Pandemic Of 1918-1919 Hit Area Hard
By Teresa S. NewtonMost flu seasons barely make a blip on the infectious disease radar, but in 1918 and early 1919, influenza struck Northwest Arkansas and the world like an atomic bomb.
The Spanish flu pandemic is considered the worst in modern times, but it led to a better understanding of how disease spreads and how to prevent it.
During that time, approximately 40 million people worldwide died from influenza or its main complication: pneumonia. That number includes 600,000 Americans and about 7,000 Arkansans.
The disease was first noted in the United States in March 1918 at Fort Riley, Kan., and it quickly spread. October that year was the deadliest in U.S. history, with 195,000 Americans dying from the flu.
The Spanish flu began arriving in Northwest Arkansas between Sept. 21 and Sept. 28, 1918, according to the Centers for Disease Control and prevention.
LIVES LOST
The flu struck indiscriminately, according to The Springdale News. Victims included the publisher of the Winslow American newspaper, a former Maysville postmaster, a popular bank cashier in Rogers, visitors to this area, local folks visiting elsewhere and World War I soldiers at camps in the U.S. and in Europe.
At Wheeler in January 1919, Joe Coleman and his wife, ages 22 and 20 respectively, died the same day. Their baby died several months before.
In Green Forest, Zettie Rolf died a week after her husband, leaving five children, the youngest of whom was three days old.
For the Harve Lasley family in Gravette, the baby died Saturday, the mother Sunday and the father Tuesday. Another child, also ill, was taken in by the William Halpain family.
Norton Williams returned from a trip to his remote home near Aurora in Madison County to find four children and his wife dead.
Myrtle Bruce Coleman of Gentry died while visiting her parents in Kansas City. Her husband was serving in the Army in France.
Arthur Rollin "Bunn" Bradley of Benton County enlisted in the Navy on Feb. 14, 1919, was soon sent to Camp Farragut in Chicago and died of influenza 11 days later.
William Cann Jr. of Prairie Grove died in early October while serving in the military in France. John W. Smith of Pea Ridge died of pneumonia while at Camp Pike (today's Camp Robinson in North Little Rock).
Seven-month-old Delores Cameron of Wyoming died of the flu while visiting her grandparents in Springdale.
Amazingly, Bentonville and the Osage township came through November 1918 without a single death -- from the flu or anything else, according to Kerr and Callison undertakers.
QUARANTINE
State health officials quickly issued quarantine orders in early October. Schools and picture shows were closed. Churches were limited to one service per week. Public gatherings in general were restricted. Businesses could not open before 9 a.m. and had to close by 4 p.m.
"The state board of health prohibits any person under 18 years of age being on the streets unless it is absolutely necessary," the Springdale newspaper reported Oct. 11. "In other words, every person should remain on his own premises. There are 235 cases of the disease in the University of Arkansas."
Also prohibited were loafing and crowding in restaurants, the post office lobby during distribution of mail and railroad waiting rooms and platforms.
The flu came at a bad time. Crops needed to be harvested. Schools were in session. Elections were coming up. The war was coming to a close.
Talks promoting a new state constitution were canceled because of the quarantine, and the vote was set for Dec. 16.
REBOUND
Within weeks of the early fall epidemic, the worst seemed to be over. Some quarantines were lifted, but assistance for the ill was still needed.
The Nov. 1 issue of The Springdale News had a brief article from the state Board of Health chairman seeking nurses willing to be called anywhere in the state to help with the epidemic. Another praised volunteers, students, nurses and doctors for "personal sacrifices amounting to heroism" during the worst times at the UA campus. The Razorbacks were set to play their first football game the next afternoon because the quarantine had been lifted on the campus. (They played the 42nd Company of the 162nd Depot Brigade from Camp Pike.)
By December, the flu rebounded, with schools closed again and quarantines reinstated.
The funeral for flu victim Willie L. Cato, 39, of Gravette was at his brother's house because the quarantine prevented the use of the church.
In late December, Springdale lifted its ban on limited church services and reopened the schools. However, homes where there was a case of the flu were still quarantined.
In Bentonville, the quarantine was finally lifted in late February 1919.
Deaths caused by influenza or its resulting pneumonia continued into March.
SOUND ADVICE
Throughout November and December 1918, Rupert Blue, U.S. surgeon general, issued reports cautioning people about how colds, coughs and the flu spread, how quickly the flu could lead to pneumonia and death, and how important fresh air, ventilated rooms and appropriate dress for the weather can be in preventing the disease.
"There is nothing mysterious about it -- no specific medicine, no vaccine," he wrote in an article in the Dec. 20 issue of The Springdale News. "The important thing is right living, good food and plenty of fresh air.
Local physician Dr. S.B. Houts wrote the newspaper a letter about the epidemic that read:
"The best way to meet the epidemic of influenza or any other epidemic is with a brave hart -- meet it as we meet the Huns, get ready and give battle."
Houts listed several suggestions for preventing the flu, including fresh air, sunshine, nutritious food and simple exercise, and he closed with this remark:
"Stop talking about the flu to your neighbor."
SOURCES: The Springdale News, Gentry Journal-Advance, Gravette News Herald, Center for Disease Control and Prevention, National Museum of Health and Medicine