1918 Pandemic Hits Lorain – Part 4

The front page of the October 25, 1918 Lorain Times-Herald pays tribute to Dr. Henry E. Koch of the United States health department and his assistance to the city in fighting the influenza epidemic. It notes, “The hygienist came here Monday night and at once assumed charge of the situation. As a result of his efficiency the emergency hospital was organized in 48 hours, quarantine restrictions were established, and all of the forces needed to combat the disease were put into working order in a few hours.

“Dr. Koch’s personality, his remarkable diplomacy and his skill as a scientist have procured the co-operation of the entire community.

“The result of the measures which have been employed by Dr. Koch, physicians say, have placed the epidemic under control and a decrease in the number of deaths and in the number of new cases is expected within a few days.”

Indeed, Lorain seems to have been fortunate to have someone overseeing its effort to control the disease. An interesting 2013 paper written by Haakon Bjoershol of Cleveland State University entitled, “Fighting the Germans. Fighting the Germs: Cleveland’s Response to the 1918-1919 Spanish Flu Epidemic notes, "Lorain, Ohio differed widely from Cleveland in two particular ways. In Cleveland, the Spanish Flu fight was led by their own health commissioner. 

"In Lorain, the fight was led by an outsider; Dr. Henry E. Koch of the United States Health Department. Arriving on October 22nd, Dr. Koch, although working closely with the local health department, still had the final say in Lorain's flu time actions. Although many of the measures were similar to Cleveland's, such as closing stores, prohibiting public assemblies, working with the Red Cross, and establishing emergency hospitals, one of the measures was very different. 

"One of the medical field's great quests throughout the epidemic was to find a working vaccine or serum to help combat the scourge. Cleveland's acting chief bacteriologist, Dr. G. E. Harmon was one of many who actively sought an effective serum for curing the "grippe". However, in Cleveland, Dr. Rockwood clearly stated that no flu serums would be used "until their worth have been proven.” 

"Dr. Koch was not as cautious. On October 26th, some six thousand steel workers at the National Tube Company in Lorain were inoculated with an influenza antitoxin. On October 28, encouraged by the low flu rates among the vaccinated steel workers, the doctor opened a free public inoculation center that offered the same serum that was being used at Camp Sherman to prevent pneumonia. On November 1, Koch and Lorain health officials began the process of vaccinating every single Lorain resident at the rate of 3,000 per day. Inoculations remained a primary tactic in Lorain even after the flu bans were lifted on November 18. Although some private institutions in Cleveland, such as St. Luke's hospital, decided to vaccinate their workers, inoculations and vaccinations never became a primary weapon against flu in Cleveland.”

The October 18, 1918 Times-Herald published this article on the front page announcing free vaccinations at the Y.M.C. A. building, courtesy of National Tube.

The October 30, 1918 Times-Herald included this ad for Borden’s Malted Milk with a Spanish Influenza theme.

The influenza continued on into November, with daily articles in the Times-Herald summarizing the deaths and providing updates. This one from November 1, 1918 noted that two inoculation stations were open, but that the “residents of the city were responding slowly and an appeal was made today that every one in the city go to one of the stations for free inoculations at once.”

This article from November 3, 1918 notes that, “The board of health last night modified its closing regulations. Under the new rule saloons must keep closed but they may receive phone orders and deliver bottled goods to their customers.”

The push to inoculate was stressed again in this Times-Herald article from November 5, 1918.

Even with six new deaths, this November 6, 1918 Times-Herald front page article expressed some optimism.

One sign of encouragement was the lifting of the ban on church services, as noted in this article from the News-Herald of November 9, 1918.

And on November 11, 1918, the Times-Herald’s front page focused only on the Armistice.

On November 13, 1918, the front page of the Times-Herald included this announcement that “the ban closing business places, schools and preventing all forms of meetings will be lifted in the three day period beginning Saturday and continuing to Monday.”

But the influenza was not quite finished with Lorain.

On the front page of the November 26, 1918 Times-Herald under the heading "TWO MORE FLU DEATHS TODAY," it was noted, "Scattered cases of influenza continue to be reported. Most of the new cases are light and few of them confine the sufferers to bed more than a day or so.”

An influenza tally was published on the front page of the Nov 27th edition. "3,054 FLU CASES DURING EPIDEMIC” was the heading of an article that reported, "Since official records of the influenza were kept in the middle of October, to November 23, 3,054 cases of influenza were reported to the city health officer, Dr. C. R. Meek.”

"FEAR NEW OUTBREAK INFLUENZA” was the headline of an article on December 3rd. The article noted, "Lorain physicians today issued a warning against the return of the influenza epidemic. Physicians are reporting a number of new cases.”

A rare national perspective appeared in the Dec 5th edition. “Between 300,000 and 350,000 deaths from influenza and pneumonia have occurred among the civilian population of the United States since Sept. 15, according to estimates of the public health service,” was reported. “About 20,000 deaths occurred in the camps in the United States war department records show."

But optimism returned a few days later in the December 10, 1918 Times-Herald under the heading, "IMPROVEMENT IS SHOWN IN FLU EPIDEMIC.” The article noted, "Steady improvement in the influenza situation is revealed by reports of physicians on record in the office of the city health officer. During October, November and to the present date in December 3790 cases of influenza were reported. There were 2,017 new cases reported in November and 1,227 in October. Deaths in October and November totaled 231. Of these 88 were in October and 143 in November. The records show the disease is slowly diminishing.”

"WARNS U. S. AGAINST NEW FLU OUTBREAK” was the heading of an article in the Times-Herald on December 12, 1918.  "Warning to the country that the influenza epidemic is by no means ended and that all possible precautions should be taken, was issued today by Surgeon General Blue, of the public health service,” it was reported. "Reports show a recrudescence of the disease practically from one end of the country to another.”

****

Well, that concludes my look at how the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic unfolded in Lorain. 

It was shocking how the influenza seemed to strike out of nowhere and quickly spread throughout the city. It was equally surprising how fast it seemed to subside.

I think that having a respected government expert supervise the city’s efforts to control the disease was a brilliant move. Since Dr. Koch became a well-known member of the community that he was helping, his ‘local’ directives avoided the resentment that can occur when decisions are made and imposed by government officials from afar. Consequently, Lorain’s officials, the medical community and the citizens rose to the occasion in a great spirit of cooperation. And this was all more than a hundred years ago without benefit of social media or TV/radio commercials.

The newspaper coverage by the Times-Herald also struck a good balance of reporting just the facts without sensationalizing it. And being able to profile the victims of the disease in short but well-written biographies helped the paper to convey the reality of the influenza’s very real threat. There was also no attempt to compare how Lorain was doing in its efforts to combat the disease with other communities, or Ohio versus other states. The only focus was on the progress being made and communicating the necessary preventive recommendations on a daily basis.

Thus, the Times-Herald offered its readers what is needed most in the time of crisis and tragedy: hope.