[ARC5] radio and the Spanish Flu epidermic

[Dave Sublette]

Good morning,

An interesting note to the "Spanish" Flu pandemic in 1918 is that the
Spanish are getting credit for the flu, but are innocent. Since "The Great
War" was raging when this occurred, none of the combatants reported it
because they regarded it as "sensitive" and didn't want their enemies to
know that they were battling a deadly disease. The Spanish, however, had
declared neutrality and their newspapers were allowed to publish the
information without censorship. Therefore, the world incorrectly surmised
that the flu had originated in Spain and thus the name "Spanish Flu".

Some historians have credited the flu pandemic as a factor in bringing both
sides to the table to sign the armistice.  They were just too weak to fight
any more.

As a very minor point (to most of the world), my father was born in
November, 1918, due to the flu.  Grandmother was six months pregnant when
 she contracted the flu.  She was literally near death and her body went
into labor. It was like when the ship goes down, the crew throws everything
overboard trying to save themselves.  The doctor, called to deliver the
baby at home, was faced with a dying mother and a three month premature
infant, both near death. He decided to concentrate on saving the mother in
hope that she could have other children in the future.  He left the baby to
the side to die.  The bay's new grandmother took, the baby, washed him,
wrapped him in a blanket and put him in a shoebox, placed him behind the
potbellied stove, and he survived.  And so here I am, 102 years later at
age 78, very grateful for being here.

73,

Dave, K4TO

On Mon, Mar 9, 2020 at 7:40 AM Gordon White <gewhite at crosslink.net> wrote:

>        Just read in a newspaper that "historian Nancy Tomes has shown
> that in 1918, since radio broadcasts and newsreels were focused on war
> news..." they did not give news of the 1918 Spanish Flu epidemic.
>
>      As KDKA in Pittsburgh was the first broadcast station and it began
> with results of the Cox-Harding election in November 1920, unlikely that
> there was ANY radio broadcast news of the flu in 1918.
>
>   - Gordon Eliot White
>
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