W-b Enforcement Of Meters Resumes

Ann Bruno 
January 2, 1998 
Ann Bruno Of Thomas Street, Edwardsville, Died Friday At Wilkes Barre General 
Hospital Shortly After Admission.

By CHRIS SCHNEIDMILLER; Times Leader Staff Writer
 Sunday, January 04, 1998 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 1B 





John Inglis, aged 30, of Troy, N.Y., admittedly the greatest basketball
player who ever handled the ball in the Northeastern Pennsylvania cage, died
yesterday morning at his home in Troy after less than a week's illness of
pneumonia following influenza. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Miss Mae McTague, aged 27, died last evening following a brief illness of
influenza. She had been a resident of this city all her life. Possessed of a
cheerful disposition and gifted with a good voice, she made many friends.- &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Obituaries from The Wilkes-Barre Record, fall 1918. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Being well-liked or mostly hated, an athletic star or just a ballhog, made
no difference when a nationwide influenza epidemic crept into Luzerne County
in late 1918. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Talent, age, race and class were no protection from the disease. Chance and
isolation played a much larger role in deciding whether you would sicken and
possibly die- as many did- or live. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 About 35,000 cases of influenza were reported in the county in 1918 and
1919, most between October and January of those two years. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 An estimated 2,600 people died, leaving 2,300 orphans or half-orphans, the
1920 Wilkes-Barre Record Almanac reported. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The epidemic shut down saloons, closed public meetings and funerals and-
depending on your outlook- kept or freed students from school for months. It
inspired comparisons to World War I, but could not displace the waning
conflict from the Wilkes-Barre Record's front page. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "Almost as effective in its work as the colorless, odorless, invisible gas
that scientists are endeavoring to compound is the influenza germ, which has
already made its dreaded presence known in the city and valley," one Record
reporter wrote early in the outbreak. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Blame for the outbreak went to travelers from Europe and the disease was
initially and erroneously tagged as Spanish Influenza. It was later simply
ruled to be a particularly nasty form of the grippe, the Almanac stated. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The disease bloomed first in U.S. Army camps then spread to nearby
communities. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Its victims suffered "severe headaches and muscular pains throughout the
body, accompanied by a high temperature and unusually chilly sensations and
frequently vomiting," Wilkes-Barre City Physician G.A. Clark said. Those who
died often contracted pneumonia as a complication of the disease. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Early warning of the coming trouble appeared in the Record on Sept. 15,
1918, under the headline "Influenza In The Army Camps." Nearly 3,000 new cases
of influenza were reported at camps around the country, bringing the total to
about 30,000. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 By Oct. 1, the disease was officially entrenched in the area as five deaths
were reported at the Tobyhanna Army camp. The next day, four cases were found
in Wilkes-Barre, sending Clark into furious action. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "One of the busiest persons in this city last evening was City Physician
G.A. Clark, who had just arrived at his home after investigating three cases
of the disease ... when the telephone bell sounded its ominous message and the
doctor soon reappeared with the information that Dr. E.L. Meyers had reported
a case at 40 Alexander Street," the Record reported. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 No flu shots or inoculations were available to protect residents from
contracting the disease during that era. Authorities were forced to take
"extreme measures" to prevent its dissemination, the newspaper stated. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 On Oct. 2, funerals were closed to anyone other than surviving family.
Worried state officials the next day closed all amusement places, including
saloons, theaters, dance halls, pool rooms and bowling alleys. Public meetings
were also prohibited. Soda fountains and Sunday school fell on Oct. 4 and all
schools closed two days later. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Health officials requested public cooperation in battling the contagion,
but did not always find it. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "Certain lodge rooms and clubs have made a farce of the closing order," the
Record reported on Oct. 7. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The disease fanned across the city and county in October, apparently
unhindered by the semi-quarantine. Scores of new cases were reported in the
city each day, often matched by the number of new victims in the surrounding
area. Few families escaped the grippe and sometimes entire families were
stricken. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Large numbers of deaths allowed for only brief descriptions of the victims
in the Record. Obituaries often included little more than a list of the
victim's survivors and the date and time of funeral. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Medical personnel were swiftly overwhelmed by the situation. Physicians
were spread so thin they frequently could only telephone instructions to their
patients, the 1920 Almanac stated. The Red Cross pleaded for nurses to
volunteer their services in advertisements and news articles. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "Unless it means life or death, please release for service all nurses
attending chronic cases. Physicians should not employ nurses as office or
laboratory assistants during this emergency," one advertisement read. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The "high water mark" of the epidemic came on Oct. 29, when 160 new cases
of influenza were reported in the city, the paper said. Reports dropped off
immediately afterward, leading health officials to believe the outbreak was
abating. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 They allowed saloons to open on Nov. 9 and scheduled school to restart on
Nov. 18. But what they optimistically believed was the near end of the problem
was instead the beginning of a roller coaster of abatements and resurgences of
the disease lasting into the next year. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "Up and down, now over fifty and then as low as thirty-five with occasional
spurts every few days to eighty and over 100," one frustrated reporter wrote
in late December. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Schools finally opened on Dec. 2. All but the high schools closed again on
Dec. 15 following another surge by the disease. The New Year passed with bans
still in place, including that on dancing, much to the disappointment of New
Year's revelers. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Finally on Jan. 10, as the disease wound down for

1918: A Period When The County Goes To War On An Invisible Menace 
A Nationwide Influenza Epidemic Overcomes Luzerne County, Leaving About 2,600 
Dead, 2,300 Orphaned Or Half-orphaned, The 1920 Wilkes-barre Record Almanac 
Reported

1918: A Period When The County Goes To War On An Invisible Menace A Nationwide Influenza Epidemic Overcomes Luzerne County, Leaving About 2,600 Dead, 2,300 Orphaned Or Half-orphaned, The 1920 Wilkes-barre Record Almanac Reported