Note: Images of the original pages are available through
Internet Archive. See
https://archive.org/details/0266067.nlm.nih.gov
Transcriber’s note:
Text that was in italics is enclosed by underscores
(_italics_).
THE SPANISH INFLUENZA PANDEMIC OF 1918
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Illustration]
This Certificate of Merit
IS AWARDED TO
PHYSICIANS, NURSES, RED CROSS
WORKERS _and_ VOLUNTEERS
most of whom sacrificed much time, many of whom sacrificed their health,
and several gave their lives, in the care, nursing and relief of the
stricken people of Luzerne County during the world epidemic, and whose
measures of relief were gratefully received by our people, many of whom
were aliens and strangers, who, understanding little of our language,
nevertheless understood the care and love bestowed upon them at the time
of their great affliction.
History records many instances of epidemics, famines and wars, where
measures of relief were taken for those who were most sorely afflicted,
and the battlefields of our recent war scintillate with heroism.
Individuals, platoons, whole companies and regiments offered themselves
for their fellow men, and future historians will vie with one another in
their endeavor to have live the thousands of heroic incidents in the
great World War, to the end that they may serve as lamps for the feet of
coming generations of freemen.
Nevertheless, civic life—those back home, those who were not inspired in
the presence of the glare and pageantry of military life, those whose
call to duty was heard and as readily performed in no less a measure of
satisfaction—were willing and anxious to take part in the work demanded
of humanity, and were ready to give their all, if need be, for those who
so sorely needed succor.
We are proud of the citizens of Luzerne County—we are proud of the men
and women who live on the fair hills and in the valleys of this
County—and as a people we are most grateful for the services so
willingly offered, the sacrifices so commonly made, and the heroic work
so opportunely accomplished.
This devotion given and shown to their fellow men, to women and to
helpless children, testifies splendidly to a love of country and of
fellow men, as well as to that love of humanity taught by the lowly and
great Nazarene.
This expression, so briefly recorded here, is intended as a testimonial
of, and appreciation for, each individual identified with the care and
relief of the stricken people of Luzerne County. A record is herewith
preserved of the names, so far as known, of those who are thus entitled
to receive the same.
The Committee in whose hands the organization and distribution of relief
was placed, testifies in this brief way to the splendid work
accomplished, and the highly successful co-operative movement of the
State, County, Cities and Towns, and does so, with the thought that
their fellow citizens, when they shall have read of the epidemic as here
set forth, will feel that they are duly bound to express personally, and
publicly, whenever occasion offers, something of their willingness to
give a full measure of approval to those who made sacrifices in the work
so nobly done.
GENERAL COMMITTEE
Luzerne County Influenza Epidemic, 1918-1919
------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE
SPANISH INFLUENZA PANDEMIC
OF 1918.
An account of its ravages in Luzerne County,
Pennsylvania, and the efforts made
to combat and subdue it.
by
OSCAR JEWELL HARVEY.
Wilkes-Barré, Penn’a,
January, 1920.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
─The─
Spanish Influenza Pandemic of
1918.
By Oscar Jewell Harvey.
═══════
EARLY in September, 1918, the United States was invaded by a scourge of
highly infectious and fatal disease, which spread with rapidity
throughout the country. It was pandemic in its nature, and partook of
many of the characteristics of influenza, grip and pneumonia. No one
seemed to know much about the disease or its treatment, and medical
science and public health agencies were alike unprepared to cope with
it.
About all that could be done at the start was to adopt and attempt to
enforce drastic regulations to minimize contagion; but even in view of
these regulations, and when the plague had burst forth in all its
widespread malignity, the country at large seemed slow to awaken to the
enormity of the peril which it faced.
It certainly was a disconcerting fact that, at the very time when vast
numbers of the people in widely-distributed localities had organized
themselves, through the Red Cross and other well-known and efficient
mediums, to fight disease and prevent suffering and death, we should be
smitten with a visitation which caused more casualties and deaths among
the peaceful citizens in the homeland than the deadly missiles and
poisonous gases of the enemy effected among the American Expeditionary
Forces overseas in the great World War.
From September 9 to November 9, according to reports received by the
Federal Census Bureau from forty-six large cities in the United States
having a combined population of 23,000,000 souls, there was a total of
82,306 deaths attributed to the scourge. In a similar period of time, in
the same communities, the normal number of deaths dues to influenza and
pneumonia would have been about 4,000.
In the latter part of September 85,000 cases in Massachusetts alone were
reported; and by the first week in October the disease was prevalent in
nearly all sections of the United States—twenty-three States, from
Massachusetts in the East to California in the West, and from Florida in
the South-east to Washington in the North-west, were experiencing the
mysterious malady. More than 14,000 cases in the military camps of the
country were reported to the office of the Surgeon General of the Army
within one period of twenty-four hours.
Up to January 4, 1919, according to the Census Bureau, the mortality due
to the fatal disease was 115,258 in forty-six cities of the United
States containing one-fifth of the population of the country; while,
according to statistics submitted to the Actuarial Society of America in
July, 1919, 450,000 deaths occurred in the United States in the Autumn
and early Winter of 1918 due to this pandemic disease—which wrought its
greatest havoc among infants and persons in adult working life. The
mortality of males was greater than that of females, while the highest
mortality caused by the disease affected persons of the wage-earning
class—especially those situated in the lowest economic range.
