor of the Canal Zone (Head of Government and Sanitation) Member of Commission, May 25. 1905 to October 12, 1906, Richard R Rogers, Governor of the Canal Zone (Head of Department of Law & GouernmenfJ November 19, 1906 to March 31, 1907,JosephC S Blackburn, Headof Department of Civil Administration (Member of Commission) April 1, 1907 to December 4. 1909, Maurice H Thatcher, Head of Department of Civil Administration (Member of Commission) May 13, 1910 to August 8, 1913; Richard L Metcalfe, Head of Department of Civil Administration (Member of Commission) August 9. 1913 to March 31, 1914. 16 October 1, 1979 The Panama Canal Review 17 By Fannie P. Hernandez The first commercial flights to the Isthmus landed at France Field on the THE CIVIL AFFAIRS LEAVING Atlantic side, where Pan American Building in Ancon, the 12-year- Airways had a small wooden structure old boy smiles as he admires the photo that served as its terminal. In 1940, on his brand new identification card. when PAA established flights three For the card, or "ID" as everyone calls times a week from Miami to the Canal it, is a sign that he is growing up, a Zone, operations were shifted to the Canal Zone rite of passage into the Pacific side because France Field was adult world. inadequate for the new larger four- His mother smiles, too, as she walks engine planes. to the car with her son. She is remem- bering other happy occasions that were marked by a visit to this building. There was the thrill of her first driver's license at 17, her husband's hard earned ham radio operator's license Civil Affairs years later, and the recent purchase of a plate for their new car. Whether old timers or new arrivals, Building Combines Canal Zone families sooner or later end up at the low white building off Business, Pleasure Gaillard Highway that bears a striking resemblance to an airport. For the Canal Zone's old timers, the removal of the control tower and the addition of a neon sign spelling out air traffic increased, "Drive Inn" on one wing and the "Li- As commercial it interfered with emergency wartime cense Section" identified in big block activities at the Albrook Air Field ter- letters on the other hasn't changed minal, and it was decided that a how they see the building. They still for all commercial service remember the busy activity of a com- terminal should be built. mercial airport, which it was for several years, and the propeller driven Following the allocation of $1,800,000 the Emergency Fund of the Pres- planes taxiing down Albrook Field. from ident, the terminal was constructed, along with a hangar, small utility build- ing and other appurtenances. The building and hangar were designed by a group of architects and engineers Above: The Civil Affairs Building today. working under the direction of Lt. Col. At left: Leaving the License Section, Norman J. Riebe, of what was then Herbie Raybourn shares the thrill of called the Panama Engineer Division. his first ID card with his mother The contract was awarded to Tucker Jacqueline. His father, Herb Raybourn, McClure and Thompson-Markham heads the Recreation Services Office and work was to be com- located on the second floor of Company the building. pleted in 100 days. 18 October 1, 1979 reset in solid it was announced just a few When it was inaugurated on June 19, and the map was one When 1943, and turned over to the Gov- color. years later, that a new international ernor of the Canal Zone for operation, A unique feature of the building was airport was to open in Panama and the tar felt roof commercial airlines would be moving it was one of the most beautiful, the flat built-up and where of modern and fully equipped air ter- water remained during the rainy their operations there, a number for minals in this part of the world. The season. The water was expected to requests and recommendations utilization of the terminal building firs plane to use the new terminal was provide added insulation and because the a Panagra airliner southbound for its temperature was approximately were sent to the Governor. The offered to Lima. 120 degrees, it was too hot to permit Caribbean Air Command the breeding of mosquitoes. transfer the Albrook grade school to Reinforced concrete stucco on Since the greater part of the con- the Panama Canal if it would relin- cement block and glass block was struction was done after the United quish claim to the air terminal and its used in the construction of the two States entered the war, there were facilities. As early as July 1945, a group main floors, topped by a glass obser- material shortages and priorities. of employees suggested that it be con- vation room and control tower. Its low Where original plans called for steel, it verted to a "modern and up-to-date flat construction exemplified a modern was necessary to substitute wood or club for the exclusive use of Canal and design of the early '40's and offered the iron. Local materials were used Railroad employees, with a first class least possible hazard to aircraft on wherever possible. Stair railings were restaurant, bar, dance floor, tennis landing and taking off. The exterior made of Central American mahogany, courts and club rooms." was painted olive drab to conform to lockers were of wood instead of steel, However, the Panama Canal ur- wartime regulations. and refrigerator shelves of mahogany. gently needed the space to house set in A stained glass medallion was Terrazzo replaced marble on the many of its activities that were a window above the glass doors that facade. scattered in temporary wooden build- opened by means of photo electric After the war, as air travel became ings and to eliminate the congestion in cells, believed to be the first in these more popular and the terminal be- the Administration Building. parts. The medallion, designed by came a busy international link be- When Tocumen Airport was opened Colonel Riebe, combines a wing and tween North and South America, in September 1949, the terminal was propeller motif with the flags of the constant stream of there was a converted into office space for the United States and Panama against dignitaries, busi- diplomats and other Public Affairs Office, as Civil Affairs a sheaf of flags of all nations of the nessmen, tourists and movie per- was then known, The Federal Avia- Pan American Union. teenagers flocked to sonalities. Local tion Administration maintained its Heavy wooden benches were cen- the terminal when they heard of the offices there until 1962, when it moved tered in the spacious waiting room and arrival of Clark Gable, Tyrone Power, to its present location. main lobby that extended up through Cary Grant, Dolores Del Rio, Edward two floors. A monolith map of the G. Robinson, Vincent Price and many Western Hemisphere with Panama at other celebrities. the center was inlaid in the terrazzo A rather "very important person" to floor in front of the information desk. pass this way was an Indian maharaja to be the cause of a hour after his plane took off The map was who an Above: A view of the newly opened formal complaint by a South Amer- realized that he had left his coat Canal Zone Air Terminal, painted olive ican ambassador who claimed that a behind in the terminal. The airliner drab to conform with wartime border between his country and that returned for the coat. Another in- regulations, shows the hangar and of a neighbor was not correct. To cident that caused quite a stir was a part of the airstrip. At far right, cars, avoid the possibility of other "border shoot-out in the terminal between two canvas topped touring 1940's disputes" the narrow metal bars a member of the Somoza family of taxis of the early wait passengers. marking the borders were removed Nicaragua and a political enemy. for The Panama Canal Review 19 For the past 30 years, the building ices, other government functions, and former mezzanine, moving in Novem- has been the seat of the Civil Affairs home of the Canal Zone Library- ber 1949 from the first floor of the Bureau, the bureau of the Canal Zone Museum. Administration Building. The Museum Government responsible for public The Library was the first to transfer moved in late 1950 to what had been education, police and fire protection, to its new location in the left wing of the first floor lobby and the area postal, customs and licensing serv- the second floor which included the looking out on the airfield. When the air terminal building was turned over to the Civil Affairs Bureau, it needed a new name. Among the suggestions were Mc- Ilvaine Building or Mcllvaine Hall, in honor of C. A. Mcllvaine, who was executive secretary of the Panama Canal from 1914 to 1940; Goethals Hall "with a bust of him in the con- course"; and Civil Functions Building. Canal Zone Governor F. K. New- comer said he believed that Library Building was "adequate and appro- priate," and that is what it was called until May 22, 1950, when it was officially designated the Civil Affairs Building. That same year, the administrative offices of the Division of Schools moved from the Balboa Elementary School to occupy the right wing of the first floor. The License office moved from the Police Station opposite the Balboa Elementary School to the area that Pan American Airways' 4-engine "fat-bellied" Boeing takes on fuel at had been the airmail dispatch section the Canal Zone Air Terminal before taking off and bonded storage of Panama on the Canal Zone to Miami flight. Customs. The Police and Fire divisions, which until 1950 were one division, each es- tablished headquarters in the building in the mid '50's; the Fire Division took over an area in the left wing of the first floor that for a time had been used by a branch of the Postal Division for the sale of money orders and postal cer- tificates; and the Police Division lo- cated in the second floor area formerly occupied by airline offices. The Canal Zone Postal Service and its Philatelic Agency moved to the third floor observation room where employees have enjoyed a privileged view. From their desks, they could follow the top of ships transiting the Canal, passing trains, and aircraft landing and taking off at Albrook. Since it was created in 1963, the Recreation Services Office has been located on the second floor, and when the Canal Protection Division became BWMHBWMBMMBJMMMiWMBBMBHi the fifth division of the Civil Affairs Bureau, it took over space in the right Bookshelves are lifted into more comfortable and commodious quarters on the wing of the second floor. When Civil second floor of the former air terminal where the Library Defense was a part of the Civil Affairs moved in November 1949. Bureau, it too had an office there. The control tower operation was 20 October 1, 1979 moved to Tocumen Airport when the terminal closed. The former kitchen became a Drive-Inn in January 1950 and the coffee shop was later con- verted to a vending site. The electric door device was removed in 1952, perhaps because the doors opened inward into the building and Canal Zone fire regulations require that doors in public buildings open outward, The bar had been transferred earlier to the Hotel Washington. Five directors have served as ad- ministrators of the Civil Affairs Bureau over a period of nearly 30 years. Col. Richardson Selee (retired) was named the first director when the first reorganization of the Panama Canal and Panama Railroad operating units was made in July 1950. When Selee left the Canal in October 1953, Henry L. Donovan was ap- pointed to succeed him and served until his retirement in August 1961. Bernhard I. (Emo) Everson was the third Civil Affairs director and served until October 1973, when he retired. He was succeeded by Francis A. Castles who retired in February 1977 and Fred A. Cotton was appointed the fifth and last Civil Affairs director. With the disappearance of the Canal Zone Government upon entry into force of the Panama Canal The stained glass medallion signifies that the building was once an airport. Treaty, title of the Civil Affairs Building has been transferred to the Republic of Panama. The Treaty, however, provides for the Panama Canal Commission to use certain office space within the building during the period of transition for activities related to the management, operation or maintenance of the Pan- ama Canal. The Treaty also allows the Commission to operate and maintain the public library-museum, enabling the library to offer full scope library services from the building. In accordance with the Agreement, the Police, Fire and Canal Protection division headquarters will remain in the building from 12 to 14 months, until new headquarters are readied for Civil Affairs Building "old-timers" listen attentively as Library-Curator them in the former Balboa House- Beverly Williams (1951) tells her longtime coworkers the story wares Building. These divisions are of the oil painting of the Half Way House that hangs on the second floor. sharing the building with Panama From left, Rhoda Fox (License Section, 1950), Peggy Zeimetz Government offices including Pan- (Director's Office, 1953). Billy Hultin. Director's Office, 1961), ama's main municipal traffic court and Cecilia Vaz (Schools, 1951), and Doris Etchberger (Schools, 1949). Panama's licensing and registrations "Old-timer" Katherine Melanson (License Section, 1951) was not present offices. for the picture taking. The Panama Canal Review 21 By Janet Len-Rios THE FIRST CANAL-SUPPORT tion of Congress, Ancon Hospital was hospital on the Isthmus of Pan- renamed in memory of Maj. Gen. ama was L'Hospital Central du William Crawford Gorgas, the first Panama built by the French Canal Chief Sanitary Officer of the Canal Company in 1882 at Ancon near the Zone, for his work in ridding the present site of the Logistics Building. Isthmus of the Aedes aegypti mos- The latest major hospital construction quito, the vector of the dread yellow in the Canal Zone was the completion fever which had taken such a terrible in 1977 of the pylons added to the toll in human suffering and death Main Building of Gorgas Hospital to during the early Canal construction absorb the destructive forces of days. earthquakes. The advent of World War II brought an urgent The change from French to Amer- need for ex- panded medical services ican administration brought a change to facilities already taxed by an influx of personnel in name to L'Hospital Central du to work on the third locks project. Panama in 1905 when it was, by gubernatorial decree, renamed Ancon Existing facilities were enlarged and hospitals Hospital. were also built on the various military bases. Modernization has Canal Zone medical facilities have, continued and the present Main since the beginning, been staffed by Building of Gorgas Hospital was outstanding medical personnel who completed in 1965. have become particularly well known In recent years needs have again in the field of tropical medicine. The changed and medical services have hospital at Ancon has had its own been gradually consolidated at the laboratory since 1905. two main hospitals—Gorgas on the With the close of the Canal con- Pacific and Coco Solo on the Atlantic. struction period and the concomitant Flexibility and change have been to decrease in workforce operational bywords for medical services in the levels, of the buildings in the many Canal Zone. With this history, it spawling complex at Ancon, by that should come as no surprise that yet rather run-down anyway, were time another change is in store. On longer so a smaller, more no needed; October 1, with the implementation modern and more centralized facility of the treaty, jurisdiction over Canal Hos- was planned. The "new" Ancon Zone medical facilities will transfer to pital was completed in April of 1919. the United States Department of In March of 1928, by Joint Resolu- Defense. Aerial view of Gorgas Hospital on the Pacific side of the Isthmus and, History of C.Z. Hospitals at right, Coco Solo Hospital on the Atlantic side. A Chronology of Change October 1, 1979 22 The gi**^L Panama Canal Review 23 ALTHOUGH ORIGINALLY By September of 1914, when the a handwritten note saying the lower considered the "permanent transfer to the "new" Administration floor was to be used as a District Administration Building," this con- Building at Balboa Heights was Court. crete block building at the foot of completed, only the offices of the In December the Quartermaster Ancon hill served that purpose less Special Attorney, the legal depart- recommended that the former than a decade, before becoming ment and a branch pay office Sanitary Office on the first floor headquarters of the U.S. District be used as a courtroom and that Court for the Canal Zone. the second and third floors be The rambling three-story land- converted into high class bachelor mark with a striking view of Panama quarters to "afford us some relief was first intended as the permanent Court Comes for the congestion which has existed residence for the Canal Zone for a long time at Ancon." In July governor. The house, of he advised that no repairs whose com- To Order in 1915 pleted cost a report of the Isthmian be made until it was decided what Canal Commission estimated at was to be done with the building. around $200,000, was to have had The Ballroom In any case extensive renovations 15 bedrooms, each with its own were carried out and the offices of bath, a roof garden and a 55 by 48 the U.S. District Court moved in foot drawing room. Between 12 and February of 1916. The courtroom 15 servants would have been was the large room at the front of necessary to keep it up. remained. The following year the the building that had originally been In late 1906, before anything but headquarters of the United States intended as the ballroom of the its exterior was completed, Chief troops in the Canal Zone was Governor's residence. The old Engineer Stevens ordered that it be temporarily located on the second District courthouse in the rear converted to an Administration floor. of the Ancon police station was Building, and by January of 1908 Exactly when it was decided to turned over to the Christian Science it was ready for l.C.C. officials to convert the building to its present organization. move in. The first occupants were use is not clear. A memo to the Following implementation of the chiefs of the Civil Administration Governor from the Constructing the new Panama Canal treaty the Department; the Division of Posts, Quartermaster dated November 24, U.S. District Court will continue Customs and Revenues; and the 1914, authorizing repairs and to hold session in this building Secretary of the Commission. alterations costing $29,000 bears for a 30-month transition period. 24 October 1, 1979 w Tiffany's then made the outsized device for embossing the seal on official documents which has been hard at work for the past 63 years. But the Tiffany color design for the Canal Zone Seal seal, which is still on hand in the Administration Building, is in many ways markedly different from the one Retired But so familiar to us. It consists only of a shield with a ribbon below; there is no border. The Spanish galleon shown Replicas Abound passing through the Canal in the lower part of the shield is brown and flies an r orange-and-white flag. The banks of By Pandora Gerard Aleman the Canal are brown, with green grass, the Executive Secretary, the im- and the water is blue, showing a GEN. GEORGE W. DAVIS, pression of the seal has attested the MAJ. yellow-gold reflection from the slightly , first Governor of the Canal authenticity and validity of official Zone, is said to have remarked in 1905 acts. that the Seal of the Canal Zone would Through the years, the Executive be a fixture on the Isthmus "for all Secretary and his staff have had plenty time." His words have an ironic ring of opportunity to flex their muscles in today, as the Canal Zone is erased the exercise of this official function. from maps of the world and the seal The seal and signature have been itself is eased into retirement. affixed to as many as 5,000 documents Representations of the seal have a year, from parole and pardon been a common sight on the Isthmus, documents to notary public com- displayed on arm patches of the Canal missions. Zone Police, on some official cars, on a Having once decided to create a pillar outside the rotunda in the seal, the Commission cast about for Administration Building, on the Gov- an appropriate design. The origins of ernor's flag, on stationery, forms, and the seal are somewhat cloudy, but it postage stamps, and even on "license appears that both Governor Davis plates" created by the Panama Canal and Gaillard Hunt, a former State Society of Florida to help identify to Department official, had a hand in the each other Canal retirees living in the design, and that some characteristics United States. Hand-painted replicas were inherited from the French canal have been presented to such dis- builders. tinguished visitors as Congressmen, In 1905, Governor Davis wrote: the Panama Canal Board of Directors, "The motif of my design was, first, to the Industrial War College, and comply with the law —second, to give foreign diplomats. it an essential interoceanic canal Creation of the seal was, one might character, for the United States has say, a gesture of faith in the Canal but one errand at Panama—to make a enterprise, for when it was conceived canal, to join the seas for the benefit of the Panama Canal was still a mos- mankind —and I, therefore, adopted a quito-ridden, rain-drenched dream (or motto expressive of that idea." nightmare!). "Of course," he continued, "it is well The Isthmian Canal Commission known that M. DeLesseps adopted a declared in 1904 that "the Executive motto for his [French Canal] Com- pany, the idea of which was that the Secretary . . . shall be the custodian of the seal of the Government of the continents were divided for the benefit Canal Zone, and shall attest such acts of mankind." of the Governor as are required by law In 1905, "Messrs. Tiffany and to be done and performed under said Company," of New York City, sub- seal." mitted several designs for the seal to This has been the real job of the the Department of State and the official seal, the embossing device Isthmian Canal Commission. On Mr. whose home since 1906 has been the Hunt's recommendation, one was Executive Secretary's office: to au- adopted the following year after the Replicas appear on Traci Cotton's thenticate official and legal docu- Commission chairman changed the track medal, plate and bronze plaque particularly to in original word "earth" to "land"and ments, those be used by Artist Alwyn Sprague; and on made the sails of the Spanish galleon jurisdictions other than the Canal retail store items displayed by Viola smaller. Zone. Together with the signature of Dixon, left, and Beverly Kinsey. The Panama Canal Review 25 orange sky. Below is a light-blue the version with the typographic error be found with the time, energy, and ribbon bearing the motto "The Land reads, high banks, all purpose." "two skill to do it. Divided; The World United" in (Imagine the quandary of an artist Although most have guided them- metallic-gold letters. confronted with the task of depicting selves by Kwai Ben's design, the So the seal might have remained, if "all purpose" banks!) careful eye will detect that each artist's President Woodrow Wilson had not in inventiveness and, perhaps, the colors 1915 issued an executive order Finally, in 1956, it was decided to he happened to have on hand establishing that the Governor of the settle definitively the question of the influenced his rendition. Panama Canal should have a distinc- proper color scheme. Employees of the Architectural of the One will see blue banks and blue tive flag, bearing the seal, for use in his Branch Division water with white waves; sunsets official capacity. His executive order Engineering painted designs President Wilson's descrip- ranging from dull orange-and-yellow gives the first officially published based on to bright red; flags description of the seal: tion. Of these, Acting Gov. Herman and of various colors unfurled atop the galleon's "The seal consists of a shield, W. Schull Jr., selected illustrator Franklin rendition as the mast in short, the range of variation showing in base a Spanish galleon of Kwai Ben's — most faithful execution of the