By A. D.
“Fear,
that was the enemy. Yes, fear. And the more officials tried to control it
with half- truths and outright lies, the more terror spread.”[1] Although America previously had its fair
share of struggles, the flu outbreak of 1918 was something that seemed to be
uncontrollable. There were issues in
America before the flu that didn’t seem comparable. Not only were the lives of Americans lost due
to the flu of 1918, but the hope of many Americans was lost. Not only did the flu take the lives of many
Americans, but it took the lives of individuals all around the world.
The
worries before the flu pandemic of 1918 were based more upon what was happening
in the war as opposed to how much of a threat the flu actually had. The United States’ main struggle was trying
to have many war relief programs to help with the war efforts. There was a Red Cross warehouse located in
Northern Indiana that helped mainly with the war efforts. There was a need for over 5,000 sweaters and
200 helmets in a camp located in Taylor, Kentucky at that time. Many volunteers had to come and help at the
warehouse during all hours of the night to get this task complete on time. Not only was there a need for sweaters and
helmets, but also a need for hospital garments for injuries in the war. The need for volunteers seemed almost
desperate. The work tables in the Red
Cross were constantly crowded with volunteers who made the helmets, sweaters,
and hospital garments. The work would
not have been accomplished without the help of all of the volunteers that were
willing to give their time.[2]
The urge for coal miners to mine every day in order to
keep the coal output of the state at the highest level possible during that
time period was crucial as well. Coal
miners were urged to work through speeches, posters, educational agencies, and
public agencies. The authorities wanted
the coal output of the state to be at the highest level, because the country
was at war. The authorities felt the
United States would benefit from having a higher level of coal output, so the
workers were pushed to mine more.[3]
However, men were not following the plea of the
government and local officials. “At a
recent meeting of the coal production committee it was shown that the worst
evil of all is due to the action of unthinking miners in absenting themselves
from the mines at a time when every man is sorely needed and when cars are
being supplied in adequate members to insure the handling of the product at the
mines.” [4] The men who worked the mines started to
refuse to work and, which slowed down the production of coal in the United
States.
There was a fuel emergency, and the workers of
the mines decreased tremendously due to the earlier laying off of the mine
workers. “The coal production committee
says the men who have been lax in doing their part have been without full
realization of the vital importance of the work that must be done in the mines.”[5] The coal miners needed to step up and help
the economy and society in the time of war.
The war efforts taking place and the need for more miners
were just a few of the issues that were present in the United States, during
World War One and before the flu pandemic was even thought about. It just goes to show that the flu pandemic of
1918 wasn’t the only issue in America at that time. The flu pandemic was a huge struggle all in
itself, and during the flu pandemic, some of the other issues that were taking
place before seemed obsolete.
“The flu pandemic of 1918 killed more
people in one year than the Great War killed in four.”[6] The flu pandemic sent many individuals to
hospitals and shut down many schools and churches. The flu killed millions of people all over
the world and even changed the life expectancy for women and men by about
twelve years. The people that would
usually be affected by a common flu during a normal year were the very young
and the very old individuals, but that wasn’t the case for the flu pandemic of
1918. This flu had the most effect on
the individuals considered young adults, who would range between 20 and 40
years of age. The flu pandemic not only
killed the weaker people of the population, but also some of the strongest
individuals.[7]
Not only was the flu pandemic of 1918 a threat to the
victims who received the disease, but also a threat to the doctors, medical
officers, and most importantly the government.
Doctors did the best they could to help the victims of the flu pandemic,
but there was little they could do due to the lack of knowledge about the
flu. Medical officers tried their best
to help the victims in the army, but again there was little they could do to
stop the disease. The government was
seen as a failure, because they were unable to stop the spreading of the flu.[8]
The flu pandemic seemed to have started in Haskell
County, Kansas. However, Haskell County
isn’t to blame for this terrible disease.
“The war effort and mobilized war economy caused the disease to
explode.”[9] Men were getting drafted left and right to go
to war during this time period. The men
didn’t have strong enough immune systems to fight the diseases, whereas the
elderly who were exposed to the flu earlier in their lifetimes were able to
fight the disease. [10] Obviously, the younger men were the ones
fighting in war, not the elderly.
Haskell County, Kansas is located three hundred miles to
the west of Funston. Haskell County was a
very rural community, where people raised grain, poultry, cattle, and
hogs. Most of the homes in Haskell
County were made out of sod, and even some of the local post offices were made
out of sod as well. Haskell County’s
population was only about 1,720 people, and Haskell County was only about 578
square miles.[11] It was a pretty average community for the
1900 time period. “But primitive and raw
as life could be there, science had penetrated the county in the form of Dr.
Loring Miner.”[12] Little did Haskell County know that they
could possibly have been the start to a worldwide pandemic.
In 1918, Haskell County was faced with the flu pandemic
that would soon be known all over the world.
