100 years ago today: the province closed to fear the Spanish flu

One hundred years ago, the world was ravaged by an epidemic just as the First World War was ending.

The 1918 flu epidemic, also known as the Spanish flu, has killed at least 40 million people worldwide and infected many others, according to the World Health Organization. health.

Jane Jenkins, Director of Scientific and Technological Studies at St. Thomas University, said Brunswickers were accustomed to the flu that came and went every year, but the 1918 virus was different.

"It suddenly hit and people could be dead in 12 to 20 hours," said Jenkins.

"I mean, the symptoms were devastating.The impact was devastating.The other thing that made this really unusual, is that it hit young people, people in their twenties. "

Influenza in New Brunswick

The newspaper articles of the time show how much the flu can kill someone quickly.

A report from Grand Falls published in the October 25, 1918 edition of the Daily Gleaner told the story of Matthew Burgess, who died of pneumonia. The article says that it is developed from the flu.

"He was in his office at 11 o'clock this morning, but was forced to go home," reads the story.

"He died around 5 pm"

The accounts also indicate that many of the dead were younger people. Burgess was only 40 years old and the same issue of the newspaper chronicled the passing of a local businessman, W. Kenna Allen.

"It is a fitting coincidence that the deceased was born 24 years ago in the house where he died," he said.

Although no area of ​​the province was spared, reports at the time suggest that the northern part of the province was the most affected, with the region of Edmundston reporting 1,600 cases October 17, 1918.

A legislative coincidence

Jenkins said that in 1918, New Brunswick did not really have infrastructure in place to deal with outbreaks such as the Spanish flu.

"The notion of the public was just beginning to emerge at this time in the early 20th century," Jenkins said.

But that quickly changed. Just before the flu epidemic, the province appointed its premier health minister, the first in the British empire.

William F. Roberts was a doctor from Saint John who felt the government needed to put more emphasis on public health. He ran in the 1917 provincial election and won a seat in Saint John as a Liberal, the party that formed a majority government.

It was only through numerous negotiations and threats of resignation that Roberts was able to convince his colleagues to support the creation of a new department with him as Premier of Health.

Even though they did not know it at the time, the government could not have waited any longer.

"The first provincial health department had just been created, literally a few days before the onset of the first cases of influenza," Jenkins said.

Closure of the province

The first act of the new department, and the first Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. George Melvin, has been to close much of the province to help curb the spread of the flu.

On October 9, 1918, Melvin issued a proclamation that all schools, theaters, and churches were to close two days later. Public meetings were also prohibited.

Businesses were allowed to stay open, but the owners were warned not to have too many people at once in the store. It was forbidden to stroll. The funeral was to be strictly private and concerned only the family closest to the deceased – a gesture to say the least controversial.

"He received letters from the President of the University of New Brunswick saying that the students were all healthy young men and that they should not go home, the term had just started" Jenkins said.

"He received letters from senior church officials saying that there was no time like this, when there was a war, when the services of the church were there. church were no longer needed and they implored him to keep the churches open. "

Make money

The flu epidemic has not prevented some New Brunswickers from seeking to quickly get rid of fears about the flu.

Alonzo Staples, the owner of Staples & Pharmacy, located at the corner of King and York Streets in Fredericton, urged Daily Gleaner readers to "protect themselves from the Spanish flu" by purchasing Wampole paraformic tablets 25 cents a bottle.

One ad disguised as an article, predicting the advent of sponsored content, was titled "Spanish Influenza Rages in Canada: Thousands of Cases Have been Reported and Many Deaths".

The advertisement was for "Fruit-A-Tives", described as "the wonderful medicine for fruit, giving the power to resist disease."

Another announcement lamented that with the closure of the Gaiety and Gem theaters, as well as the Palace Bowling Alley, there was "more to do than z-z-z".

They suggested doing so in a pair of Pussywillow pajamas, available for only $ 2.

A sense of community

The epidemic has created a sense of community belonging in the province, even though residents have not been able to come together.

In an interview with writer Eileen Pettigrew, now part of the Provincial Archives audiovisual collection, Helen Murphy, a former Tabusintac resident, spoke about her mother.

"[My mother] came out and fed a lot of people, "said Murphy.

"She was not a nurse or anything, but a kind woman, and she went to help until she took it herself." She was in the habit to go out and put poultices on her neighbors and sit with them, then when she has not been very well for a long time either. "

Jenkins said Roberts was essential to getting community members to help each other when needed.

"He was able to gather volunteers and bring the scouts to cut wood for the people and all the women's institutes together, as well as volunteer nurses, and he organized that," said Jenkins.

Jenkins said four out of every 1,000 New Brunswickers died, or 1,400 out of 350,000 at the time.

"New Brunswick is doing well," Jenkins said.

"I think things went well because Roberts closed the province and prevented people from avoiding infectious crowds."