official that distinguishes the hand-painted the Fifteenth Century under full sail description. artifact from the mass-produced. coming on between two high banks, all purpure, the sky yellow with the glow If you're lucky enough to come into Searching for a bold, striking design of sunset; in the chief are the colors of the possession of one of these worthy of the seal, Kwai Ben had done the arms of the United States. Under reproductions, treasure it for the 20 different color schemes. But one the shield is the motto: 'The land "original" it is. " remained his favorite throughout. It divided; the world united!' was a simplified scheme, with the From the time the seal was adopted, There are obvious discrepancies ship's hull, the water, and the Canal there have been hundreds of letters between President Wilson's descrip- official banks all purple. He gave the seal a from collectors of seals, asking tion and Tiffany's execution of the blue circular border bearing the words for an impression, and from those who design. Hence, as the official Histor- "Seal of the Canal Zone Isthmus of want to reproduce the seal —in books, ical Description of the Seal of the Panama" in golden-yellow letters. His on souvenirs, on handkerchiefs and favorite turned out to be Acting shirts, in needlework. With the Governor Schull's as well. ratification of the Panama Canal Treaty of 1977, collectors intensified Even though Kwai Ben's color their efforts to corner the market on scheme was adopted 23 years ago, Canal Zone memorabilia — with spe- and even though he for a time faithfully cial emphasis on any item, from molas reproduced those colors when paint- to stamps, bearing a representation of ing replicas for VIP gifts, still not every the seal. seal you see will conform to the official Such activity accompanies the color scheme. passing of an era. The Seal of the A limited number of epoxy repro- Canal Zone is obsolete. One cannot ductions of the seal were made from a but hope, though, that elements of the press designed by the Army Map seal may be reborn in some new Service in Washington, D.C., and device to be adopted by the Panama hand-painted on the Isthmus in 1969 Canal Commission, just as the dream for use as VIP gifts. It was one of these symbolized by the seal lives on in the that found a place outside the reality of an interoceanic Canal that rotunda. Since that time, other blanks parts the Americas and unites the Dorothy Cogwell uses the Tiffany have been painted by whoever could world. embossing device to affix the seal to an official document. The 29- Year-Old Panama Canal Co. Canal Zone says, "for years, color reproductions of the seal proved Seal Becomes A Part History troublesome with mistakes being of made in the arrangement of the white and red colors in the bars of the chief The Seal of the Panama Canal Company was created following the and in various shadings." reorganization of the Panama Canal and the Panama Railroad Company To make matters worse, as the operating units in July 1950. Designed by the Engineering Division, the Seal official description was reprinted over depicts a lower locks chamber of the Canal with the bow of a ship of the the years an error crept in (it was Panama Line in the upper chamber behind a closed gate. Inscribed on the immortalized on the brass plaque Seal is "The Panama Canal Company 1950." This Seal along with that below the sea! outside the rotunda). of the Canal Zone Government becomes part of Panama Canal history Whereas President Wilson speaks of following the establishment of the new U.S. Government Agency, the "two high banks, all purpure" {pur- Panama Canal Commission, which will operate the waterway following pure being a heraldic term for purple), implementation of the treaty. 26 October 1, 1979 New Panama Canal Medal A Symbol of Change The passing of an era is commemorated in the bronze medal that has been issued to all permanent employees of the Panama Canal Company and Canal Zone Government who were on the rolls as of September 30, 1979, and have at least one year of service. The medal is IV4 inches in diameter to approximate the size of the Roosevelt Medal and is suspended from a bar bearing the aforementioned date. It features the seal of the Panama Canal Company on the front and the seal of the Canal Zone Government on the reverse side. The medals are serialized beginning with 00001. They have been distributed to employees with an accompanying certificate bearing the same serial number. The Panama Canal Company and Canal Zone Government Commemorative Medal was struck by the Medallic Art Company of Danbury, Connecticut. The scenes of Canal Zone life that appear on the certificates of appreciation are engraved by Dante A. Fiori, an audiovisual specialist for the Division of Schools. The Panama Canal Review 27 Medals Chronicle History of Waterway HUMAN ACCOMPLISHMENTS, French, the medal features a bust of and show a map of the Isthmus on the President Roosevelt on one side and reverse. whether they be athletic en- of steamers passing celebrate deavors such as the Olympic Games a bird's eye view To the Canal's Golden through Cut on the other. Anniversary in of the Greeks or engineering feats Culebra 1964, a medal was struck in silver bronze. such as the building of a waterway to The Panama Canal Completion and On the front the medal incorporates the four join the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, Medal commemorating the opening points of the have always been recognized or com- of the waterway on August 15, 1914, compass and a shield, inside of which a ship sails through memorated by a symbol. In the era of is struck in bronze and has a very Gaillard Cut. the reverse is the the Greeks and the Romans, the laurel unusual design. On one side the medal On seal of the Canal Zone. wreath was used to distinguish in- depicts a ship passing through the The National dividuals of achievement. In our day, Canal with Columbia, the female per- Commemorative So- ciety struck a silver coin-medal in the medal serves this purpose. sonification of the United States, 1971 standing at the bow. Her arms are to commemorate once again the On at least five other occasions outstretched with each hand resting opening of the Panama Canal and to in the 74 years that have elapsed since on globes of the eastern and western honor Chief Engineer George W. the United States undertook to hemispheres and a ribbon stretching Goethals. On one side is a bust of succeed where the French had failed, Goethals and on the side is across her body is inscribed in Latin other a medals have been struck that had the "Columbia Unites the Oceans." ship in the Cut. Panama Canal as their motif. The medals of the Panama Canal On the reverse is the seal of the chronicle the highlights of human ac- The Roosevelt Medal, IV2 inches in Canal Zone and a statement cer- complishment on the Isthmus and diameter, was issued beginning in tifying that the medal was carried on preserve them for posterity in the 1909 to civilian U.S. citizens who had the vessel making the first transit of beauty of metal. But the Canal itself completed at least two years of satis- the Panama Canal. in all its concrete splendor is the living, factory service with the Canal con- In 1962, the opening of the $20 functioning monument to those first struction forces or the Panama Rail- million Thatcher Ferry Bridge which visionaries who dared to dream of a road Company on the Isthmus spans the Pacific entrance to the waterway to connect the oceans; to between May 4, 1904 and Decem- Canal was commemorated with a the thousands more whose sweat and ber 31, 1914. 1 2 medal. The 2 / inch bronze and silver blood brought the dream to comple- Made of bronze and copper "French medals feature the bridge on the front, tion; and to the men and women today junk," scrap metal from the equip- and the reverse is blank. The whose labor keeps it operating at peak ment that had been abandoned by the aluminum medals are an inch smaller efficiency 65 years later. 28 October 1, 1979 VISITORS DRIVING THROUGH Balboa for the first time are Celebrated Symbol apt to slow down for a second look when they first spot the Statue of Liberty on Gorgona Road. Most are A Surprise to Sightseers surprised to find a replica of this well known U.S. symbol so far south. The Canal Zone statue, which faces the Balboa Fire Station, was donated to the Canal Zone Boy Scout Council in May 1951 by Morris Hoffman, a Kansas City, Mo. contractor and scouting enthusiast. The original Statue of Liberty was formally presented on May 21, 1884 to the American ambassador in Paris by Ferdinand de Lesseps, head of the Franco-American Union, at that time at work on the ill-fated French effort to build a Canal in Panama. The idea of a replica of the statue originated with Jack Whitaker, a Kansas City businessman and Scouter of long standing, during the 1951 "Strengthen the Arm of Freedom" crusade of the Boy Scouts of America. l A number of the 7 /2 foot high copper and bronze statues were made in a Chicago factory and presented to Boy Scout councils in 39 states. They are found gracing the grounds of eight state capitols, the lawns of 145 Court Houses, and 206 of the statues are located in Scout camps, school grounds and public buildings. In addition to the Canal Zone, the replicas also are found in the Philippines, Guam, Honolulu and Puerto Rico. Although the Governor had approved the installation site in the triangle of land bound by La Boca Road, Balboa Road and the parking lot in front of the Balboa Police Station, there were no funds for the work and the statue was placed on display at the Canal Zone Library. When funds, mainly donations from the Boy Scout com- munity, were available, the statue was installed at the selected site and dedicated on May 30, 1953. The widening of Balboa Road made it necessary to move the statue to another area. It was relocated in May 1972 to its present site where it is often photographed by tourists. The Panama Canal Review 29 For A Quarter of A Century A Balboa Landmark THE GOETHALS MONUMENT which stands at the foot of the 113 steps which lead up to the front of the Administration Building was 25 years old this year. After a quarter of a century as a Balboa landmark, it is such an accepted part of the land- scape that even old-timers have trouble remembering when it was not there. Yet, there was much controversy about the design and site for the monument and it took more than 25 years of discussion, delays, indecision, and planning before the memorial to the "hero of the Panama Canal" was erected in the Canal Zone. It was finally dedicated March 31, 1954. Efforts to build a monument to per- petuate the memory of General Goethals went on for years and formal plans were presented in May 1928 at the annual meetings of the various Panama Canal societies in the United States. The many years that elapsed between the planning and fulfillment of the project were not due to lack of enthusiasm. World circumstances, the depression of the early 1930s and World War II were the main delaying factors. Through the years, various pro- posals for a suitable site and for the memorial itself and other recognitions of Goethals were presented. Resolu- tions were introduced in the House of Representatives to change the name of Gatun Lake, Dam, Spillway and Locks to Goethals Lake, Dam, Spillway and Locks. Another sugges- tion was to change the name of the town of Gamboa to Goethals. A Goethals memorial library was sug- gested as were memorial museums, statues including a Symbolic in concept, the monument rising from a reflecting pool 65 feet buildings and for the rotunda in the Adminis- in diameter, represents the Continental Divide. The basins on each side statue Builan'.g. All of these ideas represent the Panama Canal locks with water pouring from them to join tration discarded as unsuitable. the waters of Gatun Lake with the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The shaft were of marble is 56 feet high, 20 feet wide and 5 feet thick. It was designed On August 25, 1935, Congress by Shaw, Metz and Dolio, an architectural firm of Chicago with the firm appropriated $160,000 to