The origin or source of the disease was unknown. Some experts looked
upon it as simply a variety of a well-known disease prevalent, with
occasional outbreaks of violence, for hundreds of years. Others
attempted to identify it with a form of pneumonic plague that has raged
in parts of China for a number of years past—China and its neighboring
lands in Asia forming a vast storehouse of infection from which great
epidemics have swept in waves across and around the globe.
It is an historic fact that, in the early part of 1917 about 200,000
coolies, collected from the northern part of China (where the pneumonic
plague had raged for six or seven years), were sent to France as
laborers, and with them went the germs of the pneumonic plague. Many of
these coolies were captured by the Germans in the Spring of 1918—hence
the outbreak of the plague, at that time, in the German army, where it
is said to have been very serious in its deadly character.
There were some writers of the press who declared that the disease had
been brought into this country in German submarine boats; but when it
was realized that, like a scourge of the Middle Ages, it was sweeping
through Europe—no part of which, civilized or barbarian, was exempt—it
was called by many experts a by-product of the World War.
The manner of the pandemic’s appearance in different countries indicated
that the germs of the disease had been conveyed thither by the currents
of the air. Therefore the theory was broached, that the poison gases,
with which many sectors of the fighting area in Europe and Asia were
drenched, were carried by the winds in every direction, causing the
outbreak of the pandemic in England, Germany, France, Spain, Australia,
Africa and Asia, as well as in North America and some of the South
American countries.
The disease took its deadly toll even in lonely Labrador, in the “silent
North” of the Western Hemisphere, where ice-floes from farther north
fill every harbor of the rock-bound coast; where giant icebergs, miles
in length, mountains in height and acres in extent bar the paths of
ships and steamers. “A land where railroads are unknown, where streets
are never laid nor roads built to connect one settlement with another; a
country where horses and cows are less known than are the rhinoceros and
zebra to the inhabitants of the United States; a region where even
canned milk is a luxury and candy is seldom seen.”
On all the desolate coast of Labrador, extending over eight degrees of
latitude, not a doctor nor a trained nurse, not a hospital nor a
dispensary, not even a health officer, was to be found. Eskimo and
Indian, German and Briton, halfbreed and white, hunter and fisherman,
fell victims to the dreaded scourge, which traveled with rapidity. Whole
settlements were left without a single survivor—the unburied corpses
being devoured by half-starved dogs. This is the story that came out of
the “silent North”—the most gruesome, most awful, tale of disease and
death that the world has heard in many a day!
Following the outbreak of the scourge in Germany it was next heard of in
Spain, where it received the name “Spanish influenza”. This is really a
misnomer, but it has stuck, probably because the disease to which it was
applied was the first epidemic of influenza Spain had ever experienced.
This name accompanied the disease to the United States, where, by some
slangologists, it was early transmogrified into “flu”—by which
appellation it has been pretty commonly designated.
The scourge invaded Pennsylvania about the middle of September, 1918,
simultaneously attacking widely-separated communities. On October 1 the
Department of Health of the Commonwealth issued orders directing the
closing of all moving-picture houses, theaters and places of amusement
in general; that public assemblages be discontinued; that funerals be
privately conducted; that all bar-rooms and wholesale liquor
establishments be closed. The matter of closing schools, churches and
Sunday schools was left to the discretion of local authorities. In
addition, the Department issued proclamations and appeals for hearty
coöperation on the part of the general public in checking the ravages of
the scourge.
In Wilkes-Barré on October 3, 4 and 5 the directions and appeals of the
State Department of Health were promptly and cheerfully complied with
(even clubs and the various fraternal orders and societies observing the
mandates, while the sessions of the Courts of Luzerne County for the
week beginning October 7 were continued and postponed), although on the
first day of the appearance of the disease here only twenty cases were
officially reported.
Owing to the absence of many local physicians and trained nurses in the
military and naval services of the United States, Wyoming Valley Chapter
of the Red Cross issued an appeal on October 3 for trained nurses and
for women with some nursing experience to register with the Chapter for
service in combating the disease here.
Under the date of October 8 the Commissioner of Health of Pennsylvania
issued a circular letter to Department of Health and other physicians
“engaged in the State-wide organization against the Influenza Epidemic,”
in which, among other things, the following information and instructions
were set forth:
“From close observation of the progress of the pandemic of
influenza which is now sweeping upon us from the Atlantic
seaboard, it has been decided by the Governor of this
Commonwealth, the Commissioner of Health and the Advisory Board
of the Pennsylvania Department of Health to use the organization
at hand, and all available organizations that will co-operate to
the utmost, in an effort to save the lives of our people.
Accordingly, after careful thought, the following [among other]
plans have been adopted:
“The State Department of Health to be in absolute control and
take full responsibility.
“The formation of nineteen Epidemic Emergency Districts, with a
representative of the Department in full charge of each
district, taking his orders directly from the Commissioner of
Health and transmitting them to those who answer the call.
“Appeals to all Health, Patriotic, Civic, Religious, Business
and Social organizations, such as the Red Cross (graduates in
elementary hygiene and home care of the sick, or first aid),
Associated Charities, Boards of Health, Mayors, Councils, County
Commissioners, Directors of the Poor, Boards of Trade, Church
Societies, Fraternal Orders, Women’s Clubs, Boy Scouts, Motor
Messenger Corps, trained nurses, practical attendants, lay
workers and volunteer automobilists, to lend all possible
assistance under the direction of the Department.
“The Adjutant General has placed the entire State Guard, and all
the equipment of his department, at our disposal for the
erection of emergency hospitals, furnishing of supplies,
safe-guarding of property and the maintenance of discipline.
