The Colville examiner. [volume] (Colville, Wash.) 1907-1948, 1919-01-25
take NO CHANCE
WITH THE FLU
THE COUNTY HEALTH OFFICER
STATES DANCES MUST
WAIT AWHILE
Young People Are Restless Under
Dance Restraint-Dr. Clark
Tells of Danger


is the question which is coming over
the phone and to the office of Coun-
ty Health Officer Clark from the
young people, until he is almost
bombarded with question and ar
gument. This fall and winter have
been hard on those who are dance
enthusiasts, for never have there
been fewer dances, the influenza ep-
idemic doing away with all attempts
to hold dances.
"At least for three weeks longer,
there must be no dancing in the
county" states DR.. Clark, who has
held firmly to the no-dancing man
date in spite of the anxious COM
mttees of enthusiastic young people
who have had audiences with him,
interviews which would almost melt
a heart Of stone, so imploring were
they.
Dancing is the best way to
spread any kind of disease" said
DR.. Clark "People come with
coughs and colds, or in convalescent
stages of influenza and come in con-
tact with others during the evening,
and regular epidemic is soon under
way. One reason for dance be-
ing so dangerous is that people will
be so wild to dance that they will
almost get up from a sick bed to
attend one. Many have entreated
to be allowed to give private dances,
but that could not be permitted
1t is impossible to draw the line and
say that one dance can take place
and another can not. No dances
must be held for at least three
weeks longer"
The epidemic, as such, seems to
be almost gone in the towns of the
county, according to DR.. Clark. At
present, influenza as an epidemic is
stronger in the rural districts where
it had not penetrated before. Some
of the mill districts, such as Diehl's
and others east of town, are now
reporting number of cases. Dur
ing the last week, towns which
earlier reported from 25 to so
cases in week, are reporting but
one or two cases of influenza
During the past week Clayton has
reported one, Valley one, Springdale
two, Chewelah five. There are a
number of cases at Kettle Falls, one
of them showing meningitis as a
complication. One Colville case in
cludes meningitis. In Colville, but
two families are quarantined. The
Rice epidemic was featured by the
large number who became i'll at al
most the same time. On the whole,
DR.. Clark is of the opinion that
the county is to be congratulated
on the present situation. The
number Of deaths has not been as
large, proportionately, as in other
places and most of them were caused
through lack Of medical care or re-
fusal to follow ordinary rules for
care of the patient.
"This disease is not so dangerous
or apt to be fatal" states the health
officer, "if people will take care
of themselves" A curious thing
noticed by DR.. Clark, is the large
number of people who report that
they had suffered from severe head
aches for some time before they
actually came down with the dis
ease. This happened after they
had been exposed to influenza.
Influenza is hard on the nervous
system and DR.. Clark is of the
opinion that during the next several
years there will be more nervous
diseases and tuberculosis than there
has been following other epidemics
of this nature. Just when the ep-
idemic began in this county is diff
ficult to state, for there seems to
be no definite dividing line between
the usual epidemic of colds during
the early part of last summer and
the beginning Of the influenza ep-
idemic later