Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 202, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 August 1916 — Capital of the Canal Zone [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Capital of the Canal Zone

HAVING acquired a narrow strip of land through foreign territory and built therein the great Panama canal, Uncle Sam quite naturally felt that, as the work neared completion, there also should be a capital city from which the strip could be governed and the canal managed. 1 Therefore he built Balboa. Balboa is she permanent town at the southern end of the canal, is the seat of government, the residence of the governor and the headquarters of canal construction and management. In short, it is to the Canal Zone what Washington Is to the United States.

Balboa was named In honor of Vasco Nunez de Balboa, who, “silent, upon a peak in Darien,” first saw the distant waters of the Pacific ocean and thus became known to history as its discoverer, writes H. H. Updegraff, in the St. Louis Republic. The town of Balboa is not the first village that Uncle Sam has built along the route of the canal. It probably will be the last, however. But, unlike these others, which were no more than wooden construction camps, Balboa is permanent in character. It is to last as long as the canal, which, indeed, is as long as time itself. There is another difference between this new town, this capital of the Canal Zone, and the other canal villages, and that is that much more money has been and is being spent to make it the most attractive place of residence on the entire isthmus. In fact, it is Uncle Sam’s model town.

An American Community. Notwithstanding its wholly unamercan name, Balboa is a thoroughly American community. Its inhabitants are all American, for it was built with the intention of giving the American canal workers and operatives an ideal spot .In which to have their homes, in which to rear their children under proper American surroundings, and where it would be possible to have a wholesome American atmosphere. The only foreigners who are part of the life in Balboa are the West Indian negro servants, most of whom, however, live elsewhere. While Balboa is wholly American, it is yet quite unlike any American city or town of its size “back home” in the states.—lt absolutely no poltticat atmosphere. It is difficult to conceive an American town, no matter how small, that has no mayor, no city council, no political boss and hence no politics. Balboa has none of these. The Canal Zone is prohibiton territory ancL therefore, Balboa has not a single saloon within its limits. In this respect it also is different from a majority of the cities and towns “back home.” The “poor man’s club” is wholly unknown, not only because there are no poor men on the Canal Zone, but also because they are prohibited. The occasional tippler must either maintain his own private little bar in his own home or journey to the neighboring city of Panama, where the “cantinas” are both numerous and well stocked and where everything is wide open and the bars never close. In place of the “poor man’s club” of the cities “back home” there is the spacipus building of the Young M&n’s Christian association which fills all the needs of club for the men, meeting place for the women's societies and playhouse for the children. A separate, as well as general, room or rooms is reserved for each. Not far away is the 25-acre athletic field which is now under construction with a lavishness and detail such as no politically selfgoverned city in the United States can boast of. It was all done without expense to the population for there are no taxes to be paid in this model town of Uncle Sam’s. Site Was Once a Swamp.

The site of Balboa, between Ancon and Sosa hills, originally was a swamp which was filled in. It was chosen because.of its proximity to the huge machine shops and other canal activities at the southern end of the waterway. It also/ was chosen because it would be near the capital city, Panama, of the Republic of Panama and would, therefore, place the two capitals into quick communication. This was necessary because of the varied interelationship Detween the two countries due to the building and*operation of the Panama canal. Only g small portion, however, 1b

built on the former swamp and this is made up of what might be termed the civic center. On Ancon hill, behind the handsome new administration building, is really the best and prettiest section. Here are the official residences clustered about the governor’s house around which the social life of the community in time to come will revolve. Across the former swamp toward the west in Sosa hill on which many of the new concrete two and four-family houses have been built. At the foot of Sosa hill and facing the administration building are the huge Y. M. C. A., the new commissary and its companion refrigerating plant. When the town was planned it was the intention to. so construct the buildings that all would harmonize in architecture. This has been carried out with so rigid a resolve that perhaps the uniformity in a measure spoils the effect of the whole. There is nothing along the Prado, for instance, to relieve the eye of the sameness of the eight concrete houses that face the central parkway. They are all alike, in design, in size and interior furnishing. They were cast in the same concrete mold. There is a stilted formality about them that jars', but which undoubtedly prevents the jealousy which would be aroused were there a possibility of choice. Balboa Heights Attractive.

The town of Balboa is virtually divided into four sections.- East of the new administration building, which naturally dominates the business life of the town, on the sloping side of Ancon hill, is the official residence quarter. This section is frequently referred to as Balboa Heights. It is here that the real beauty of the village is to be seen. In time, no doubt when nature has completed its work, the other sections will equal and, perhaps, surpass it In attractiveness. Its present advantages are due to having been planned and constructed first and Its natural advantages regarding location. South of Balboa Heights is another flat hilltop which has in recent months become known as Quarry Heights, or sometimes Military The latter is used because it is the site of the large and handsome home of the commanding general of the United States troops and Hs staff officers. Farther south still is the permanent camp of the provost guard or military police. At the foot of the hill on which the new administration building stands, and also near the bottom of the hill on which is the governor’s house, which overlooks the tract, there is a large flat bottom land that, too, formerly was a huge swamp. It comprises about 1,000 acres and was filled in by the spoil from the dredges excavating the inner harbor of Balboa. The salt water has killed all the vegetation, which, however, was neither plentiful nor valuable. A top dressing of rich soil will eventually be given this tract and then it will grow anything. When money is available it is planned to transform this bottom land into a large, handsome park. Between Ancon hill and Sosa hill Is Balboa Flats, so called from the fact that It xvas built on the only level part of the new town. A part of the flats, however, is on the slope of Sosa hill and overlooks the Prado and flats proper from the west. The central feature of the flats is the Prado. which forms a wide double roadway down the center. On it are the commissary, the Y. M. C. A., the dispensary, fire and police stations and the high school. Also there are eight four-family houses. A large part of the flats is to be utilized for the magnificent new athletic field now under construction.

THE NEW ADMINISTRATION BUILDING