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1918 Influenza Pandemic and Roseau County Part 3
Fear
entered into the county in the fall of 1918. As the men came home to
Roseau County from the North Dakota harvest fields they brought more
than the money they earned; they brought the influenza epidemic. By
October twenty-third there were About 150 cases of which most could be
traced to the North Dakota region. It was commonly called the Spanish
flu.
With
the increase in cases the County Board of Health became concerned and
issued a ban on all indoor meetings; this included church services,
funerals, Red Cross meetings, theaters, and pool halls. Any “public,
semi-private or private” group situation was covered by this ban. Any
where a “considerable number of pupils or immediate family that have
been infected” could infect others, were to be closed to the public.
With the influenza several funerals were held, this ban closed
funerals to outsiders.
A “no
loitering order” rule was placed in Roseau along with an eight o’clock
curfew to keep the children off the street. By November first, 18
homes had been hit by the influenza. Now the measures to prevent an
epidemic became more evident. “Influenza” quarantine signs began to
appear on houses of those infected, and those infected were required
to notify the Board of Health in their villages and townships. The
barbershops, pool halls, bowling alleys, restaurants, and stores were
to enact safety measures and close by 6:30. A patrolman was to walk
the community to make sure all were kept in compliance.
Those
who administered to the ill, were required to wear masks. Children
were not to return to school until five days after the final person in
the house had recovered and a certificate of health was received.
Not
all felt that the ban was necessary. Dr. N. C. Davis, the Badger
village health officer, maintained there were very few cases in their
city but soon all towns were in compliance.
Each
of the towns closed all indoor meetings except school. Greenbush went
so far as to contact the State Board of Health to see if the schools
should be closed. Their comment was, “Keep the Schools going.” The
schools were considered the safest place at first but the schools in
the area closed as the epidemic prevailed. The Greenbush School was
closed for five weeks, Badger for 3 weeks, Roseau for approximately 3
weeks, and the Warroad School was closed for eight weeks.
Appeals were made to the State Board of Health to supply nurses to the
area. The Warroad Board of Health was taken over by the village
council. Nightly meetings were then held to try to combat and keep
track of the epidemic. The Red Cross Chapter, under the direction of
Mrs. C. A. Moody, R. W. Hoorn, and Mrs. Jens Martin, was placed in
charge of finding nurses to care for flu victims. The former Parry’s
Tailor Shop was turned into a hospital to care for those who had no
home in Warroad.
The
information for the 1918 influenza has been culled from the Badger
Herald Rustler, Greenbush Tribune, Roseau Times-Region, and the
Warroad Pioneer newspapers (September 1918 through January 1919) and
the Roseau County death records.
Next
week we will examine the effect the influenza pandemic had on Roseau
County families and the Native American population.
RCHS Footnotes
There are many museum projects volunteers can do at the
museum and in their own home. Present projects volunteers are working
on include transferring cemetery records to a database to be placed on
the internet, transferring the Bill Adams stories to a Word format,
indexing twenty-fifth and fiftieth wedding anniversaries, clipping and
saving articles from local, regional, and state newspapers. These
projects will benefit the residents of the county for years to come.
They record history and events that help us understand the past and
relate it to the future. If you are interesting in assisting the
Society by volunteering contact Coordinator Yvonne Johnson, phone
number 463-2655 or the museum at 463-1918 for more information.
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