Congress To Give Million Dollars to Fight Influenza, 1918

“U.S. Gives Million to Fight Influenza,” from The Sun, N.Y. City, Sept. 29, 1918. While I usually use North Carolina newspapers as my source, I wanted to give a picture of the Spanish flu on the nation on Sept. 29. In the midst of the war, a million dollars was a lot of money.

Speaker Clark and Democratic Floor Leader Kitchin Victims of Disease… Senate Interrupts Discussion on Suffrage to Pass the Resolution

Washington, Sept. 28—Congress appropriated $1,000,000 to-day to be used in fighting the spread of Spanish influenza. Champ Clark, Speaker of the House, and Claude Kitchin, Democratic floor leader, are suffering from the disease.

Representative Gillett (Mass.) introduced a resolution providing for the appropriation.

Not even the serious nature of the business before the House could keep a partisan fling out of the debate. Representative Garrett (Tenn.) declared in effect that no objection of passage of the appropriation would be made by Democrats, but that he hoped never again would the cry be raised that the strong Republican State of Massachusetts was being discriminated against.

“Unfortunately,” said Representative Cannon (Ill.), “disease knows no State or sectional boundaries.”

“I might point out to the gentleman from Tennessee that the Speaker of the House and the floor leader of the gentleman’s own party are suffering from this disease,” Mr. Gillett added.

As soon as the House acted Senator Swanson (Va.) interrupted the suffrage debate to urge the immediate adoption of the appropriating resolution. Senator Penrose (Pa.) said he would make no fight against it in view of the extraordinary circumstances but that he was opposed to the principle of russing appropriations without having them go through the proper channels.

“Sooner or later we are going to find it easier to save a million dollars than it is to raise it.”

The resolution passed unanimously in both houses.

Vaccinations with a recently discovered serum, which from tests just completed at several army camps has been found to be an almost positive preventive of pneumonia, will be used to combat the epidemic.

The serum has been used to a limited extent in several camps but no announcement had been made of its discovery pending the results of widespread tests. Physicians connected with the army medical school developed the formula for the serum, which it was stated to-night is now being manufactured in quantities sufficient to provide for the treatment of 50,000 persons daily. One treatment with the vaccine only is needed.

During the 24 hours ending at noon to-day, 8,830 new cases of the disease were reported, as compared with 6,824 for the day before. The total number of cases in all camps was reported at 51,217. A large increase also is shown in the number of deaths resulting from pneumonia—247 having been reported, against 170 for the previous day.

A decided decrease, however, was shown in the number of new cases of pneumonia, 548 being reported to-day as compared with 717 the day before.