Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-10-19

orphans have been sent 10 the various
Institutions for orphaned little ones
Wherever possible, the orphans I'm We
been sent to relatives or friends in
stead Of being places IN home. The
Childrens Home and the Babies Hos
pltal have received some of them.
Out of sixty families helped by the
civilian relief only 10 have needed fol-
low-up attention III looking after the
children. Only five families of the GO
have needed immediate help. The civil
ian relief will continue this work un-
I'll the epidemic Is ended.
NUMBER or CASES DECREASE
The una imous opinion of doctors,
visiting and Red Cross nurses, the Board
Of Health, the United States Public
| Health Service. and volunteer workers.
is that they are having fewer calls. The
death rate, according to Board of Health
records, has been cut in ha from that
Of Friday tn Monday The new cases
are practically all mild ones. The en-
ergency hospitals are reporting fewer
deaths, and not many new admissions.
There is nm alarming number of ser
ioua pneumonia cases developing from
earlier influenza patients. lhis has
been less true IN all cities where the
epidemic has taken its way. The very
small number ot nurses compared with
the great number of critical eases ~
the most distressing element IN the
local situation
The Bureau of Nursing OF the Della
ware Red Cross, in charge of the work
of The Red Cross nurses and nurses
aids. under Mrs Joseph Bancroft and
Miss Emily T. Bissell is receiving more
calls than ever for nurses The Rcd
Cross nurses have had the special care
of emerg ncy hospital work hut they
have responded 10 calls 10 critical eases
IN private homes whenever they could.
Many times they have sent 4 nurse
to spent from two hours 10 half n day.
to tide a pneumonia patient over
crisis
Both visiting and Red Cross nurses
have done m amount of work which
has seemed impossible Of accomplish
mcnt by so few workers, and very
large share Of the credit for checking
the disease is lirecil, due To their sour-
age in battling against enormous odds.
SCENES tRE rATHf1ie
During the worst of the Influenza
epidemic in this city when the under
takers were overwhelmed with hurials
and handicapped by 4 shortage of eaS-
kets there were many pathetic scenes
witnessed IN Wilmington cemeteries Sew
eral men have been seen digging tho
graves of relatives Sometimes there
were dozen caskets awaiting de-
aged burial In tinlted number of
eases, three or four bodies were buried
in lone trench grave
But the far greater degree in which
Philadelphia suffered from these same
conditions may he learned from u
a e III.
last week where most If the bodies
buried were brought from Philadelphia
On Wednesday IN Holy Cross Gene
tory. Darby and 1eadon boroughs,
there were six hundred bodies III cns-
kcts, collins and rough pine boxes, lylng
unhnried above ground
Twolargc steam shovels were engaged
IN digging community graves One oi
these was nearly completed on We'd
ucSdav morning ready for the burr
ii 80 bodies
In other parts af the cemetery over
100 scnluarians from - Charles, over
nrook. were working digging graves
Some of these were twelve feet IN depth
and with 3 capacity for many cnskcts
In other parts Of the cemetery bro
kcu-hcartcd relatives were busy digging
individual graves for the bodies Of some
loved ones.
Although the churches have now
been closed more than two weeks, the |
clergy have not found il = vacation pc
Rod Sick calls and volunteer work At
the emergency hospitals and private |
houses, together with AN unprecc-
Il ntcd number ot funerals. have kept
all the clergy working night and day /
Father Thomas Ryan. pastcr Of 81 |
Rose OF Lima Church. Eddystone. well |
known in this city offlciated 1t TWEEN /
tv-three funerals Of his own pari. hon
ers from Monday 10 Wednesday q |
this week When turning away from
a grave where ne had just conducted |
Il burial service on Wednesday, Father /
Ryan came across Il man Who vas eX-
haus1cd from digging his Wlfc's grave
The priest took # his Goa; and i'm
lshed digging the grave Tor the man.