DRASTIC RULES ARE INVOKED Health Officials Close Churches, Clubs and Lodges - Supplementing Order From State Men ALL COMPLY All the churches, clubs and lodges were ordered closed indefinitely by the City Health Bureau yesterday afternoon, in an effort to prevent a spread of Spanish Influenza, which has secured a slight hold in Altoona, while the department carried out to the letter, the state health commissioner's rules closing every saloon and theatre. Every place closed, with the exception of the churches, have been placarded. Nothing definite was decided in regarded to the schools. The city police will see that all rules are carried out and violations will result in arrests. With not more than one hundred cases of the disease in this city and no deaths reported as a direct result of influenza here, physicians were inclined to believe that they have the disease well in hand. One fatality resulted from the disease at Juniata yesterday morning, after it was thought that the patient had recovered, and physicians in this city are taking every precaution possible and urging their patients to be extremely careful, when they begin to feel slightly improved. PROHIBIT CHURCH SERVICE. Early yesterday afternoon the health bureau officials decided to prohibit Sunday schools and other kindred religious gatherings and after consulting with a number of ministers and City Manager H. G. Hinkle, it was deemed wise to close the churches and prohibit all services, including the usual weekly meetings. The clubs and lodges were then added to the list by the bureau, officials fearing that with other places closed people would congregate in these buildings, which might prove dangerous. Placards, secured early in the day, were tacked on the doors of every establishment that came under the ban of the state health commissioner's order, while they were also used at lodges and club rooms, but the supply failed to reach far enough to placard the churches. City Detective W. A. Davis and Patrol Driver Calvin Bell were given the job of placarding and the officers stated last night that they found no difficulty and that every person affected accepted the order without a murmur. Every pool table in the city was covered by the owners for an indefinite period, but places where tobacco, cigars, smoking supplies and magazines formed a part of the business were going full swing. They were permitted to sell merchandise, but not to allow any customers to congregate in their buildings. It was a case of a man making his purchase and then departing. None even stopped to talk about the war, which is usually the case. In every instance where police find that persons are congregating, especially in tobacco stores and favorite loafing places, the crowds will be dispersed and if the management fails thereafter to keep the customers moving, the establishment will be closed. The Health Bureau, in making this rule, does not wish to hamper the business of any merchant, but insists that the people be kept moving. PRIVATE FUNERALS. The bureau also announced that every funeral must be strictly private and where there is sickness in the family only near relatives be admitted, and then only in cases where the patient is extremely critical. The Liberty Loan float will not be affected by the ruling of the state commissioner, as speeches made from it will not be more than eight or ten minutes duration, and it will be in the open air. Also the float is going to the people, instead of them going to it, and for this reason no crowds will congregate for any length of time. When the question of the schools was taken up, it was decided to make no final ruling before tomorrow and if the situation continues as it is at present, the schools will probably remain open. However, any change for the worse will result in immediate closing of every school in the city. With regard to the disease in the city the health bureau officials announced that the situation was really not serious, but intended taking every precaution possible to prevent any spread of the disease and for the time being will halt every chance of an epidemic. Altoona Times, Saturday Morning, October 5, 1918