Plate. 27. Gaillard Cut. Looking south from east bank. June, 1917. 28. Gaillard Cut. East and west bank slides. Looking south. June, 1917. APPENDIX D. [Report of the superintendent, mechanical division.] 29. Charts showing classes of work and source of revenue. 39. Balboa shops. Gross overhead expense percentage compared with total direct labor charges. 31. Balboa Dry Dock No. 1. From Sosa Hill. December, 1916. 32. Pacific terminals showing mechanical shops, dry dock, and coaling station. June, 1917. APPENDIX E. [Report of the chief quartermaster.] 33. Yam field. Chilibre plantation. June, 1917. 34. Yam plants. New Culebra. South end of field. Planted June 1, 1917. 35. Sweet potato field just planted. Limon plantation. June, 1917. 36. Frijoles truck farm. June, 1917. 37. Frijoles truck farm. June, 1917. 38. Frijoles truck farm, showing a two-year-old Avocado tree in the foreground. June, 1917. 39. Cocoanut palms. South end Venado plantation. June, 1917. 40. Cocoanut palms. North end Venado plantation. June, 1917. 43. Papaya plants. Bracho plantation. June, 1917. 44. Drying trays. Las Cascadas Cacao plantation. June, 1917. 45. Pole beans and green peppers. New Culebra truck farm. June, 1917. 46. New Culebra chicken farm. First section of building just being completed. June, 1917. 47. Mindi chicken farm. June, 1917. 48. Mindi chicken farm. June, 1917. 49. Mandingo Valley, typical of the Mandingo farm. Looking toward Gamboa from Mandingo Hill. Pasture below road is one and one-half years' old, and the extent of the guinea is evidenced by the blurred effect caused by the heavy seed tassels. June, 1917. 50. Guinea grass at Monte Lirio. This is three months' growth from seed on clean-burned heavy clearing. June, 1917. 51. Cattle industry. Cattle on Atlantic pastures. June, 1917. 52. Cattle industry. Cattle on Atlantic pastures. June, 1917. ANNUAL REPORT OF THE GOVERNOR OF THE PANAMA CANAL. THE PANAMA CANAL, OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR, Balboa Heights, Canal Zone, August 23, 1917. SIR: I have the honor to submit the annual report covering the construction, operation, maintenance, and sanitation of The Panama Canal for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1917. was ORGANIZATION. For the first six months the organization and the personnel in the principal supervisory positions remained as they existed at the close of the preceding fiscal year. On January 10, 1917, the resignation of Maj. Gen. George W. Goethals, United States Army, as Governor, was accepted by the President, and on the same date the undersigned appointed to fill the vacancy. The position of engineer of maintenance, thus vacated, was filled by the appointment of Lieut. Col. Jay J. Morrow, Corps of Engineers, United States Army, who had been assigned to duty on the canal with that idea in view, as explained in the annual report of last year. The engineer of maintenance is next to the Governor in the canal organization, and by Executive order is designated as the official to assume the responsibilities and duties of the Governor during the latter's absence or disability. The work of the canal on the Isthmus is divided into five principal departments, namely, operation and maintenance, supply, accounting, executive, and health. The courts are attached to the Governor's office for the purposes of administration only, as is also the district attorney, except that the latter is designated as the advisor to the Governor on legal questions. The special attorney represents the interests of the United States Government before the Joint Commission in claims arising from the taking of land for the purposes of construction, operation, maintenance, or defense of the canal. The office of the canal in Washington is charged under the Governor with the purchase of materials and supplies, the appointment in the States of employees of the canal on the Isthmus, and with such administrative matters as are more conveniently handled in Washington than on the Isthmus. 12406-17-1 1 The department of operation and maintenance includes all matters relating to the actual use of the canal as a waterway, the maintenance, operation, and repair of its physical structures and auxiliaries, and all construction work incident to the completion and maintenance of the canal. The Governor assumes direct control of this department, assisted by the engineer of maintenance in all construction work and other engineering features, and by the marine superintendent in all matters relating to the navigation of the canal, including the lighthouse establishment. For the present, and until the slides in the Culebra section have been sufficiently removed to place dredging work on a purely maintenance basis, the dredging division is under the direct supervision of the Governor, with the resident engineer at its head. It will ultimately be assigned, as part of the maintenance organization, to the engineer of maintenance. The mechanical division, which operates the mechanical shops and dry docks, with a naval constructor at its head, is a branch of the department of operation and maintenance, and continues under the Governor's direct supervision. The supply department is charged with the accumulation and distribution of materials and supplies for the canal and railroad, the operation of commissaries, hotels and messes, the recruitment and distribution of common labor, the maintenance of buildings and grounds, the assignment of quarters, and the sale of provisions and other supplies, except coal and water, to ships. It also operates corrals and vehicular transportation. The accounting department is responsible for the correct recording of financial transactions of the canal and railroad, the administrative auditing of vouchers covering the receipt and disbursement of funds preliminary to the final audit by the Auditor for the War Department, cost keeping of the canal and railroad, the checking of timekeeping, the preparation of estimates for appropriations and the allotment of appropriations