10/08/1918: Police'll Get You If You Spit on Walks; Seven "Flu" Cases in City: Board of Health Tells of Methods of Prevention and Treatment
Item
Title
10/08/1918: Police'll Get You If You Spit on Walks; Seven "Flu" Cases in City: Board of Health Tells of Methods of Prevention and Treatment
Creator
The Eau Claire Leader
Source
Newspaper Archives
Date
October 8, 1918
Coverage
Eau Claire, Wi
Description
Newspaper detailing rules and guidelines for Eau Claire citizens.
Format
Newspaper
Rights
Public domain. For more information contact Special Collections and Archives, McIntyre Library, UW-Eau Claire.
Publisher
The Eau Claire Leader
transcription
"The police'll get you if you're caught spitting on the sidewalks, floors or steps of public buildings or other places where you shouldn't.
There is a city ordnance forbidding such spitting and making it a misdemeanor punishable by fine or jail sentence. Chief of Police Sundby has instructed the members of his force to arrest any person violating the ordnance. Anyone may swear to a complaint against a spitter, so not being seen by a policeman is no security for an offender.
"It's a filthy thing to do any time," said an official yesterday, "and a dangerous thing as well, particularly now with the menace of an influenza epidemic before us. The promiscuous spitter these days is doing his bit for the kaiser, although he may not realize it. Arrest of a dozen or so may be needed to accomplish this bit of education in hygiene and common decency."
Severn Influenza Cases.
Twelve Spanish influenza cases are now under quarantine in the city. How many "home remedy" cases there are of which neither the board of health nor any physician has been notified is a matter of conjecture. The board of health will quarantine all influenza cases of which it learns through physicians' reports or otherwise.
New School Health Rule.
A meeting of all teachers in the city was addressed by the school nurse yesterday afternoon on the subjects of colds. Blanks from the board of health were distributed. Each pupil coming to school with symptoms of a cold is to be sent home with one of these statements to the effect that the temporary removal from school is a precautionary measure, since a cold lowers the vitality and makes a child more susceptable[sic] to influenza and other contagious diseases. The family physician or school nurse will endorse the blank with permission to return to school when the child has recovered so that he n o longer coughs or sneezes.
Rules for Prevention.
Influenza is communicated almost entirely by discharges from the nose and throat. methods of prevention and treatment outlined by the Board of Health yesterday are as follows:
"You should not sneeze or cough without covering your mouth and nose with a handkerchief.
"You should not spit except into some receptable the contents of which can either be destroyed or disinfected.
"You should not visit those afflicted with influenza or grippe. patients suffering from such disease should not mingle with other members of the family, or attend shows, public assemblies or other gatherings.
"All colds with sneezing and coughing are contagious and should be handled on the same lines.
"Persons suffering with influenza should occupy warm, well-ventilated rooms, eat nourishing but easily digested food, pay attention to the normal excretory function and use a mild antiseptic nasal douche and gargle at least twice daily not only as a relief to the patient but as a preventative to the spread of the disease."
There is a city ordnance forbidding such spitting and making it a misdemeanor punishable by fine or jail sentence. Chief of Police Sundby has instructed the members of his force to arrest any person violating the ordnance. Anyone may swear to a complaint against a spitter, so not being seen by a policeman is no security for an offender.
"It's a filthy thing to do any time," said an official yesterday, "and a dangerous thing as well, particularly now with the menace of an influenza epidemic before us. The promiscuous spitter these days is doing his bit for the kaiser, although he may not realize it. Arrest of a dozen or so may be needed to accomplish this bit of education in hygiene and common decency."
Severn Influenza Cases.
Twelve Spanish influenza cases are now under quarantine in the city. How many "home remedy" cases there are of which neither the board of health nor any physician has been notified is a matter of conjecture. The board of health will quarantine all influenza cases of which it learns through physicians' reports or otherwise.
New School Health Rule.
A meeting of all teachers in the city was addressed by the school nurse yesterday afternoon on the subjects of colds. Blanks from the board of health were distributed. Each pupil coming to school with symptoms of a cold is to be sent home with one of these statements to the effect that the temporary removal from school is a precautionary measure, since a cold lowers the vitality and makes a child more susceptable[sic] to influenza and other contagious diseases. The family physician or school nurse will endorse the blank with permission to return to school when the child has recovered so that he n o longer coughs or sneezes.
Rules for Prevention.
Influenza is communicated almost entirely by discharges from the nose and throat. methods of prevention and treatment outlined by the Board of Health yesterday are as follows:
"You should not sneeze or cough without covering your mouth and nose with a handkerchief.
"You should not spit except into some receptable the contents of which can either be destroyed or disinfected.
"You should not visit those afflicted with influenza or grippe. patients suffering from such disease should not mingle with other members of the family, or attend shows, public assemblies or other gatherings.
"All colds with sneezing and coughing are contagious and should be handled on the same lines.
"Persons suffering with influenza should occupy warm, well-ventilated rooms, eat nourishing but easily digested food, pay attention to the normal excretory function and use a mild antiseptic nasal douche and gargle at least twice daily not only as a relief to the patient but as a preventative to the spread of the disease."