build a mem- of Mendez and Sander of Panama as associate architects and was orial and President Franklin D. built by Constructora Martinz of Panama at a cost of $152,299. Roosevelt named General John J. 30 October 1, 1979 Pershing to head the Goethals Mem- orial Commission. One suggestion given considerable attention at that time was a memorial at the Cristobal mole at the Atlantic entrance of the Canal. Another was a shaft or obelisk at one or both en- trances to the Canal. President Roosevelt favored the proposal of a shaft with a beacon light to be placed atop one of the two hills in the Canal At right: Workmen install Zone. steel reinforcement for The Cristobal site continued to be the base of the reviewed and discussed until World memorial. Below right: War II when the construction of the Monument begins to memorial was postponed for the take shape. Below: duration. More than 2,000 Still, efforts to give recognition to persons gather for the Goethals continued and in early 1943, dedication, many of them enjoying the a group of Canal employees who had comfort the Tivoli Guest served with him suggested a bronze of House wicker chairs. bust to be placed in the Governor's office. A letter was written to Tiffany and Company of New York asking if a bust about 12 inches high could be produced for $1,000 or less. Tiffany replied that it lacked the capability and called attention to a government regulation prohibiting the use of bronze as the metal was needed for the war effort. At about the same time, there was another movement to erect a 2' by 3' bronze memorial tablet "somewhere in the Canal Zone." It was to be made of "historic bronze," melted down old machine tools, that were used in the construction of the Canal. About 300 pounds were required for the pro- posed tablet that was to weigh about 150 pounds and was to be cast by Gorham of New York. In 1945, the ultimate tribute was suggested but Governor J. C. Mehaf- fey was strongly opposed to changing the name of the Panama Canal to Goethals Canal. After the war, the Goethals Mem- orial Commission was reactivated and interest was revived in the Cristobal site proposal which had been ap- proved by Presidents Roosevelt and Truman. Balboa, Miraflores, Gatun and the Fortified Islands were added Shaw of a Chicago architectural firm Balboa Elementary School. The Com- to the list of possible sites for the for a shaft of reinforced concrete with mission approved it on April 4, 1952 memorial, but by this time costs had an outside shell of precast concrete and when President Truman was risen markedly and efforts to have which would be simpler and less costly presented the proposal a few days funds increased by Congress were not than the proposed Cristobal design later, he approved it wholeheartedly. successful. and could be built with available funds. Because of the possible hazard to At a meeting of the Commission in After further discussions, the Com- low flying planes, the memorial site Washington on February 4, 1952, mission authorized the chairman to was moved to the foot of the Adminis- Chairman Ralph Budd presented a proceed with the Shaw design for a tration Building steps facing the tentative design prepared by Alfred monument in the circle in front of the Prado. The Panama Canal Review 31 Work progressed on schedule and revered the memory of General old-timers at the Goethals Exhibit at was expected to be completed on Goethals. the Little Gallery in the Civil Affairs invocation by Rev. Building. There were many activities August 1, 1953 with August 15, the Following the including teenage baseball in Canal's 40th anniversary, tentatively Alexander Shaw of the Balboa Union games which grandsons of the old-timers set as the date to hold the dedication Church and Governor Seybold's in- ceremony. The date was postponed troductory remarks and the reading participated. sent by President however, until the dry season, and of the message At the dedication, Governor Sey- Eisenhower, who had designated that Governor J. S. Seybold appointed bold said, "The Canal itself is a great for Canal employees, the a Goethals Memorial Dedication day a holiday and lasting memorial to him and to the honorable Maurice Thatcher, pre- Program Committee. skill and perseverance of a great army sented $25 U.S. Savings bonds to the A rendition of "Stars and Stripes of men who shared in its construction, winners of the Canal Zone schools Forever" by the joint Balboa-Cristobal this marble shaft is a visible mark of contest on Goethals' contribu- high school band opened the formal essay the respect and honor we pay to him to the Panama Canal. Ms. Emily dedication ceremony. A half-hour tions and to his associates in the achieve- directed the La Boca Alumni concert by the band preceded the Butcher ment of a task of herculean propor- Glee Club in a rendition of "American official ceremony as more than 2,000 tions and of immeasurable benefit to ." humanity . . In the formal presentation of the memorial, Dr. Whitehead spoke of events that led to the construction of the Panama Canal and after lauding Goethals' life and work in Panama as a model of inspirational leader- ship, he said, "The Congress of the United States authorized the erection of this Memorial to General George W. Goethals in commemoration of his signally distinguished services in con- nection with the construction and operation of the Canal. By authority vested in me by the Goethals Me- morial Committee, under whose direction the wishes of Congress have been complied with, I hereby dedicate ^r this Memorial to all nations and to all people." In his message read by Governor Seybold, President Eisenhower said, - in part, "it is indeed fortunate that a man of the stature of General Goethals Balboa Elementary School students gaze in wonder at the "snow." was available to lead our construction A 1956 Halloween prank, it was produced by adding detergent to the force in this great undertaking and to water flowing into the basins. set the pattern for its successful oper- ation. It is only fitting that we should persons gathered for the dedication of Ode." The Honorable Richard E. attempt to perpetuate his memory by the monument honoring the man Whitehead, author of the book "Our erecting a memorial near the site of whose remarkable leadership, ad- Faith Moved Mountains," a member the humanitarian enterprise to which ministrative ability and devotion to the of the Goethals Memorial Com- he was so selflessly dedicated." task contributed to the successful mission, made the formal presentation completion of the waterway. of the Memorial Monument as Dr. In addition to commemorating the Among the official guests were old- Thomas R. Goethals stepped forward outstanding contributions of General timers who forty years earlier had and unveiled the memorial to his Goethals to the commerce of the worked on the Canal during the famous father. world, the ceremony highlighted the Goethals era; members of the Goethals In addition to the formal dedication, 50th anniversary of the taking over of Memorial Commission; members of an elaborate program of events was the construction of the Canal by the the legislative committee having juris- prepared for the old-timers, some in United States from the French canal diction over Canal affairs; former their late 70's and early 80's, who came company. The year 1954 also marked Canal Zone governors; Goethals' from all parts of the United States to the 40th anniversary of the appoint- son; Maurice Thatcher, the only sur- honor their hero. ment of Goethals as the first Gov- viving member of the Isthmian Canal Although not a part of the official ernor of the Canal Zone and 47th Commission; the President of Panama dedication program, Mary Pickford anniversary of his appointment as and other distinguished guests; Canal and her husband Buddy Rogers, who chairman and chief engineer of the employees, and many others who were visiting the Isthmus, greeted the Isthmian Canal Commission. 32 October 1, 1979 C.Z. Stamp Book THE BOOK, "CANAL ZONE Always popular with collectors, Postage Stamps," which has Canal Zone stamps have attracted A Collector's Item been out of print, is on sale again. special attention lately following the The Canal Zone Postal Service has announcement that the Canal Zone reprinted the book to meet the Postal Service is to be dissolved on demand which has developed with implementation of the treaty which the increasing interest in Canal gives Panama jurisdiction in the Zone stamps. Canal Zone. However, it is not just the stamp collectors who are buying the book. Customers include those who are collecting all types of Canal Zone memorabilia and others who find it a handy reference book on the construction of the Canal and the development of the Canal Zone. Reflecting on the book's historic value, Gov. William E. Potter, who served from 1956 to 1960, wrote in the foreword: "The postal history and stamps of the Canal Zone Government vividly reflect the early- trials, heartbreaking failures and glorious completion of the Panama Canal. These bits of postage depict the ingenious planners, scenes of their work and the determined 'canal diggers' accomplishments." "This book is an account of the birth and growth of the Canal Zone Government's postal system and its stamps. I trust it will help us to know and build upon our great heritage." The 452-page paperback volume, which was prepared by the late Judge Edward I. P. Tateman, Magistrate of the \\ ..'•"'11 Cristobal Court, was issued in 1961. The reprint of V-. the book and a supplement, which covers the period up to the present, £et:\ are now available through the General Services Division. At left: The book, "Canal Zone Postage " s Stamps, is displayed along with three of the early stamps honoring Canal Zone construction day figures. President Theodore Roosevelt, William C. Gorgas and George W. Goethals; and the last stamp to be issued by the Canal Zone Government, the new 15-cent stamp, which was made from a painting by Alwyn Sprague, well-known local artist. In the centerfold: An assortment of items imprinted with the Canal Zone and Panama Canal Company seals and other items that were issued by the Company Government, all of which will be discontinued on October 1, are displayed on the door of a Company official car The Panama Canal Review 23 — Nostalgia Rides the Rails as An Era Draws to A Close to bridge of dirt trains and vastly increased com- Long accustomed adapting to the would open up the whole Pacific. The Gold Rush. In 1851, after 20 months of spanned by a 625-foot, six-span RAILROAD IS vicissitudes of life, the Panama Rail- boiler iron. And on went the rail- mercial traffic, it offered its passengers THE PANAMA railroaders chose Manzanillo Island labor, the rails reached only 8 miles of is coast an unparalleled view of one of the one of a kind. For more than road now weathering yet another —a square mile of virgin mangrove into the jungle, to Gatun. In October road, until in 1855 it went from change. bottomless wonders of the modern world in the 70 years, it has been the only year- Under the terms of the new swamp — as the Atlantic terminus, and of that year, two steamers were beset to coast, 47.51 miles over Panama Canal Treaty, near impene- making. By 1912, the railroad line had round passenger and freight operation the railroad transformed it into what was to by a hurricane that drove them from swamps and through Ancon Hill been relocated on higher ground and of its kind run by the United States passes, along with its supporting become the city of Colon. the mouth of the Chagres (the usual trable jungle, till it neared operations, to towers of the original line was abandoned to Government. The Isthmus' most the Government of It killed thousands of men. The con- place of debarkation) to shelter in and the sparkling cathedral way for the waters of the Canal effective means of mass transit, the Panama. struction workforce was drawn from Navy Bay. From their anchorage, the city of Panama. make railroad In 1881 it had helped create. Fittingly, the has carried a good share of The Panama Railroad has seen a lot the four corners of the earth the gold-rabid passengers spied the It made the Canal possible. 