“Requests for aid from stricken communities should be made to
the nearest representative of the Department, who will refer
them to the physician in charge of the Epidemic Emergency
District. This includes calls for doctors, nurses, aids,
materials and any other form of relief. The Department will make
a supreme effort to satisfy all such needs as rapidly as
possible. However, where these are at hand, they should be
obtained locally. * * *
“All attendants should wear masks. * * *
“Treatment of Influenza and Pneumonia. * * *”
In furthering the foregoing plans and regulations Dr. Charles H. Miner
of Wilkes-Barré, who was at that time, and had been for ten years,
County Medical Inspector of the State Department of Health for Luzerne
County, was appointed on October 8, by the Acting Commissioner of Health
(Dr. B. Franklin Royer), “to take full charge of the organization and
co-ordination of all work in District No. 5,” composed of Luzerne and
Columbia Counties, with headquarters at Wilkes-Barré.
The same day the Acting Commissioner telephoned from Harrisburg to the
County Medical Inspector at Wilkes-Barré, informing the latter of his
appointment as aforementioned, and asking him to request Maj. Gen. C. B.
Dougherty of Wilkes-Barré to aid him in arranging and setting forward
plans for the proper handling of the situation in the 5th District.
General Dougherty responded promptly to the call for his services, and
he and the County Medical Inspector soon concluded, in view of the fact
that the regular and permanent hospitals located in the 5th District
were just about “crowded to their limits” with influenza and pneumonic
patients, and that the new cases reported each day in the various
communities were becoming more numerous, that it would be necessary to
establish and equip several emergency hospitals.
It was decided to establish an Emergency Hospital in Wilkes-Barré
(where, on October 8, sixty new cases of influenza had been reported to
the County Medical Inspector), and the armory of the 9th Regiment,
National Guard of Pennsylvania, located on South Main Street, was
selected for the purpose.
For some time then the 2d Infantry, Pennsylvania Reserve Militia (Col.
S. E. W. Eyer commanding), had occupied the armory as its headquarters.
On October 8 Colonel Eyer turned over the armory to the representatives
of the Department of Health, and immediately, under the direction and
supervision of General Dougherty, the work of thoroughly scrubbing and
cleaning the building from top to bottom was begun and was rapidly
completed. Then the Shepherd Construction Company of Wilkes-Barré began
the erection of four wards on the drill floor of the armory.
Each of these wards was 21×27 feet in area by 10 feet in height, the
walls, or partitions, being constructed of hemlock studding covered with
beaver board. Each ward had a capacity of fifteen cots,[1] whereby ample
air space was allowed for each patient. Considerable plumbing work had
to be installed in order to facilitate the efforts of nurses and
attendants in giving proper care and attention to the hospital patients.
This plumbing work, when completed, represented an outlay of $605.49.
Also, the lighting facilities of the armory not being sufficient, it was
necessary to install additional wiring and lights throughout the entire
building, which was done at an expense of $190.
Footnote 1:
This arrangement provided accommodations for sixty patients, which,
later on, were found to be insufficient to meet the demands for
admission to the hospital; whereupon four more wards of the same
dimensions and materials were erected. These wards, when completed,
gave the hospital eight wards with a total capacity of 120 beds. Of
these eight wards six were used for patients in general as admitted,
one was used as an isolation ward (where patients in the last stage of
pneumonia were placed), and one was used as a ward for convalescents.
The basement of the armory was transformed into a commodious and
comfortable dining-room; the kitchen was painted white, made sanitary in
every respect, and its floor was covered with oil-cloth, while gas
ranges were connected and refrigerators were installed. A diet kitchen
(separate from the main kitchen) was established convenient to the main
floor of the armory.
On the evening of October 9, upon invitation of the County Medical
Inspector, the following-named ladies and gentlemen assembled in the
auditorium of the Wilkes-Barré Chamber of Commerce, “for the purpose of
taking steps for combating influenza”: Dr. Charles H. Miner, Dr. S. P.
Mengel, Dr. G. A. Clark, Dr. E. L. Meyers, Dr. Charles Long, Gen. C. B.
Dougherty, Col. S. E. W. Eyer, Lewis P. Kniffen, E. E. Matthews, Anthony
C. Campbell, M. J. McLaughlin, John D. Farnham, M. H. Sigafoos, Maj. E.
N. Carpenter, William H. Conyngham, Frederick E. Zerbey, George J.
Hartman, Hayden Williams, Mrs. C. H. Miner, Mrs. E. Birney Carr and Miss
Josephine Tracy of Wilkes-Barré; Dr. W. B. Stricker, Dr. J. Hughes,
Michael Douk, T. A. Butkiewicz, C. J. Donahey, John Badman and F. H.
Kohlbraker of Nanticoke; R. Alvan Beisel of Hazleton; Mrs. W. A. Lathrop
of Dorranceton; Dr. J. A. Hilbert, Miss Esther J. Tinsley, Dr. S. L.
Underwood and William J. Peck of Pittston; R. A. Mulhall of West
Pittston; Dr. S. B. Arment of Bloomsburg; Dr. D. H. Lake, S. H. Hicks
and W. B. Crane of Kingston.
General Dougherty was called upon to preside, and Hayden Williams,
Secretary of the Chamber of Commerce, acted as Secretary of the meeting.
