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PANAMA CANAL ^^ ^/^gl g

-ri I 1.1 David S. Parker PANAMA CANAL Morgan E. Goodwin, Press Officer Governor-President Publications Editors

Charles R. Clark Willie K. Friar, Tomas A. Cupas Lieutenant Governor ktvif\/ Writers Frank A. Baldwin Eunice Ricfiard, Fannie P. Hernandei, Panama Canal Information Officer Official Panama Canal Publication Jose T. Tunon and Luis C. Noli

Review articles may be reprinted without Further clearance. Credit to the Review will be appreciated. Subscriptions: SI a year, airmail SS a year,- back copies (regular mail), 50 cents each. Published twice a year. Make postal money orders payable to the Panama Canal Company, Box M, Balboa Heights, C.Z.

Editor 3I Offices are located in the Administration Building, Balboa Heights, C.Z. Printed at the Printing Plant, La Boca, C.Z.

Contents Our Cover

Portobelo 3 ALTHOUGH THEIR WOODEN Patiama plans restoration of carriages have rotted away and their voices long been silenced, the Una the fortress made famous by of Spanish cannons still points toward Drake and Morgan. the entrance to the now peaceful harbor of Portobelo. Unlikely Pets 7 The picturesque little watchtower is

Quaint quail and capricious co- all that is left of the once formidable atimundi among. Canal Zone's ramparts of Fort San Fernando which pet oddities. defended the town of Portobelo and the treasures from Peru that accumulated in Letters From the Sea 11 the Customs House. Across the sparkling blue waters of Bottles bobbin" on the ivaves Portobelo Bay can be seen the remains provide valuable scientific in- of the town, the forts of Santiago and formation. San Geronimo, and the Spanish church of San Felipe where pilgrims can visit Early Warning System for Slides 14 the sacred efRgv of the Black Christ of Slide icatchers are ever alert Portobelo, which is carried through the town in a procession that draws for dangers to Canal traffic. hundreds of people each October 21. Although the jungle has taken over The French Canal 16 !! much of the town and its forts, and the Remnants of an abandoned famous Customs House is a ruin without dream still remain. a roof, progress wiU soon reach out to the town of Portobelo. The Panama Gold Rush Days on the Isthmus 19 Tourist Bureau, assisted with funds from Spurred by the passion for the Organization of American States, reconstruct the town and rebuild gold, thousands of Forty-niners will many of the houses on the foundations took the shortcut through the of the old ruins. The Customs House will Panama jungles. get a new roof and the forts on either side of the bay will be restored. Ship Launching 23 Perhaps then, when the tropical moon It began as a pagan ceremony rises over the beautiful bay, the ghosts but even today most seafaring of Sir Frances Drake and the Welsh pirate Morgan will walk again men won't set foot on an Henry the battlements of the fortresses they unchristened craft. robbed, raped, and tried to destroy. Photograph by Arthur L. Pollack, Pan- Culinary Capers 24 ^ ama Canal Information Office photog- visit to the Darien a A and rapher. sample of Choco cuisine.

Shipping Statistics 28

History 31

Fall 1971 Portobela

^ AwakehM

in main town, THE MARKET PLACE OF of Portobelo for construction of modern there were 130 houses the ONCE tourist hotels. not counting the suburbs, "the gover- the Americas and the Caribbeaii Til" historv of the little town, with the nor's house, the king's houses, a monas- port through which the inestimable magniRctnt harbor discovered by Co- terv, a convent, a plaza, and a quay." treasure of the Incas found its outlet, again, accord- lumbus in 1.502, has been turbulent. The main city will rise Portobelo is about to awaken after a long Founded by the Spanish more than 300 ing to the restoration plans. It was well sleep of more than two centuries. vears ago as a replacement for Nombre built originally of stone and brick and The site of many a bloody buccaneer buildings de Dios, which was difficult to defend, most of the ruins of the official raid and the final resting place of Sir still remain along with the official Cus- it became one of the strong fortresses Francis Drake is to be restored and re- along the Atlantic coast and the third toms House which is nearly intact. The built at a cost of $6.5 millon through the strongest in Spanish America. It was early town had suburbs, one of which efforts of a group of historical monument originally San Felipe de Porto- was set aside for freed slaves. The build- experts from the Organization of Amer- named belo old records say that by 1618 ings were chiefly of cane with palm ican States working with the Panama and Government Tourist Bureau and AID. Plans for the restoration of the his- toric old town and its system of fortifica- tions will include the establishment of -»"f«»'i:ft a 22,500-acre national park, according to Dr. Alfredo Castillero C, director of Historical Tourism in the Panama Tour- ist Bureau and director of the History Department of Panama University. Within the park area, the old town will be restored. This will include reconstruc- tion of the old forts, churches, and public buildings and the reinforcement of the foundations of the old ruins. The work should be completed in about 4 years. Land access to Portobelo was opened not long ago with the completion of a modern asphalt highway connecting the town with the Transisthmian Highway.

For the first time in history, Isthmian residents were able to travel to the old fortress town by car instead of going by sea. Engineers from the OAS already of Portobelo is shown by have started their surs'eys and have set An artist's conception of the plan for the restoration of the town Tourist Bureau. aside sites along the beach to the east Janine Lizuain, secretary in the Historical Department of the Panama

The Panama Canal Review thatch, all of which disappeared long ago, without a trace, into the jungle.

Jungle Outposts

It was but an outpost in the jungle after all. No man alone dared travel the royal road from the city's gate after nightfall. In the streets, snakes, toads, and iguana were frequently seen. The native wildcat prowled in the suburbs and, besides carrying off fowls and pigs, sometimes attacked human beings. But Portobelo was a market town as well as a fortress. It came to life at least once a year during the trading fairs which lasted from 40 to 60 days. The flood of gold that poured through the trails across the Isthmus, after Pizarro began his plunder of Peru, was traded for goods from Spain and Eiu-ope. The fair beg;ui when the fleet of merchant ships and galleons arrived in port from Cartagena and Spain loaded with goods to be traded for gold and silver. The goods were shipped to South America and even to the Philippines.

Bustle and Excitement The town took on an air of bustle and

excitement at the time of the fail". The houses were crowded with people, the square and the streets crammed with goods, the Customs House with chests of Maria Elena Hart, secretary in the Historical Department of the Panama Tourist Bureau, gold and silver, and the port filled with holds a picture showing how the Royal Customs House in Portobelo will look when it is' vessels. Portobelo became the emporium restored under the plan for restoration of historical sites. of the riches of the two worlds and the most important commercial depot of that period.

In the square facing the Customs House, merchants erected cane booths and tents made of sails from the ships while all available space was filled with goods. With the fleet of merchant and warships came nearly 6,000 soldiers, merchants with their clerks and porters, buyers of all nationalities and, of course, the sightseers. So crowded was the Uttle town that it appeared to be in the possession of a mob.

The Customs House, built in 1630 during the administration of Alvaro de ^uinones, served until the end of the Spanish colonial period in 1 82 1. The Council of the Indies had ordered the Customs House to be built in the most convenient sjxjt with one entrance and one exit only to help prevent fraud. A royal tax collector was on hand to collect the royal fees.

Because of the wealth stored at Porto-

belo and its use as a trading center, its fame spread over the Spanish Main. The Customs House as it appears today, rooHess but with its walls still standing sturdily. Although Portobelo was substantially It was built in 1630 and served until the end of the Spanish colonial period in 1821. It built and protected by four strong for- was often crammed with chests of gold end silver. tresses and several minor batteries, the

Fall 1971 town was repeatedly taken by the British and other marauders. The first to attack was the Enghsh pirate William Parker in 1602, and the last was Adm. Edward Vemon of the British Navy, who cap- tured the town in 1739. He caused the most damage when he blew up and dismantled the fortress.

The most savage of all the scores of raids was made by Sir Herur Morgan, who according to Esquemeling, the Dutch historian, attacked for the first time in 1668 and killed or wounded a majority of the inhabitants. At that time the garrison consisted of 300 soldiers and the town was inhabited by 400 families.

17-Caimon Line

The main forts, which are to be totally restored by the Tourist Bureau are La Fortaleza de Santiago and San Felipe, botli dating from 1600; Fort San Gero- nimo, which is located within the pres- ent town; and the famous Fort San Fer- nando, built about 1753, across the beautiful bay. This fort has a 17-cannon line that somehow has escaped most of the ravages of time. High above San Fernando, a second platform of cannons points toward the sea and atop an even higher crest stands Casa Fuerte, Porto- belo's prime lookout and vantage point, which gives a superb view of the complex of forts below. San Felipe, once known as Todo Fie- rro or the iron fort, was built in 1600 at the entrance to the bay and was par- tiallv destroyed by raiders. At the time the Panama Canal was being built, the

site was turned into a quarr\-, and it was said that what the English pirates started to do, the Americans completed.

The fort of Santiago de la Gloria was built in 1604 within the town Umits while Santiago was built on the coast road leading to the town. The Fort known as Famese or Famesio is on the south side of the harbor and not too far from the island where history says Drake

is buried. All in all, there are about 12 fortifications to be restored.

The Parish Church

The parish church of San Felipe,

which was still unfinished when it was

dedicated in 1814, is one of the oldest

buildings in the town still in use. It replaced a smaller church of the same

name, the ruins of which still remain. The most interesting thing about San away years ago, Felipe chmch is that it houses the image One of the old Spanish cannons of Fort San Fernando, its carriage rotted yachts can be seen of the Nazarene of Portobelo, a hand- points out toward the entrance to the bay of Portobelo. Two modem some effigy of Jesus bearing the cross. at anchor in the distance.

The Panama Canal Review m

The ruins of the original church of San Felipe in Portobelo. This The new church of San Felipe, which houses the famous image of church, also known as the Hospital Chapel, will be rebuilt under the Black Christ, stands stark against the brilliant blue sky of the plans for the restoration of the town of Portobelo. Portobelo. Services were first held here in 1814.

liewii from wood of southern Spain more savs members of this group "carr\' in than 300 years ago. Called the "Black their blood centuries of tradition."