1914, the freight moving of history. it bought by inaugural transit on August 15, between Colon and In fact, has been one of England, France. Ireland, Germany, work train, and there was no keeping the Panama Railroad was by the Panama Railroad Panama—about evenly divided among the chief actors in the drama of the Austria, China, India, Jamaica, Co- then back. Since that day, the the French canal company, and when as made the Canal organization, railroad steamship Ancon. U.S. military Isthmus of Panama. lombia. Of the perhaps 12,000 of these Atlantic port of Panama has been that enterprise failed the that day, as before it, the installations in the Canal Zone, and It gave birth to a city. In 1847, who died of malaria, yellow fever, or Colon. faded away to "two streaks of rust and Since Panama—and has also handled most William Henry Aspinwall, The U.S. Government Panama Railroad has carried on its a New York other hardships of wilderness life and It conquered the mighty Chagres a right of way." of the container cargo between the the proud tradition of service to the merchant, raised eyebrows by setting work, 6,000 found their final resting River. The river— 300 feet wide and acquired it in 1904, and under two ports. In fiscal year 1978, it trans- Stevens Canal, to Panama, and to the world. out to build a railroad across the place at the railroad cemetery at sometimes rising 40 feet overnight- Canal's chief engineer John F. ported 66, 136 passengers and 184, 162 to life again. An era draws to a close, now, but Isthmus and combine sea and land Mount Hope. swept away the first bridge at Barba- the railroad sprang tons of freight. Railroad goes on. routes into It handle an endless stream the Panama one great system that played its part in the California coas. But by late 1853 it had been Rebuilt to 36 October 1, 1979 The Panama Canal Review 37 —— Canal Zone Forests . . . By Dr. Nathan B. Gale and Dolores E. Suisman FEW URBAN DWELLERS SHARE as much of their living space with jungle animals as do those who live in the Canal Zone. It is because we see these wild creatures so frequently that we take them so for granted. When ecologists speak of endangered species, we think —if we think at all that they are talking about exotic creatures that inhabit forbidding jungles we dare not enter. The key to understanding is to remember the animals we are in- timately familiar with, the creatures of the wild that come so timidly into man's territory: deer that emerge at newly emerged ocean floor created a Zone that today is the last safe haven the forest edge at dusk to search for land bridge, the Isthmus of Panama. for many endangered and threatened food, then flee back into jungle hiding This fortuitous geological event species. places at the approach of a car; a created the narrow strip of land that Because of restrictions on public family of neques we pause to watch one day would attract explorers on access to the Panama Canal water- but too late, the mother has been their way to the Orient, plunderers of shed and defense areas, much of the warned. She bristles, looks right and Incan treasures, travelers to Califor- Canal Zone is an "island of forest" in left, and with her offspring, scampers nia gold fields, engineers building a the midst of a generally cleared coun- back into the forest; the armadillo we railroad and a canal —and wildlife in tryside. This has helped preserve an come upon on an evening walk; an abundance. The land bridge heaved astonishing variety of plants and iguana lazing in the sun on our door- up from the ocean floor came to be at animals in what is probably the most step; the hummingbird flitting from least as important to the birds, extensive readily accessible forest flower to flower outside our office mammals, and reptiles of the Amer- area in Middle America. window; birds of many colors and icas as it has been to the commerce The continued existence of these kinds we toss bread to. of man. forests is ecologically important. They These animals and birds we know Land dwelling animals used this must be left unscathed if the birds and enjoy are some of the very ones bridge to move into better grazing and and animals that inhabit or seasonally ecologists are worrying about when browsing areas, and to search for visit them are to survive. Many forest- they warn of the need for conservation more abundant or easier-to-catch dwelling animals have special food and preservation of Canal Zone forest prey. Many found the route from tem- requirements and are dependent areas. For the Zone is a biological perate to tropical climate to their upon unique habitats. It may be dif- island of vegetation, animals, birds liking, settled here, and developed ficult —or impossible —for them to and insects that inhabit its un- diverse species. relocate. Many birds also are limited disturbed jungles and streams. In its Some of these — bats, marsupials in their choice of habitat or migration lush rain forests, millions of creatures and sloths —are still here. Some are route by their poor long-range flying live and everything that lives in the already gone forever, like the giant ability. jungle dies, decays and becomes food ground sloth which competed suc- It is rare in Latin America to find for new life. cessfully with the environment until areas set aside for biological reserves It all began about 5.7 million years about a thousand years ago when it or national parks. But the ecological ago, when a series of geographical became extinct. significance of the Zone's forests was groans and tortuous twistings of the With the Canal came the Canal recognized within a decade of the 38 October 1, 1979 Canal's opening; in 1923, Barro Colo- The Isthmus of Panama offers food rado was set aside as a biological re- and shelter to both North and South servation. Measuring about six square American bird migrants. The concen- *fc miles in area, the island is the largest trating effect of the narrow to- °* in Gatun Lake. pography on migratory routes offers a The In 1930, the Canal Zone Forest and greater variety of avian life, when most re- O- Wildlife Preserve (Madden Forest) added to the native birds, than any cent Smith- was established, and hunting, injuring other area of comparable size in the sonian Tropical % or molesting wild life; and cutting world. Research Institute down, destroying or damaging timber Five hundred sixty-two species of publication, a nearly ^^ or plants was prohibited in its 3,500 birds have been recorded from Canal 1,000-page volume en- acres. Zone waters, shorelines, and forested titled Flora of Barro Colo- More recently, hunting was pro- areas. This is only 80 less than are rado Island by Thomas Croat, hibited on the land along the Pipeline found in all of North America north of has been 10 years in the making Road beyond Gamboa. Mexico. The highest one-day bird The author indicates that over 1,300 The importance of Barro Colorado census recorded in the world was species of "vascular plants," which Island, the immediate area of the west reported last year from the Atlantic have a specialized conducting system, bank of the Canal, and the Pipeline side of the Canal Zone when 354 are known from the island. A recent Road area is illustrated by the number species were counted. collection of 200 plants from the forest of species protected by law that live The continued undisturbed exis- canopy included three species new to there. Sixty-three percent of the tence of these areas could be justified the island and one new to Central animal species protected by Pan- solely on the basis of their research America. amanian game laws have been seen value. A Smithsonian Tropical Re- If this area is to remain a safe harbor there. The search Institute publication lists U.S. Endangered Species 2,071 for plant, animal and bird life, their Act lists 157 species of mammals en- books and papers (through 1976) jungle home must remain undis- dangered throughout the world. Forty written in the most part by scientists turbed. If the jungles are disturbed, live working (26 percent) in North and South on Barro Colorado Island, in the animals will be destroyed, for, on America, and of these, eight are found the Canal Zone or in the Republic of a jungle "island," they have nowhere on Barro Colorado Island and in the Panama. The significance of data pro- else to go. Pipeline Road area. Thus five percent vided by this enormous volume of The bush dog and the giant anteater of all endangered mammals in the literature is extraordinary. may be nearing extinction in Panama. Jaguars, ocelots, margays and sloths, monkeys, marmosets and coatimundi, raccoons, squirrels and kinkajous, crocodiles and caimans may face the same fate. The rich array of flora and fauna in the Canal Zone is a legacy from a passing era. One hopes they will become a living testimonial to wise men who, appreciating the legacy, will work to resolve the conflict between the pressure for rapid economic development in the Canal area on the one hand, and the need to preserve the natural environment to ensure the continued existence of this seren- dipitous jungle on the other. world and 20 percent of those in North and South America occur in these two areas. The land along the Pipeline Road is wonderful an area of relatively undisturbed tro- bird pical lowland wet forest which con- tains 240 species of birds which are is the tro- not found outside the American pelican . . pic . An additional 35 North Amer- ican species use this area as a migratory route to South America. The Panama Canal Review 39 a safe haven for animals . . . 40 October 1, 1979 The rare tiger heron, the long-tongued tamandua, the golden frog, the exotic heliconia and Charlie the crocodile are a few of the living things that thrive in the Canal Zone's tropical forests. The Panama Canal Review 41 plants, birds and insects 42 October 1, 1979 A delicate butterfly resting on a branch; multicolored macaws out for a stroll; the hairy sloth whose face we rarely see; stately egrets fishing in the surf; creatures great and small each have a niche in our tropical environment. The Panama Canal Review 43 ' I Af /ar /e/f. fhe sideu/a/k on Heights Road across from the Governor's House is awash with the blossoms of the Guaya- can. Center, the view of the Admin- istration Building through the branches of the Pink Cassia is reminiscent of Washington, D.C. at cherry blossom Flowering Trees time, while the purple Bouginvillea and the Royal Poinciana bring La Boca Road alive with color. At right, Flamboyant is another and very fitting name for the Royal Poinciana, seen through the window of a Gorgas Apartment- I *n&&f$ •' r As soon as the first permanent Canal Zone towns were completed, plans for planting trees to beautify the area began immediately. The Canal Record of May 5, 1915 reported that the horticulturist in charge of the landscaping was urging residents to join in the effort. He encouraged tasteful planting and proper community care to relieve the "glistening newness of the new concrete town of Balboa and eventually transform it into a beautiful dwelling place, delightful to live in." As a result of these plantings, there are always some trees that are in bloom in the Canal Zone; but it is during the dry season that the most spectacular exhibitions occur. The array of blossoms that suddenly appears on the local trees at this time rivals the splendor of spring in the temperate zone. On these pages are some of the many flowering trees that have transformed modest Canal Zone homes into places "delightful to live in." 44 October 1, 1979 The Panama Canal Review 45 Below, the dry season breezes stir the branches of the Yellow Poinciana at the foot of the Administration Building hill creating a blur of color. At top left, a man motorists traveling Gaillard Highway to Gamboa will come upon the native does not plant Jacaranda, a patch of purple in the green a tree for himself, midst of jungle. Below, the Royal Poinciana offers its shade to a family from the "fishbowl" area in Ancon. he plants it for At top right, a Flamboyant in Margarita posterity has become the resting place for a boy's kite, but not for long. Below, the center town is also beautified —Alexander Smith of by the P\nk Cassia. -•»•. .«3BFs' .'"• **" - « m: :yj «& ti! .>«k. « «f*"'*' ,. fP>». MMfe temporarily kills all sour taste buds Canal Zone's on the tongue so one can eat the sourest of lemons without the Garden slightest puckering of the lips. of And there is a profusion of orchids in almost limitless variety Eden with blooms that may last a single day or for two months and whose flower stalks may be a few inches long or 20 feet long. Above all there is Summit Garden's gift of a recuperative lift to There are the Talibot, giant of the spirit for those who will pause to palms, with 15-foot fan leaves; contemplate the wondrous cycles of stands of bamboo that grow as the delights of nature. LUXURIOUS GREEN GROWTH much as a foot in 24 hours; and the tree, in myriad of shades and "scramble eggs" from which textures, delicate tropical plants and natives make a dish they say tastes fascinating exotics are taken for just like scrambled eggs by boiling then frying the white of in Canal Zone, where and meat granted the Above: This orchid, which grows at the ripe fruit. they form a constant background Summit, is found in Mexico and many There are magosteens, a fruit for life itself. parts of South America. Below: The lily called the "queen of the tropics" Nonetheless, at Summit Gardens, pond, a favorite picnic spot. Bottom: described as tasting like a combina- life-long Zone residents are filled The sun shining through a bamboo all one's favorite fruits; with awe and curiousity to find tion of and forest creates a distinctively tropical "miraculous fruit" that aura. themselves in the midst of 300 acres the of nature's beauty gathered from almost every tropical and subtropical corner of the earth. Since the establishment in 1923 of the "Canal Zone Plant Introduction Gardens" to test, establish and distribute valuable plants, more than 15,000 plants of an endless assortment, size and shape have been introduced. Today, the Gardens have about 200 varieties of palms, some five acres of citrus trees, most of the flora native to the Isthmus and exotic fruit, flowering and economic plants from as far away as India, Sumatra, Malaya, Ceylon, China, Burma and Borneo and as near as Panama's neighbors in Central America. Not far inside the gardens is the Tropical Walk, designed for walking tours through the area where the heaviest concentration of plants compete for living space in a tropical rain forest. The entrance is lined with the fabulously beautiful Night-Blooming Cereus and with petrified wood formed when the Isthmus was under the sea. Scientists and industrialists have visited the gardens to observe experiments in the raising of teakwood or rubber or medicinal drugs and stayed to wonder at the strange display of nature's curios that man has gathered in this tropical garden. The Panama Canal Review 49 Era of the "SuperCarrier" 't Begins By Willie K. Friar THE TRANSIT OF THE BARBER Toba in March of this year signaled the arrival of the age of the "SuperCarrier," the newest concept in shipping. The first of the Barber Blue Sea Line's fleet of six, this extraordinarily Bartw versatile vessel is capable of carrying trailers, containers, and a great variety of other cargo by utilizing the most modern and sophiscated roll-on/roll- off cargo handling equipment available. The significant difference between this vessel and earlier designs is the hinged ramp that is as wide as a two- lane highway. It is this ramp at the stern of the ship that attracted so much interest during the transit of the Canal. Starting out with a minimum width of 40 feet and gradually increasing to 82 feet at the hinge, the huge, angled ramp allows unrestricted two-way traffic for moving cargo on and off the ship. With the capability for easier, safer and more efficiently controlled traffic movement, it is possible for the Barber Toba, to handle up to 800 tons of cargo an hour. The "Barber Toba" moves through Gaillard Cut on her maiden voyage. Above: The "Barber Toba" uses her ramp, which is as wide as a two-lane highway, to handle a variety of trailers and containers. At left: The gigantic hinged ramp is folded against the stern of the vessel as she moves through Miraflores Locks. modern instruments available today. estimated by its owners that it costs about $25,000 a day in operating This includes computerized anti- expenses to keep a ship like the collision radar, a satellite navigation Barber Toba in port. Depending on receiver, gyro compass, echo sounder, the weather, this ship and its sisters electromagnetic log, weather facsim- can move into a port, load or unload, ile, radio equipment and an alarm the ship's owners as Described by and leave in a matter of hours. system connected to 250 sensors for "the greatest cargo handling tool ever Another innovation on this ship is safe operation of the engine room. this has load invented," ramp a its containerized office. All loading and Although capable of carrying up to bearing capacity of 400 tons which is discharging operations are controlled 1,800 20- foot containers, 400 auto- equivalent to the weight of 50 sixty- by crew members operating from this mobiles and 2,150,000 cubic feet of passenger schoolbuses. special office. It is stored aboard baled cargo, the ship requires a crew Trailer cargo, known as roll-on/roll- the ship and lifted into place at quayside of only 27. Facilities for the crew (both off or "ro-ro" in the shipping trade, has near the stern ramp at each port to men and women) include a swimming become an increasingly popular way coordinate cargo handling activities. pool, exercise room, recreation room, of moving goods in many world ports Supervisors and other crew members library and private cabins with baths including those in the United States, drive around the vessel in four-wheel for each member of the crew. and Panama. The trailers are simply electric cars keeping in contact with When the Barber Toba, a Norwe- driven on an off the ships. the portside operations office by gian flag ship transited the Canal, she However, it is not the trailer walkie-talkies. was carrying mainly containerized carrying capability that is noteworthy The flexibility and versatility of cargo from the Far East including on the Barber Toba but the flexibility these SuperCarriers allows them to electronics, textiles, handicrafts, tile, of carrying and handling all types of transport all types of containers and cars, and yachts, from Japan, Hong cargo and being able to be completely rolling stock. Cars and other wheeled Kong, Taiwan, and Korea, to be self-sufficient in loading and dis- vehicles can be driven aboard and do transported to the United States. charging. The Barber Toba carries its not have to be boxed. After the ship leaves U.S. ports, it own fleet of forklifts, trailers, and The deck for carrying cars has a will head for the Middle East, with a gigantic crane, which can lift up to 40 special surface which prevents shifting different cargo which will be, for the tons. and eliminates damage during the most part, rolling stock including This capability makes it a valuable voyage. When cars are not being heavy machinery, and oil drilling means of transport for developing carried, this deck is hoisted up to equipment. countries in South America, the Far make room for more containers on A British, Norwegian, and Swedish East and the Middle East, where often the deck below. consortium, Barber Blue Sea is only limited cargo handling facilities It took nine months to build the investing nearly $200 million in a fleet are available. The fast loading and Barber Toba, which is 749 feet in of six of these advanced multi-purpose unloading capability is a great asset length and 105 feet in beam, at a cost vessels, which are to be regular also in ports, such as Miami, where of $33 million. It cost more than a customers of the Canal. crowded conditions make turnaround million dollars just to equip the engine The agent for Barber Blue Sea at and bridge which have the most time very important. It has been room the Canal is C. B. Fenton & Co. 52 October 1, 1979 One of the largest dipper dredges in the world, the "Rialto M. Christensen" works in Mamei Curve removing islands and widening the Canal to provide a safer passage for the increasing number of large ships. Below: Telephoto lens captures heavv traffic in Gaillard Cut and Pedro Miguel Locks. At right: A container ship in Gatun Locks and ships moving under the fog shrouded bridge that spans the Canal at Balboa. The Panama Canal Review 53 All Thafs Left Is Her Whistle MID McCULLOUGH pru! THE PATH By Robert H. Burgess BETWEEN SHE WAS A GRAND LADY IN her day. She had to be for selec- tion in the role she was to play in the THE SEAS opening of the Panama Canal. How- * * * * * I |^"S | * « * * * ever, she wasn't all that glamorous. THE CREATION OF THE Instead, she was just another of the hundreds of pieces of equipment which PANAMA CANAL*1870'1914 did the job thoroughly and helped bring the entire project to completion. She was a lowly tugboat which pulled m scows laden with mud and rock Hj - dredged from the Canal site from 1906 to its opening in 1914. Then she re- mained on the job in the Canal Zone for 16 more years helping to clear slides, dock ships, and numerous other tasks assigned to a craft of all Her brass fittings highly polished, the "Gatun" steamed ahead of the "Ancon" on the inaugural transit of the Canal August 15, 1914. Above: The "Gatun" can be seen clearly in the painting that appears on the dust jacket of the recent book about the Canal, "The Path Between the Seas." 54 October 1, 1979 trades. This was the steel tug Gatun some of her other assignments. which was given the honor of being the Inspection parties would board her to first vessel to transit any of the locks of view the progress of the work. And the Panama Canal. occasionally she was used to trans- Gatun started her career in 1902, port and transfer prominent members having been built that year by the of the Canal's staff and government well-known shipbuilding firm of Neafie officials. After Chief Engineer John & Levy of Philadelphia. Measuring F. Stevens resigned his job on 91 feet in length, she was originally March 31, 1907, he boarded the named H. B. Chamberlain and owned Gatun at Pier 11 at Cristobal to be The Gatun by Boot, Dailey & Irving, with a home taken to the liner Panama to return to port in New York. It is probable that the States. led the way her job was to shunt scows and barges Gatun was just an ordinary tug, around New York harbor and possibly nothing fancy about her makeup, but on opening day assist ships in docking— but not for her crew must have taken especial long. In 1906, as the United States was pride in her appearance. Photos taken the honor of being the first vessel to gaining momentum in developing the of her during her early years at Pan- pass through a set of the Canal locks. Canal, a search was made for floating ama reveal all her brass fittings She was cleaned up and for the equipment to assist in the monumen- glistening in the sun, the rims of her occasion bedecked with flags as she tal task. The Chamberlain was pur- portholes, the searchlight and bin- departed from Colon for the Gatun chased by the Isthmian Canal Com- nacle atop her pilothouse, door knobs Locks. Additional lifejackets had been mission, Atlantic Division, for $65,000 and locks, running lights, and fire hose placed around her main deck in an- and renamed Gatun. She was based nozzles. Around the topsides of her ticipation of the extra passengers she at the Atlantic end and assigned the hull and draped over her bow, were was to carry on that trip. Folding mundane but important job of towing large rope mats to protect her sides chairs were placed on her upper deck mud barges and shifting other equip- when she was working with the heavy, under a permanent canvas awning to ment. rugged scows and dredges. accommodate the dignitaries. But her There were other tugs in the Come the latter part of 1913, the rugged rope mats remained in position Canal's fleet but somehow the Gatun Canal was readied for operation. Just overside