The County Medical Inspector spoke at great length with respect to the
work already done in the 5th District to combat the pandemic—referring
particularly to the emergency hospital which had been established at
Wanamie, in Newport Township, Luzerne County, and to the preparations
being made for the opening of the Armory Emergency Hospital in
Wilkes-Barré. He stated that he had divided the 5th District into five
sub-districts, with Dr. S. B. Arment in charge of the work in Columbia
County, Dr. J. W. Leckie in charge of the Hazleton sub-district, Dr. W.
B. Stricker in charge of a district extending from Nanticoke south to
the Columbia County line, Dr. S. L. Underwood in charge of a district
extending from the borough of Wyoming to the Lackawanna County line,
while he, himself, in addition to a general supervision of affairs in
the 5th District, had assumed charge of the work in the territory
extending from Wyoming to Nanticoke. He suggested that committees on
automobiles, food, drugs and general hospital supplies should be
appointed.
General Dougherty gave an account of the serious conditions existing at
Minersville and Shamokin in the 3d District, adjoining the 5th District.
Dr. Underwood and Miss Tinsley spoke of conditions in Exeter, Luzerne
County, where nearly 300 cases then existed. They reported that there
were 182 cases in 62 homes; that 98 patients were convalescing; that 10
families were in dire need of help, and that there was a special urgency
for women to help in the house-work of afflicted families.
Dr. Hughes said that there were 400 cases at Glen Lyon and Wanamie in
Newport Township; that sanitary conditions were bad; that there was a
lack of nurses, and that the High School building at Wanamie had just
been converted into an emergency hospital.
Dr. G. A. Clark, head of the Wilkes-Barré City Health Department, stated
that about 200 cases had been reported in the city, and that the
municipality would bear its proper share of the expense incurred in
efforts to check the disease.
Dr. Lake stated that there were 36 cases in Kingston and 40 in
Edwardsville, and that there had been two or three deaths from the
disease. In one home in Edwardsville there were seven cases. He declared
that the closing of the schools had helped somewhat in checking the
spread of the disease, and that considerable good could be accomplished
if Toby’s Creek, which had never been cleaned, were placed in a sanitary
condition.
Dr. Arment stated that conditions in Catawissa, Columbia County, were
bad; that a hospital was needed there, but it was impossible to procure
nurses. Six deaths had occurred thus far in that locality, and the
disease seemed to be spreading. He suggested that the school-houses in
Bloomsburg be converted into emergency hospitals, and reported that the
saloons in Centralia were wide open and doing business as usual.
W. H. Conyngham, representing Wyoming Valley Chapter of the American Red
Cross, stated that his organization had no funds with which to pay
nurses, but that the members of the Chapter stood ready to do anything
in their power to combat the disease.
Dr. Mengel, Chief Surgeon of The Lehigh Valley Coal Company, placed the
nurses of that organization at the disposal of the community, and
suggested that school teachers should be employed to help in the work of
caring for the sick.
Mrs. E. Birney Carr reported that the Canteen Service of the Wyoming
Valley Chapter of the Red Cross would render all the assistance
possible, while Mr. McLaughlin, one of the Commissioners of Luzerne
County, gave assurance that the County would render any assistance
possible to help stamp out the disease.
The Secretary of the Wilkes-Barré Chamber of Commerce volunteered the
assistance of the Chamber’s staff in handling all details of the work
connected with the campaign. Dr. Charles Long suggested that an effort
be made to secure financial and other assistance from the Board of
Directors of the Central Poor District of Luzerne County.
Anthony C. Campbell, Esq., County Fuel Administrator, told of the
serious conditions with respect to the mining industry in the 5th
District, and declared that the output of anthracite coal was being
seriously affected by the pandemic. On motion of Mr. Campbell it was
then unanimously voted: That such emergency hospitals as the County
Medical Inspector deemed necessary be established, that those in charge
of the work incident to combating the influenza-pneumonia scourge should
call upon the Board of Directors of the Central Poor District, County
officials and the various municipal officers in the 5th District for
financial assistance in defraying such expenses as may be necessarily
incurred in carrying on their work, and that the County Medical
Inspector be given any and all assistance required.
The meeting then adjourned, and within a day or two thereafter the
County Medical Inspector announced the appointment of various committees
“to coöperate with the State Department of Health in the 5th District
with respect to the influenza epidemic,” as follows:
GENERAL COMMITTEE.—To have general supervision over the hospitals
established. To provide ways and means, and secure appropriations and
financial aid from the several municipalities. All funds raised, except
State funds, to be placed in the hands of the Treasurer of the General
Committee. All expenditures to be approved by the General Committee and
its Chairman.
Maj. Gen. C. B. Dougherty (representing the Susquehanna Collieries Co.),
_Chairman_; Hayden Williams (representing the Chamber of Commerce),
_Secretary_; M. J. McLaughlin (County Commissioner), Wm. H. Conyngham
(Red Cross), Lewis P. Kniffen (City Council), R. Nelson Bennett (City
Council), Wm. C. Shepherd (Chamber of Commerce), J. L. Reilly (Central
Poor District), Dr. S. P. Mengel (Lehigh Valley Coal Co.), Dr. G. A.
Clark (City Health Board), Dr. E. L. Meyers (School Board), Miss Mary
Trescott (School Board), F. H. Kohlbraker (Susquehanna Collieries Co.),
Dr. J. W. Geist (Lehigh and Wilkes-Barré Coal Co.), Frederick E. Zerbey
(Kingston Coal Co.), Samuel T. Nicholson (Vulcan Iron Works), M. H.
