Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-10-30
Eurrtttg Grat

One of the city's oldest physicians,
in speaking about the influenza epi-
demic which has swept Pennsylvania
and given Harrisburg some expert
ences which couple of years ago
could scarcely have been predicted,
declared that in all the history of
this place he had never known the
churches to be closed. The medical
man. by the way. voiced his ap-
proval of the general closing =
schools, churches and theaters and
all the rest-but he remarked upon
the changed conditions which made
1t possible to halt so many activities
of the people. Reviewing the his
tory of epidemics in this city from
away back in the first decade of
Harrisburg, when the so-called yell
low fever outbreak caused loss of :
life here that scared the people, this
| physician said that it had not af-
fected the life of the place. proper
| tionately as much as to-day. And
the other fever epidemics, smallpox
and various ailments, which havS1
afflicted Harrisburg never forced rne
authorities to take the, drastic steps
that have been resorted to to halt
influenza. In those days the fact
as well established, and preventive
medicine was almost unknown. To
sum it up, this physician says that
the reason the quarantine worked
so well was that people had been
used to restrictionsN owing to the
war, and something more, even the
closing of churches, seemed to come
naturally.
A man who had been in Canada
says that the restrictions on sugar
and white bread do not exist as we
know them here. In the Dominion
hotels, he said, sugar and white
bread are on the table. But" he
remarked, they have signs which
say that if you do not need sugar or
white bread do not eat it. They
suggest. that you refrain. And l
found that the people did. There
were none of the severe rules we
know in this country"
Certainly the most pathetic part
of the influenza epidemic which has
been epidemic in Pennsylvania since
early in the month is the part pub
lie officials are being called upon
to do in seeing that children bereft
of their parents are cared for.
Hardly day goes by but some re-
port is made at the State Depart
ment of Health about children left
orphans through influenZa'S ravages
and local health authorities ask what
shall be done. In many other cases
children are being taken care of by
relatives or locally, but instances
have come to slight of little ones in
rural districts and in industrial
communities whose parents have
been stricken down and the families
left without providers. The State
Council of National DefenseN special
office here and the Red Cross, which
lalso has an office in conjunction
with the State Department of
Health, have been giving special at
tention to such cases and have called
in the State Board of Public Chari-
ties and various organizations to
care for children. With a death rate
of almost 1000 a day in Pennsyl-
vania, the epidemic has taken away
what officials here believe statistics
will show. to have been many heads
of families.
The next Legislature will be asked
to cure in voting the money for the
conduct of. the State Police force
what is now held to be too specific
an itemization of funds. For years
expenses of sickness or injury of men
stricken down on duty or funeral
costs of State Policemen killed while
making arrests or preserving order
have been paid by the state. This
year questions were raised for the
first time and expenses of sending
home the body of a trooper killed
on duty have actually been met by
collections taken up among the
men themselves. Similarly the hos
pital expenses of men injured or
taken sick on duty have been cared
for.
This is what a Pittsburgh news
paper says of a man we'll known
here: John NJ. Phillips. state game
commissioner, also known as "Chief
Silver Top" of the Boy Scouts, has
gathered three barrels, or about
5000 walnuts for planting this week
by Nthe Scouts. This work will be
under the direction of William H.
Weisheit, assistant scout executive,
and field scout executive G. B.
Shaler and Thomas Sparrow. The
planting will be done in places favor
able to the growth of the black
walnut trees. The walnuts now
really are in their hulls for plant
ing.
Some of the men who came here
to take the oaths. of office as cleo
ton commissioners and to receive
their supplies had a chance to OBJ
serve Harrisburg because the assign
ments to camps were not ready to
announce. While awaiting the word
from the Governors office the vari-
Gus commissioners strolled around
town and one man voiced the gen.
eral opinion when he said II wish
my town had saved it's river front
and fixed it up the way you have"