indicating that she was a seemed to stand out in the limelight a how the selection was made is not working vessel taking a holiday for the little more than these judging from known but the tug Gatun was given day. And a special one it was. Bedecked with flags, the tug "Gatun" enters Gatun Locks, September 26, 1913 to become the first vessel to pass through the newly completed lock chambers. The Panama Canal Review 55 The steam tug "Chester," formerly "Gatun," was tied up at Pratt Street, Baltimore, Maryland, in June 1958 just before being sold for scrapping. At left: The steam whistle from the tug is now mounted on a wooden block at the author's home. The small whistle at lower right, used to assist in docking ships, was added after the tug left the Canal Zone. Gatun Dam, as assistants to their lower lock, cheers from the spectators chief, Lt. Col. William L. Sibert. resounding within the lock. The lower At 11:20 a.m., water was admitted operating gates were then closed and to the upper end of the upper lock the tug came to a halt alongside the from the west culvert through the center wall. Col. George W. Goethals upper rising stem valves and the water was on top of the lock wall watching was brought up to lake level. The the proceedings. upper rising stem valves were then The operation was repeated in the closed and this water was passed middle lock and at 6:15 p.m. the down the flight of three locks as a pre- Gafun entered the upper lock of the liminary test of the valves and culverts last lift. Half an hour later the two last of the west wall. Water was then gates were swung open and the tug locked down, step by step, from the passed out on to Gatun Lake, the lake to the lower lock, which was also whole passage requiring 1 hour and being filled by the two 14-inch sea 51 minutes. The next day the Gatun valves in the lower guard gates. returned to the Atlantic channel, the On board the Gatun, in addition to lockage taking 1 hour and 37 minutes. her regular crew, were Col. H. F. On October 9, 1913, three groups Hodges, Lt. Col. and Mrs. William L. of dredging vessels and a floating pile Sibert and family, Maj. and Mrs. driver, in tow of tugs, a total of 13 James P. Jervey, Maj. George M. vessels, were lifted at one time from Hoffman, Lt. and Mrs. George W. the Atlantic entrance channel to the Goethals (the Chief Engineer's son), surface of Gatun Lake, using the en- Mr. Henry Goldmark, Mrs. Edward tire 1,000 foot length of each chamber. On September 25, 1913, pre- Schildhauer, Mrs. E. E. Lee, Capt. The second group consisted of the liminary tests and filling of the Gatun B. Corning of the steamship Panama, Gatun with the suction dredge No. 86, Locks were made and all operated as and Mr. Frank Thompson of the several pontoons, and a fuel oil barge planned. The 26th had been selected Panama Railroad. Capt. F. F. Stewart in tow. to lift the Gatun from the sea channel was master of the tug and Mr. W. G. More honors were bestowed upon to the Gatun Lake level, using the Comber was chief navigator. the Gatun when she was selected as west flight, because of the imminent The filling of the lower lock was consort to the steamship Ancon on departure from the Isthmus of Maj. completed by 4:45 p.m. when the sea the official opening of the Canal on James P. Jervey, who had charge of gate was opened. The Gatun, with August 15, 1914. There is a photo of the masonry construction of Gatun whistle blowing and flags streaming in her steaming just ahead of the Ancon, Locks, and of Maj. George M. Hoff- the breeze, steamed up the approach approaching Cucaracha Slide, but she man, who had charge of the building of channel and past the entrance to the probably dropped astern at the appro- 56 October 1, 1979 6 Months FY 1979 the light. Manning a small boat, the keeper went to the aid of 4 men who PRINCIPAL COMMODITIES SHIPPED THROUGH THE CANAL had jumped off the stricken vessel as she settled beneath the waters of (in long tons) Chesapeake Bay, and also recovered the body of the engineer who had died Atlantic to Pacific of a heart attack after he had jumped 6 Months 6 Months from the tug. Commodity FY 1979 FY 1978 Corn 7,126,998 4,479,041 The Point Breeze was later raised, Petroleum and products 5,643,842 5,098,725 Coal and coke 5,624,675 4,129,163 renamed Chester the next year, and Soybeans 3,363,955 2,883,453 resumed her career around Baltimore Wheat 2,851,969 1,332,006 harbor. In 1957 the Curtis Bay Towing Phosphate 2,795,941 2,219, 164 Metal, scrap 1,937,733 751,867 Co., of Baltimore, was recorded as Sorghum 1,446,366 1,490,771 her owner. Most of that firm's craft Chemicals and petroleum chemicals 1,119,858 899,075 Manufactures of iron and steel 816,912 997,099 were newer diesel tugs less historical Sugar 735,883 554,090 than the former Gatun but more Ores, varios _... 696,038 759,013 suited to the needs of modern Fertilizers, unclassified 567,414 716,011 Caustic soda 403,210 272,937 shipping. The Chester was laid up to Ammonium compounds 343,928 319,537 await a purchaser but the only offer All other 5,690,358 4,602,976 came from a scrapyard. Total 41,165,080 31,504,928 In late 1958 the Chester was acquired by the salvage firm of Martin G. Imbach, Inc. in Baltimore for breaking up. This writer long knew of the earlier career of the Chester, her Pacific to Atlantic historic association with the Panama Canal, and desired to preserve some 6 Months 6 Months relic from the craft. As the tug was Commodity FY 1979 FY 1978 being cut apart by torches, I was able Petroleum and products 16,370,359 10,102,124 Manufactures of iron and steel 2,761,109 4,108,626 to secure her brass steam whistle, Lumber and products 2,707,316 2,432,983 4 feet in length including its release Ores, various 2,364,664 2,478,799 it for Coal and coke 1,562,542 630,473 valve, before was shattered Sugar 933,722 1,469,290 melting down. If anything on the tug Food in refrigeration (excluding bananas) 933,267 873,976 was original from her Canal days, Pulpwood 868,870 768, 143 Bananas 755,764 843,718 other than her rugged hull, I felt it was Metals, various 692,966 704,462 the steam whistle which had blown so Sulfur 633,396 464,671 vigorously as the Gatun made her Autos, trucks, and accessories 549,006 579,526 Salt 456,742 314,613 entry into the first of the Gatun Locks Fishmeal 424, 136 240,485 that eventful day in September 1913 Wheat _ 396,348 554,930 when the world was shown that a All other 6,030,155 5,908,766 Total 38,440,362 32,475,585 vessel could be lifted from the Carib- bean level to that of Gatun Lake. A whistle is just about indestructible. Only the valve, a separate unit, needs occasional replacing. This whistle CANAL TRANSITS—COMMERCIAL AND U.S. GOVERNMENT compares favorably with the one appearing in photos of the Gatun of 6 Months FY 1979 taken at the time of the opening the 6 Canal when its hoarse tones echoed Atlantic Pacific Months to to FY around the sides of the locks 65 Commercial: Pacific Atlantic Total 1978 years ago. Oceangoing 3,391 3,096 6,487 6,054 1 Small 317 168 485 327 It is quite possible that this steam Total 3,708 3,264 6,972 6,381 whistle, now mounted on a wooden U.S. Government: block in the author's home, is the only Oceangoing 22 25 47 45 portion of that historic ship in 1 Small 72 76 148 104 existence and serves as a reminder Total 94 101 195 149 of the beginning of a new era in world Grand Total 3,802 3,365 7,167 6,530 shipping. And certainly the Gatun was 'Vessels under 300 net tons, Panama Canal measurement, or under 500 displacement tons. Statistics compiled by the one of the most long-lived of any of the Executive Planning Staff. numerous vessels which participated in the construction of the Panama Canal. 58 October 1, 1979 ML TO»»o (0^*' ) \' -1 'y t i-sr / YGaweh - &ULF OF PANAMA \ Mary and Herbert Knapp are to Bellamy's imaginary society didn't visitor reported in teachers in the Canal Zone schools. go unnoticed. A They currently are at work on a book 1913, "The dream of the late Edward Bellamy is given actuality on the about life in the Canal Zone entitled the time Canal An Ambiguous Utopia. It is a Zone"; about same retrospective view of the unique Zone Policeman 88 testified, "It community where those who built strongly resembles what Bellamy and operated the Panama Canal lived dreamed of years ago." And as late as and worked for 75 years. The 1928, a Zonian was still explaining to that her community was following article is a digest of a tourists chapter from that book. The Knapps frequently referred to as "resembling are also the authors of One Potato, Bellamy's Looking Backward." She Two Potato: The Secret Education went on to say, "When Bellamy of American Children (Norton, By Mary and Herbert Knapp journeyed across the Isthmus —in the eighties —Panama certainly did not 1976). Of course, those in charge of the present a possibility, even to the most canal project didn't plan the Zone as a visionary, of eventually becoming the AMERICAN CANAL ZONE social experiment. When Charles THE nearest approach to . . . the ideal of the belongs squarely in the Magoon, second governor of the in Panama Utopia that his remarkable book tradition that runs Zone, proposed establishing a model American Utopian pictures." from the Puritan "City upon a Hill" in government, he was plainly told that But it would be a mistake to seventeenth century Massachusetts the Isthmian Canal Commission was suppose Looking Backward provided to the latest condo "paradise" in in Panama to build a canal, period. a blueprint for the Canal Zone. The Miami. Nevertheless, as the canal workers' Zone resembled several nineteenth Not many of the blue-collar aristo- communities developed, the Zone century literary Utopias, Etienne Ca- crats or shirt-sleeved bureaucrats increasingly resembled the society bet's Voyage en Icarie (1840), for who lived on the Zone ever thought of described by Edward Bellamy in his instance. By the end of the nineteenth Utopian novel, Looking it as a utopia, but when they came to futuristic century a lot of people had come to the Zone they became part of a small- Backward. similar conclusions about what a scale, managerial society designed Few people know that book today, better world would be like. It would be according to a fairly rigid plan. The but in the decade following its very much like the Canal Zone. theory was that a pervasive pater- publication in 1888, Looking Back- Cabet's utopia, everyone works nalism with a corresponding restric- ward outsold anything ever published In for the government, which owns the tion of certain liberties would result in in America except Uncle Tom's factories, cultivates the land, and the happiness, well-being, and most Cabin. It appealed to "brains" and provides clothing and household importantly, in the productiveness of "roughnecks" alike; to wild-eyed furnishings as was more or less the the people. socialist agitators and dewy-eyed — case in the Canal Zone. But the It wasn't a perfect society, but social belles. Bellamy's admirers or- thing about Cabet's Icaria is Utopias never are, except in books. ganized themselves and became a uncanny that it looks like the Zone. Real Utopias are experiments. They political force. In 1935 three American take place somewhat apart from the intellectuals called Looking Backward The city of Icaria is divided by a river real world, somewhere between euto- the second most influential book of that has been deepened and straight- pia, "a good place," and outopia, "no the preceding half-century! According ened to accommodate large ships. place." That's right where the Canal to John Dewey, James Beard, and The river's banks have been fronted Zone used to be, along with Brook Edward Weeks, only Das Kapital had by straight walls. On an island in the Farm, the Oneida Community, Or- more influence upon the world than middle of the river is a palace derville, New Harmony, and hundreds Looking Backward. surrounded by trees and gardens, and of other American social experiments. The resemblance of the Canal Zone on the terrace of the palace is a statue The Panama Canal Review 59 — — of or of Icar, the founder, which overlooks paintings nudes voluptuous specialities. There are