Tintic, Spanish Influenza

Influenza spread like "wildfire" through Tintic's towns in 1918. Dr. Steele Baily, Jr., Mammoth City physician, issued orders in October for residents to stop traveling from camp to camp; whenever the disease made its appearance, Bailey instituted a strict quarantine. Eureka affected stringent regulations in closing all "soft drink" parlors (saloons); removing tables, etc. from ice-cream stores; and prohibiting the congregation of citizens. Cemetery grave sites, and oral testimony verify that hundreds died. One informant recalled that in the A. N. Wallace Furniture Store and Mortuary, bodies were so numerous that the undertaker was forced to place bodies in dresser drawers, on tabletops, or wherever room could be found. The epidemic was especially devastating for infants. (citing Eureka Reporter, October 11, 1918; October 18, 1918; October 25, 1918; November 1, 1918; Jack Lucas, private interview, August 15, 1976, Eureka, Utah)

(Read Philip Notarianni's May 1977 general history of the Tintic Mining District, up to the Depression of the 1930s)

(Read the Wikipedia article)

'Spanish' influenza

Outside Spain, the disease was soon misnamed 'Spanish influenza'. In a June 2, 1918 'The Times of London' dispatch titled, "The Spanish Epidemic," a correspondent in Madrid reported over 100,000 victims of, "The unknown disease...clearly of a gripal character," without referring to "Spanish influenza" directly. Three weeks later The Times reported that, "Everybody thinks of it as the 'Spanish' influenza to-day." Three days after that an advertisement appeared in The Times for Formamint tablets to prevent "Spanish influenza". When it reached Moscow, Pravda announced, "Ispánka (the Spanish lady) is in town," making 'the Spanish lady' another common name.

The outbreak did not originate in Spain, but reporting did, due to wartime censorship in belligerent nations. Spain was a neutral country unconcerned with appearances of combat readiness, and without a wartime propaganda machine to prop up morale, so its newspapers freely reported epidemic effects, making Spain the apparent locus of the epidemic.

The deadly second wave began in the second half of August 1918.

The second wave of the 1918 pandemic was much more deadly than the first. The first wave had resembled typical flu epidemics; those most at risk were the sick and elderly, while younger, healthier people recovered easily.

October 1918 was the month with the highest fatality rate of the whole pandemic. In the United States, approximately 292,000 deaths were reported between September–December 1918, compared to approximately 26,000 during the same time period in 1915.

Third wave of 1919

Pandemic activity persisted into 1919 in many places, possibly attributable to climate, specifically in the Northern Hemisphere, where it was winter and thus the usual time for influenza activity. The pandemic nonetheless continued into 1919 largely independent of region and climate.

Fourth wave of 1920

In the Northern Hemisphere, fears of a "recurrence" of the flu grew as fall approached. Experts cited past flu epidemics, such as that of 1889–1890, to predict that such a recurrence a year later was not unlikely, though not all agreed. In September 1919, U.S. Surgeon General Rupert Blue said a return of the flu later in the year would "probably, but by no means certainly," occur.

In the United States, there were "almost continuously isolated or solitary cases" of flu throughout the spring and summer of 1919. An increase in scattered cases became apparent as early as September, but Chicago experienced one of the first major outbreaks of the flu beginning in the middle of January. The Public Health Service announced it would take steps to "localize the epidemic", but the disease was already causing a simultaneous outbreak in Kansas City and quickly spread outward from the center of the country.

Certain pandemic restrictions, such as the closing of schools and theaters and the staggering of business hours to avoid congestion, were reimposed in cities like Chicago, Memphis, and New York City. As they had during the epidemic in fall 1918, schools in New York City remained open, while those in Memphis were shuttered as part of restrictions on public gatherings.

The fourth wave in the United States subsided as swiftly as it had appeared, reaching a peak in early February.

By mid-1920, the pandemic was largely considered to be "over" by the public as well as governments.