Sigafoos (Hazard Manufacturing Co.), Fred. H. Gates (City Clerk), and
Fuller R. Hendershot (County Controller).
EMERGENCY HOSPITAL COMMITTEE.—This committee to have general charge of
the establishment of emergency hospitals and direct their conduct and
care, including arrangements for and maintenance of subsistence for
patients and help.
Dr. S. P. Mengel of Wilkes-Barré, _Chairman_; Drs. Lewis H. Taylor, W.
S. Stewart and L. A. Sheridan of Wilkes-Barré, Dr. Cohen of Berwick, Dr.
H. B. Wilcox of Kingston, Dr. H. Whitney of Plymouth, Dr. H. J. Lenahan
of Pittston, Dr. Jesse Hughes of Nanticoke, Dr. J. H. Bruner of
Bloomsburg, and Dr. Walter Lathrop of Hazleton.
CANTEEN RELIEF COMMITTEE.—This committee to have charge of the
preparation of food, and the preparation of the same for transportation
to outside patients at their homes—this transportation to be provided by
the Motor Transportation Committee.
The ladies of the Red Cross Canteen Service are to compose this Relief
Committee, with Mrs. E. Birney Carr as Chairman.
ARMORY HOSPITAL COMMITTEE.—This committee, under the direction of the
Emergency Hospital Committee, to have charge of the care and maintenance
of sanitary conditions of the Armory, and to provide for the disposal of
refuse.
Col. S. E. W. Eyer, _Chairman_; Capt. Robert R. Harvey, Lieut. Charles
E. Trein, Lieut. Robert D. Raeder, Harry W. French, and Wayne Canfield.
The medical staff for the Armory Hospital to consist of: Drs. W. Clive
Smith, D. S. Kistler, Parke Sickler, Charles Long, John T. Howell, Allan
C. Brooks, E. J. Flanagan, J. B. Tobias, Maurice B. Ahlborn, Herbert B.
Gibby and Walter B. Foss, and their duties being to act as aids to the
Superintendent of the Emergency Hospital, and to accept assignments for
service from time to time as the demands may require—the schedule of
this service to be arranged by the Chairman of the Emergency Hospital
Committee, with a minimum demand on the time of the Staff Physicians,
and only as the exigencies required.
MOTOR TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE.—This committee to have charge of the
motor transportation for the transfer of nurses from hospitals and
patients to and from the homes of the sick. Under this committee a
sub-committee of men to be organized to arrange for the transportation
of food to homes.
Mrs. W. A. Lathrop, _Chairman_; Mrs. Lawrence B. Jones, Mrs. Robert A.
Quin, Miss Caroline Marcy, Stephen Pettebone and Frank F. Matheson.
NURSES’ AID COMMITTEE.—This committee to have charge of the selection
and recruiting of all trained nurses, Red Cross nurses and volunteer
nurses for the Emergency Hospitals, and visiting nurses for homes.
Mrs. Charles H. Miner, _Chairman_; Mrs. J. Pryor Williamson, Mrs.
Charles P. Elliott, Mrs. Paul Bedford, Mrs. Wm. H. Conyngham, Mrs.
Charles P. Hunt, Mrs. E. Byron Strome, Mrs. E. B. Wagner, Miss C. L.
Best, Miss Ethel Sturdevant, Miss Margaret Bevans, Miss Georgia
Grossman, Miss Clara Treglawn, Miss Ruth Williams, Miss Corrigan, Miss
Ruth Benscoter and Miss Isabelle Cairns.
DRUG STORE COMMITTEE.—This committee to organize the drug stores, and
have them provide and keep in stock such medicines and medical goods as
will be required for the Emergency Hospitals. Also, to secure and
provide a stock of drugs and supplies for the Emergency Hospitals.
Louis Frank, _Chairman_; Edward H. White, Lieut. Charles E. Trein and
Henry W. Merritt.
LUZERNE COUNTY COÖPERATION COMMITTEE.—This committee, representing the
municipal governments and the Boards of Health in their respective
districts, to coöperate with the General Committee by organizing in
their towns a house to house census, and report all cases of influenza
and sickness to the Chairman of the General Committee, and to aid and
coöperate in every way to prevent the spread of the disease. This
committee to be subject to the call of the General Committee for
conference, as well as the other committees. Community Captains to
report to Community Chairmen, the latter to report to District Chairmen,
and they to report daily to the General Chairman of the Coöperation
Committee. The latter to report daily to Dr. Miner, representing the
State Department of Health.
Percy A. Brown, Wilkes-Barré, _General Chairman_; Hayden Williams,
Wilkes-Barré, _General Secretary_; Dr. Joseph Dougherty and Frank
McQuown, Ashley; William G. Rowett and Clifford Edwards, Courtdale;
Louis Jacobs and William Mundy, Exeter; William Evans and William A.
Wallace, Forty Fort; Dr. D. H. Lake and Rush Trescott, Kingston; John
Doran and Edward Lawler, Larksville; George Knarr and R. J. Blair,
Luzerne; Dr. F. E. Davis and William Oldfield, Nanticoke; O. O.
Eisenhower and Harry Brown, Dorranceton; James Doran, Parsons; Dr. H.
Templeton and George E. Gwilliam, Plymouth, and Dr. Milton Barton,
Plains.
General Headquarters—Greater Wilkes-Barré Chamber of Commerce, Miners
Bank Building, Wilkes-Barré.
LUZERNE COUNTY DISTRICT CHAIRMEN.—_District No. 1_, Henry W. Ruggles,
Dorranceton; _District No. 2_, H. L. Freeman, Plymouth; _District No.
