TIP #279 - THE SPANISH INFLUENZA OF 1918. A recent television program dealt with the adventures of a current-day outbreak of the Spanish Influenza; thankfully, just a movie. But it triggered my mind while working on the flu deaths that devastated my town in 1918. I did some searching to see if I could find out what had caused this flu epidemic and it's impact on the United States and Kentucky. It is reported that the flu began in Fort Riley, Kansas, which was an establishment housing 26,000 men and camp, Camp Funston, in a 20,000 acre boundary. Soldiers there began complaining of the weather to be found at the site: extreme winters and unbearable summers. And then there were the dust storms. Also to be found at the camp were thousands of horses and mules producing a nine tons of manure monthly. The latter was to burned. On Saturday, March 9, 1918, a dust storm arrived. The dust, combining with the ash of burning manure, caused a stinging, stinking yellow haze. The sun was said to have gone dead black in Kansas that day. The so-called Spanish influenza would finally take the lives of 600,000 Americans. On Monday, March 11, the first wave of the 1918 influenza was felt. Company cook Albert Gitchell reported to the camp infirmary with a "bad cold." Then Corporal Lee W. Drake voiced similar complaints. By noon, camp surgeon Edward R. Schreiner was treating over 100 sick men on his hands, all apparently suffering from the same malady. In April and May of the same year some 500 prisoners at San Quentin in California came down with the same condition. Camps Hancock, Lewis, Sherman, Fremont and several others were infected. It appears not too many were alarmed - we were in a war. By March of 1918, 84,000 American "dough-boys" were sent to Europe; they were followed by another 118,000 in April. They did not know they were taking with them a virus. Enroute, the 15th U.S. Cavalry incurred 36 cases of influenza and six deaths. By May of 1918, the flu had spread to two continents with no end in sight. Great Britain reported 31,000 flu cases in June. War plans were changed and attacks were postponed due to a shortage of healthy men. In early summer, the flu reached beyond the U.S. and western Europe. Cases of influenza were reported in Russia, North Africa, and India. Then China, Japan, the Philippines, and New Zealand. By July tens of thousands had fallen ill and died. In the fall of 1918, the flu began its deadly trek across the U.S. It happened with such speed and fatal efficiency that many thought it was a deliberate attack by an enemy. After all, we were in World War I! Thousands of Bostonians were felled by the influenza and suspicions grew that German spies deliberately infected Boston Harbor with germs. It was suggested that poison gases used in the war, air charged with carbon dioxide from the trenches, and gases formed from decomposing bodies and exploding munitions had all fused to form a highly toxic vapor that flu victims had inhaled. Among the other causes advanced were: air stagnation, coal dust, fleas, the distemper of cats and dogs, and dirty dishwater. The Red Cross, Post Office, and Federal Railroad administration put up posters. Surgeon General Rupert Blue, who was the nation's Chief Public Health Officer, ordered the printing and distribution of pamphlets with titles like, "Spanish Influenza," "Three-Day-Fever," and "The Flu." The Colgate company placed ads detailing twelve steps to prevent influenza. People were warned to chew food carefully, avoid tight clothes and shoes. Alfred Crosby, in "Epidemic and Peace, 1918," said that the influenza "could have been smothered by paper, many lives would have been spared. " The Committee of the American Public Health Association (A.P.H.A.), believed that the disease extremely communicable, pushed for legislation that would prevent the use of common cups and utensils and would ban public coughing and sneezing. They begged the public to wash their hands before every meal and pay attention to general hygiene. They stressed exposure to fresh air and gargling with a variety of elixirs. Doctors advised rinsing with chlorinated soda or a mixture of sodium bicarbonate and boric acid. Stories began to surface of people relying on folk remedies such as mothers insisting that their children stuff salt up their noses and wear goose grease poultices or bags of garlic-scented gum around their necks. Onions were looked upon as a solution. In Kentucky, the Spanish Influenza took its toll also. In reading old town or state regulations, it appears that much of the nation came to a halt while battling this unknown killer. Many thousands died in the state of Kentucky, but I was unable to find a statistical count. Church services were cancelled with people afraid to go out of their homes. Funeral homes were ordered to stop all public burials and it is assumed that the funeral home simply and rapidly buried the deceased. Public gatherings were curtailed; schools were closed down. Kentucky, along with other ravaged states just stopped most of any public gathering and waited ... and prayed ... and waited for any word that might indicate that it was safe again to go outside. (c) Copyright 17 February 2000, Sandra K. Gorin, All Rights Reserved. sgorin@glasgow-ky.com Col. Sandi Gorin, 205 Clements,Glasgow, KY 42141 (270) 651-9114 - E-fax (707)222-1210 - e-mail: sgorin@glasgow-ky.com Member: Glasgow-Barren Co Chamber of Commerce Publishing: http://members.delphi.com/gorin1/index.html Barren Co: http://www.rootsweb.com/~kybarren/ TIPS: http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/genbbs.cgi/USA/Ky/Tips KYBIOS: http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/genbbs.cgi/USA/Ky/Bios ARCHIVES: http://searches.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/listsearch.pl ==== KYRESEARCH Mailing List ==== To unsubscribe, send message to KYRESEARCH-REQUEST@rootsweb.com and say unsubscribe in the message.