Updated with liquor sales note.
FALL RIVER — Last summer, Dr. Philip T. Silvia of Fall River found online an article pertaining to Fall River a century ago. Nine months later, that already interesting article has taken on profound relevance as Fall River, along with most of the rest of the world, copes with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Produced by the University of Michigan Center for the History of Medicine and Michigan Publishing, “Influenza Encyclopedia The American Influenza Epidemic of 1918-1919” digitally presents the stories of 50 United States cities and their encounter with the infamous Spanish Flu epidemic, which resulted in an estimated 50,000,000 deaths worldwide, 650,000 in the United States.
One of those 50 cities profiled is the Spindle City, which endured approximately 719 deaths 101 years ago.
“I believe Fall River's inclusion was influenced by the fact that back in the 1910s there were printed studies of child mortality rates here which were among the highest in the nation,” said Silvia, Fall River historian and history professor emeritus at Bridgewater State University.
(Silvia is researching an 1850s cholera epidemic which struck Fall River, the Irish immigrant population in particular. “One-hundred-and-thirty died in a short time,” he said. “People right off the potato famine.”)
On the 1918-1919 influenza epidemic, the Univ. of Michigan article had for Fall River, from Sept. 16 through the end of 1918, 11,707 cases reported and 719 deaths. Silvia said he believes the actual case and death numbers to be higher because, “Some immigrants shied away from doctors. They didn’t think they could afford a doctor, and they didn’t understand the danger,” he said.
All but two of the article’s 42 footnotes cite either the “Fall River Evening Herald” or the “Fall River Evening News,” newspapers which merged to become “The Herald News.”
What follows here is a very condensed version of the Fall River influenza article. We highly recommend reading the full article at http://www.influenzaarchive.org/cities/city-fallriver.html#.
EVENTS, PART 1
September 16. The first five cases of influenza are reported to Fall River’s Board of Health. Two were soldiers on leave from Camp Devens (where there was a flu breakout) in central Massachusetts and two from the Boston Navy Yard. Boston was called the epicenter of the influenza epidemic. Fall River, the article noted, was regularly visited by people from Boston and Newport.
The Board of Health springs right into action, telling school inspectors to watch for illness and asking the police department to tackle the daunting task of preventing people from spitting on the streets. The Board of Health started preparing a public service announcement to be published in the city’s newspapers.
September 17. Seven more cases reported. In a little more than a week, the case total was 602 and there had been 17 deaths.
September 26. Fall River requires the closing of schools, movie houses, theaters; it bans assemblies, lectures and other public gatherings; it asks clergy to closes churches and Sunday school. Food and drink businesses are allowed to stay open with requirements that their premises, dishes and utensils be kept clean; the city started barring hospital visits
When the Board of Heath recommends that soda shops, ice cream shops and drug stores stop selling beverages, some try to circumvent by switching to paper cups, a sanitary measure. More concerned with the gatherings in the shops, the Board of Health in its edict changes its closure wording from “recommends” to “orders.”
Liquor sales. Saloon owners, their businesses closed, are not thrilled when when the Board of Health OKs wholesale liquor sellers "to fill small orders for home delivery."
THE PEOPLE
Samuel Morriss, City Health Agent
Morriss appears to have been very proactive, a tireless worker who also endured mind-numbing personal pain during the epidemic. When the first five cases were reported on Sept. 16, he immediately asked physicians to isolate those patients. Morriss’ young daughter died in early October. His son, a physician in the Medical Reserve Corps, apparently contracted the flu when he returned home for his sister’s funeral, and he too died.
Richard Borden, Board of Health member
As soon as the first cases were reported, Borden prompted the board to make influenza case reporting mandatory. As the city began instituting restrictions of citizens and businesses and complaints arose, he said that people would need to put up with hardships. When businesses that wanted to serve beverages argued, through Morriss, that Boston was still permitting such commerce, Borden answered, “I don’t care what they are doing in Boston and other places. We are handling the situation for this city.” He then, the article states, instructed the secretary to strike “recommends” and replace it with “orders” in the language of the board’s previous edict.
James E. Cassidy, Vicar General of the Diocese of Fall River
When Fall River’s closure order did not originally apply to saloons, Cassidy wrote in an open letter published in the city’s newspapers, ““Why are they [saloons] not ordered closed? Are not the motley gatherings of the ‘great unwashed’ assembling in these unclean places, particularly on Friday and Saturday nights, a thousand times greater a threat than the congregations of our churches?... Is German brewery power supreme in city and State House?”
Mayor James H. Kay
He refused to budge when very unhappy saloon owners complained to him about their required closures.
EVENTS, PART 2
First weekend in October. 1,911 more case reported, bringing the total to 6,000 plus. The city's Technical High School is opened as a 75-bed emergency hospital.
Lack of undertakers. At the St. John’s day nursery temporary hospital site, one dead body lay a day and night before attention.
A temporary morgue is set up at the old police department.
At Notre Dame Cemetery several dozen bodies pile up in the vault and shed, as church gravediggers work to play catchup. Funerals are limited to immediate family.
THE ORGANIZATIONS, VOLUNTEERS
The Red Cross/Home Nursing Department. It recruits a half-dozen nurses to work at City Hospital.
Sisters of Mercy at St. Mary’s Convent. They offer their nursing services.
Volunteers cook several hundred meals per day at the city’s closed schools.
The Red Cross. Serves as clearinghouse for those seeking a physician.
The Women’s Union. Members make soups and custards for the needy.
King Philip Settlement House. Meals prepared for South End residents.
St. Mary’s Cathedral. Its Bishop Stang Nursery is used for a temporary hospital.
St. Patrick’s Day Nursery. It is also used as a hospital.
District Nursing Association. Recruits nurses and doctors for temporary hospitals.
Boy Scouts. They run errands and distribute 15,000 influenza precautions/care pamphlets to Portuguese and Polish workers as they leave their mill jobs.
U.S. Public Health Service. Provides doctors and nurses from out of town.
State Guard. Members serve as ambulance drivers and hospital orderlies.
Hotel Mellen, head of girls’ industrial at Deaconess Home. Offer their buildings as hospital space.
EVENTS, PART 3
Mid-October 1918. It appears the crest of the epidemic has passed and national experts praise Fall River’s health officials.
Sunday, Oct. 20. Catholic churches resume services, but with low Mass only. Protestant churches remain closed.
October 21. 54 new cases reported; officials ponder waiting one more week to end most restrictions.
October 23. At Board of Health meeting, there’s no longer any sentiment for waiting a week. Board declares that as of midnight, restrictions are removed, except for schools which need until Oct. 28 to be ready.
Caution remains. Despite the liberty, Fall Riverites do NOT rush to the theaters, saloons, soda sounters. Business, in contrast to other liberated cities, is slow.
Much need. Many families remain in dire need of milk and clothing; the District Nursing Association distributes.
Mid-November to late-November spike in cases. Officials attribute this to Armistice Day celebrations and bad weather.
Mid-December spike. Officials see two dozen new cases per day and heightened student absences. Ill students are sent home and told to recuperate through the Christmas and New Year holidays. Christmas assemblies are canceled. Citizens are reminded to avoid crowding. It is determined most of the school absences were not due to illness.
New Year’s Eve spike. New-case reports creep up. For final time, some temporary restrictions put in place.
FINAL NUMBERS
September 16 through end of year: 11,707 cases reported; 719 deaths.
September 16 through October 31 (epidemic range): 10,624 cases; 629 deaths. These figures probably low since mandated reporting did not begin until October 4.
September 16, 1918 through Feb. 28, 1919, deaths per 100,000 residents: Fall River 621, Boston 710, Providence 574, Cambridge 541.
Email Greg Sullivan at gsullivan@heraldnews.com. Follow him @GregSullivanHN.