Christ," it has become one of the most Among these traditions are primitive re\ered images throughout Panama and dances with a definite African flavor, the focal point of an annual church fes- called "congos," which they perform tival which draws thousands of visitors wearing costumes fashioned from the each October. bark of the palm tree and decorated with

Legend has it that the image of Christ multicolored feathers. came to Portobelo aboard a sailing ship Congo Dances bound for Cartagena, Colombia. Wheiv the galleon sailed from Portobelo, a The Congo dances have become a part

fierce stonn sank it. The boxed image of Panama's folklore and they are pre- floated free and was washed up on a sented at most typical Panama dance exhibitions. nearby beach. There it was found by Congo dancers can be seen the townspeople and taken back to main!)' at camaval time when "congos" Portobelo. from neighboring villages come to Por- tobelo to roam the streets and perform "Feast of the Black Christ" their lively dances.

The annual celebration of the "Feast Although there has been a slight tour- of the Black Christ" began in 1821 when ist boom since the completion of the a cholera epidemic ravaged the Isthmus. highway connecting the town with The Portobelo residents made a vow to Colon and Panama, the carnival celebra- celebrate a feast day of the Black Christ tion and feast of the Black Christ are each October 21 if the town were spared. about the only times when present day The epidemjc bypassed the town. Portobelo comes to life.

The present day towii of Portobelo But it is only a matter of time, the has only slightly more than 500 citizens Panama Tourist Bureau says. As soon and they have developed a personality as the town is rebuilt and the hotels of their own. They are descendants of completed, Portobelo will become a the Spanish and Indians and the Spanish tourist mecca. Once again, Portobelo, and African slaves, with a third group the old market center, the scene of so

The Black Christ, one of the most revered made up of people of distinct African much adventure and strife, will take its images throughout Panama is surrounded by nncestry. Dr. Dulio Arroyo, retired dean place on the map and help in the candles for the annual "Feast of the Black of the Faculty of Law at the University economic revival of the Gold Coast of Christ" celebration. of Panama, and a native of Portobelo, the Isthmus.-E.R.

6 Fall 1971 SOME ARE SHY like this

kinkajou, which belongs to

Vic Canel, of Ancon.

Unlikely Pets

Photographs by Arthur L. Pollack

Some like them big, some like them small. Some like them feathered, some like them furry.

But there is no shortage of animal lovers in the Canal Zone. And although the 1970 census did not include animals in residence, it is a safe bet that the number and variety of pets in the Canal Zone is greater than in most communities of comparable size. Panama's lush tropical forests are alive with creatures of many sizes and descriptions, from the deer that come down from the hills to eat your prize petunias to the little neques and squirrels often seen scurrying across Canal Zone lawns.

Although there is the usual compliment of more prosaic pets—currently there are 4,400 dogs and 1,100 cats SOME ARE BOLD like this African licensed—many householders have opted for the unique or baboon who decided to take the head-on exotic in their choice of pets. approach. Sambita was found in the Some have been successful in domesticating essentially vicinity of Miraflores Locks and is thought wild animals and others, alas, have failed. And they have to have jumped ship. She was bailed out the scars to prove it. of quarantine by Sgt. Richard W. Chesson,

On these pages are a few of the happy pets, feathered of the Canal Zone PoUce, who finds her and furry. an interesting pet

The Panama Canal Review 7 JUNGLE ANIMALS can be frustrating as well as fascinating but a number of local animal lovers have taken on the task of domesticating some of them with a certain amount of success. At left,

Pingo, a soft-furred marmoset, cuddles contentedly in the arms of its owner,

Roxanna Maria Chesson, whose father owns the baboon shown on page 7.

Below, Louie, a beautifully coated margay, waits beside the steps for his master. Col. J. J. Caulfield, of Quarry

Heights. Below right, Jimmy, a frisky coatimundi, climbs into the lavatory where he likes to sit and rub soap on his long tail.

He is one of the many pets of S/Sgt. and Mrs. Stanley Whitaker, of Quarry

Heights, who also own four marmosets and the Blue Jay shown on the opposite page.

Fall 1971 TROPICAL BIRDS are popular in the

Canal Zone, as they are everywhere, but there are many more unusual feathered pets.

The Blue Jay, at right, was brought from

Washington, D.C., by S/Sgt. and

Mrs. Whitaker, who adopted him after he fell from his nest. Now that he is 5 years old, he seeks the warmth of the light bulb inside his favorite lampshade. Joey, the friendly cockatoo, at right, appears to be carrying on a lively conversation with a ceramic peacock, the head of which he often uses as a perch. He belongs to Mrs. Marlean Boggs, of Fort Clayton.

Below, Ruthann Kelleher, of Fort Kobbe, turns on the sprinkler so Ping and B. G. can have their daily frolic in the water.

Below right, Robert, a quail that was rescued by Robert L. Boyer, of La Boca, after he shot but only stimned it while hunting, nestles in his daughter Meredith's hair while she talks on the telephone.

It took more than a year to tame the bird.

The Pan.\m.^ Canal Review BUT THE BEST OF ALL IS THE

SLOTH, according to Mrs. John S. Ell^iiP McKean of Balboa who also has a cat, clog, bird, and monkey. In Spanish, he is

called "Gato Perezoso," lazy cat, a

fitting name, for the sloth moves with

about the same speed as the snail.

A mild-mannered affectionate animal,

who likes nothing better than to curl up

in someone's lap and take a nap, the

three-toed sloth makes an excellent pet.

Food is no problem since he dines solely

on Eucalyptus leaves.

Lounging happily in his tub. Speedy gets a bath from the McKean girls, Jeanne,

left, and Christine . . .

and then hangs on the clothesline to dry.

Speedy has the run of the house and sleeps under

ihe organ in the living room, but often goes outside

and hangs from his favorite tree. Above; Very good

friends with the family dog and cat. Speedy watches

while Christine feeds Tippy.

10 Fall 1971 Hci^ J torn \nc S ca

By Muriel Lederer

THE U.S. BUREAU One of the most enduring romances of later its xaliditv As OF COM- was confirmed when a mercial Fisheries research vessel the sea is the message sealed in a bottle second message was found in a bottle Undaunted periodically steams across and cast adrift, its destination unknown. on a beach in Northern Ireland. The the Atlantic Ocean from Miami, Florida, Bottle messengers have been going to paper read: "Huronian sinking fast. Top to Africa, her crew goes through a sea for over 2,200 years. Some have heavy, one side awash. Goodby mothers strange routine. They throw batches of contained farewells from shipwrecked and sisters—Charlie McFell, greaser." empty beer bottles overboard. sailors. Others hold sermons or letters to Study Currents These are not ordinary bottles—they be mailed. Many go on scientific voy- are "drift message" bottles. Each of the ages—and one even carried a secret Today the most important bottle mes- sengers 10,000 bottles cast overboard thus far message in code. are those sent to help scientists the contains sand for ballast and a fluores- This particular bottle was picked up chart currents and drifts of the seven seas. The first of these cent orange card imprinted with a mes- over 350 years ago, when Elizabeth I was recorded sage in four languages—Spanish, French, was Queen of England. It was found by many years before Christ by Theophras- Portuguese, and English. The card asks a fisherman on the beach at Dover. tus, a Greek philosopher. He floated bottles in the Mediterranean Sea to the finder to fill in details about his dis- When he opened the bottle, he was covery on an attached, franked postcard amazed to see a strange message. Puz- study currents. addressed to TABL (Tropical Atlantic zled, he went to the authorities with the Centuries later Benjamin Franklin threw bottles into the Gulf Stream. They Biological Laboratory) and mail it. bottle and its peculiar message. They contained his name address TABL in Miami thanks the finder upon took a hasty look at it and sped to the and and asked the finders to tell receipt of his card and then also sends Que€n. It was a good thing they did, him where and when they were found. gathering this him a small chart showing the track his too! For the bottle message contained By information, botde might have followed and includes top-secret information sent by a British Franklin was able to chart the speed and direction of the Gulf a cookbook of seafood recipes printed in spy from a passing ship. The Queen was Stream. His chart is little today. Spanish and English. alarmed. She realized it would never do changed to have just anyone open bottles and About 1860 the British Navy began Enchanting Gentlemen leam state secrets. So she passed a law issuing printed forms for ships' officers to overboard in bottles. About 600 of the bottles have been forbidding this and appointed an official drop The forms recovered and the messages returned so Uncorker of Ocean Bottles. A British gave the name of the ship, the location, far. Many finders also send along per- law, which has since been ref>ealed, then and the date of dropping. Finders were asked to fill in the place of sonal messages. One arrived from Co- made it a penal offense for anyone but and date return lombia with a note from a lady who sent an authorized person to read bottle recovery and the forms. greetings from a small fueling port. She messages. Some 30 years later the U.S. Navy explained she had many North Amer- adopted the same system and still uses Long Missing Ships ican friends, all of them "enchanting gentlemen." Another letter, from the Sailors and explorers, cut off from American Embassy in Caracas, Vene- communication with the rest of the zuela, told of a bottle that had been world, have in their last extremity put found in western Venezuela (200 miles written notes into bottles and thrown away) by a 13-year-old boy who could them into the sea. This was done in the neither read nor write; a family friend hope they would be picked up and so had traveled to Caracas to deliver the bring help. And botde messages have drift card. solved the mystery of long-missing ships.

This is the latest chapter being added In 1902 two naval vessels searched to the ancient and noble history of serv- the Adantic for 3 months for some trace ice to mankind performed by drift mes- of the missing steamer Huronian. The sage bottles. The purpose of this par- search was in vain, but some 5 months

ticular program is to study patterns of later a securely corked bottle was picked surface cunents in an effort to discover up on the Nova Scotia coast. It con- and develop marine food resources, tained a message which read: "Huronian

especially tunafish. hope is to col- turned turtle in Atlantic, Sunday night. The Crewmembers of a Government survey ship lect information Fourteen of us in a boat." that will help in both cast drift bottles into the Gulf Stream off the harvest and conservation of this The note bore no signature. It was at Frying Pan Light Tower on the lower North increasingly important food fish. first thought to be a hoax, but 5 years Carolina coast.