to the various departments and divisions, and the examination of claims arising under the injury compensation act. The collector and paymaster are attached to the accounting department. The executive department, administered by the Governor through the executive secretary, includes the division of civil affairs, subdivided into the bureau of customs, the administration of estates, and the postal service; the police and fire division; the division of schools, and the bureau of clubs and playgrounds. The executive secretary has general supervision of the clerical forces of the canal, except that of the accounting department, and is responsible for the organizations that keep the general records of the canal and railroad, including all correspondence and matters relating to personnel, property accountability, the compiling of statistics, and the keeping of time of all employees of the canal and railroad. He acts as the Governor's representative in matters affecting the relations between the Canal Zone Government and the Republic of Panama, and in such matters he communicates officially with the secretary of foreign affairs of the Republic. The department of health is charged with all sanitary matters within the Canal Zone and the cities of Panama and Colon; the operation of the hospitals and dispensaries, the enforcement of quarantine regulations, and the compilation of vital statistics in the Canal Zone and in the cities of Panama and Colon. Other than the engineer of maintenance, the heads of departments and divisions reporting to the Governor during the year were as follows: Marine division, Commander H. I. Cone, United States Navy, marine superintendent. Dredging division, Mr. W. G. Comber, resident engineer. Building division, Mr. George M. Wells, resident engineer, to the date of his resignation, February 2, 1917, when the work of the building division was placed under the supervision of the engineer of maintenance, with Mr. Hartley Rowe as resident engineer. Mechanical division, Naval Constructor D. C. Nutting, United States Navy, superintendent, until his relief from duty with the canal on December 15, 1916, when he was succeeded by Naval Constructor R. D. Gatewood, United States Navy. Supply department, Maj. William R. Grove, Quartermaster Department, United States Army, chief quartermaster. Accounting department, Mr. H. A. A. Smith, auditor; Mr. T. L. Clear, collector; and Mr. J. H. McLean, paymaster. Executive department, Mr. C. A. McIlvaine, executive secretary. Health department, Lieut. Col. D. C. Howard, Medical Corps, United States Army, chief health officer. The Washington office of the canal was in the charge of Maj. Earl I. Brown, Corps of Engineers, United States Army, as chief of office and general purchasing officer. Mr. Charles R. Williams continued as district attorney throughout the year. Judge Frank Feuille, as special attorney, represented the Government before the Land Commission and advised the Governor in several matters of administration. He was also counsel of the Panama Railroad. Plate No. 1, showing the organization of The Panama Canal June 30, 1917, accompanies this report. OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE. At the close of the preceding fiscal year the principal construction work remaining uncompleted included the coaling plants at Cristobal and Balboa; the commercial Pier, No. 7, at Cristobal, con structed from funds of the Panama Railroad; Pier No. 6 at Cristobal, which was authorized by Congress and for which appropriation had been made in part; the east breakwater at the Atlantic entrance of the canal; and various buildings and quarters for the canal and for the Army stationed on the Canal Zone for the defense of the canal. At the Balboa dry dock there remained some minor items of work, including the finishing of the floor and the blocking system, the delivery and installation of a locomotive crane, the grading and paving of the area around the dock, installation of capstans and bollards, and general cleaning-up work. There remained also a small amount of dredging work in the canal prism, which, in a few places, had never been excavated to full width and depth. TERMINAL CONSTRUCTION. The dry dock, coaling plants, harbor structures, and the breakwater had been in the charge of Admiral H. H. Rousseau, United States Navy, as engineer of terminal construction, and, with the exception of Pier No. 6 at Cristobal, were almost entirely completed under his supervision. Upon his relief from duty with the canal in July, 1916, the work in progress was transferred to the engineer of maintenance, under whose direction it remained throughout the year, or until completed. The dry dock at Balboa (fully described in former reports) was completed and transferred to the mechanical division for service on May 15, 1916. A statement of the operation of the dry dock will be found in the report of the superintendent of the mechanical division, Appendix D. The Cristobal coaling plant was placed in service on September 20, 1916, its operation being assigned to the Panama Railroad under Mr. T. W. McFarlane, superintendent of the plant. The Balboa coaling plant was completed on December 1, 1916, but, due to the necessity for dredging alongside the unloading and reloading berths, and delay in the delivery of digging buckets, tests of the plant preliminary to final acceptance were not completed until after the close of the fiscal year. Detailed descriptions and cost of construction of the coaling plants were contained in the report for 1916. Except for certain defects in the design and construction of the unloader towers and machinery, affecting the continuous operation at or near capacity, which defects are being remedied by the contractors under guarantee bond, the plants have been entirely satisfactory. At the Cristobal plant 474,378 tons of coal were received from September 20, 1916, the date of taking over the plant for operation, to July 31, 1917, inclusive. During the same period 449,531 tons were |