three grades in . . . pictures the city. scenes. Such no husband each industry and two classes in each The Zone, too was divided by a would want his wife and the mother of grade. his children to behold." waterway, a canal, not a river, but the The Zone was never quite like this, Chagres River Anyone who ever lived on the Zone was deepened and but it came close. Zonians were ^ straightened to form the Canal, and at will be struck by its similarities to certainly members of an Industrial too, Icaria. The Zone, was remarkably ! the locks one even sees the banks of Army, one that included 1,754 dif- the "river" enclosed in straight walls. clean. Its grass was kept cut; its trash, ferent kinds of jobs. Only the The Zone's equivalent of Icaria's promptly removed. An admirable Department of Defense listed a palace was the Administration Build- system of subterranean canals, cre- greater variety. And the Canal Army ated engineers, drained ing—known on the Zone as "The by Zone water was organized much like Bellamy's from the streets, sidewalks, and Building" —as if there were no other. It Army. The Zone, too, had its is not airfields, mud was not something the on an island in the middle of the divisions —Electrical, Dredging, In- Canal, but it sits on a hill that rises like average Zonian worried about —ex- dustrial, Railroad, Schools, and so on. cept mothers. Children often sought it an island in the middle of the city of What's more, all Zone workers were out for of football and Balboa, and it overlooks the Canal. It games mud mud classified NM-9 or GS- 10 or whatever, is also surrounded by carefully ar- sliding. much like those in Bellamy's world. ranged trees and plants. On the And like Icaria, the Zone was But Zonians weren't required to work Building's terrace, between the flags of notable for what it lacked—cabarets, as laborers for two years in their the United States and Panama, is a gaming houses, establishments of twenties, though the Zone did have a culpable pleasures. No commercial flourishing apprentice program. Nor advertisements cluttered its land- did Zonians retire at forty-five and scape or airwaves. The Zone's televi- vote for their governor. sion station advertized only morality Age entitles you to privileges in the life. and military As for voluptuous Bellamy's paradise, and as a result, he scenes, a Zonian who wished to was accused of advocating geron- purchase Playboy at the Company tocracy. On the Zone, age alone didn't commissary had to wait while the entitle you to a thing, but length of clerk took it from under the counter service —ah, that was another matter. and stapled it inside a paper bag. The Length of service on the Zone could Zone, however, was never as pure as get you what money couldn't buy Icaria. It never, for instance, reached assignment to the house of your the point where it could do without choice. gendarmes. Bellamy wanted to eliminate osten- Unlike Cabet, who emphasizes the tatious displays of wealth which he cleanliness and geometric order of his thought were socially divisive, so Utopia, Bellamy emphasizes the or- everyone in his Utopia received ganization of labor and the distribu- exactly the same pay —from generals tion of wealth in his. Bellamy's Utopia to the inhabitants of insane asylums. doesn't have so much the look of the ". Officers in the Industrial Army were . . how resourceful they are at Zone as the "feel"of it. with prestige devising methods to keep rewarded and power but As a story, Looking Backward is the streets clean." not cash. At the year's end, all unused pretty corny. But Bellamy wasn't money reverted to the state, so you large rock taken from the Cut —not a trying to write a literary masterpiece. couldn't get ahead of your neighbor by statue of the founder, but a monument He was a social reformer who wanted saving. to the founders: "Dedicated to the to promote equality and brother- To further discourage people from builders ." hood his "Religion of Solidarity" of the Panama Canal . . — buying things just to impress the The most oustanding feature of and to make men less materialistic. Joneses, Bellamy standardized all Icaria is its cleanliness. The character The central institution of his dream products and eliminated competing in Cabet's novel who describes the world is the Industrial Army. Every- retail outlets. Everyone shopped at Icarians breaks into excited italics one from age twenty-one to forty- the government store, where no when he mentions how "resourceful five belongs. Related industries are new product was introduced unless they at are devising methods to keep grouped into ten divisions. The customers petitioned for it. the streets clean." He oh's and ah's President of the United States, or People on the Zone were never about "subterranean canals" that "the general-in-chief," is chosen from economically equal, but there was a drain water from the streets and about among the retired division-chiefs. good deal more visible equality there the absence of dust and mud. Only retired workers can vote, but in most places. The limited kinds than ( His paradise is more notable for everyone retires at forty-five. From of housing available contributed to what it lacks than for what it contains. twenty-one to twenty-four, everyone this impression of a relatively narrow He says that the eyes of the citizens of works as an apprentice or a laborer. range of inequality. And there was Icaria are not offended by street- His performance is regularly evalu- simply not much scope for con- corner hangouts, advertisements, graf- ated. Those with the highest scores spicuous consumption in a com- fiti, "rich and pretty shops," or "those get first choice of occupational munity where everyone lived in rented 60 October 1, 1979 quarters and did most of his shopping selves to a remarkable range of non- liness, preservation, and rationality. the Zone was centrally at the "commy." materialist avocations, ranging from And though volunteer community work to chart- controlled from "The Building," in- Did the Zone's approximation of ing butterfly refuge areas in Central dividual communities had distinct vision work? Did it en- Bellamy's America. characteristics. Bellamy would have brotherhood? There was courage The Zone never provided its approved of that. His utopia was lack of squabbling on never any residents with the array of choices and meant to combine the advantages of especially about housing. the Zone— opportunities for personal develop- diversity and unity. the smaller the difference Sometimes ment one finds in the United States. For instance, in construction days a between two houses, the greater described Ancon as on the What it did provide was time. People workman difference it made to people—a point lived close to their jobs; no one spent way up socially, but insecure com- Utopias would do planners of future hours every day commuting to work. pared to Cristobal, "the most 'Statesy' And visiting writers well to consider. Nor were people offered a great of all Canal villages." Gorgona was often note that social divisions con- variety of professional entertainment. unruly but hospitable; Empire, arty; something no Zonian tinued to exist, There was plenty of time to "do one's "Pedro Miguelites were given to card- would deny. own thing" on the Zone. playing"; Paraiso was serious and problem was that the Zone was charitable. Some of these towns The Those things included studying a one company community. There disappeared long ago, and the atmos- shells, antique bottles, rocks, dialects, no satisfactory way to achieve phere of others changed over the was and South American folk dances. prominence outside the Company years. But any ex-Zonian will have his There were orchid men on the Zone, hierarchy. As a result, the social and snake men, bug men, bird men. prestige of the hierarchy went unchal- Painters, potters, pathfinders.- Ex- lenged, though it was sometimes perts on stage lighting, skin-diving, resented. molas and the music of Elgar. On the other hand, in a book And all of these avocations carried published in 1928, a Zone resident Zonians beyond the boundary of the keeps referring to the "democratic Zone into Panamanian theatrical and setting" of the Zone, and she praises musical circles, Panamanian service the governor for his "democratic organizations, kennel clubs, motor- manner." Clearly she's not referring to cycle competitions, sports arenas, a political system but to an atmos- and of course, into Panama's moun- phere of informality. If people did not tains and jungles. meet as equals on the Zone, they of the drawbacks of the Zone nonetheless met. The smallness of the One as a Utopia is that is was too small. Few Zone accounted for that. And usually have remained happy on the Zonians were spared the pomp could Zone for long had it not been for and circumstance of ostentatious in- Panama and United States "out there" equality. Then, too, they shared a with their broader horizons. For all its connection with an historic enter- virtues, the Zone was a limited place. prise. All this may help explain why ex-Zonians who did not socialize on But then so was Bellamy's utopia. ". builders . . dedicated to the to greet one another Just as life on the Zone revolved the Zone tend ..." the of the Panama Canal like fraternity brothers when they around maintaining and operating in Bellamy's utopia meet elsewhere. Canal, so life own memories of the distinctive maintaining and Bellamy's second goal was to make revolves around atmosphere of his "Canal village." operating his system. One problem men less materialistic. He assumed Bellamy was one of the first is that once you're there, given a margin of economic with Utopias that to balance to go. planners who wanted people would lose their taste there's no place security, technology and nature. Perhaps in no for accumulating possessions. It never For that reason neither the Zone place did men come closer to doing quite worked that way on the Zone, nor Bellamy's timeless dreamland that than in the Canal Zone, where but for years the lack of air- could fully accommodate American the Canal was our machine; the Zone, conditioning on the Isthmus dras- ideals. Like the Zone, Bellamy's utopia our garden. tically limited the kinds of possessions contains no political parties. There a Zonian could have. In those days the were no political campaigns and no Among the hundreds of 'nineteenth century Utopian in the tiny sparseness and standardization of campaign promises. And experiments in the United States was an effort to found Icana. household furnishings would have regulated world of the Zone, there was led by Cabet himself At various limes there were Icarian settlements near The Red River in Texas; at Cheltenham, pleased the most puritanical of no room for the impossible dream. Missouri; Nauvoo. Illinois; Corning. Iowa; and Cloverdale. became Bellamy's disciples. But one should not overlook the California. By 1887 all had failed and the Icanans Americans Even after the introduction of the Zone's considerable virtues. It was a air-conditioning in 1957-1958, the re- beguiling place —not a twentieth cen- strictions on private enterprise and tury dream of kaleidoscopic change, life Zone the simplicity of on the consumption, and magic, but a On next page: encouraged Zonians to devote them- nineteenth century dream of clean- Aerial view of Balboa. The Panama Canal Review 61 «. # Ss*^" The lights on the Thatcher Ferry Bridge come on as the sun sets over the Canal on the Pacific side of the Isthmus. Below: Ancon Hill is silhouetted and Gorgas Hospital is clearly uisible in the night photo taken from the Lottery Building in Panama City. 64 October 1, 1979 The Canal Zone At Night Like beacons in the night, the lights of the Canal provide the illumination vital to its 24-hour operation. Below: Miraflores and Pedro Miguel Locks stand out in the darkness. At right: A 1915 night photograph of the Administration Building to compare with our cover photograph. Inside the back cover: The Fort Amador Causeway is outlined by the lights of cars and in the Canal a streak of light indicates the movement of a ship. ^ i I HIHI . 3™ 262 00041 6098 Rolurnsd