3_, G. D. Stroh, West Pittston; _District No. 4_, Joseph M. Stark,
Hudson; _District No. 5_, Rev. F. Kasaczun, Sugar Notch; _District No.
6_, E. B. Wesley, Nanticoke; _District No. 7_, Harry A. Schmoll,
Hazleton.
_District No. 1_, composed of the boroughs and hamlets of Courtdale,
Dallas, Dorranceton, Exeter, Forty Fort, Kingston, Luzerne, Pringle,
Shavertown, Swoyerville, Trucksville, West Pittston, Wyoming and West
Wyoming, and the townships of Kingston, Franklin, Exeter and Dallas.
_District No. 2_, composed of the boroughs of Edwardsville, Larksville,
Plymouth and Shickshinny, and the townships of Fairmount, Hunlock,
Huntington, Jackson, Lake, Lehman, Plymouth, Ross, Salem and Union.
_District No. 3_, composed of the city and township of Pittston, and the
boroughs of Avoca, Dupont, Duryea and Hughestown.
_District No. 4_, composed of the boroughs of Laflin, Miner’s Mills,
Parsons and Yatesville, and the townships of Jenkins and Plains.
_District No. 5_, composed of the boroughs of Ashley, Laurel Run,
Nuangola, Sugar Notch and Warrior Run, and the townships of
Wilkes-Barré, Fairview, Bear Creek, Buck, Wright, Slocum and Denison.
_District No. 6_, composed of the borough of Nanticoke, the village of
Macanaqua, the borough and township of Nescopeck, and the townships of
Conyngham, Dorrance, Hollenback, Newport and Slocum.
_District No. 7_, composed of the city of Hazleton and all territory
contiguous thereto.
The following rules, governing the “operation of community organizations
and the duties of each organization unit,” were promulgated:
“1. COMMUNITY CHAIRMAN.—Shall act as Chairman of the Executive
Committee and be responsible for the operation of each unit.
Receive reports daily from all subordinates, and report daily to
the Chairman of the District in which the community is situated.
“2. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.—To meet and work only under direction
of the Community Chairman. This committee shall assist the
Community Chairman in carrying out all rules and regulations.
“3. SECRETARY.—To have some one constantly on duty at the
Emergency Station. Keep a record of all cases and any other
information required. Prepare a daily report for Community
Chairman, also receive all calls for nurses, canteen service,
medical attention when physicians are overworked, and be in a
position at all times to furnish accurate information. It is
preferred that a school teacher be engaged to assist the
Secretary.
“4. EMERGENCY STATION.—To be centrally and conveniently located.
To be equipped with a telephone for use by the Secretary and
other officials. To be open during business hours.
“5. COMMUNITY CAPTAINS.—Under the direction of the Community
Chairman and Executive Committee a Captain shall be appointed
for each community. In case of an unusually long street, the
number of Captains for said street may be increased. Captains
will make a daily tour of their streets, and report daily to the
Community Chairman, through the Secretary at the Emergency
Station, the number of new cases, deaths and discharged cases.
Captains will also note sanitary conditions and conditions in
general, and aid in eliminating any condition that may cause a
spread of disease. Captains will also report any cases needing
medical attention or a nurse.
“6. NURSING BUREAU.—To be located at the Emergency Station and
be under the direction of Red Cross workers. Here a record
should be kept of every woman who volunteers as a nurse or
nurse’s assistant. From this Bureau should also be supplied
gowns and masks to protect nurses when they go into the homes of
the sick.
“7. CANTEEN SERVICE.—To distribute food for the sick in homes
where food is needed. Care should be exercised to see that this
service is not abused. The Canteen should be established
preferably in a church kitchen, and here should be prepared soup
or broth to be distributed in jars or pails to the doors of the
homes from which calls have been received.
“8. AUTOMOBILE SERVICE.—Secure one car or truck daily for
service at the Canteen, and other machines to carry nurses and
physicians to homes of patients when necessary.
“9. PUBLICITY BUREAU.—To assume charge of distributing leaflets
in different languages, disseminate general information, and
assist through publicity in bringing about enforcement of all
health regulations.
“MISCELLANEOUS GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS.
“Impress every member of the community organization with the
seriousness of the situation, and make each one responsible
toward having people obey all instructions.
“Remember that it is easier to prevent an epidemic than to stop
one when conditions become dangerous.
“Don’t frighten people about the situation, but constantly
prevail upon them to be careful in not exposing themselves to
disease or spreading it.
“Permit no public gatherings or large groups on street corners,
in stores, etc.
“Permit no public funerals, and have a police or health officer
attend all funerals to enforce the law in this respect.
“Let ‘Safety First’ be the motto of all people.
“It is especially requested that all schools and churches be
closed.”
In pursuance of the resolution adopted at the meeting held in the
Chamber of Commerce on October 9, as aforementioned, Dr. Miner gave
directions for the establishing of emergency hospitals at the
following-named places—in addition to those already arranged for at
Wanamie and in the Armory at Wilkes-Barré: Catawissa, Exeter, Hazleton,
Dupont, Nanticoke and Plains.[2]
Footnote 2:
At this time the regular, or permanently established, hospitals
located in the 5th District were as follows: Wilkes-Barré City, Mercy,
Wyoming Valley Homœopathic and Riverside Hospitals in Wilkes-Barré;
Nesbitt West Side Hospital, Dorranceton; Pittston Hospital, Pittston;
Berwick Hospital, Berwick, Columbia County; State Hospital of the
Middle Coal Field of Pennsylvania, Hazleton; State Hospital,
Nanticoke; Bloomsburg Hospital, Bloomsburg, Columbia County.
