APRIL, 1965
THE PIEDMONITOR
PAGE THREE
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A new face for a long time industrial center is seen in the modern,
high rise, Charles Center offices.
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Friendship's own Traveler's Aid, John Canceran (right) talks to a group
of visiting students.
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The face of a seaport is exemplified by the U. S. Frigate Constellation, one of Baltimore's most popular
attractions. America's first and oldest existing ship, the Constellation was launched in Baltimore in 1797.
City Has Two Faces
Agents John Morris and Howard Lewis check in a passenger as Chief
Agent Jim Faucette adjusts the flight board.
Manager Hank Eisenbath discusses a loading problem with Agent
George Scherer and Roger Offley. Agents not pictured are Frank
Fuller and Thomas Thompson.
Air transportation means a lot|
to the people of Baltimore. So
much, in fact, that in 1962 when
Baltimore air traffic was threat
ened by the opening of nearby
Dulles Field, the citizens rallied
behind Friendship Field and re
fused to yield to its competitor.
Public support was seen across
the country in the form of “Use
Friendship” bumper stickers.
Local businesses . issued edicts
that executives flying on busi
ness had to use Friendship.
The airport itself hired a pro
motion man, Mr. Melvin L. Mal-
lonee, to push the airport. One
of the first things Mallonee did
was to uncover a valuable em
ployee working as a janitor in
the terminal.
Mallonee kept hearing fre
quent requests for a John Can
ceran to come to various ticket
counters throughout the airport.
Investigation turned up the facts
that Canceran, a native of the
Phillipines, had traveled through
Southeast Asia, Russia, and va
rious parts of the world before
coming to the United States. In
1953, he accepted a temporary
position at the airport to wait
for another opening. That is how
Mallonee came to learn that
Canceran speaks with varying
degrees of fluency, about thir
teen different languages.
In an international airport,
one can see that such linguistic
ability is invaluable. Canceran
is now the Traveler’s Aid of
Friendship, calming foreigners
who, not speaking the language,
become confused and frustrated
in a busy American terminal,
taking care of babies and their
over-wrought mothers, and be
ing, in general, a good will am
bassador.
A typical service might include
the time the Spaniard, who had
not been to his home town of
Madrid for many years, got con
fused and thought that Balti
more was Spain. Imagine his
surprise and dismay when he
found that he was in the United
States! John Canceran took him
under wing, however, and the
man was put aboard the right
plane for his intended destina
tion.
Other innovations of the air
port include a shuttle bus that
cruises constantly between the
parking lot and the terminal
iDuilding, an information service
giving passengers the benefit of
a composite schedule of arrival
and departure times for all car-
/riers, a modern and efficient in
ternational arrival section where
passengers can pass through the
U. S. Health Bureau and Cus
toms Department with maximum
efficiency, and an advertising
program amounting to $100,000
a year.
Accommodating 12 scheduled
airlines. Friendship Internation
al Airport now has non-stop
flights to Houston, New Orleans,
Miami, Los Angeles, San Juan,
Paris, Rome and London. Since
jets do not land in Washington,
Friendship and Dulles vie for
D. C. jet travelers.
Piedmont has three arriving
and three departing flights from
the airport each day. Many pas
sengers fly Piedmont to connect
with flights to Europe, San
Juan, and the West Coast.
Baltimore station personnel
have done their share of plug
ging, too. Finally, after two years
of service, they earned their first
steak dinner. “And we’re going
to win more,” says manager
Hank Eisenbath.
Working with a split level op
eration has its disadvantages,
but can be fun, too. The spiral
chute located at the end of the
ticket counter is really for bag
gage, but agents have been
known to take the “short cut”
to the ramp located below.
There is a spirit of teamwork
between Piedmont personnel
and their Lake Central neigh
bors at the adjoining ticket
counter. “We give each other a
hand loading bags and so forth;
especially when there is a par
ticularly busy flight,” says agent
Jim Faucette. Of course, co-oper
ation ends when it comes to
making a sale.
Airport operations are only
half the Baltimore story, how
ever. The other half involves a
progressive area, active in in
dustry and research and dedi
cated to giving Baltimore a new
face.
Ask any Baltimore resident
about his city and he’s sure to
mention the Charles Center,, a
precedent-setting project in ur
ban re-development. The ten
year program, adopted by the
city council in 1959, calls for a
complete modernization of a ma
jor portion of the downtown
area. Now two years ahead of
schedule, the community has al
ready completed the 30 story
glass-front Blaustein Building at
One North Charles. Also com
pleted- is the 21 story rental of
fice building, One Charles Cen
ter, and an adjoining department
store.
Boast the people of Baltimore,
“The effect is modern, but the
development made a subdued
entrance, blending instead of
contrasting with traditional
landmarks.” The row houses
with their gleaming white stone
steps are still in evidence
throughout the city.
One of the biggest sources of
pride is the new $14,000,000
Civic Center, designed to ac
commodate fourteen to fifteen
thousand people for functions
ranging from circuses to operas
to hockey games to symphonies.
The program has been so suc
cessful that another related area
has been attacked: the Inner
Harbor. Remembered from his
tory for its old “side winders”
and the famous Baltimore Clip
per ship, Tliree Brothers, the
harbor, third largest in- the na
tion and the city’s major single
asset, has fallen into a state of
decadence.
New plans call for high rise
apartments overlooking the
Chesapeake Bay, a marina area
for pleasure boats, a junior col
lege, and commercial buildings
for marine oriented businesses.
The hope is for a modern city
that still retains the flavor of
the nineteenth century seaport
and the heritage that brought
forth Frances Scott Key’s “Star
Spangled Banner” at Fort Mc
Henry.
On the one hand, Baltimore
has the largest single steel plant
in the world, Bethlehem’s Spar
row Plant. It is also the coun
try’s largest auto import center,
as can be noted by the rows of
newly docked Volkswagens.
On the other hand, in sharp
contrast to a purely industrial
section, Baltimore is the “land
of gracious living.” The Chesa
peake Bay yields fresh fish,
clams, and oysters for its in
habitants.
The bay is also the site of sail
ing, water-skiing, and canoeing.
Says J. D. Englar, Chamber of
Commerce Business Research
Manager, with tongue in cheek,
“Marylanders always win the
Chesapeake Bay Log Canoe
races because they’re the only
ones who have log canoes!”
Off the water Marylanders en
joy horseracing, hockey, and
football, and are, of course,
staunch supporters of the Balti
more Orioles.
As a final point of interest, all
of Piedmont’s aircraft originally
came from Maryland. The Mar
tins were manufactured by the
Martin Corporation located in
Baltimore and the F-27’s, by the
Fairchild Company in nearby
Hagerstown.