Dallas, Texas and the 1. Influenza Epidemic. On September 2. 4, as the national press covered the escalating influenza epidemic on the East Coast, Dallas Health Officer Dr. Carnes warned his community to expect a visit soon from the rapidly spreading disease. Closer to home, some 7. On August 6, 1918, pioneers of the airmail came together at the Standard Aero Corporation factory in Elizabeth, New Jersey, where the six JR-1B aircraft that would.
Camp Logan, near Houston. Conditions at the camp were so bad that medical personnel had to erect temporary emergency hospitals to care for patients. Several other Texas locations reported small numbers of cases as well, as did Camp Bowie outside of nearby Fort Worth. Carnes was not overly concerned with the news either from within his state or from the East, however, believing that this novel form of influenza was only slightly more severe than common grippe. He recommended that residents get plenty of fresh air, avoid crowds, and keep their bowels open, and asked anyone feeling ill to go home and rest. An opinion piece in the Dallas Morning News claimed that too much was being made of epidemic influenza. These notions were about to be severely tested, as five Dallas civilians already were reported ill with influenza. In an attempt to contain their epidemics and to safeguard their troops, medical officers at nearby military camps instituted protective measures. Camp John Dick Aviation Concentration Camp, a small holding facility located on the state fairgrounds in Dallas itself, had 2. Camp surgeon Major Vernon C. Earthman ordered that all incoming men be placed in quarantine until it was clear that they were influenza- free. At Camp Bowie outside of Forth Worth, 4. Dallas, a camp- wide gathering ban kept soldiers from congregating at theaters, pool halls, or dances either on base or in Forth Worth. Love Field and the aviation repair depot in northwest Dallas were placed under quarantine as a precaution, although no cases of influenza were reported there. Those men leaving the post on official business were required to submit to physical inspection and have their throats sprayed with argyrol (an antiseptic originally developed to prevent gonorrheal blindness in newborns) upon their return. It was September 2. There were now at least 1. Dallas, five of which had been admitted to Dallas Emergency Hospital. Influenza was not yet a reportable disease in the city, leading at least one doctor to estimate the real number of cases as four times as high. Carnes requested that physicians send him notice of all suspicious cases as quickly as possible. He also asked that physicians treat patients in their homes and not to send them to Parkland Hospital (then located at the corner of Oak Lawn and Maple) in order to protect the patients there. Great Train Wreck of 1918 from http:// On Tues., July 9, 1918, shortly past 7:15 a.m., two trains pulled by.To augment the city’s healthcare, Carnes offered the services of visiting physicians from the health department. He still held firm to the belief that the burgeoning epidemic was nothing more than common grippe, but told reporters that he was prepared to issue strict disease control measures if necessary. Carnes hesitancy to take more vigorous action saved the upcoming Liberty Loan parade but allowed thousands to crowd Dallas’s downtown streets. On Saturday, September 2. Fourth Liberty Loan campaign. Singing “For Your Boy and My Boy,” the crowd overflowed one of the largest blocks in the city before marching down South Harwood Street. As one reporter described the scene, “It simply was Dallas showing what she intends to do when the loan drive opens tomorrow.”6 The gathering and ensuing hoopla was undoubtedly great for the loan campaign. It was also undoubtedly bad for the city’s health. By October 3, Dallas had 1. Pierpont Balderson, who died at St. Paul’s Hospital on September 3. Most physicians pegged the actual number of cases as much higher. Every sector of the city was hit. Hospitals began isolating their cases, and physicians at the Dallas Baby Camp, a charity hospital for children, preemptively closed its doors to visitors and the potential introduction of the rapidly spreading virus. Twenty Red Cross volunteers engaged in canteen work at the Union Terminal Station were out sick with influenza, greatly hindering the work. Carnes considered but decided against asking the City Commission to pass an emergency ordinance giving his health department the power to isolate all cases and quarantine suspected contacts, even though Mayor Joseph E. Lawther was eager that Carnes should begin such work. For the time being, Carnes simply recommended that the public refrain from patronizing businesses that maintained their establishments in an unsanitary condition. Carnes may not have been ready to act, but others certainly were. Simmons, director of the Southwest Department of the Red Cross, hastily dispatched a telegram to the local Dallas chapter, asking it to mobilize its facilities and volunteers to help deal with the growing epidemic. The Dallas County Nurses’ Registry likewise began organizing units of undergraduate and practical nurses to combat influenza. Graduate nurses were in great demand but limited supply, and the Registry issued an appeal to retired and married nurses for assistance. Expecting more cases to develop, doctors at Parkland Hospital turned the basement chronic disease ward into an isolation ward and moved their 1. Carnes momentarily reconsidered his position, and on October 4 asked Mayor Lawther to convene the city commission and to pass an ordinance making influenza a quarantineable disease. The next day, however, he postponed his request, believing that the situation did not yet demand such action. Carnes called Dallas’s situation “uncomfortable,” but far better than in most other places. Lawther was not quite so assured as his health commissioner. The mayor called a special meeting of the Board of Health for Wednesday, October 8 to discuss possible epidemic control methods, including the closing of Dallas’s schools as per Acting Governor Willard Johnson’s suggestion that communities consider such a move. He also called on residents to clean their homes, businesses, and communities. The Board agreed on the need to make influenza a reportable disease, and asked the city commission to pass such an emergency ordinance at its October 9 meeting. The Board asked Carnes immediately to issue a circular asking physicians to report all cases of influenza to his office, since, under Dallas law, emergency ordinances did not become effective for three days. It also directed Carnes to notify the public about the dangers of influenza, how to avoid the disease, and how best to treat it. As for more assertive methods of disease control, Board members were of split opinion. Armstrong, Assistant Health Officer, believed that Dallas’s epidemic was already far worse than being reported, and that the only way to bring it to a quit halt was to close all public places immediately. Crow, argued that it was not clear how the disease was spread, and that the situation was not nearly serious enough yet to take such drastic action. Most of the cases thus far were among adults, he added, thus negating the need for school closures. Crow ignored reports from Dallas’s three high school principals, stating that nearly twenty percent of the student body was absent. As cases mounted in Dallas’s schools, so did they in the city’s hospitals. There were 2. 20 cases listed at Emergency Hospital, with another 2. St. Paul’s Sanitarium, a Catholic hospital that had given over many of its beds- including some in a temporary tent hospital erected on the front lawn- to military cases. Twenty- two cases were reported at the Baptist Memorial Sanitarium. The local chapter of the Red Cross called on any and all volunteer nurses it could to help deal with the growing epidemic; it was able to mobilize 1. None could be spared for other parts of Texas. The Dallas County Nurses’ Registry was receiving dozens of calls for help each day, many from nearby military camps, but had difficulty in finding nurses to fill them. To make matters worse, an outbreak of whooping cough among babies in South Dallas further added to the nursing shortage, as volunteers from the Infant’s Welfare and Milk Association cared for the afflicted babies while many of their parents tried to convalesce from influenza. Carnes slowly came around to the need for action. Meeting with leaders from St. Matthew’s Cathedral on October 9, the health commissioner advised against proceeding with the upcoming four- day festival scheduled to begin Sunday, October 1. The cathedral’s dean decided to postpone the festival until after the threat of the epidemic had passed. Later that day, Mayor Lawther, Carnes, the Board of Health, and 5. Dallas physicians met to discuss the ever- growing crisis. Over 3. 30 cases of influenza had been reported that morning, bringing the total number in the city to over 1,0. Every Dallas hospital was overcrowded with influenza cases. At Parkland, recovering patients had to be moved into the hallways to make room for new arrivals. Carnes called the situation an “influenza invasion.” The Board decided that the time had come to ask Mayor Lawther to issue a citywide closure order and public gathering ban. Effective Thursday, October 1. Dallas theaters, playhouses, and all other places of public amusement were to be closed. Those present were split as to the issue of schools, with the majority favoring keeping classrooms open so that children could spend their days in well- ventilated buildings where they could be monitored for illness rather than in dingy homes or on the city’s streets. The situation in the high schools had stabilized, and there was only a slight increase in the number of absences in the elementary schools. For the time being, therefore, Dallas’s children would continue to attend class. School authorities agreed with the decision, but instructed their teachers to send any and all sick children home immediately. As a further measure, Carnes requested that the Dallas Railway Company disinfect its streetcars daily, that they permit only as many passengers as seats, and that they put more cars into service during rush hour.
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