On October 10 the first emergency hospital was opened, in the Central
High School building at Wanamie, with Dr. William H. Corrigan physician
in charge and Miss Emily G. Jones, Graduate Nurse, as chief nurse. The
same day the emergency hospital at Catawissa was opened, with Dr. S. B.
Arment physician in charge and Miss Hannah C. Breisch, Graduate Nurse,
as chief nurse. On October 11 the third emergency hospital was opened,
in the High School building at Exeter, with Dr. James Dixon physician in
charge and Miss Jessie Cunningham and Mrs. Ernest W. Hogg, Graduate
Nurses, as chief nurses.
Dr. Elmer L. Hinman, having been sent to Wilkes-Barré by Dr. Royal S.
Copeland, Commissioner of the Health Department of the city of New York,
reported to the County Medical Inspector for duty on October 12, and was
assigned to the Wanamie Emergency Hospital to assist Dr. Corrigan.
At this time it was estimated that there were at least 1,000 influenza
and pneumonia cases, reported and unreported, in Wilkes-Barré—new cases
appearing at the rate of nearly 100 per day. The Wilkes-Barré City
Hospital refused, because of lack of room and nurses, to receive any
more cases. Nurses and doctors everywhere were overworked, and the
situation at Glen Lyon (in Newport Township) and in Hazleton and its
vicinity was appalling.
In the afternoon of October 12 a meeting of Chairmen of committees and
Division Chairman was held with the County Medical Inspector at the
rooms of the Chamber of Commerce, when it was decided that trucks should
be secured for the purpose of delivering food daily to the homes of the
sick, where such service was needed. Whereupon Percy A. Brown and Frank
F. Matheson each offered trucks for this purpose. It was suggested that
Mrs. P. J. Higgins of Wilkes-Barré should be placed in charge of the
cooking at the Armory canteen—the necessary arrangements for this
service, however, to be left in the hands of the Canteen Committee.
Dr. Mengel suggested that a telegram be sent to the proper authorities
at Washington, urging them to leave here, during the progress of the
epidemic, all Red Cross nurses now in this vicinity. General Dougherty
reported that he had communicated with the Hon. A. Mitchell Palmer and
other Government officials at Washington relative to having army
surgeons sent here from Camp Crane, Allentown, Pennsylvania, and he had
been assured that ten officers of the Medical Department would be sent.
Dr. S. M. Wolfe of Wilkes-Barré, who had recently returned from
Massachusetts, where he had assisted in combating the epidemic, told of
the various organized methods and plans pursued in dealing with the
disease in that State.
Mr. William J. Ruff, Cashier of the Luzerne County National Bank,
Wilkes-Barré, was then elected Treasurer of the General Committee.
At the close of this meeting General Dougherty telegraphed to Maj. Gen.
Rupert Blue, Surgeon General, U.S.A., Dr. H. A. Garfield, U. S. Fuel
Administrator, and Miss Carrie Noyes, Director of Field Nursing,
American Red Cross, at Washington, D. C., as follows:
“The following Red Cross nurses have been called to leave for
service on Tuesday, October 15: Miss Edith Evans, Miss Elsie
Banker and Mrs. Lena Krum of Wilkes-Barré; Miss Hazel Smith of
Tunkhannock, Pa., and Miss Bessie Evans of Kingston, Pa. The
influenza situation in Wyoming Valley is of such a serious
nature, and there is such a dearth of nurses, that, as Chairman
of the General Committee of Wyoming Valley (whose efforts are
being directed toward the stamping out of this pestilence, in
order to conserve the lives of our citizens and thus maintain
the production of anthracite coal, which is now seriously
affected by the prevailing sickness), I appeal to you to direct
these nurses to remain here to take up their duties in emergency
hospitals now being established. I trust that this appeal will
be fully appreciated by you. We are fearfully short of nurses as
well as doctors. We can use a great many physicians and nurses.”
On October 13 the following-named medical officers from Camp Crane
arrived at Wilkes-Barré, and were assigned to duty by Dr. Miner, as
noted: Capt. E. L. Hendricks, U. S. Marine Corps, and Lieut. C. F.
Bahler, to Glen Lyon; Lieut. Joseph Goldstone, U. S. Marine Corps, to
Bloomsburg; Lieut. G. T. Meek to Exeter, and Lieut. J. a.m. Aspy to
Hazleton.
At a meeting of the General Committee held in the auditorium of the
Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday, October 15, General Dougherty presented
a report relative to conditions at Shamokin and Minersville (in the 3d
District), where there were 4,000 cases of the “flu”. Col. Eyer reported
on the work being done at the Armory to fit it for hospital purposes,
and Dr. Miner stated that the Armory Emergency Hospital would be ready
for the reception of patients at noon on the following day.
The Rev. John J. McCabe, of St. Joseph’s R. C. Church, Georgetown, told
of conditions in Wilkes-Barré Township, where, he said, there were 80
cases of the disease. Dr. Hughes stated that there were about 585 cases
in Newport Township and vicinity, and Richard Sheridan reported that
there were possibly over 200 cases in Nanticoke.