Dr. Miner was a doctor in Haskell County during the flu epidemic. He started receiving many patients a
day. As the days went on, the more
patients he received. Dr. Miner noticed
the disease was spreading quickly and was taking the lives of many individuals
in that county. Women and men were
unable to work, because they were simply too weak. Children were also unable to go to school. [13] “The local paper Sante Fe Monitor, apparently worried about hurting morale in
wartime, initially said little about deaths but on inside pages in February
reported Mrs. Eva Van Alstine is sick with pneumonia. Her little son Roy is now able to get up….Ralph
Lindeman is still quite sick…Goldie Wolgehagen is working at the Beeman store
during her sister Eva’s sickness….Homer Moody has been reported quite
sick…Mertin, the young son of Ernest Elliot, is sick with pneumonia…Pete
Hesser’s children are recovering nicely….Ralph McConnell has been quite sick
this week.” [14]
“The
epidemic got worse. Then, as abruptly as
it came, it disappeared. Men and women
returned to work. Children returned to
school. And the war regained its hold on
people’s thoughts.”[15]
The disease did
not disappear from the mind of Dr. Miner.
Miner believed the disease was so dangerous that he warned the public
health officials about it. [16] Cures to any type of disease were very
uncommon during the 1900s. The treatment
of the disease was not available, because the doctors didn’t know how to cure
it. However, doctors were able to
identify that their patients had the flu and they were able to give medicine to
help ease their patient’s pain. The
medicine included aspirin and morphine.[17] Miner was determined to find out more about
this fatal disease, so he took his ill patients’ blood and urine samples to try
and find the cure and causes of it. He
looked at his medical texts for answers and guidance. He wrote to the United States Public Health Service’s
weekly journal to warn people about the flu.
His weekly column was called Public Health Reports. [18]
The men in Haskell County that had been drafted were sent
to Funston for their training. The men
who were exposed to the flu arrived to camp in Funston between February 26 and
March 2. There were 56,222 troops at the
camp in Funston and during the time period of February 26th and
March 2nd, eleven hundred were sick and needed hospital
treatment. These men diagnosed with the
flu would then be sent to Europe to fight.
People believe Haskell County, Kansas could have been the start of the
outbreak of the flu of 1918. [19]
The community of Haskell County went back to normal after
the flu epidemic of 1918, besides the lost lives of many loved ones. There was still work to be done on the farms
to raise the grains, poultry, cattle, and hogs.
Men and women went back to work as usual and children attended schools
again.[20] Although everything may have gone back to
“normal,” Haskell County, Kansas would never be the same.
Haskell County isn’t to blame of the flu pandemic of
1918, but it was the first time that a flu outbreak had to be reported to the
public health officials. Dr. Miner had
seen cases of the flu before, but somehow he knew this was different and felt
the need to report it to a higher authority. [21]
The flu pandemic of 1918 caused many factories and
business to shut down, because the government didn’t want the flu to
spread. They were trying to consolidate
it as much as possible. Governmental
officials and board members were telling everyone to not go to work if they had
any sign of the flu. The symptoms
included coughing, sneezing, or a runny nose.
If anyone in the work place developed any of the symptoms, they would be
sent home. The board members of
companies were trying to do everything they could to keep the disease from
spreading during the work day. [22]
Although scientists haven’t been able to find what
specifically caused the flu that killed so many individuals in 1918, it led to
the creation of research all around the world.
Johns Hopkins University was an example of an institution that started
due to the flu of 1918. “Johns Hopkins
University increased transparency and consistency with risk communication from
government authorities and transformed medicine into a science that would at
the very least lay the groundwork for medical science inquiry and reduce risk
exposure in the future.” [23]
Many people during 1918, including the government feared
the flu so much that they tried to pretend everything was okay. They acted like the flu wasn’t that much of a
threat to society and all of humanity. There
were articles posted in county newspapers about how the flu epidemic was over
and that there was no threat, when clearly there were people still dying
because of it. The United States didn’t
want to mention anything about the flu epidemic, because it might “hurt
morale.” [24]
The United States and the rest of the world had their
fair struggles with the flu pandemic of 1918, and still today no one has a
clear understanding as to what caused the flu.
Haskell County, Kansas could have been a major factor that started the
flu, but it isn’t about that. It is
about how the world overcame the flu pandemic of 1918 and how the world learned
from it.
Without
the flu pandemic of 1918, the science there is today wouldn’t be possible. Doctors like Doctor Miner wouldn’t have been
put up to the task of helping the victims of the flu. There also wouldn’t have been nearly as much
research done on how to cure the flu.
The
government had a hard task when it came to dealing with the flu pandemic of
1918. The flu pandemic only made the
government stronger, and prepared them to be able to face any challenge that
may come in the future.
“Fear,
that was the enemy. Yes, fear. And the more officials tried to control it
with half- truths and outright lies, the more terror spread.”[25] Yes, there was fear in the community of
Haskell County, Kansas. There was fear
of the unknown path the disease was taking.