The Panama Canal Review 11 For fishermen, exact knowledge of ride safely on giant waves, often 100 feet currents can be almost literally pure gold high. They resist breakage when they Letters from the Sea because of the increase in fishing hauls. are hurled to the shore by pounding surf American scientists, for example, use or dragged back into the sea across bottles to tip off fishermen as to where stones and sand. it. The Hydrographic Office of the U.S. and when they can find cod and had- Bottle messengers do not hurry. Twist- Navv sends out several thousand bottles dock. The eggs of these fish float on the ing and turning, they meander on their every year. These are given to captains surface, and bottles are cast among them way, sailing about 10 miles a day. How- of American ships to set afloat in differ- as telltale floating markers. If the bottles ever, bottles carried by strong currents ent parts of the world. Each bottle con- move far out to sea, then presumably and blown by gales have been known to tains a card on which the captain records the eggs do too. travel some 80 miles in 24 hours. of his ship, the date, longitude, the name Sea charts have enabled navigators to Some bottles travel only a few miles, latitude. It also holds another card and make use of the speed of currents and returning to shore on the rising tide. with instructions to the finder. These are drifts so their ships can avoid an oppos- Others travel thousands of miles. One printed in seven different languages, in- ing current and take advantage of a bottle messenger has been sailing the cluding Esperanto. About 350 forms favorable one, thereby increasing their oceans for 25 years. Nicknamed the come back each year. From these re- speed. Industry uses bottles to trace the "Flying Dutchman," it was first dropped turns excellent current charts have been disposal of wastes. Dumped into the into the North Sea by a trawler. This diavvn. water with waste material, they show venerable traveler has been picked up Tens of thousands of such bottles are whether or not certain areas or beaches and thrown back more times than you released into the seas of the world each are in danger of pollution. can count. It has been around the world year, because, despite our more sophisti- several times, and most likely right at For Her Duenna cated instruments, drift bottles still play this very moment it is bobbing merrily a vital role in unraveling the mysteries The nautical experts who study the over the waves. of the seas. Drift bottles are regularly returned messages are in a splendid posi- In 1784 a Japanese fisherman and released today by government agencies tion to get first-hand information on some companions sent a message out in across the world. They may be tossed what the people of the world think of a bottle while on their way to seek buried into the sea from yachts, merchant ships, America. The common belief is still that treasure. The bottle was cast up in 1935 or research vessels sent out by private the streets of America are paved with at the very sea coast town from which scientific institutions. gold and that certainly there must be a they had departed. A 151-year trip! handsome reward for finding a bottle Whiskey botdes, beer bottles, catsup Drifting Mines paper—despite the notice to the contrary bottles— all kinds of bottles are drifting Finished sea charts are especially val- printed on the form. on the oceans. Imagination pictures uable after a war to locate explosive A Canary Islands damsel requested them pushed relentlessly along by winds mines which have drifted into the main reimbursement for bavel expenses to the and currents, buffeted by winds and shipping lanes. In the Pacific following seat of an American consul (where she waves but usuaUy coming to rest on World War II, there were thousands of carried the bottle paper) not only for some shore to be discovered by a beach- live and deadly mines drifting at random herself but for her duenna as well—the comber with an inquiring mind. It is in the shipping lanes. Many serious young lady could not travel alone. One recorded one bottle drifted from a point casualties to ships resulted from colli- Irish colleen even asked for a husband southeast of Cape Horn to the west coast sions with these diabolical killers. It be- and specified he be fat "because fat men of North Island, New Zealand, a distance came imperative to know where and are more jolly, generous, and romantic." of 10,250 miles. when these mines were likely to be en- Though bottle papers do not usually Contrary Behavior countered if ships were to be safely offer much of a rewai-d to the finder, a Drifts of 4,000 to 6,000 miles and routed across the Pacific. A study of native farm in boy the Azores Islands more are not uncommon. Not so long bottle drifts provided the answer. Even found a bottle on the beach that did. ago, a bottle set adrift about 800 miles in normal times the paths of floating Inside, he discovered a note promising east of Newfoundland was discovered hazards to navigation can be forecast, or to the finder pay $1,000 if the note was 31 months later on the coast of Yucatan predicted with a high degree of accu- duly presented to a New York address. after drifting over 6,000 miles. It was racy, as a result of information gleaned It was not a hoax. In fact, the reward first carried along in the eastward-mov- from bottle drifts. was actually paid. More folding money ing cuiTcnt and wind, then southward More than 156,000 corked soda-pop than the boy could have earned in 10 and westward until it finally washed bottles were thrown into the Atlantic years! As a publicity stunt the bottle was ashore on the remote beach in the Ocean from Newfoundland to Florida cast into the sea near the entrance to tropics. from 1948 to 1962 by U.S. and Canadian New York Harbor the by sponsor of a The speed of a drifting bottle varies, research scientists. radio program. It worked. The bottle of course, according to wind and cur- The data drifted about 2,500 miles in accumulated from the re- the North rent. A bottle adrift in a quiet comer turned cards has Atlantic, finally resting supplied valuable in- on the Azores may not move a mile in a month. formation on Island beach. surface currents of the At- Another, caught up by the Gulf Stream lantic Ocean. This comprehensive are bottles study Why particularly used? at its raciest, may bowl along at a brisk will be used to help solve such problems Fragile as it may seem, a well-corked 5 knots and do 100 miles a day. as where to dispose of atomic waste ma- bottle is one of the world's most sea- However, nobody can predict with terials and offshore pollution waste, as worthy objects. Botdes are strong and certainty in what direction a bottle will well as to l(;am more about the migration durable. When well sealed, they make go. Consider the contrary behavior of of fish. perfect containers. During storms they identical bottles dropped at the same

12 Fall 1971 time just ofF the Brazilian coast. The first floated east 130 days and was found on an African beach. The second went northwest 196 days, ending up in Nica- ragua. Yet two other bottles thrown overboard in the mid-Atlantic landed on the same bit of French coast—mere yards apart after 350 days at sea. There must be literally thousands of bottles bearing messages drifting on the oceans of the world at this veiy moment. Who can tell what outstanding news they may be carrying? During and after

World War I many bottle messages set adrift by shipwrecked seamen were delivered by the sea to all parts of the world. It is reasonable to think many more such messages were entrusted to the sea in wars since then, not only by seamen, but also bv airmen shot down. Probablv as time goes on, some of these "letters" will be dul\' delixered by the seas; perhaps bringing news of the fate of sons, husbands, and fathers who went to war and did not return. Or perhaps, there are bottles drifting about like the one tossed overboard one June a few years ago b)' Dr. T. R. Van Dellen and L. E. Richard of Chicago, who were on a ship ofi^ the northern coast of Maine. Thev stopped a steward as he was about to throw an empty whiskey bottle over the side and decided to test the odds of nature. In pencil they wrote a note giving their names and addresses and instruct- ing the finder to send the bottle, and

they would refill it. After putting the

note into the bottle they tossed it into the stormy North Atlantic. More than 2 months later they received a letter from a man in Newfoundland. He said he had found the broken bottle on a beach over 1,000 miles from where

it had been tossed overboard.

"I hope you can refill another bottle in place the broken bottle," he wrote, "Wouldn't be no good (sic) to sent you

but I was lucky enough to get the note

and drye it. Will I am in hopes to get

good succeed with it. Thank you." Van Dellen and Richard each chipped in five dollars and sent a check to the man explaining that liquor could not be sent through the mail. The envelope was returned unopened. Under the bottle-finder's name was printed, "Deceased." Perhaps, too, there may be romantic bottle messages afloat like the one from a sailor who off^ered to marry the first pretty girl who read his seaborne mes- sage. A Sicilian girl answered. Corre- spondence turned rapidly to love, and thev were married in 1956! Canal Building Early Warning System for^

J; By Eunice Richard Ve

••''he culebra slide pos- first took action in an effort to stabilize what they call the most mixed up geol- J- sessed a certain remorselessness the slope quickly. This consisted of drill- ogy in the world, have a name for which was not manifested by any of the ing into the slope to drain the cracks and the geology in Caillard Cut—"reverse other sHdes in quite so picturesque a rocks; application of large quantities of topography." way. For this shde, with apparently lime to help the soils and rocks release They explain the theory this way: human malice, attacked not only the water; and construction on the surface of "First of all—in the distant geological work done on the Canal proper, but an effective drainage diversion system past, Panama had sedimentary forma- like a well directed army moved on the which collected the rainfall and diverted tions and they were beneath the sea. headquarters of its foe. it from the cracks. Then the Isthmus rose up from the sea

"'Its first manifestation appeared in the form of a wide crack in the earth at the ^'And when the clay was exposed in the sides of the Cut crest of the hill on which the town of and the teeming rain fell on it, it dissolved into heavy Culebra was located and directly in front of the building used by Colonel sticky mud that moved and crept inexorably down and Caillard as division headquarters for the filled the excavations, covered the rail tracks, engineers." overturned and sometimes buried the trains This was in 1913 and a construction day writer, describing the problems and machines at the bottom." faced by the Canal builders, said tliat at Howarth in "The Golden Isthmus" this time many of the buildings, includ- ing the Culebra YMCA Clubhouse, had The movement on the slope decreased, and the rocks were subjected to weather- to be moved from the side of the Cut. probably as a result of the remedial ac- ing and erosion so that hills and valleys In May 1968, 55 years and several tion and it was decided that no grading were formed. Later, some intensive vol- thousand ships later, Panama Canal operation would be done unless the sit- canic activity developed, and the hills engineers discovered that a similai- uation worsened. Since an ounce of pre- and valleys of sedimentary rock were problem still existed. A deep crack had vention is worth a pound of cure, the covered with igneous rocks. Some were suddenly opened on Hodges Hill, the bank stability surveillance program was basalts that flowed over the land as lava, present day name for Culebra. It was on then started. and some were agglomerates which a hill overlooking Culebra Reach on the An intensive effort to determine the rained down on the land and then west, bank of the Canal. cause and nature of the slide problem solidified. Reactivation of the old slide that dates progressed quickly at the same time that Since the land was still above water, back to construction da)'S came to the monitoring systems were installed and erosion began and on top of the hills attention of the Canal engineers by the geologic exploration was undertaken in where the igneous rocks were thinnest, enlargement of enormous tension cracks the most active area. Assisting in this the weathering progressed most rapidly. high on the hill. The unexpected threat program was a board of consultants These areas started to become the new almost spelled disaster. A slide of this headed by Wendell Johnson, former valleys. As a result, the valleys are now size could have blocked the Canal or at chief of the U.S. Army Engineering Di- located where the hills used to be and best slowed traffic. vision, and Dr. Arthur Casagrande, an the hills are located where the valleys Swinging into emergency action, the authority in the field of soils mechanics used to be. The hills are made of hard engineers launched a maximum eflFort and engineering geology. volcanic rock with the old sedimentary program aimed at stabilizing the hill by The geology at Hodges Hill could not rocks beneath. It is the opinion of geol- any means that could be implemented have changed much in the years since ogists that there could hardly be a worse quickly. At the same time, they started the Canal diggers were dodging land- situation so far as slope stability is an intensive effort to determine the cause slides and removing dirt almost as fast concerned. and nature of the problem. as it could slide into the Canal prism. It In formulating the Bank Stability Sur- The methods being used today to de- consists of hard, heavy rocks overlying veillance Program, Canal engineers did tect potential slides and handle them are weak rocks, a basic structure of many not rely entirely on past experience but naturally far different than those used hills in Caillard Cut and an important built flexibility into their plans for devel- 55 years ago since the science of soil factor behind many slides. oping better methods and equipment as mechanics is only 30 years old. The Panama Canal geologists, who they went along. In the case of Hodges Hill, engineers have been wringing their hands over They came up with an 8-year develop-

14 Fall 1971 -y*

^^T'.^'^V

^ las;-. " s»i:-%- I

A sample of what happened to the early Canal diggers from time to time. A break in tlie Gary Guazzo, soils mechanics engineer with east bank at Culebra in 1913 poured material into the bottom of the Cut tearing up railroad the Panama Canal Engineering Division, tracks and bur\ing a steam shovel. Some buildings had to be moved from the side of the Cut. probes a crack on the side of Hodges Hill.

mental plan which when completed would pro\ide an effecti\e sui-veillancc .system for all bank areas in Gaillaid Cut high tMiough and steep enough to cause a serious possible slide.

The de\elopmental program was di-

\ided into two phases. Phase I covers areas of knowm instability where there is presently acti\ity or where there has been activity in the past. Phase II covers areas where the banks are high enough for potential sliding and where the geology is not known well enough to say they are safe. This phase will be completed in 1977. From that time on, a permanent pro- gram of suneillance will continue. This will include continued maintenance of the surveillance S)'Stems as well as read- ing them. There may be instalments to replace and there may be new and better instruments to install. On occa- sion, new areas may ha\^e to be studied and added to the system. The engineers say that \\'hen thev are through with this de\elopmental pro- gram, about half of the steep or danger- ous banks along Gaillard Cut will have been studied, instrumented and under obserxation. In other w^ords, the Canal will h'c ef|uipped with a "slide early warning s\stem" which will give early detection of possible slides. The system will include the engineering plans held ill readiness and kept in an up-dated Concrete and sandbag lined walls and drainage ditches divert the storm runoff away from condition in case remedial action of ans' the slide area of Hodges Hill. A ship moves through the Gaillard Cut in an area where kind should become necessarv. there might have been hazards to Canal traffic if preventive measures had not been taken.

The Panama Ca.nal Review 15 blcIiCj

The picks and dredges and the army of rough and tumble diggers have long been silenced. But their ghostly presence somehow can be felt as one looks over remnants of the old French canal.

By Robert L. Austin a "Straits of Panama." It is the last the general route that the Canal follows N THE WEST BANK OF THE remnant of an abandoned dream—the today over the "bones and sweat" of French sea level canal. first Panama Canal, a mile north of that effort. Today little note is taken of the Gatun Locks, a small wooden The French work near Balboa and ui French canal. The old equipment has bridge crosses a narrow waterway. If Gaillard Cut forms part of the present rotted away and time and the jungle \'ou stand in the middle of the bridge Canal but is not discemable. On the lia\e erased most of it from sight and and face east toward the moniing sun, Atlantic side, however, the French memory. Children growing up here excavations were not used as pai"t of the yon can sec where the still water joins have only a vague idea of the French American canal and it is here that the the Canal a short distance away. Now canal although part of it is still in use. I'rench work can be seen. and then a ship goes by, lea\ing a pat- tern of waves that break against the Bones and Sweat Every visitor to Fort San Lorenzo mangroves on the shore. The French originally planned to dig crosses the old canal and everyone going Margarita, As you stand there the creaking a channel from Colon southwest along to Gatun or Fort Davis from Coco Solo, or City goes along planks gi\'e rise to a ghostlv rhythm: the Mindi Hills to the Chagres River at Rainbow East Diversion, a small drainage chan- (lull thud of absent picks, the clatter of Gatun. From Gatun the channel would early long gone dredges, the ribald laughter boldly follow the Chagres as far as nel dug bv the French in the 1880's. of men now silent. For this narrow chan- Gamboa then tirni abiiiptly south nel was dug bv men determined to build through the Continental Divide. This is The oil cargo dock on Pier 16, the

16 Fall 1971 Top left: The French left their indelible mark at Mount Hope when in 1886 they built the drvdock now used by the Industrial Division. Originally for small sailing ships, it was enlarged in 1933 to accommodate larger steel hulled ships. Top right: The narrow French cana] enters the channel at Buoy 16 along the sea level approach to Gatun Locks. Below: An old French excavator lies partially submerged near

Tabemilla after it was abandoned following the French failure. The photo was taken in 1913. rtcu

\

i^

\

The Panama Canal Review 17 The Panama Canal Yacht Club

at Cristobal is host to Atlantic side

boat fans and to yachtsmen

from all over the world.

The club is located on the

east bank of the French canal

where the channel turns left

into Limon Bay.

Cristobal Yacht Club, the Maintenance then towed up the old channel to the seems the old canal feels this drama Division, and the Industrial Division cement storage docks at the huge mixing with a consciousness that pulses through shops at Mount Hope are all on the old plant at Gatun. the channel keeping it alive and proud French canal. \Mien the locks were finished the of the part it played. The French removed more than 4.5 mixing plant was no longer needed and Farther down where the French million cubic of canal joins and the Cris- yards spoil from the use of this portion of the French canal Limon Bay Atlantic area 16 Cristobal including excavations in was discontinued. The hustling, sprawl- tobal basin are Pier and the the ship canal, Yacht Club. diversions, and harbor, ing shops are gone and the clanking and completed this sector almost as far The yacht club is host to many At- machinery is silent. The only evidence as Bohio, 8 miles south of Gatun. ( lantic side boat fans as well as yachts- Later of this old bustle are the iron rails left the French select from all over would Bohio as a site in the jungle. men the world. Few of for a dam and lock when the sea level the transient visitors are aware of the At its northern end the French canal canal plan was abandoned.) historic significance of the busy chan- is still alive and busw Here the myriad nel and the water drifting past the Chagres River facilities of the Industrial Division mooring piers. occupy the east shore of the old channel. French work was divided into three The Marine Bunkering Section's oil This northern end of the French canal main excavations: the ship canal; West cargo dock on Pier 16 is an offspring is the only part that has felt the hulls of Diversion, a small channel draining of the older coaling station. As coal gave oceangoing ships. The drydock built bv water west of the Chagres River; and wav to oil on more and more ships, the the French in 1886 is used today to hold E^st Diversion, draining off water east coaling station gradually shifted to ma- modern ships. of the Chagres into Manzanillo Bav. rine oils exclusively. Coaling operations The West Diversion was kept open The Roosevelt were finished in 1952 and many of the as a temporary channel for the Chagres buildings destroyed. Currentlv the dock But here also is a trace of the old. River until the spillway sill was com- handles thousands of tons of marine oils Along the mud flats on the west bank pleted at Gatun and the river finally and bunkers hundreds of foreign and are the rusting hulks and equipment of closed in 1910. American ships. the French and Americans. After 1914 the East Diversion was These rot- ting relics recall past heroic days. The Still Alive not used. Now, partially hidden by sad remains of the Roosevelt rest among second growth foliage, it has degen- The spirit of the French canal is still the old dredges and barges. erated into a sluggish course that follows with us even though the locks type the road from Rainbow City, past (The Roosevelt was specially con- canal ended the dream of a "Straits of Margarita, along Mindi to Fort Davis. structed to take Arctic explorer Robert Panama." Back on the west bank near E. Peary to the north polar region. The Gatun Locks just a few miles from the East Diversion rugged little ship did her job well and on busy industrial shops, the French canal Man)' people mistake the East Diver- April 6, 1909, Peary planted the Stars lies quietly in the jungle. Ships of all sion for the French ship canal and often and Stripes atop the North Pole. She nations pass it where the channel ""juts taxi drivers pass on this misinformation was sold and resold manv times and into the present dav American canal at to their tourist passengers. Others finally, in January 19.37 while being Buo\ 16. erroneously believe it is a jungle river. operated as a tug. the Roosevelt was Perhaps this is the way the Chagres Although the Americans dug a differ- taken to the Mount Hope Shipyard to River once looked with Gatun nestled ent channel, they did make temporary repair a leak and storm damage. But on its banks. The area abounds with use of the existing French excavations. she was too far gone. The work was ghosts—from the pirates and conquis- The French canal's location adjacent to never started. The historic vessel was tadores to the French who worked the proposed lock site at Gatun made ordered beached on a mud bank of the .iiid dreamed. it ideal for use as a boat slip. Barges old French canal to keep it from sinking loaded with crushed rock from Porto- at dockside.) belo Robert L. Austin is an emplo\ee and sand from Nombre de Dios It may be too romantic to believe of the Xa\igation Di\ision at Balboa. were brought to by sea Cristobal and there's an awareness here. Somehow it

18 Fall 1971 Gi RdsIi

v %

Thousands took the shortcut

through the jungles Panama. By WilUe K. Friar of

GIRLS IN RED VELVET SWINGS neai- the mouth of the Chagres River and so called because of the silla, a kind of in the gas-lighted taverns of old at the height of the Gold Rush chair which the natives lashed to their San Francisco, covered wagons lurching hordes of California-bound emigrants backs for carrying passengers. across the vast deserts and snow covered daily swarmed ashore, determined to The trail from Cruces was longer and mountains of the United States with make their way to the otlier side of rougher than that from Gorgona but had fierce Indian braves in hot pursuit. These the Isthmus without delay and there re- the advantage of being open in all are the scenes that come to mind at the embark for the final dash to California. weather. It followed the ancient Las mention of the California Gold Rush; The Isthmian crossing was made in Cruces Trail of the Spanish Conquista- not malaria stricken men on recalcitrant stages, partly by river, and pardy by dores. It had once been paved with stone burros jolting their way over the jungle land. First, the Forty-niners had to seek over its entire length and, despite cen- trails of Panama or others poling their out and hire native boatmen with dugout turies of neglect, enough of the stone- dugout canoes through the shallow canoes, called "bungoes," to transport work remained to give the mules a foot- reaches of the Chagres River. them to some point in the vicinity of ing, precarious though it was during Yet Panama, Las Cruces Trail, and the Cnices or Gorgona. From there, they the drenching tropical rains. The Gor- Chagres were very much a part of the took mules to Panama or, if they could gona route, while shorter, became an scene during Gold Rush days, with afford it, the more expensive "silleros," Drawings by Frank Brown thousands of gold seekers electing to take the "shortcut" across the Isthmus. The great throngs that joined the Rush in 1849 were to become known as the Forty-niners, a term that eventually came to mean anyone who goes in search of gold or treasure. Before the discovery of gold in Cali- fornia, Panama was seldom visited ex- cept by an occasional whaler and travel- ers across the Isthmus were "few and far between." But when the cry of "gold" reverberated around the world, with the discovery of the lode at Sutter's Mill near

Sacramento in 1848, it signaled for Pan- ama, the beginning of another colorful chapter in its history as a route of passage.

