The 1918 Flu Epidemic Hits Chicago-- Part 2

By mid-November, Chicago had experienced 38,000 cases of it and another 13,000 had its deadly companion, pneumonia.  In the end, some 10,000 Chicagoans had died.  The epidemic began in the city September 8, 1918,  when several sailors reported sick at the Great Lakes Naval Training Station.

Military bases had been jammed across the country after the U.S. had entered World War I and these proved breeding grounds for the highly contagious disease.  By September  21, the commanding officer of the base said they had 800 cases.

The September 28, Chicago Tribune said that Fort Sheridan, the Army's base in the Chicago area, had logged 120 cases that day alone, making a total of 300 cases.

Every theater and public hall in Waukegan and North Chicago closed  In North Chicago, schools shut down.  However, the Chicago schools remained open.

Then, the incidences of the flu exploded.  On October 8, the Tribune reported  135 deaths and 1,342 new cases.  The next week, the paper reported  more than 2,000 new cases were happening every day.

--Cooter