Spanish flu numbers soar in October 1918

In early October 1918, Spanish influenza was continuing to spread in Army camps across the United States — with nearly 13,000 new cases reported among soldiers in the Oct. 5, 1918, edition of the Humboldt Times newspaper. The pandemic was also expanding quickly within the civilian population.

Also on Oct. 5 of that year, the U.S. Public Health Service — led by William McAdoo — sent an official notice to state and municipal offices around the country stating that the best way to combat the illness was for people to avoid public gatherings altogether. A day later, a national call was sent out by the American Red Cross for nurses and others with health care training to volunteer at Army camps and, if they couldn’t travel, at area hospitals as part of “home defense” efforts to combat the Spanish flu.

Local efforts — including securing volunteer medical personnel and gathering face masks for them to wear while working — were being organized by Miss McMillan of the old Sequoia

Hospital in Eureka.

The Humboldt Times also began running short articles in early October 1918 about county residents being impacted by what was “most likely” the Spanish flu. On Oct. 7, 1918, Dr. and Mrs. C.W. Beacom of Fortuna reported their 21-year-old son, Launcelot — serving at the Edgewood Arsenal facility in Maryland — had died of what was thought to be Spanish influenza. Two days later, William Dillon of Ferndale told the Humboldt Times that he’d received a telegram stating his 18-year-old son, John, was very ill at Fort Stevens in Oregon with suspected Spanish flu.

On Oct. 10, 1918, a short frontpage article in the Humboldt Times, reported that “Spanish influenza has spread to every

part of the country, including California.” The next day, a large headline on the first page of the Humboldt Times read, “Influenza fight now desperate.” One thousand cases of Spanish flu were reported on that day in California, according to the Humboldt Times, with still only a few deaths in the state.

Also on Oct. 11, 1918, the U.S. Public Health Service put out a call for all doctors in California, Nevada and Arizona to help combat the flu outbreak. That same day, the American Red Cross released a nationwide warning saying, “It is the patriotic duty of every person to avoid (Spanish influenza) if possible.” Those who felt ill were advised to go to bed for several and rest. The Red Cross report stated, “No matter if the attack appears very slight, as it usually does at first, three days in bed, keeping the patient warm and on a tight diet, will usually prevent the terrible aftereffects which run into pneumonia and cause death.”