On motion of the Rev. Mr. McCabe the Chairman named Dr. C. H. Miner, the
Rev. J. F. Jedlicka and Dr. E. L. Meyers as a committee to confer with
the Controller and Commissioners of Luzerne County, and the Directors of
the Central Poor District, for the purpose of securing financial aid in
fighting the epidemic. Controller Hendershot, who was present, stated
that he would do everything in his power to co-operate with the General
Committee in its work. James L. Reilly, Secretary of the Central
District Poor Board, who was present, stated that he felt sure the Poor
Board would co-operate with the Committee.
Frederick E. Zerbey, Superintendent of the Kingston Coal Company,
offered the use of the ambulances of that company to convey patients
from the west side of the river.
General Dougherty stated that the State would pay for doctors, nurses,
tents, cots, blankets, sheets, etc., employed and used in combating the
epidemic, but that all other service would have to be paid for with
funds derived from other sources.
On October 16 the Hazleton Emergency Hospital was opened in the building
of St. Gabriel’s High School, Hazleton, with Lieut. J. a.m. Aspy
physician in charge and Miss Ruth B. Rae, Graduate Nurse, from the
Department of Health, as chief nurse. (Later, Miss Rae was stricken with
the “flu” and was succeeded as chief nurse by the Mother Superior of St.
Gabriel’s, who was a professional nurse. On October 25 Lieutenant Aspy
returned to Camp Crane, and was succeeded by Dr. J. W. Leckie as
physician in charge at Hazleton.)
On October 12 the Armory Emergency Hospital at Wilkes-Barré was ready
with four wards for the reception of patients. Lack of nurses, however,
delayed the opening of the hospital until Wednesday, October 16, when,
with Capt. E. L. Hendricks, U.S.M.C., as physician in charge, and Mrs.
J. Pryor Williamson of Wilkes-Barré, Graduate Nurse, as chief nurse, the
doors were opened at one o’clock p.m. for the reception of patients.
During the afternoon six female and five male patients from
Wilkes-Barré, Nanticoke, Parsons and Miner’s Mills were received, and on
the following day eleven males and seven females were received from
Wilkes-Barré, Edwardsville, Plymouth, Miner’s Mills, Maltby, Nanticoke
and Forty Fort.
The sixth Emergency Hospital in the 5th District was opened on October
17 in the Pulaski School building at Dupont, Luzerne County, with Dr. W.
S. Helman of Avoca as visiting physician and Miss Herman, Graduate
Nurse, as chief nurse. (Dr. Helman was succeeded on November 9 by Dr.
James S. Dixon, and Miss Herman was succeeded on November 19 by Miss
Bessie Fadden.)
The seventh Emergency Hospital was opened on October 17 in the
Washington School building at Nanticoke, Luzerne County, with Dr. Elmer
L. Hinman in charge and Miss Olwen Williams, Graduate Nurse, as chief
nurse. (Dr. Hinman returned to New York City on October 26, and was
succeeded by Lieut. C. E. Yates.)
On October 17 two medical students, Messrs. J. A. Post and W. R.
Stewart, of the University of Buffalo, reported to the County Medical
Inspector at Wilkes-Barré to help out with the work of the 5th District.
Mr. Stewart was assigned to assist Dr. Corrigan at the Wanamie Hospital,
and Mr. Post was assigned to the Exeter, and subsequently to the Plains,
Emergency Hospital.
The same day the following-named Army Surgeons arrived at Wilkes-Barré
and were assigned to the Hazleton District: Captains Davenport and
Danfort to work at Jeddo; Captain Brown at Cranberry; Captain Wroth at
Lattimer and Major Wyer in Hazleton. On October 19, however, all these
Surgeons were ordered to return to Camp Crane, Allentown.
On October 18 a largely-attended meeting of the General Committee was
held, with General Dougherty, Chairman, presiding. The latter outlined
the objects and purposes in view with respect to the emergency hospitals
which had been established, stating that only patients who could not
receive proper attention at their homes should be sent to the hospitals.
He also set forth the fact that there was a very great shortage of
doctors and nurses in this District, and called upon Miss Nellie G.
Loftus, the State nurse in charge of the nurses in this section, to make
a statement as to conditions here. This she did, setting forth that
there were thirty graduate nurses in the 5th District, five or six of
whom were not in active service on account of illness. There were also
eleven practical nurses in the District, but at least fifty more
graduate nurses could, and should, be placed in service immediately.
Mr. W. C. Shepherd then made the following motion, which was adopted:
“It is the sense of this meeting that all patriotic citizens
will, in every case where possible so to do, release nurses from
their private employ for the general good of the community. It
is their patriotic duty to do this during the present grave
emergency.”
Mr. Percy A. Brown, Chairman of the Coöperation Committee, stated that
the territory in Luzerne County had been divided into forty
sub-districts, and that he had arranged to have an organization in each
sub-district. Thirty-two of the forty organizations had already reported
to him. He suggested that leaflets, containing brief and simple rules
for avoiding influenza and for the care of the sick, be printed in
several foreign languages, and widely distributed.[3]
Footnote 3:
In pursuance of this suggestion a six-page leaflet was subsequently
prepared and printed in English, Italian and three other languages,
and was well distributed throughout the District.
Mr. Brown also suggested that a fund be created from which money could
be drawn to be used in paying some one in each sub-district to look
after and report upon the sanitary and health conditions in that
particular locality.
Anthony C. Campbell, Esq., Fuel Administrator for this section of the
State, stated that he had received reports from various large
coal-mining companies, which had enabled him to prepare a statement
showing that from 28,000 to 30,000 tons of coal had been lost to the
industry on account of the influenza.