A female touches her mask as she stands in between 2 boys who are likewise using masks during the 1918-19 Flu Upsurge. [Image from Palmquist in the Humboldt Room Photograph Collection at Humboldt State University]
Nuggets of old news dished out when a week by David Heller, among our local historians.
The very first pandemic to grippe Humboldt County
This week Odd Old News takes an appearance at Humboldt County’s experience of the 1918-1919 “Spanish Influenza” pandemic as seen primarily through the lens of one newspaper, the Blue Lake Supporter.
The U.S. Public Health Service alerted the general public to defend against “droplet infection” from the “Spanish Influenza” by utilizing masks, however there was no health company directing preventative actions at the county level as there is today. Each town had some discretion as how to handle the influenza when it at first appeared in their communities. As Jerry Rhode recently wrote in a Northcoast Journal article The 200 th Victim, a number of communities took no action to stop public meetings until late October, and a county broad injunction to use masks wasn’t bought up until November 7, following Ferndale’s lead the day previously. Similar to the Covid-19 virus, numerous cutting edge physicians and nurses were contaminated, further complicating the medical action to the break out.
Dr. C. M. Mercer, who, up to the time of his being taken with the condition, was acting city health officer of Eureka, has actually released a strong appeal to all individuals to use the anti-flu mask at all times while in public, and to avoid all events on the streets or other locations, as one of the finest and best procedures for combating the illness.
Following the lead of the county managers, the city board at a conference Wednesday night passed a resolution making the look in public without a mask a misdemeanor punishable by a fine or jail time, or both, in the discretion of the court, however making the penalty in either case specific. The ordinance offers a fine of not less than $5, nor more than $2O, or not less than 5 days in prison, nor more than 10 days, or by both, within the discretion of the court.
Heretofore, smokers with their masks turned to one side or worn under their chins, on the streets, have actually been passed without caution, perhaps on the ground that tobacco smoke was a preventive to the contagion, however the matter being raised prior to the council conference by Chief of Cops Conant, the council decided that smoking cigarettes would not be accepted as an excuse for the nonwearing of the masks, and the authorities are instructed to proceed in such cases no matter the reason …( BLA, 11/ 9/1918).
As hindsight showed in San Francisco, the importance of stepping in early was the lesson to be discovered.
One week after creating the required mask ordinance, a San Francisco Chronicle headline declared INFLUENZA MASKS PLAY BIG PART IN CURBING EPIDEMIC, and Dr. William Hassler, San Francisco’s primary health official, specified that the wearing of masks had saved 1,500 lives and 20,000 cases of the influenza. Regardless of new cases and deaths starting to decrease in early November, Dr. Hassler wanted people to stay alert and wear masks for two more months, however the general public objected and the required order was rescinded on November 21 st.
By the end of November new cases of the influenza in Humboldt County were on the subside, and in Blue Lake the masks came off.
It was announced: “What couple of cases of influenza may follow, the health authorities say that the epidemic is almost stamped out in this county and by being a little mindful, there is no requirement of interfering with company matters any longer”( BLA, 11/30/1918).
The Armistice of November 11 th that ended World War I offered Americans excellent cause for celebrations and lots of marched in parades. A few weeks later on, another event was held in Fortuna featuring the burning of the bug. “Today Fortuna is rejoicing again and this time over the fact that the “flue” bug which has actually been spreading disease far and wide for weeks has actually been caught and will be cremated here Saturday night. The surrounding towns are invited to accompany Fortuna in celebrating this event. The big time will happen on the street in front of the Star hotel where the bug will be on exhibit during the day( BLA, 11/23/1918). In this period there were only bacteriologists, the presence of viruses was as yet unidentified, so the cause influenza was improperly attributed to a germs.
But “the bug” wasn’t gone. Like much of the country, when brand-new cases were on the wane, Humboldt County unwinded the protective steps that had been taken to avoid the influenza’s spread, however early 1919 saw the 3rd wave of the 1918 pandemic appear in Humboldt communities with another outbreak of new influenza cases and more deaths.
The Third Wave of the 1918 influenza break out will be used up next week in Odd Old News.
Previously Odd and Old News:
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