#1918flu365days

April 1918

Influenza and pneumonia are prominent in Army Medical Corps reports from Camp Lewis (April 1), Camp Pike (April 4). From now until the end of the 1918 the Army Medical corps weekly troop health report will be a regular feature of news coverage. A frequent part of the commentary will be the poor habits and pre-draft health of the troops. 

Large-scale influenza/grippe outbreaks are reported in the Ford factories (April 2), although the reports were more in depth outside the state than in Michigan. In Mexico, Missouri (April 3, 17) schools are closed as a result of grippe. Yet, the Vermont Health Department's annual report expresses little concern about pneumonia or influenza.

Robert Prager in Collinsville, Illinois is lynched for "pro German sentiments." (April 6). There are numerous reports about how vigilantes mete their brand of justice, particularly in the mid-West: a farmer is bound over on a $1000 bond and lectured on democracy (April 8); a citizen is tarred and feathered for not buying a Liberty Bond (April 29); an "alien property custodian" is engaged to cease "enemy-owned livestock."

The speed of the sale of Liberty Bonds is an ongoing concern (April 7, 10, 19, 29). A newsboy who uses his tips to buy a Bond is the subject of a CPI profile (April 7).

The Sinn Fein led resistance to the British drafting of Irishmen continues (April 14). The restriction on alcohol sales continues as New Hampshire end all sales (April 30).