Gold Fever

During the next two decades the Isth- mian route was to become one of the

world's most traveled thoroughfares. It was obvious that the shortest way to California was by way of Panama, avoid- ing the 10,000-mile sea voyage around the Horn or the dangerous 3,000-mile trek across the United States. And, in the frenzy of "gold fever" few gave any thought to the hazards they would face

transiting the small neck of land that While reading about the Gold Kush, Trish Finn, student assistant in the Canal organization, stood in their way. pauses to study an oil painting which shows a party of Forty-niners, traveling by mules and Ships from the north first touched "silleros," as they stop for refreshments at the Half Way House on their trip across the Isth-

land at the forlorn village of Chagres mus. Fainted in 1857 by Albertis D. O. Browehe, it now hangs in the Canal Zone Library.

The Panama Canal Review 19 impassable quagmire during tropical well as in California, the men frequently downpours. brought heavy woolen clothing best The bungo boatmen were in an excel- suited for Arctic conditions. As the trip lent bargaining position with hundreds progressed, these clothes were discarded

of men rushing ashore and bidding and it was not long before the streets of against one another for passage up the Panama City were littered with a col- river. It became a matter of survival of lection of fur hats, red flannel shirts, and the fittest. The ablest at bargaining, at woolen trousers. paying, or at forcing the natives to stick Dined on Iguana to a bargain in the face of higher bids, loaded their supplies into the boats and The passage up the river usually took set off. At the beginning of the Gold at least 3 days with overnight stops at Rush the fee for the first lap of the trip native villages along the way. Food was was about $10 per passenger, but prices difficult to find and eating at the huts soared and bargaining became heated often proved an unnerving experience. as the demand increased. Wild stories circulated and the travelers, All travelers were anxious, with good unacquainted with the ways of the reason, to get out of the village of tropics, became suspicious of any food Chagres. It was notorious as a breeding they could not immediately identify. But spot for yellow fever, cholera, and ma- hunger often overcame their reservations laria, where the death rate was so high and some later reported they were sure that most insurance companies included they had dined on iguana, snake, a clause in their policies stating that all monkey, and other exotic animals. benefits would be canceled automatically One traveler wrote that he had drunk if the policy holder remained overnight his first cup of coffee at a hut and found in village. the it so good that he ordered another. Yankee Doodle When he indicated that he would like more sugar in it, he was dismayed to It was a treacherous bU miles from see the girl serving it chew a piece of Chagres to Panama City by river and sugarcane and calmly spit the juice into trail with the sole avenue of travel for the cup before she handed it to him. He the first 40 miles on the meander- decided to stick to brandy for the rest ing Chagres River, which was, by of the trip. turns, broad and sluggish, narrow, and turbulent. When the boats reached Cruces or Gorgona on finishing the first part of After about an hour at the oars the the journey across the Isthmus, the hag- boatmen routinely tied up their crafts gling began anew as the men paid off and plunged into the water to cool off or the boat owners before starting a they disappeared into the jungle and re- new series of negotiations for mule turned carrying bottles of native brandy transportation to City. from well hidden caches along the route. Panama Many of the passengers, convinced that Cold-finding Devices a supply of wine or stronger beverage Like the Chagres boatmen, the over- was a necessary safeguard against the land packers shrewdly fixed prices de- tropical diseases, joined the boatmen in pending on the current demand for serv- passing around the bottle and it was not ices. The distance was only 20 miles but uncommon to encounter whole boat- the route was through rugged country loads of Fortv-niners following an with trails so narrow that riders were erratic course upstream with passengers forced, in some places, to put their feet and oarsmen laughing uproariously as up on the mule's back to be able to pass they sang "Oh Susanna" or "Yankee through. The on the slippery trail Doodle." The Spanish speaking natives mud was often knee deep. often had little idea of the meaning of the words they were mispronouncing. Scores of Panama mules moved con- The clothing of the travelers and their stantly over the route bearing burdens arsenal of guns and knives were subjects out of all proportion to their size as many of wonder and merriment to the friendlv, of the Forty-niners had supplied them- scantily clad natives. Ill-informed con- selves with all manner of outrageous cerning what to expect in Panama as Rube Goldberg-type gold-finding de- vices and enough provisions to last a whole year. On Las Cruces Trail, still a popular One guidebook of the day recom- hiking route, Pat Weed, Canal Zone mended the following as the minimum College student, examines some of the well-wom paving stones over which amount of supplies needed for a year in thousands of gold seekers traveled in the gold fields: 1 barrel of salt pork; their headlong dash for California. 10 barrels salt beef; 100 pounds of ham; J^^S'^-^^ 20 Fall 1971 10 pounds of hard bread; 40 crocks of CK-ercrowding and unsanitary condi- merous deaths before they reached San butter and cheese; and a goodly supply tions began to take their toll with dis- Francisco. of tea, salt, sugar, and spices. How a eases often reaching epidemic propor- In August 18.52, the Pacific Mail's man was to transport himself and such tions. Thousands fell victim to d)sentery, steamship. Golden Gate, having taken a store of supplies across the Isthmus and malaria, and sellow fever. An almost on a full load of passengers, including onto the ship bound for California was complete lack of medical care made mor- several companies of the Fourth Infantry not explained. talit)' high. Once a disease was con- bound for the Presidio at San Francisco, Food Was Scarce tracted it had to run its course. Those was found to have several passengers who died were placed in the ever-grow- with cholera. The disease spread rapidly. The travelers who survived the rigors ing "American" cemeteries at one or Before the ship cleared Panama Bay 84 of crossing the Isthmus thought first of another of the ports and the survivors soldiers had died, and there were almost food and lodging when they finally ar- either returned or daily fatalities all the way to California. rived in Panama City. More often than home continued on to the gold fields. crosses not, they found no room available in the New were erected Ulysses S. Grant daily which the tropical rains overcrowded town and set up camp in washed One detachment of soldiers had be- away while new shiploads the tree-covered fields outside the an- of gold seekers come infected while stranded for 5 days cient walls of Panama City, improvising continued to straggle past on the way to in Cmces. Among the group was a future shelter from whatever material was on the great adventure. Commander in Chief and President of hand and preparing their meals over Guides for Forty-niners planning to the United States, Capt. Ulysses S. campfires. cross the Isthmus often advised against Grant. A mule owner had contracted to And there the men stayed, often for drinking alcoholic beverages and then provide baggage transportation for the months. Ship after ship continued to eating tropical fruits which they said Army at 11 cents a pound, but when come in on the Atlantic side but far civilian travelers offered him would cause "a fermentation in the 16 to 20 fewer were leaving on the Pacific side cents, he conveniently forgot the con- bowels which no medical care seems to for California. And when the ships did tract. Captain Grant succeeded in secur- help." arri\e and began taking on passengers, Many survived the sta\- on the Isth- those with through-tickets often found Travel on the Chagres River has changed mus only to find themselves faced with the ships already filled with men who little from the time of the Gold Rush. had no reservations but refused to get the hazards of epidemics aboard the Employees of the Meteorological and off. During the first 6 years of the Gold ships. Most were overloaded, increasing Hydrographic Branch look very much like the Forty-niners in Rush, demand for space on California- chances of contracting contagious dis- the painting "Passing a Rapid" as they use poles and bound ships was so great that tickets eases. Many passengers were exposed to rope during a routine trip. J. Cameron sometimes changed hands for as much cholera and yellow fever before board- painted this Chagres scene at the height as S 1,000. Brothels, saloons, and gam- ing the ships and there were often nu- of the Gold Rush. bling dens soon sprang up and many men lost their tickets or ticket money before they could secure passage.

Aghast at Morals

The Bishop of California, the Right Rev. William Ingraham Kip, passed through during this period and was aghast at morals and living conditions. He wrote of his accommodations in Pan- ama City, where he was put up in a room with 200 others, "There were not only the most awful blasphemies that human ingenuity could devise, but the most foul-mouthed ribaldry that could be con- ceived by a perverted imagination. A party would rise from their beds, and under the dim lanterns which hung from the beams, produce their brandy-botdes, and with oaths, drink until they reeled again to their bunks. To make matters

worse, next to us was a pen ( I can caU it nothing else) of boards about 10 feet high, intended to afford a private room for females. This happened to be occu- pied by some women of the baser sort whose loud ribaldry infinitelv amused the kindred spirits on our side of the par- tition, who accordingly replied to them in the same terms. It was enough to convince one of the doctrine of total depravity."

The Panama Canal Review 21 "The fine steamer Illinois sailed for Aspinwall yesterday with 715 passengers California Gold Rush Turns the for California, another vindication of the opinion expressed a fortnight ago; that Panama Railroad into a Bonanza the stream of emigration is flowing Cali- fomiaward this spring with a stronger tide than ever before. Seven hundred and fifteen passengers! What a young

village is here! But the vessel is large and commodious and will accommodate them all with ease; so friends who are mourning the departing ones, don't dream of them as sharers in the horrors of a "middle passage.'