There was fear of the loss of individual’s loved ones, and there was
fear of not knowing when the disease would stop. Haskell County, Kansas was a strong county
that learned how to face their fears in the time of struggle. Doctor Miner took a chance and told the
Public Health Reports about the mysterious disease his county was encountering.
“Haskell County, Kansas is the first recorded instance anywhere in the world of
an outbreak of influenza so unusual that a physician warned public health
officials. It remains the first recorded
instance suggesting that a new virus was adapting, violently, to man.” [26]
America dealt with their struggles before the
flu pandemic, and the pandemic was just another struggle they had to face. The flu pandemic of 1918 is something that
will never be forgotten, and the lives of all of the individuals who died due
to the deadly disease will live on forever.
Research
Sources
Barry, John . "The Site of Origin of the
1918 Influenza Pandemic and its Public Health
Implications," Journal of Translational
Medicine. : 2-3. http://www.translational-medicine.com/content/2/1/3, accessed February 27, 2014.
"Business Men Battle "Flu." Fort
Wayne News Sentinel, sec. News/Opinion , October 15,
1918, accessed February
21, 2014, accessed February 21, 2014.
Byerly,
Carol . Fever of War: The Influenza Epidemic in the U.S. Army During World
War I.
New
York: NYU Press, 2005.
"Indiana Coal Miners Urged to go Full
Speed." Fort Wayne News Sentinel, sec. Legislative
Acts/Legal
Proceedings, January 1, 1918, accessed February 21, 2014.
Kupperberg, Paul. Front Cover
Reviews Write review The Influenza Pandemic Of 1918-1919.
Infobase
Publishing , 2009.
Patry, Dan. "Transformation, Risk, and Fear:
A Review of the Great Influenza ." The Current.
103-107.
"5,000 Sweaters are Sent Local Red Cross
Warehouse Fills Crying War Time Need." Fort
Wayne News Sentinel, sec. News/Opinion, January 3, 1918.
[1] Dan Patry, "Transformation, Risk, and Fear: A
Review of the Great Influenza," The Current: 106.
[2] "5,000 Sweaters are Sent Local Red Cross Warehouse Fills Crying War
Time Need." Fort
Wayne News Sentinel, sec. News/Opinion, January 3,
1918.
[3] "Indiana Coal Miners Urged to go Full Speed." Fort Wayne News Sentinel,
January 1, 1918, accessed February 21, 2014.
[4] "Indiana Coal Miners Urged to go Full Speed."
[5] "Indiana Coal Miners Urged to go Full Speed."
[6] Carol Byerly, Fever
of War: The Influenza Epidemic in the U.S. Army During World War I, (New
York: NYU Press, 2005), 4.
[7] Byerly, Fever of
War: The Influenza Epidemic in the U.S. Army During World War I, 5.
[8] Byerly, Fever of
War: The Influenza Epidemic in the U.S. Army During World War I, 5
[9] Patry, "Transformation, Risk, and Fear: A Review of the Great
Influenza," 105.
[10] Patry, "Transformation, Risk, and Fear: A Review
of the Great Influenza." 106.
[11] John Barry, "The
Site of Origin of the 1918 Influenza Pandemic and its Public Health
Implications," Journal of Translational Medicine: 2,
http://www.translational-medicine.com/content/2/1/3 (accessed February 27,
2014).
[12] Barry, "The Site of Origin of the 1918 Influenza Pandemic and its
Public Health Implications.”
[13]
Barry, "The Site of Origin of the 1918 Influenza
Pandemic and its Public Health Implications.”
[14]
Barry, "The Site of Origin of the 1918 Influenza
Pandemic and its Public Health Implications.”
[15] Barry, "The Site of Origin of the 1918 Influenza Pandemic and its
Public Health Implications."
[16] Barry, "The Site of Origin of the 1918 Influenza Pandemic and its
Public Health Implications.”
[17] Paul Kupperberg, Front
Cover Reviews Write review The Influenza Pandemic Of 1918-1919, (Infobase
Publishing , 2009), 9.
[18] Kupperberg, Front
Cover 0 Reviews Write review The Influenza Pandemic Of 1918-1919, 9-10.
[19]Barry, "The Site of Origin of the 1918 Influenza Pandemic and its
Public Health Implications.”
[20]Barry, "The Site of Origin of the 1918 Influenza Pandemic and its
Public Health Implications."
[21]
Barry, "The Site of Origin of the 1918 Influenza
Pandemic and its Public Health Implications."
[22] "Business Men Battle
"Flu"." Fort Wayne News Sentinel, October 15, 1918,
accessed February 21, 2014.
[23] Patry,
"Transformation, Risk, and Fear: A Review of the Great Influenza,"
103-107.
[24] Patry,
"Transformation, Risk, and Fear: A Review of the Great Influenza,"
103-107.
[25] Patry, "Transformation, Risk, and Fear: A Review of the Great
Influenza," 106.
[26]Barry, "The Site of Origin of the 1918 Influenza Pandemic and its
Public Health Implications.”
