The Glasgow courier. [volume] (Glasgow, Mont.) 1913-current, 1919-09-26

ton, WI there be a recurrence? All
agreed, however, that a recurrence
was not unlikely, and in the face of the
known facts, that it would be wise to
be prepared, more with a view Of be-
ing on the safe side than actually an
ticipating danger.
The following excerpts from the
government report are published for
the benefit of the public and health
officers in the hope that this will
serve to set at rest the daily publica-
ton in the newspapers of statements,
which on one hand are calculated to
hull the public into a sense of false
security and on the other to unduly
cause alarm.
Contrary to the opinion expressed
frequently during the early weeks of
las years pandemic by a number of
observers, the studies of the U. s..
public health service indicate that the
epidemic was not a fresh importation
from abroad. Careful study of the
mortality statistics of the United
States shows that there were a mum
Der Of extensive though mild forerun-
ners of the pandemic during the pre-
vious three or four years. In Chi
cago and New York in the winter of
1915-16 for example, these were suf-
ficiently we'll marked to occasion con-
siderable public comment at the time,
leading in the latter city, to a well
organized "Don't spit; don't sneeze"
campaign on the part of the health
authorities. The reports Of the U. s..
public health service of January, 1916,
show influenza to be epidemic in %
states, including practically all sec
tions of the United States. The cpl
demic was generally of a mild type
and has since been almost forgotten.
1t occasioned, however, a noticeable
increase in the recorded death rate
from pneumonia.
In the spring of 1918 there was an
other sharp rise in the mortality rate
from pneumonia. In the larger cities
Of the Atlantic seaboard these increas-
es occurred during January, February
and March. In the rest of the coun-
try, especially the central and west
err states, the increases occurred in
April, a month during which pneu-
monia mortality is generally on the
decline. This increase was sufficient
to indicate a strong departure from
the normal. The increased mortality
rate extended into May and in some
areas eve longer.
This occurrence has, it is believed,
a definite significance in relation to
the influenza epidemic. In the United
States in the spring of 1918, a num-
Der of definite local outbreaks of in
fluenza were observed; thus in Fort
Oglethorpe, near Chattanooga, Tenn,
in March; in Chicago during March;
in San Quentin prison, California, in
April, October and November. At
Camp Funston recurrent outbreaks of
pneumonia were observed in March,
April and May of 1918 and were def
initely associated with co-incident cpl
demic of mild type of influenza.
The rise in mortality from pneu-
monia, this similar type Of disease.
in the spring of 1918 is so sudden, Sc
marked and so general throughout the
United States as to point very clearly
to a definite relation. Everything in.
dicates that the increased mortality
from pneumonia in March and April
of 1918 was the consequence of a be,
ginning and largely unnoticed epidem
ic of Influenza, the beginning in thi'
country of the pandemic which devel
oped in the autumn of that year.
In the British cities the epidemi
manifested three distince waves-th
first and slightest in point of mortal
ity occurring in June and July, tn
second and most severe in November
the third in February and Marcel
Data which need not be cited here i
\ detail Indicate that the courSe of til