"The ease and comfort with which a trip can be made to California now by way of Aspinwall and the Panama Rail- road is greatly promoting the emigration thitherward of the famihes of those ad- \enturers who desire to settle on the Pa- cific slope. The Illinois carried out no less than 120 ladies and 78 children— the larger portion of them unaccom- panied by gentlemen. Indeed, ladies may now make the trip to San Francisco with no more difficulty and much less fatigue than the journey to Washington All was chaos at Culebra where the railroad ended in 1854. This painting by Otis M. D. would involve. The steamer upon reach- Surgeon shows work proceeding on the railroad, at left, while in the foreground California- ing Aspinwall meets a train of railroad bound travelers round up burros and mules to continue their overland trek. Crowds of cars wharf stranded Forty-niners fill the balconies of the American Hotel at the far right. upon the with steam all up ready for a start. A 3 or 4 hour's ride brings them to the Pacific coast and an ing more mules but not before 12 soldiers Bay, where the railroad had its Atlantic had died. terminal. hour more places them on the vessel which is to land In the meantime, work on the trans- Discovering that the work train had them at San Francisco. changes of Isthmian railroad was going forward. made a nm as far as Gatim, the anxious The conveyance are two only: there The project was not, as might be emigrants converged on the railroad and and are no exposures to fevers or rain or other assumed, inspired by the discovery of offered to pav any price to be trans- any serious inconvenience the gold. It had been under consideration ported on the train for the 7 miles. There on way." for more than a decade before the Rush was not a single passenger car but the The New York Times added, "The began. railroad finally gave into their pleas and ladies are beginning to understand this The route was surveyed as early as transported them to Gatim on the work and California is reaping the advantage 1841 and in 1847 the Panama Railroad train where they could take the bungoes of the addition to its population of nu- Company was organized by a small as usual. merous families whose influence cannot group of New York financiers. While fail to be most beneficial to the State." the company's organizers were men of A Bonanza The Opposite Sex vision, they never dreamed in 1847, that From then on, the railroad carried the discovery of gold in California would passengers as far as the tracks extended. This was welcome news to the Forty- assure the successful completion of the The resulting revenue was estimated at niners already in California where there railway and a fortune for the company. over $1 million before the railroad was were so few of the opposite sex that a The affairs of the railroad looked very completed. For the next 1.5 years the man would often walk many miles just dark and its stock had taken a tumble railroad was a bonanza. Annual divi- to look at a woman. when a climactic event changed the dends were never below 12 percent and The Isthmian crossing continued to outlook for the enterprise. in 1868 reached 44 percent. EHiring the be a popular route to the West until

first 12 years of its operations, it carried 1869 when the first transcontinental Rough Weather over $7.50 million in gold dust, nuggets, railroad in the United States was On the first day of October 1851, a and gold and silver coin, collecting completed. train of working cars had passed over the S of 1 percent on each shipment. Although the Gold Rush, in which the road as far as Gatun. The next month Hordes of Forty-niners crossed and Chagres, Las Cruces Trail, and the Pan- two ships, the Georgia and Philadelphia, recrossed the Isthmus on the railroad ama Railroad played such a significant arrived off Chagres in rough weather paying $25 for a one-way fare. The com- role, passed into history, the Isthmus with passengers en route to California. pany charged $6 just to walk across the continued to play an important role in After several lives were lost in attempt- Isthmus on the roadbed. the development of the "Golden West" ing to bring the ships into the customary On April 21, 1855, the New York with the Panama Canal taking on the job anchorage at the mouth of the Chagres, Times, telling of the merits of the of providing the historically vital route they anchored in what is now Limon Panama route, published this story: of passage.

22 Fall 1971 TO ASSURE GOOD LUCK

Break A Bottle Over Her Bow

WHEN ANNE PARKER, DAUGH- The launching of a ship has not success of a vessel and bring blessings ter of Canal Zone Gov. and Mrs. alwa\s meant good cheer and cham- from the gods than to make a human David S. Parker, at a recent ceremony, pagne. The ceremony goes back thou- sacrifice? The Fijians and Samoans used smashed a bottle of champagne, against sands of years to solemn and often in- to sacrifice humans to their shark deities. the bow of the oil recovery barge, Ltigar- human pagan rituals meant to appease In Tahiti it was customary to shed hu- to, completed bv the Dredging Di\ision the gods and insiue safe voyages—even m;ui blood when canoes were launched in September of this vear, she \\as at the expense of human sacrifices. or built. According to Mariner, in his performing a ritual that dates back to Later in history a launching was pre- book "Tonga," there was the grisly cus- ancient times. ceded by a great religious ceremony and tom of using human beings as rollers on

A launching ceremony is simple. was attended by kings, queens and high which to launch a ship. This was similar to the ancient habit tying There is a short speech, then the crowd priests. Thus, what was bom in the Norse of quiets, and the guest of honor, alwavs a pagan mind to appease the gods, and human \ictims to the launching rollers. lady, swings the gaily WTapped ceremo- then evolved into complex religious This was known as "blun-rod" or roller- nial wine with a sidearm motion. Months ritual has become both a vestige of the reddening. and often years of hard work bv scores past and a show of pride in our vessels A custom in 18th and early 19th cen- tury France was to choose a godfather of highly skilled men is climaxed by the of today, and godmother, usually children. The smashing of a bottle of champagne. Noah's Ark godfather would present a bouquet to Actual records of an offering to the the godmother, and then both would gods upon completion of a ship date pronounce the name chosen for the ship. back more than 2,000 years before Queen Victoria Christ. An ancient Assyrian tablet gives In Britain Queen Victoria originated mi.*. an account of the great flood and con- the custom of having a religious service struction of Noah's Ark. According to at the launching of the Alexandria in 1875. The ritual developed into a full choral service with the reading of a spe- cial prayer made up of extracts from the 107th Psalm. This was followed by a ceremony in which a botde of wine was smashed across the ship's bow after a sponsor had named her. The custom of

Gov. David S. Parker stands beside his benedictions over British ships dates daughter Anne as she christens the "La- back to the 14th century when ships garto." At left is Charles Hummer, the were blessed by priests. Canal's oil pollution control officer. Christening a ship with water is con- sidered unlucky. The historic ship Ccm- usually on the vessel's bow. Meanwhile, ( Please see p. 29) if the vessel is a large ship, workmen have been busy laboring under her hull A spirited swing by Mrs. Julian S. Heame pounding away supports so that when wife of the former chief of the Dredging the bottle sprays its liquid the vessel will Division, sends the champagne bottle smash- start its short journey to the water. In ing against the derrick barge U.S. "Goliath." the launching of smaller craft, a crane is often used to place them in the water. the tablet, oxen were sacrificed as part The 19th Century of the religious ceremony connected with Although women now perform the the Ark's completion. ceremony of launching and naming a Religious zeal reached a peak in the

ship, it was a masculine prerogative until Middle Ages when ships were named the 19th century when the Prince of after saints and no craft was sent to sea

Wales broke the precedent and began without its shrine and idols. During the having women of the court act as spon- Crusades each ship of Lx)uis IX had an

sors. Because of the taboo placed on altar and a priestly entourage aboard Since it is considered bad luck for the bottle having women aboard a ship in ancient when she sailed for the Holy Land in not to break on the first try, it is usually times, many sailors refused to sail on a the 13th century. grooved so that it will smash immediately vessel that was named bv a woman. And what better way to insure the on impact with the vessel.

The Panama Canal Review 23 THE SKILLS AND STAMINA OF mythmakers. They are, however, more some of the best roadbuilders of friendly than their Cuna cousins. Both this hemisphere will soon be put to the men and women go about practically test in the dense jungles of the Darien nude. The male has a muscular frame, Province of Panama and northwestern an abundance of straight black hair and Colombia where construction of a 250- wears earrings. The rest of the attire mile highway will supply the link now of the Choco man consists of a small missing from the Alaska to Argentina G-string and a generous coating of dark intercontinental road system. body paint made from the dye of a native berry from the genip tree. Culinary Capers invites Review read- They Culinary also use red a paint made ers to go along on an armchair jouniey from achiote, the orange-red seed which is with these forgers of progress and makers pod com- monly used to give color and flavor to of cement ribbons to savor the region's Panamanian cooking. primitive nature before it is swept away by the near-magic of 20th centuiy The Kitchen Capers ingenuity. The Chocoes are semi-migratory and Adventurers' tall tales of the Darien dwell independently in small one or two tell of headhunters who blow poison family groups. They build their shelters darts from the treetops, of swarming along the banks of rivers which serve as blood-sucking insects, of bottomless mo- their highways By Fannie P. and source of livelihood. Hernandez rasses, of ferocious jaguars, and wild The dwelling is a platform raised on boars. Let us have a look at the Choco posts several feet above the ground. Indians and the vital sources which have Overhead is a roof of thatched palms, the sustained them on a jungle-river-based joints tied with vines. There are no pro- economy. tecting walls. To reach the Choco house, Roadbuilders one climbs up a ladder made by cutting notches into a pole or a log. At night, the The roadbuilders and their bulldozers family turns the steps to the underside will cross one of the world's largest of the log to bar dogs and other un- swamp areas, jungle rivers, hills and wanted callers. At one end of the floor, valleys, and penetrate wilderness un- which is made of flattened-out split cane, touched even by Indian paths, to bring is the "kitchen." It consists of a cement change, at last, to an area where Spanish or clay platform approximately a yard explorers established their first mainland square. Three logs placed spoke fashion colony. Cutting through the dark green rest on the square and the cooking pot masses of tangled vines, creepers and a sits over a small fire burning at the hub. myriad of forest growths, we shall see A calabash tree provides the kitchen the Chocoes' shelters, taste their food, utensils. Scooped out small calabash are and feel the pulse of their silent primeval for drinking and eating or used as world before they retreat deeper into spoons, though ordinarily the Chocoes the wilds or opt to join the modem age. use their fingers to eat from the com- Defying change, we find the copper- mon kettle. Another one with a hole colored Chocoes living today in the wild- cut into the top and a piece of oily est, most primitive existence, very much twisted bark stuck in the hole serves as as the Spaniards found them early in the a lamp. And still another good-sized 16th century. Scattered along the banks calabash with holes punched into it is a of the many rivers that crisscross the colander. Long seed pods serve as Darien, far from the comforts prob- and graters. J lems of civilization, they seem to be in complete harmony with their surround- Practically Nude ings. Proud, peaceful, honest, but sus- Choco women wear only a simple picious of outsiders, they live a day-to- knee-length sarong, their ink black hair day existence in which there are few falling on copper shoulders, their breasts, economic pressures. Ignoring govern- bare. Both men and women have a ment procedures and regulations, Cho- great fondness for adornments. Thev coes usually make their own laws. wear quantities of glass beads around They are the Indians most often ma- their necks or draped over their should- ligned in stories about the Darien. Pos- ers, and on special occasions, flowers in sibly because of their savage appearance, their hair. For additional beautification, they have stirred the imagination of the they paint the lower part of their faces Down in the Darien

