Memory Monday: Turning the Corner on Flu and Fourth Week of February 1918
by meep
Looks like we’re past the flu peak for this season:
So that is definitely worse than other seasons, until you get back to 2009-2010, which has an odd pattern… as it was part of a pandemic.
You can check the CDC’s weekly report — as I mentioned earlier, it looks like mortality for this season is on a par with 2014-2015. I downloaded some stats and the 2009 pandemic definitely had more deaths.
I’ll let that data develop a little more, and we can look at those stats when they settle down a bit for this season.
FARMERS UNITE IN NEW YORK
So let’s jump back to the end of February in 1918 — one theme I noticed was farmers being annoyed. They were probably getting ready for planting, and finding themselves short on many things… especially manpower.
A census was made of farmers in the state as a whole, and locally in the counties.
Here’s the intro to the state census:
Yes, a reduction of 15% per year in manpower two years in a row would be a problem for the farmers.
Here’s a note on Putnam County (where Brewster is located, and right near where I live — I can throw a rock and hit Putnam County… well, if I walk down to the entrance of my neighborhood to throw said rock. I can’t throw far.)
Finally, here is a Farmers Friday, March 1, announced:
They were definitely riled up. Maybe we’ll hear more about this in the coming weeks.
DEATHS AND LIFE
So I saw multiple deaths announced, mostly old folks, as is usual.
But this one caught my eye:
A rapid death from pneumonia, you say? HMMM.
There was also the death of a 16-year-old boy, but that was ascribed to tuberculosis, which had nothing to do with flu, per se.
But there’s not only death, but life:
Happy Birthday (100 years ago), Mr. Reynolds!
MISCELLANY
Buy War Savings Stamps and Lick the Kaiser!
Yeesh… that pic could have been better.
War got you down? How about a player piano?
Americans are just fine with that new income tax.
Did you know that it may help to look at southern cooking if you want to see about not using meat?
(I could have told them that – when you get meat only once per week, on Sunday, and you had to wring out as many meals as possible out of the chicken carcass for the rest of the week…. you got creative. Also, you ate a lot of biscuits.)
Trucks running up to 20mph! For the war!
Man, that sounds dangerous.
For my final bit, something from the family that built the neighborhood I live in:
I guess they didn’t have anything more to say.
