Commonground
Senior Moderator
By Staff reports
The Patriot Ledger
Posted Oct 29, 2009 @ 04:46 PM
QUINCY ?
For one long month that fall, one of the deadliest epidemics in history brought life to a fearful standstill, as the state and towns battled ?the grippe? without the help of a vaccine.
March 1918: More than 1,000 Army soldiers fall ill at Fort Riley, Kan. At least 48 die.
Spring 1918: Troops carry virus to camps overseas. Cases spread to France, Spain, Russia and Africa.
THE SECOND WAVE
Aug. 27, 1918: 2 Navy sailors at Boston?s Commonwealth Pier admitted to sick bay. 60 sailors fall ill in days.
Sept. 5: On the Western Front, German Army retreats after failed Second Battle of the Marne. Babe Ruth and the Boston Red Sox defeat the Cubs, 1-0, in the first game of the World Series.
The Massachusetts Health Department warns that an epidemic of ?the grippe? is under way.
Sept. 11: In France, American forces launch their first offensive. At Fenway Park, the Red Sox defeat Cubs, 2-1, to win the World Series, 4 games to 2.
Hundreds of flu cases reported in Boston, dozens in the Quincy area.
Sept. 14: Daniel McDougall, a 15-year-old Braintree shoe factory worker from Quincy, is first South Shore person to die from the flu. More than 100 in Quincy are reported sick.
Sept. 16: Allied planes target Germans on the Western front.
In Plymouth, 20-year-old Geoffrey Perrior Jr. dies a week after he fell ill. He?s the town?s first flu death. There are 4 dead in Brockton. The Navy reports cases in Hingham and the Fore River shipyard. Sharon closes its schools, while Abington reports its first case.
Sept. 19: Quincy City Hospital is crowded, even as doctors make 60 to 70 house calls a day, with 6 dead from the flu. Quincy?s Neighborhood Club is converted into a temporary hospital ward.
In Washington, Lt. Col. Phillip Doane says the epidemic could be caused by germs spread by German submarines.
Sept. 20: U.S. Surgeon General Rupert Blue?s prescription for flu treatment: Bed rest, good food, salts of quinine and aspirin. Doctors also recommend ?sun baths? of fresh air and sunshine. Families of flu patients are ordered to be quarantined.
Red Cross nurses from Connecticut arrive in Quincy, and 2,500 Fore River shipyard workers are ill. The city converts the shipyard?s nearby dormitories into a temporary hospital.
Sept. 23: Doctors and more nurses arrive in area from Philadelphia and Rochester, N.Y. Quincy theaters, meeting halls are closed as 11 more die.
Sept. 24: Plymouth closes its schools, theaters and churches. Liberty Loan rallies are postponed, while Jordan Hospital is overcrowded.
Quincy bans public funerals, closes schools the next day. Residents take in ?one of the saddest sights? ? a triple funeral procession for parents and an infant child who died together. That raises the death toll to 48.
Sept. 26: In France, Allies break Germany?s Hindenburg Line. In Quincy, 15 die of flu-related illnesses in 24 hours. With 80 dead in two weeks, the city says families who want to hold funerals the same day can dig their own graves, with the cemetery superintendent?s supervision.
Health officials from Boston, Quincy, Braintree, Weymouth, Milton and Hingham meet. Quincy Mayor Joseph Whiton asks those towns to send patients to Quincy hospitals, to help keep the flu from spreading.
Quincy urges churches not to hold weekend services. Thomas Crane Public Library stops its book returns.
Sept. 27: 20 die in Quincy within 24 hours. State, cities, towns give instructions to make protective masks from gauze or cheese cloth.
20 more nurses arrive in Quincy from Buffalo, while the War Department sends doctors, nurses to Brockton. Half the Fore River shipyard?s workers are out sick.
Adams chapter of Daughters of the American Revolution postpones its meeting at the John Adams birthplace. But the Quincy Federation of Women?s Clubs meets as scheduled at United First Parish Church.
Sept. 28: More doctors and nurses arrive in area, some on a hospital train from Baltimore. The state Health Department orders all soda fountains closed.
Sept. 30: 20 more die in Quincy over the weekend, raising the city?s total for September to 120. Boston deaths for the month stand at 1,000.
Oct. 2:27 die in Quincy over two days, including Victor Hokkenen, 40, and his 4-year-old daughter Inez. Funeral homes report a shortage of caskets. Quincy, like Boston, cancels Liberty Bond parades and sporting events.
Cohasset bans church services and public meetings. Bay State Railway fumigates its train cars daily, as Boston reports 202 deaths in one day and New York City 851. The epidemic reaches as far west as Seattle.
Oct. 7: Cardinal William O?Connell suspends the archdiocese?s annual charity collection, but allows brief Masses in parishes.
Oct. 8: Despite cases in 43 of 48 states as well as South America and Europe, local health officials say the epidemic is subsiding.
Oct. 15: 2 more die in Quincy. The next day, Quincy High opens its football season, defeating a Fore River team, 20-0.
Oct. 19: Germans resist Allied demands for unconditional surrender. On the South Shore, the flu epidemic is declared under control. Schools, churches, theaters, meeting halls and soda fountains reopen, the shipyard emergency hospital closes, ?throngs? hit the streets, and theaters are ?packed.?
Quincy?s death total is 150 for five weeks. In Plymouth, 73 of 1,071 infected people die. In Cohasset, 5 of 563 die. Boston?s toll is 3,800 deaths from flu and pneumonia.