24 Fall 1971 and their bodies, often making intricate designs with different colors of paint. Scattered about the floor and hanging The Pan-American from the posts of the dwelling and those Highway System supporting the roof over the "kitchen" are baskets, earthen pots, bows and The circle encompasses arrows, spears, knives, and other hand- Darien wilderness where the made himting and fishing and household last 250-mile link in the Pan-American Highway items. The baskets are made of strips system, to be constructed from the fronds of a palm tree which are in the near future, will light on one side and darker on the other. permit motorists of the The Choco women weave them turning 1980's to drive from Alaska the strips and making an attractive twill to Argentina and open up pattern. Earthen pots are slowly being what has been called replaced bv "pailas," the cast aluminum "a treasure box of long or iron pots found in Panamanian hidden wealth." Fertile kitchens. valleys will be revealed when the walls of the green Sleep on Floor jungle are broken by The Chocoes sleep on the floor of the the road through this untamed stretch of land. shelters. Their beds are the bark of trees which women have made soft by beating under \\'ater. There are no bed covers. A \\ooden block serves as a pillow. There bows and arrows. If not consumed im- hunt the jungle animals. The tapir, armadillo, iguana, and is no protection from the excessive heat, mediateh , thev are smoked and dried. peccary, deer, the insects or frequent downpours, and The rivers also provide turtles and cai- monkey are favorite jungle fare. the Darien is one of the world's rainiest man, favorite foods of the Chocoes. They Jungle trees provide balsa for making regions. The shelters are easilv replaced shoot the turdes with rifles or swim rafts and the bark of certain trees is used skin ail- making it possible for the Chocoes to under water and catch them with their to make remedies for snake bite, disappear deeper into the wilderness as hands, tossing them ashore. A wooden ments, malaria, etc. Other trees furnish

the construction gangs near them. Navi- wedge is driven between the head and fruit and dyes for painting their bodies.

gating their long narrow dugout canoes, shell to prevent it from getting away Palm fronds are used for the roofs over

the\' will select another spot on the same before it reaches the cooking pot. To their shelters and the juice of the river or another stream which will pro- save the turtle for a future meal, it is green coconuts provides "milk" for the vide laundry and bathing facilities and tied near the water. Chocoes. also serve as the fish market and water The forests furnish wild game which Chocoes cultivate mainly com, rice, supply. provides the Chocoes protein food. Bom yucca, potatoes, yams, beans, and otoe Fish are caught v\dth nets, spears or hunters, they use bows and arrows to and grow plantains, bananas, pineapples,

A Choco boy and his river.

Long, narrow dugout canoes

transport food on the waterway

which also provides drinking

water, fish, and laundry

and bathing facilities.

The Panama Canal Review 25 Turtle Stew Monkey Stew

Turtle is an excellent food source of Monkey Stew is made by frying salted, the Chocoes and a typical meal may be smoked monkey lightly in hot oil, adding portions of tmtle fried in its own grease. diced onions, then water and achiote. However, a more savoiy dish is Tiiiilc The stew is cooked until the meat is Steio prepared like this: DJIRIENVIGmiS tender and sauce has thickened. Clean and cut up the neck and legs of These meat dishes are often served 3-'*».- the turtle and steep in lemon juice, with rice which has been cooked in coco- garlic, onion, green pepper, salt, and nut juice with pepper for a few hours. Remove from the addition of onion and salt, or com rolls (bollos) papayas, guavas, aguacates, and other the marinade and fry lightly. Then add made by grinding and boiling gi-een tniits aiid nuts. Theii- diet is rich in the marinade and one cup coconut milk com which vitamins and high in roughage. and cook until the meat is tender. is then formed into balls and wrapped in com husks and boiled. Iguana Stew Turtle Egg Omelet Chocao de Cuineo A favorite dish is Iguana Stew and for Turtle eggs are considered a delicacy this a gravid female is preferred and in Panama and some say they are more A banana-coconut dessert may round prepared in this manner: nutritious than hen's eggs. are They out the meal. Chocao de Cuineo is made Skin the iguana, removing the insides eaten raw, cooked, mixed into pancakes by cubing six bananas and boiling them and saving the eggs, including the and made into a butter-like spread. in one cup of water, adding a piece of yellow ones and tlie heart and liver. Dis- Turtle Egg Omelet is made much the fresh ginger root and gradually adding member the iguana by cutting it down same as the common hen egg variety, one cup coconut milk and a little flour the spine, dividing the halves into three using oil for cooking. for thickening. It is stirred constantly pieces and the legs in two. Place the The flesh of jungle animals and birds until the desired thickness is achieved. meat in a pot of heated coconut oil and such as tapir, monkey, ibis, peccary, More coconut milk is added when brown it lightly. Drop in hot pepper and venison, and agouti are common fare in it is sei-ved. Plantains may be used garlic to taste, and brown a little longer. the Darien. The flesh of these is often instead of In another pot, boil the eggs in their smoked before cooking. Fresh meat, bananas. (Coconut milk is made by squeezing sliells for half an hour with chili pepper. however, can be boiled, roasted, or grated coconut to which boiling water has ( Iguana eggs, boiled for 10 minutes and barbecued. It also is salted and dried been added.) then sun dried have a cheese-like flavor in the sun for several days. Monkev Most of these recipes were collected and are relished by all Darienites.) Drain meat is usuallv smoked for 24 hours Inj Fanamanian anthropologist, Dra. Rei- and add to the meat along with the diced before cooking, but a Darien housewife na Torres de Arauz, and are included in liver, heart, and yellow eggs. Cook until in a hurrv to feed her hungiv familv the Darienita's Dietary compiled by the broth has all but disappeared. Serve niav simph boil the meat in salted ]ames A. Duke of the Battelle Memorial with rice and beans. water until it is tender. Institute.

in Queen her kitchen, this Choco lass stirs the contents in the cooking pot which Chocoes are fond of adornments. In addition to paint- sits at the hub of three logs placed spoke-fashion at one corner of the dwelling. ing an elaborate design on his face, this youth wears Note how she has embellished her beauty by painting the lower part of her face. a chain around his neck and a flower in his hair.

26 Fall 1971 At right: The collection of baskets was made by the boy's mother who used strips of palm fronds which are light on one side and darker on the other. By turning the strips as she weaves them

she achieves an attractive hvill pattern. Below: A primitive drill

made by the Chocoes proves to be an interesting toy for Patrick, left, and Richard, sons of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas W. Crimison of La Boca. They are making holes in a calabash just as the Chocoes do to make a colander.

Al right: High off the ground, the Choco shelter has a split cane floor, a thatched roof and no walls. A notched tree trunk serves as steps to the dwelling. At night the trunk is turned to the underside to keep out unwanted callers, dogs, cats, and wild animals. Below: This chic Choco belle enhances her beauty by painting flowers on her cheeks, butterfly wings above her lips and an intricate design on the lower part of her face.

«^vi

The tepee-like structure on the

right is the chicken coop. Chocoes'

protein food is mainly from the jungle where they use bows and arrows to hunt game. They also keep chickens and pigs to supplement food from the jungle and the rivers.

The Panama Canal Review 27 visit to the Canal will be among the and 22, March 7 and 21, and April 4 , ABOARD-ALL ASHORE- l\ Flielight No. 248 Now Boarding." dozens making transits during the and 18. Odd announcements such as this will coming 1971-72 cruise season. They are Pacific Ford, agent for the Ocean be heard by lucky people taking winter the new Shaw Saville liner Ocean Mon- Monarch, announced that the cruise ship vacations this year combining cruises arch, due in Cristobal on a South Sea Stella Oceania wUl call at Cristobal De- with air travel. cruise November 17, and the Lindblad cember 28, February 8, and Feb- Explorer, to make her first trip through While cruise ships are still the first ruary 29. Also scheduled is the German the Panama Canal in March 1972. choice of those wanting to take winter Atlantic liner Hamburg due in Cristobal vacations, travel agencies and shipping January 27 to transit the next day and companies are trying all kinds of varia- "Ocean Monarch" return to Balboa February 16. She will tions to come back to the Canal February 28 tempt the more sophisticated. The Ocean Monarch is the former Tourists can travel air for a southbound transit and return from Europe by Empress of England, converted by Cam- March 18 to transit north. The Ham- and return by ship or go from the U.S. mell Ltd., of Birkenhead, England, into burg makes another round trip through east coast by train to California and catch a one-class tourist ship capable of carry- a ship that wiU the Canal later with the southbound take them back to the ing 1,400 passengers. She will sail from transit set for March 30 and the retum east coast via coastal ports and the Car- Balboa November 18 and return from ibbean Islands. trip north June 18. Many of these ships the South Pacific March 20 for transit. come through the Canal. The well-known Rotterdam of the The Lindblad Explorer will arrive at Holland-America Line is due in Balboa the Canal late in March after a visit to April 8 and will transit the following "Princess Italia" the Calapagos Islands and will call at day for Cristobal. the Caicos and Great Turk Islands on her One of these is the SS Princess Italia way to Nassau. This unusual ship was that came through the Canal early in built in Finland for the Norwegian com- French Line October and is making several more pany and cruises during the year. On the October chartered to Lindblad Travel, The French Line is agent this yeai' Inc., of York. trip, the vessel can-ied members of the New It was designed to for only one cruise ship. She is the Pennsylvania State Grange, who had cruise to remote places such as the Ant- Paquet Line's flagship Renaissance arctic started their trip in Pennsylvania, trav- from Punta Arenas and up the which is making a cruise around South eled to Chicago, and caught the Santa Amazon River. There are accommoda- America from Port Everglades and is Fe Railroad to Los Angeles. There they tions for 104 passengers in outside cab- scheduled to transit the Canal south joined the Princess Italia for the voyage ins, a swimming pool, cinema, and a lido January 19. The Italian Line's Raffaello back to the east coast. deck. is expected to call at Cristobal in March. The Princess Italia, operated by the Ships of the P & O Line travel Princess Tours from the U.S. west Regular Cruise Vessels through the Canal during the year but the Oriana is to call in the winter on two coast, is due here on another cruise from Regular cruise vessels making Carib- special cruises. According to Norton the east coast en route to Los Angeles bean voyages during the winter months Lilly, the ship will leave Vancouver on December 7. A second intercoastal this year include many old customers a Christmas cruise December 21 and ciTjise will bring her into Balboa April 29 who have been familiar sights in the past for will call on her way to Balboa at Los a northbound transit. She vviU re- at the docks in Cristobal and Balboa. turn Angeles and Puerto Vallarta. After leav- May 17 from the Caribbean and C. B. Fenton & Co. have armounced go ing Cristobal, she will stop at La Guaira, through the Canal on her way to the Oceanic will arrive in Cristobal from California. Barbados, Martinique, St. Thomas, and New York December 28; the Gripsholm Curacao before returning to the Canal C. Fernie & Co., who represent the January 20 on a round-South America to transit for a retum trip up the west Princess Italia, have announced that a cruise; and the Kungsholm January 23 coast to Vancouver. new cruise ship, named the Fairsea, from New York to the Far East and re- will arrive at Cristobal from Fort Lau- turn April 15. The Sagafjord is due Jan- The Oriana wiU have a similar itin- derdale December 1 with approxi- uary 10 from New York en route to the erary when she makes a so-called Car- mately 450 cruise passengers bound for South Pacific and will return March 30. nival cruise through the Canal to the California. The ship is the former Nine Caribbean voyages are scheduled Caribbean in January and February. Cunard liner Carinthia, which was re- for the popular Federico C, which wiU Other P & O ships, due between built in Italy for Pacific cruising, and is be making Caribbean cruises from Port October and March, are the Chusan, operated by the Sitmar Line Cruises Ltd. Everglades. She is due in Cristobal Iberia, Oransay, Arcadia, Himalaya, and Two other cruise ships on their first December 30, January 25, February 8 Canberra.

