Thanks to Janis for this information. --------- Begin forwarded message ---------- Subject: Re: 1918 Epidemic Date: Sun, 27 Feb 2000 00:42:50 EST The November 1999 issue of Reader's Digest had an article titled "Coming Soon: The Next Great Flu Epidemic," by Rachel Wildavsky. It mentions the 1918 epidemic, although it doesn't spend much time talking about it in the article. It does say "...in less than two years took at least 21 million lives. Three waves of Spanish flu--so named because it was at first erroneously thought to have started in Spain-- swept the globe. Virtually everyone was infected, and up to three percent of them died." It goes on to say, "Geographic isolation was no particular protection. In the Alaska Territory, the mortality in some villages was as high as 90 percent. All told, at least 500,000 Americans perished." The article mentions less than two years to span the globe, but the peak year was 1918, therefore, it is called the "1918 epidemic." I don't know anything about the epidemic in Alabama, but I will try to write my grandmother and ask if she remembers lots of flu that year. She would have been 18 or 19, so she would probably remember if many people in the area were sick. I am not sure if she was living in Womack Hill or in Jackson, AL, about that time. Janis. --------- End forwarded message ---------- ________________________________________________________________ YOU'RE PAYING TOO MUCH FOR THE INTERNET! Juno now offers FREE Internet Access! Try it today - there's no risk! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj.