THE 1918 PANDEMIC: How Humboldt Tried to Slow the Spread

 Photo: HSU special collections

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Reprinted from the Lost Coast Outpost

 

PREVIOUSLY:

• Part 1: THE 1918 SPANISH FLU: A Virus Comes to Humboldt

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In the fall of 1918, as cases of Spanish Influenza started to rise across the country and in Humboldt County, health officials recognized the virulence of the disease and how gatherings of even a few people could feed an exponential spread. In mid-October, the U.S. Public Health Service cautioned:

It is now believed that influenza Is always spread from person to person, the germs being carried with the air along with the very small droplets of mucus, expelled by coughing or sneezing, forceful talking, and the like by one who already has the germs of the disease. They may also he carried about in the air in the form of dust coming from dried mucus, from coughing and sneezing, or from careless people who spit on the floor or on the sidewalk.

By the end of October, the State Board of Health would warn that simply by talking, an infected person spread invisible droplets that could give the virus to anyone located within four feet. Coughing increased that radius to 10 feet. Wearing a mask, advice often repeated in the months to come, offered the “greatest service in preventing the spread of the disease.” Those who fell ill were urged to isolate themselves immediately to avoid dangerous complications. Perhaps most importantly, the agency warned that “As in most other catching diseases, a person who has only a mild attack of the disease himself may give a very severe attack to others.”

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As local case counts continued to rise in Eureka and the surrounding communities, local medical providers voiced concern about their ability to adequately respond to the crisis. On October 19, Humboldt had its first flu-related fatality, reported on page 12 of the Humboldt Times. Victor Tonini, a longshoreman and member of the Italian Order of Druids, left a wife and five children, the oldest 11 years “and the youngest but three months of age.” The same day, the Eureka Board of Health closed all public meeting places, including theaters, fraternal orders, clubs, and dances, prohibiting public meetings and other “assemblages of people.”

Three days later, after over 150 people were diagnosed with the “flu” in Eureka alone, including many nurses and two physicians. Eureka’s officials heeded the State Board of Heath’s advice and ordered “all persons serving the public” to wear influenza masks to slow the spread of the virus. Humboldt County’s Board of Health followed suite, ordering that every person employed in a store, hotel, restaurant, hospital, streetcar, saloon or “in any way waiting upon or serving the public” wear a mask. The order added, “If in doubt as to whether this means you, wear one.” The mask could be simple folds of gauze or cheese cloth. and tied to cover the month and nose completely. Initially people were advised to keep the mask damp with a disinfectant, but that recommendation did not last.

The downtown streets were washed down to dispel any dust that might carry the disease. Many lumber camps, like that owned by William Carson, where men shared close quarters, were closed and fumigated though at least one camp manager took a different approach. According to Matina Kilkenny in her story “Missing Faces,” Carl Munther, superintendent of the California Barrel Company’s McKinleyville camp, kept his camp running and workers healthy by quarantining each employee as they returned from town. Upon arriving back to camp, workers were required to stay for four days in a tent set up away from the workers’ cabins. This policy discouraged workers from leaving in the first place and it kept the disease at bay, with not a single case recorded at the camp during the epidemic.

On October 23, Dr. Wing, Eureka’s Health Official, reported 182 new influenza cases in a single day, up from 125 new cases the day before but still insisted the illness could “soon run its way out” IF [emphasis added] all directions and precautions of the Board of Health were followed. Volunteers set about making anti-flu masks “as rapidly as scissors, fingers and sewing machines could be made to operate” but many still refused to use them, asserting that they had no fear of the disease.

Local businessmen did, if only for the impact on their bottom line. In desperation, they paid for a full-page newspaper ad and made posters imploring the community to wear masks to keep the city’s business interests from being “paralyzed.” The ad seemed to work, as the next day the Humboldt Times reported a “veritable bread line” for masks. Streets, alleyways, homes and businesses were also ordered to be cleaned regularly to stop the spread of germs.

Ad in The Humboldt Times, October 24, 1918

Despite increasing case counts, at least ten deaths and drastic closures in the community, the editor of the Humboldt Times encouraged the community to “keep smiling”, reassuring readers that the world would not “be turned into a howling wilderness” because of the epidemic, as long as people avoided crowds and wore masks. Even if they thought it unnecessary, the editor admonished, they should wear them “to set an example for others whose lives may be saved by It.” The editorial also prescribed “copious doses of common sense… well digested.” After all, he observed, common sense never did any harm.

On October 25, the County Council of Defense issued “drastic orders”, enforced by the police, that closed non-essential businesses in Eureka and required residents and visitors to wear masks. Smokers, who were used to pulling masks aside to enjoy their habit, would not be excused.

Unfortunately, the country was now fighting two wars, one against the virus and the other against the “Huns”. The new demand for masks diverted 500 yards of gauze marked for surgical dressings for the war front in a single day and to save the precious material, citizens were encouraged to boil and reuse their masks or make them at home using handkerchiefs or other “sanitary” material. Instructions on mask making “so easy, even a child could do it” were included in multiple papers.

The Humboldt Times, Blue Lake Advocate and others now regularly reminded readers that masks were “the best preventative in other cities” and within days of the orders, Dr. Wing proclaimed that the worst of the disease was over, thanks in large part by wide use of masks.

Blue Lake Advocate, October 19, 1918

 

But compliance was far from universal. Non-masked arrivals to Eureka, many from the mills and shipyards across the bay and accustomed to dropping into a saloon on their way from the boat for a drink or two before going home, were escorted by officers to the nearest drug store to purchase masks. Others received warnings. On October 28, 1918, Ole Olsen was arrested for refusing to pull the mask under his chin up over his nose and mouth and Jesus Lopez was booked for refusing to wear one at all. Lopez was the first “mask slacker” to be fined, and his $5 was forwarded to the Red Cross. Other “mask slackers” were required to “buy themselves a mask”, the price/fine varying depending on the amount they had in their possession.

At the end of October, Arcata followed Eureka’s lead by closing public places and required masks in public and on November 5, at a special meeting, the County Board of Supervisors passed a new ordinance requiring masks and authorizing a maximum penalty of $25 and up to 10 days in the county jail for violators. The city of Eureka passed a similar ordinance shortly thereafter.

On November 2, officials in San Francisco were declaring the epidemic under control and some county officials proclaimed the same, explaining that deaths were still increasing only because the epidemic was running “the end of its course”. Local physicians, like Dr. C. Mercer, then bedridden with the disease, disagreed, blaming the “stubbornness of the epidemic” on the “laxity prevailing among many citizens with respect to the wearing of anti-flu masks.”

Unfortunately, Mercer was right. On November 7, San Francisco reported seventy-three new cases, up 23 from the day before and 48 deaths. Local reports included 78 new cases in two days and one fatality. The Board of Health again emphasized the necessity of “taking every precaution possible, especially the wearing of masks, and the avoidance of crowds, whether indoors or out.” Violators risked arrest and fines, but some, like Gunder Christiansen, arrested twice for wearing his mask under his chin, still stubbornly resisted the order. On November 9, at least 22 people were arrested and fined for similar offenses in Eureka and on November 11, following celebrations dedicated to the end of the war, another 40 were arrested, most of the them drunk. Another arrested was Florence Ottmer, a well-respected local doctor, who apparently wore a mask in public from then on.

Sheriff Redmon and his deputies toured the county’s smaller communities to answer questions and encourage compliance, but some, including residents of Alderpoint, disputed their authority. In response, the local District Attorney assured them that “the quickest and surest way of ascertaining the validity of the ordinance is to appear without a mask, be placed under arrest by the constable, hire an attorney and plead the case.”

In Eureka, though, things were shifting, likely in part from pressure from businesses feeling the economic impact of reduced hours and/or shuttered doors. On November 16, the city of Eureka’s Board of Health pulled the trigger, allowing businesses to resume as normal, as long as people did not congregate and masks were consistently worn. On November 17, with no deaths reported in two days and a continued decline in new cases, the Humboldt Times happily reported that Eureka was “taking on a more lifelike and uplifted air” with more people on the streets and increased traffic in the business district. Perhaps, the editor surmised, the epidemic was at last controlled, and soon the city would return to “a normal condition of life and pleasure.”

While schools remained closed, starting November 19, saloons that prevented crowds could again extend their hours a and ice cream parlors and theaters could open the following Saturday. Dances were allowed to resume on November 24 but permission was rescinded on November 28 after the health board warned that, ” that in a crowded dance hall, in a hot and perspiring condition, the danger of contagion would be at its height, and probably result in another outbreak.”

Dr. Wing continued to reassure the community that the epidemic was played out and the current fatalities were a “normal condition” after such a crisis. He suggested that mask restrictions be discarded within a five-block radius of Eureka’s business district (perhaps as Eureka’s health official he was responding to political pressure?). At the stroke of midnight on November 28, the mask order was rescinded. Fortuna also proclaimed the flu bug “captured” and celebrated with a large gathering in front of the Star Hotel but other communities continued to battle the virus and as residents would soon discover, the crisis was not over….

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Next Week:

The medical response to the Spanish Flu, including a plea for volunteers, setting up satellite hospitals, the death of healthcare workers and more.

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Sale at Daly Bros., Nov. 1918

It surprised me that the prices in 1918 for many things were not all that different than they are today…

According to the ad, at (what they thought was) the end of the Spanish Flu epidemic in Humboldt County, the store was over-stocked- hence the sale…

Humboldt Times, November 1918

 

I have posted about the Daly Building before and according to this story in the Times Standard,

Brothers Cornelius and John Daly opened the department store in Eureka in 1895. Later their sons, John, Charlie, Con and Jack, ran the business.

The “anchor” store — located at the corner of Fourth and G streets where the Arkley Center for the Performing Arts and Redwood Capital Bank now stand— expanded over the years to Crescent City, Fortuna, Fort Bragg and Brookings, Oregon. In 1995, after a 100-year run, the stores closed for good.

But this photo shows Times printing in that “anchor” spot in the 1920s- as well as a great photo of the original theater, now fantastically restored as the Arkley Center for the Performing Arts …

Source: HSU Special Collection

And this photo in the North Coast Journal shows the printing company still there in the 1930s

Source: North Coast Journal

So i have no idea where the original Daly Brothers building was.

Anyone… ?

Cows on the Plaza

Source: Humboldt State University Special Collection

I’ve posted this photo before, but I ran across it again recently and just love it.

It isn’t very often that historic building profiles remain intact, but the two on the right so wonderfully do.  We won’t say anything about the sadly demolished former Arcata City Hall on the left….

The Spanish Flu Comes to Humboldt…

First published in the Lost Coast Outpost July 6, 2020

 

By the end of September 1918, as Spanish Influenza¹ traveled quietly from east to west across the United States, Humboldt County residents started to hear about a new, especially particularly “energetic” and “swiftly spreading” germ that was ravaging communities across the country.

It was not a bad cold, officials warned, or even “la grippe,” a familiar form of the flu. Instead, this was a virulent and deadly virus. The US first case of Spanish Influenza, or “flu,” was identified in March of 1918 at a military base in Kansas — but even as the virus spread out of Kansas, first through the close quarters of army camps and prisons and then into American towns and cities, governments and media outlets in the US and abroad downplayed the danger as countries sought to keep spirits high and attention focused on the war.

On September 29, 1918, Edmund Wilson of Boston City Hospital, who had seen his community overrun with at least 10,000 cases, tried to warn the public of the “dreaded epidemic” and the Humboldt Times ran the story. His statement included symptoms to watch for, such as coughing, body pain, headaches and worse, included “simple” precautionary measures:

Keep away from infected persons. … Promiscuous spitting and coughing should be absolutely prohibited. Antiseptic-gauze masks should be worn by all attendants on a case. Public towels and drinking cups should be avoided and great care exercised in handling … all articles that have come in contact with the stricken.

Wilson concluded with a reminder that “only by loyal and intelligent co-operation of the general public can the epidemic of Spanish influenza be prevented from spreading throughout the country…” Unfortunately, still in the midst of war, America’s attention was elsewhere, and the virus spread unchecked. Just days after Wilson’s address, the Office of the Surgeon General reported 14,000 new influenza cases and hundreds of deaths.

The warnings were not heeded locally either. In July of 1918, Imogene Lockwood arrived in Humboldt County to train and work at the Union Labor Hospital in Eureka. Imogene noted in her diary that her first “Dr’s Lecture” on October 1, would be presented by Dr Wing, the City of Eureka’s Health Officer. Wing focused on pediatrics and obstetrics, Imogene wrote, without a mention of Spanish flu. Headlines in the Humboldt Times that day were all about the War, boasting of Bulgaria’s defeat and the anticipated Turkish surrender.

On October 2, the front page of the Humboldt Times did run a piece stating that the “Spanish Grippe” was spreading rapidly, but seemed to imply it was concentrated in Army camps. There was no local story and on October 3, Thompsons, a local merchant, advertised the “famous Beacon” blankets, and wool-filled comforters, without recognizing a potential new demand for their wares…

On October 4, the front page of the Humboldt Times featured excerpts of a National Health Service report citing an “alarming increase in the disease’s spread,” with over 120,000 flu and pneumonia cases and almost 2,500 deaths — but still there was no local coverage. Germany’s impending defeat grabbed the headlines instead, and on October 5, when the paper printed an Associated Press story about the “epidemic” and said the best way to combat the epidemic was to “prohibit public gatherings,” there was no local elaboration.

On October 6, 1918, the Humboldt Times did publish a national call for nurses, including those trained to be “merely assistants” asking them to prepare for deployment to areas of high infection. Within weeks, Humboldt County resident Mrs. Ira Russ was reassuring the young women on her list of volunteers that patient care would be “so light as to be well handled by a practical nurse.” Later, too many would lose their lives to the flu instead. October 8th’s paper was filled with news about the German’s surrender and the end of the war and included only a very short piece about a brigadier general who had lost his life to the Spanish Flu.

On Oct. 10, 1918, the Associated Press reported that Spanish Influenza had taken 7,432 American lives, infected 211,000 others and that another 25,083 suffered from pneumonia. California reported one thousand cases, though “only a few deaths.” Doctors in California, Nevada and Arizona, the story announced, had also been “mustered” to combat the Spanish Flu. The next day, a published statement from the Red Cross pleaded with Americans to uphold their “patriotic duty” and “Take Great Care To Prevent Spread On Pacific Coast,” warning that “the shortage of nurses and doctors is very serious… and an epidemic may spread so fast as to get entirely out of control.”

Spanish Flu Arrives in Humboldt County

On Saturday, October 12, 1918, the Humboldt Times announced the first identified cases of Spanish Influenza. The virus had arrived with two Austrian brothers, who had recently traveled north from San Francisco and then immediately infected their rooming house hosts, a man and wife “named Garbish.” Eureka City Health officer Dr. Lawrence Wing announced that “All but the woman are now in bed with the malady and are isolated.” Asked to elaborate, Wing said the sick would stay in their rooms — but he would not order a quarantine, “unless we are so instructed by the State Board of Health.”

Mayor George W. Cousins declared that if there were other cases by Monday, schools and public gathering places like churches and theaters, would close. But there were no cases identified that Monday and life continued as usual.

October 13 saw five new cases reported to the Board of Health, with area physicians reporting several more. A Eureka physician, Dr. Quinn, personally diagnosed five infections but declared the virus “not a quarantinable disease” and declined to give more specifics about the cases. This news was reported on page 6 of the Humboldt Times along with a warning the disease more often attacked young, strong, healthy adults between the ages of 20 and 40. The story included threats that if the virus continued to spread, officials might close “all places of public gatherings,” but that did not happen.

The Humboldt Times’ editor tackled the subject briefly on October 14, suggesting that the area’s citizens might well need to take precautionary measures “in time.” Above all, he declared “Do not let fear enter your mind. Exercise plenty, forget it and you will be less likely to become a victim.”

At least two local doctors assumed a similar attitude. Despite increasing fatalities across the country and rising local case numbers, on October 15, Dr. Quinn described the Spanish Flu as simply a more serious form of la grippe, or regular flu,  brought on by a changing climate. The city’s health officer, Dr. Wing, predicted zero fatalities “if patients take care of themselves” and the epidemic was handled competently.

Imogene Lockwood, the young nurse at Eureka’s Union Hospital, seemed similarly unconcerned when was despite admitting that she had never been ill in bed “a whole day since I could remember, ” she fell sick and was down the greater part of a week. After all, on October 15 the County had only 19 official cases of Spanish Influenza and none appeared serious.

At this time, officials considered and then declined to close the schools, which they considered safer and offered “better sanitary condition than many of the homes from which some of the children come.” Also like COVID-19, initially the Spanish Flu was not considered a “children’s disease” and therefore even less dangerous than the measles or chicken pox. Officials also thought that closing the schools would enable many children “to run the streets and visit the picture shows and libraries,” which might lead to greater spread of infection than more sedentary classroom activities.

Officials did acknowledge that “moving picture shows and like gatherings” were a different matter but would not stop them until the county saw a “tendency to a rapid spread of the disease.”

On October 16, the paper offered a list of suggestions to avoid the flu. These included avoiding crowds and covering coughs and sneezes. Number five in the list of ten was to “Keep your hands clean and keep them out of your mouth.” In this issue, local doctor Charles Falk also offered suggestions on how to stay healthy and warned that unlike measles, scarlet fever or small-pox, which offered immunity to another “attack,” a bout of the Spanish Flu did not appear to offer the same protection.

Like COVID-19 today, in 1918 the more populated areas were hit with the “flu” sooner, “owing apparently to the more crowded conditions in the large cities.” On October 17, as case counts continued to rise, San Francisco ordered “practically all” public gathering places in the city to close per the city Board of Health. Theaters, churches, public and private schools, public and private dances and gatherings, cabarets and more were ordered to shutter their doors. Humboldt County officials, despite 21 new cases reported in a single day (principally in the lumber camps) and a new county total of 30 (official) cases, still resisted this drastic measure. Lack of information regarding the threat may have played a role, especially in the smaller communities, for as late as October 19, “Uncle Sam’s Advice on the Flu” ran on page 6 of the Blue Lake Advocate, while news about a county supervisor’s session, a new electric light plant and a recent timber deal made the front page.

In Eureka, however, October 19 marked a turning point. When the State Board of Health ordered closure of all “public places of amusement” and the temporary end to public meetings, the county followed suit. And though the state stopped short of closing schools and churches, the local board of health declared that it did not “see the advisability of closing merely a few of the places of greatest danger and leaving others open” and closed local schools and churches as well. The absence of 187 pupils from the high school and 216 from the grammar school may have played a part.

Unfortunately, the virus continued to spread. October 20 saw 132 cases reported to the Eureka City Health Office and by October 24, the number had reached 500. Nine people had already lost their lives …

Next week:

Humboldt County’s efforts in 1918 to stop the spread of the deadly Spanish Flu, including masking up, social distancing, closing non-essential businesses and more.

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1. Origin of “Spanish” influenza: There is no evidence the “Spanish flu” originated in Spain. During World War 1, Spain was one of the few European nations to remain neutral and had no reason to suppress news of the 1918 epidemic, which other countries feared might make them look weak or divert attention from the war. Because news of the virulent virus first broke from Spain, people erroneously assumed it originated there.

Arcata Boasts First Railroad in California (repost)

Arcata Wharf and Ferry

Yesterday  (2020 update: “yesterday” was over 10 years ago, but the link still works...)        I wrote about the Arcata wharf and railroad.  According to the City of Arcata Website, the first “train” for that railroad was a four-wheel car powered by a single horse.

“Passengers coming from Eureka to Arcata on the ferry… were met by the horse-drawn car and taken into Arcata to the depot located on the site of the present Post Office. In 1875, the horse-powered locomotive was replaced with a steam locomotive, called the Black Diamond. This is considered by many to have been the first railroad in the State of California. “

The Timber Heritage Association is working to establish a museum and revive the rail system here… (2020 update: They now have a super cool collection of railcars and more. They also (will again someday) offer speedercar rides along the bay)

I think most have ruled out the viability of using trains for cargo transportation, but it may still have merit as a tourist attraction… maybe even short distance passenger service.  I know I wouldn’t mind skipping a trip through the Eureka traffic and riding a train to do my old town shopping instead.

1902 Eureka- Panorama Map

Something to enjoy this holiday weekend…

Click HERE to find a high resolution map. It is sharper and more legible than this one, even after you enlarge it. You’ll be able to recognize the Carson Block Building, old county courthouse and more.

Eureka Waterfront & the Ethel Zane, c. 1890 (repost 2020)

Eureka, foot of K Street, c. 1890

That is an awfully big boat (ship?) for Humboldt Bay (keep clicking on the photo to magnify–and notice the water tower behind it).  The ship’s flag says “Ethel Zane” and it seems a crowd has gathered ’round it- spilling out into the water even.  Perhaps this was the christening…?

Notice the Carson Mansion in the background and the Carson Mill  to the left of the Mansion.

Below is more information on this ship generously provided by our friend Skippy.  Much appreciated, Skippy (2020 update: Skippy has been a regular and much valued contributor to the blog over the years).

The beautiful and graceful lady Ethel Zane was launched May 11, 1891. She stayed true to her calling; her name stayed with her throughout. To my knowledge, not a single crew member lost their life during her tenure, although in the end, she sacrificed her own. Lynette’s Nor-Cal History site may comprise the best compiled information of her existence, here.

Lewis and Dryden’s Marine History of the Northwest (1895) noted her beginnings after construction in Eureka:

“Captain George Paton is interested in the steamer National City, running to Humboldt Bay, and is also an owner in the four-masted schooners Salvator, Ethel Zane and Bangor, in the lumber trade. Captain Christian Petersen purchased an interest in and superintended the building of the four-masted schooner Ethel Zane, which he has since commanded.”

Another owner of the Ethel Zane was C. A. Hooper, of San Francisco. She was sold by the San Francisco Pacific Shipping Co. to B. H. Tietjen about 1912, and resold again to Atkins & Kroll, importers of copra, in 1916. She faithfully sailed the Pacific Northwest from San Pedro to Washington; East and West across the South Pacific from Australia to the Hawaii Territory. She saw service during WW I transporting cargo.

The Port Townsend Daily Leader reported on February 10, 1910:
“SCHOONER ETHEL ZANE TO BE LAID UP FOR AWHILE”

Hello? HELLO?

It is hard to tell exactly where this woman is and the HSU info is little help.  It looks too starkly furnished to be in a home, yet there are all kinds of personal photos on the chair rail…  If you click and enlarge the picture, you’ll see all kinds of other fun details- like the framed saying that reminds us that “Your friends can buy anything you can give them- except your photograph”. Hmm, maybe it is a studio? It does look like there are photos on the lower shelf of the desk…

Though it sort of  looks like the point of the photo  may have been to capture her talking on the phone…?  According to telephone world  the phone in this woman’s hand was made in the 1920s. It looks like a calendar on the wall, but I can’t read the dates. Anyone???

For more random info…

In the 1870s, two inventors Elisha Gray and Alexander Graham Bell both independently designed devices that could transmit speech electrically (the telephone). Both men rushed their respective designs to the patent office within hours of each other, Alexander Graham Bell patented his telephone first. Elisha Gray and Alexander Graham Bell entered into a famous legal battle over the invention of the telephone, which Bell won.

 

 

WEAR A MASK and Save Your Life !

In October of 1918, Humboldt County merchants recognized that masks were key to slowing the spread of the Spanish Flu- and saving their businesses. They paid for this full-page ad in the local paper…

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Vance Hotel, from 1881 to Now (update 2020)

2020 Update:  It is nice to see that folks are visiting the blog- and it looks to be the first time for some…  And so I thought I would dig up another fun past-post of an easily recognizable building…

When I was young the Vance Hotel was run down and full of squatters. The renovation represents a great success story for Old Town.

Soon the Carson Block Building will as well (in 2020, it certainly does !!!)

The Vance…

Source: History of Humboldt County. Elliott, 1881 

 

1925 Source: Humboldt County Collection/Woods

Undated Source: HSU Special Collections/Ericson

 

Thanks Google

JOHN M. VANCE. – The late John M. Vance, of Eureka, at the time of his death the president of the Humboldt County Bank, became a resident of the county the year before he reached his majority, and it was the scene of his remarkable success, for in the management of extensive railroad, timber and milling interests he proved himself equal to unlimited responsibilities.