28 Fall 1971 PANAMA CANAL TRAFFIC PRINCIPAL COMMODITIES SHIPPED THROUGH THE CANAL STATISTICS FOR 12 MONTHS OF (All cargo figures in long tons) FISCAL YEAR 1971 Pacific to Atlantic TRANSITS (Oceangoing Vessels) Fiscal Year J97i 1970 Commercial 14,020 13,658 Commodity 1971 U.S. Government 503 1,068 Ores, various Free 94 103 5,909,419 Boards and planks 3,918,208 Total 14,617 14,829 Iron and steel plates, sheets and coils 3,644,433 Sugar TOLLS" 3,316,900 Petroleum and products 2,037,958 Commercial $97,418,550 $94,688,543 Metals, various 1,560,293 U.S. Coveniinent_ 3,147,987 6,221,313 Food in refrigeration (excluding bananas) 1,407,252 Fishmeal l,382!l21 Total $100,566,537 $100,909,856 CARGO" Pulpwood 1,296,941 Petroleum coke 1,100,9.50 Commercial 118,634,184 114,264,010 Bananas 1,079,486 U.S. Government 2,236,627 4,410,451 Plywood and veneers 1,027,132 Free 139,843 234,760 Barley '909,627 Iron and steel manufactures, misceUaneous 796,843 Total 121,010,654 118,909,221 Iron and steel wire, bars, and rods 665,061 All " Includes toUs on all vessels, oceangoing and others 14,230,228 small. Total 44,282,852 ""Cargo figures are in long tons.

Atlantic to Pacific

( Continued from p. 23) sHtution was christened with a bottle of water in 1797—twice. In each case, the ship got stuck and was prevented from sUding into the water. The third try was successful but this time a bottle of Old Madeira donated by Thomas Russell, a leading Boston merchant, was used. During christening ceremonies at the

Panama Canal Industrial Division it is fairly common to crack a bottle of Chagres River water over the new vessel but champagne has been used also from time to time. Chagres water was used when Mrs. Hugh M. Arnold, wife of the Acting Goveinor of the Canal Zone, was sponsor for the Mandinga, which was launched in October 1957. Painted a brilliant red and white, the 40-foot dredge was fully dressed with signal flags for the ceremony, held in the pres- ence of Acting Governor Arnold, and Alton White, then chief of the Dredging Division.

Before World War II, when a new tugboat was needed the Panama Canal rlesigned, built and launched it and put it to work with an unhurried thorough- ness that saw the job finished from the drawing of plans to the completion of test trials. Launching of the tugs which the Canal built was carried out in an origi- nal manner. No launching ways were refjuired and the operation was simple. The large drydock in Balboa was flooded and two 250-ton floating cranes, the Hercules and Ajax, were brought into position within the dock. Slings were adjusted under the keel of the launch and when all was ready, the two cranes simply lifted the completed hull from the building slip on the drydock wall. I

CANAL COMMERCIAL TRAFFIC BY NATIONALITY OF VESSELS t iscal Year CANAL HISTORY

construction 100 quarters in the town- 50 Years Ago 25 Years Ago of site of Pedro Miguel. The housing units THERE ARE ONLY A FEW OLD- THE WAR WAS OVER 25 YEARS were part of the replacement housing to timers still living on the Isthmus ago and the Canal Zone along with the be built in the Canal Zone as part of the w'ho remember the whale that in%aded rest of the world u'as trying to put its Nine-Point Program of Benefits to Pan- Cristobal harbor 50 years ago. But in house in order. The Panama Canal Per- ama. The contract had been awarded in

No\-ember 1921 it was the talk of the sonnel Bureau, Employment and Train- September 1961 to the W. B. Uhlhom Isthmus. The 120-foot mammal, weigh- ing Section said that it w-as following its Construction Co. of Te.xas. ing approximately 125 tons, sailed policv of reduction in force and that through the Cristobal breakwater and 1,000 employees had left the Canal serv- Plans were being made in November grounded in the shallow waters east of ice in the past year. A 14-percent pay 1961 for recei\ing the first three of the the Canal prism about a quarter of a increase for classified Federal employees Panama Canal's new streamlined towing mile south of the Cristobal coaling plant. carried a requirement that the costs locomotives which were nearing com- The whale remained there, with the top of the increase must be absorbed by reduction in the of employees. pletion in Japan. Two veteran lock oper- of its head and most of its back above number visited the e ators Japan, watched mules water, until it was killed 2 days later by o in operation, and familiarized them- a group of Canal employees who planned The late Dwight D. Eisenhower, then selves with the controls and functioning to render its blubber at the Mount Hope Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army, was of the machines. They returned to the abattoir. among the prominent visitors to the Canal Zone to serve as instructors when Canal Zone in 1946. He and Mrs. Eisen- - the new locomotives arrived. Cristobal Harbor 1921 hower traveled from Brazil in a four- engined C-54 military plane and were "Thar She met 200 miles out by two squadrons of Bids were opened in December for U.S. Army planes from the Canal Zone. the construction of a central chilled Eisenhower was greeted by Gov. Joseph water air-conditioning system in the Pa- Blows" D. Mehaffev and other Canal Zone offi- cific Terminal area. This was the first cials. He later toured the Canal Zone major step in a long range plan to pro- and Panama and was received in Pan- vide air-conditioning to the Canal's ama by the late President Enrique Jime- public buildings by means of a single- nez. Along Central .\venue, school chil- pipe loop system through which water

dren dressed in white waved Panama is pumped from a central plant. and United States flags. Another visitor was the late Adm. One Year Ago William F. "Bull" Halsey, one of the best known U.S. Navy heroes of World GOV. W. P. LEBER CUT THE RIB- War II. He came here for a 4-day visit, bon last November to mark the formal shortly after the departure of Eisen- opening of Gorgas Hospital's recendy hower, and toured both sides of the renovated Section O, the final step of a Isthmus. multimillion dollar hospital rehabilita- The whale carcass was towed to Pier 6 • • e tion program started in the early 1960's. in Cristobal but, alas, the 7.5-ton locomo- that this was a major The Panama liner Panama was the The governor said tive crane was unable to lift it from the in bringing Canal Zone hospital first of the three Panama Line ships to step water to the railroad flat cars assembled standards. Sec- be placed back in service after the war. facilities up to modern for transportation to Mount Hope. Sal- Her scheduled departure from New tion O houses the pediatric ward, the vage efforts were abandoned shortly disease section, and the York early in September was delayed new pulmonary after and the whale was towed about remodeled by 2 weeks by a shipping strike but she medical library. It was 12 miles out to sea where it was later of Colon. sailed for Cristobal September 22. the E. O. Hauke Co., bombed by U.S. Navy planes from finally e « o Coco Solo. 10 Years Ago o o o All non-U. S. -citizen employees of INCREASE IN MEDICAL As- Canal Zone The sailing vessel Carnegie, on a mag- AN Federal agencies in the sistance for disabilitv relief annuitants year for enrollment netic survey of the earth for the Car- became eligible last of the Panama Canal was approved by Employees' Group Life negie Institution in Washington, D.C., in the Federal the Canal Board of Directors 10 years and Federal Employees' arrived at Balboa October 7, 1921, on Insurance ago. The plan called for expanding visit- plans. These a 74-dav vovage from Apia, Samoa. The Health Benefits Insurance ing nurse service, furnishing drugs free the result of legisla- vessel went into drv'dock in Balboa for new benefits were of cost when ordered by physicians, President Nixon on renewal of her njddei"post, cleaning, and tion approved by and the emplovment of two part-time 1970, which provided painting. This was the vessel's third trip September 25, doctors. ma.ximum of 40 per- thiough the Canal and the Panama for an increase to a o o e contributing Ca.nal Record noted that since her pre- cent in U.S. Government premium payments vious trip she had been equipped with Preliminary work was started on a health insurance 1971. electric lights. $927,000 contract providing for the effective January 1,

The Panama Canal Review 31

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