The Patriot Ledger
http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/s...dliest-flu-killed-hundreds-on-the-South-Shore
The Patriot Ledger
Posted Oct 29, 2009 @ 04:46 PM
QUINCY ?
For one long month that fall, one of the deadliest epidemics in history brought life to a fearful standstill, as the state and towns battled ?the grippe? without the help of a vaccine.
March 1918: More than 1,000 Army soldiers fall ill at Fort Riley, Kan. At least 48 die.
Spring 1918: Troops carry virus to camps overseas. Cases spread to France, Spain, Russia and Africa.
THE SECOND WAVE
Aug. 27, 1918: 2 Navy sailors at Boston?s Commonwealth Pier admitted to sick bay. 60 sailors fall ill in days.
Sept. 5: On the Western Front, German Army retreats after failed Second Battle of the Marne. Babe Ruth and the Boston Red Sox defeat the Cubs, 1-0, in the first game of the World Series.
The Massachusetts Health Department warns that an epidemic of ?the grippe? is under way.
Sept. 11: In France, American forces launch their first offensive. At Fenway Park, the Red Sox defeat Cubs, 2-1, to win the World Series, 4 games to 2.
Hundreds of flu cases reported in Boston, dozens in the Quincy area.
Sept. 14: Daniel McDougall, a 15-year-old Braintree shoe factory worker from Quincy, is first South Shore person to die from the flu. More than 100 in Quincy are reported sick.
Sept. 16: Allied planes target Germans on the Western front.
In Plymouth, 20-year-old Geoffrey Perrior Jr. dies a week after he fell ill. He?s the town?s first flu death. There are 4 dead in Brockton. The Navy reports cases in Hingham and the Fore River shipyard. Sharon closes its schools, while Abington reports its first case.
Sept. 19: Quincy City Hospital is crowded, even as doctors make 60 to 70 house calls a day, with 6 dead from the flu. Quincy?s Neighborhood Club is converted into a temporary hospital ward.
In Washington, Lt. Col. Phillip Doane says the epidemic could be caused by germs spread by German submarines.
Sept. 20: U.S. Surgeon General Rupert Blue?s prescription for flu treatment: Bed rest, good food, salts of quinine and aspirin. Doctors also recommend ?sun baths? of fresh air and sunshine. Families of flu patients are ordered to be quarantined.
Red Cross nurses from Connecticut arrive in Quincy, and 2,500 Fore River shipyard workers are ill. The city converts the shipyard?s nearby dormitories into a temporary hospital.
Sept. 23: Doctors and more nurses arrive in area from Philadelphia and Rochester, N.Y. Quincy theaters, meeting halls are closed as 11 more die.
Sept. 24: Plymouth closes its schools, theaters and churches. Liberty Loan rallies are postponed, while Jordan Hospital is overcrowded.
Quincy bans public funerals, closes schools the next day. Residents take in ?one of the saddest sights? ? a triple funeral procession for parents and an infant child who died together. That raises the death toll to 48.
Sept. 26: In France, Allies break Germany?s Hindenburg Line. In Quincy, 15 die of flu-related illnesses in 24 hours. With 80 dead in two weeks, the city says families who want to hold funerals the same day can dig their own graves, with the cemetery superintendent?s supervision.
Health officials from Boston, Quincy, Braintree, Weymouth, Milton and Hingham meet. Quincy Mayor Joseph Whiton asks those towns to send patients to Quincy hospitals, to help keep the flu from spreading.
Quincy urges churches not to hold weekend services. Thomas Crane Public Library stops its book returns.
Sept. 27: 20 die in Quincy within 24 hours. State, cities, towns give instructions to make protective masks from gauze or cheese cloth.
20 more nurses arrive in Quincy from Buffalo, while the War Department sends doctors, nurses to Brockton. Half the Fore River shipyard?s workers are out sick.
Adams chapter of Daughters of the American Revolution postpones its meeting at the John Adams birthplace. But the Quincy Federation of Women?s Clubs meets as scheduled at United First Parish Church.
Sept. 28: More doctors and nurses arrive in area, some on a hospital train from Baltimore. The state Health Department orders all soda fountains closed.
Sept. 30: 20 more die in Quincy over the weekend, raising the city?s total for September to 120. Boston deaths for the month stand at 1,000.
Oct. 2:27 die in Quincy over two days, including Victor Hokkenen, 40, and his 4-year-old daughter Inez. Funeral homes report a shortage of caskets. Quincy, like Boston, cancels Liberty Bond parades and sporting events.
Cohasset bans church services and public meetings. Bay State Railway fumigates its train cars daily, as Boston reports 202 deaths in one day and New York City 851. The epidemic reaches as far west as Seattle.
Oct. 7: Cardinal William O?Connell suspends the archdiocese?s annual charity collection, but allows brief Masses in parishes.
Oct. 8: Despite cases in 43 of 48 states as well as South America and Europe, local health officials say the epidemic is subsiding.
Oct. 15: 2 more die in Quincy. The next day, Quincy High opens its football season, defeating a Fore River team, 20-0.
Oct. 19: Germans resist Allied demands for unconditional surrender. On the South Shore, the flu epidemic is declared under control. Schools, churches, theaters, meeting halls and soda fountains reopen, the shipyard emergency hospital closes, ?throngs? hit the streets, and theaters are ?packed.?
Quincy?s death total is 150 for five weeks. In Plymouth, 73 of 1,071 infected people die. In Cohasset, 5 of 563 die. Boston?s toll is 3,800 deaths from flu and pneumonia.
The Patriot Ledger
http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/s...dliest-flu-killed-hundreds-on-the-South-Shore