TRUSTEES MESSAGE

Quarantine in Dayton

At the time of submitting this article to print (late January 2020), the spread of the Wuhan coronavirus was continuing unabated. Hopefully, by publication, the crisis has ceased and Dayton remains unaffected.

But Dayton is not without experience in epidemics. Between October and December 1918, the Spanish Flu gripped the Dayton area. When an outbreak of the flu occurred in nearby Camp Sherman (near Chillicothe), nurses from Dayton and Wright Field responded to help. Camp Sherman suffered an astonishing 1,777 deaths due to influenza that year; eyewitnesses reported that the bodies of young soldiers were grimly “stacked like cordwood” outside the morgue. The disease spread throughout Ohio.

With the pandemic spreading, the Dayton Daily News ran the following advice and commanded that it “should be studied by every person in Dayton”: • Protect yourself from infection, keep well, and do not get hysterical over the epidemic. • Avoid being sprayed by the nose and throat secretions of others. • Beware of those who are coughing and wheezing. • Avoid crowded streetcars—walk to the office if possible. • Keep out of crowds—avoid theaters, moving picture shows, and other places of public assembly. • Do not travel by railroad unless absolutely necessary. • Do not drink from glasses or cups which have been used by others, unless you are sure they have been thoroughly cleansed. • You can do much to lessen the danger to yourself by keeping in good physical condition. • Avoid close, stuffy, and poorly ventilated rooms. • Stay at home and do not go to work if you are sick. • Eat simple, nourishing food and drink plenty of water; avoid constipation. • Secure at least seven hours sleep. Avoid physical fatigue. • Keep the feet dry. Despite these admonishments, Daytonians began falling ill in great numbers. While most influenza outbreaks disproportionately kill the very young and the very old, the Spanish Flu was unique in that it seemed to disproportionately kill healthy adults. Healthy person’s immune systems would “over-react” and victims would suffer complete respiratory failure or would develop pneumonia. In some cities, mass graves were dug by steam shovel and bodies buried without coffins. And it struck fast; in Philadelphia, for example, 4,597 people died in one week in mid-October 1918, but by midNovember, influenza had almost disappeared from the city.

By Adam R.Webber Elliott, Faulkner & Webber DBA Member-at-Large

Dayton was lucky in that it had a full-time Public Health Commissioner (which was rare for that era). Dr. A. O. Peters stressed that Daytonians should remain calm and work together to combat the flu. On October 8, 1918, he ordered Dayton’s schools, theaters, libraries, and churches closed. The next day, he closed all saloons, poolhalls, and soda fountains. The whole of Wright Field was quarantined (which was remarkable considering it was wartime). Local doctors quarantined homes of local families where sickness was confirmed.

Perhaps owing to clean living, prayer, or good luck, the students of St. Mary’s college (the soon-to-be-renamed University of Dayton) largely avoided illness. The president of the college requested that parents and friends of the students refrain from visiting, and students were not permitted to leave campus.

Miami Valley Hospital and St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, however, were inundated with patients. Many thousands of others lay ill at home. Whole families were unable to care for themselves. But Daytonians volunteered by the dozens to work as nurses and home-visit aides— even as many nurses fell ill themselves. Nurses also trained healthy household members on how to care for the ill. Nursing services were critical because—since there was no cure or treatment for the influenza—patients could only be kept comfortable. The local Red Cross nurse registrar proclaimed that volunteers need not be either a graduate or even a practical nurse in order to be of assistance, arguing that “a woman with her normal ‘horse sense’ ought to be able to do many things for the sick.” It was stressed that nurse volunteers could be male or female, married or single, and no distinction would be drawn as to race or color.

To help check the spread of the influenza epidemic, Judge William A. Budroe—then Chief Judge of the Dayton Municipal Court—ordered that that the courts of the city would be closed. It was recognized that the court and jails were a dangerous breeding ground for influenza. He ordered the courtrooms “thoroughly disinfected.” Judge Budroe made arrangements to dispose of important cases individually, and many arrestees charged with minor offenses were released from the station house on bail or the payment of a fine. continued on page 5

2020-2021 DBA Board of Trustees Nominees I n accordance with Section 2, Article III of the Dayton Bar Association Code of Regulations, Regular Members shall have the right to nominate another candidate or candidates for any elected office for which vacancies exist to be filled at the Annual Meeting not later than noon on the 15 th day of the month following the publication of the nominee’s names. DAYTON Bar Association

One must deliver to the Association office, a nominating petition signed by at least twenty-five (25) regular (voting) members of the Association whose dues for the current fiscal year are paid. Members nominated by the Nominating Committee and approved by the Board of Trustees for vacancies that will exist as of July 1, 2020 are: Second Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer

Second Vice President: Caroline H. Gentry Esq. Porter Wright Morris & Arthur, LLP 1 S. Main St., Ste. 1600 Dayton, Ohio 45402-2088 937.449.6748 cgentry@porterwright.com

Secretary: Denise L. Platfoot Lacey Esq. University of Dayton School of Law 300 College Park Dayton, Ohio 45469-2772 937.229.4634 Dlacey1@udayton.edu

Treasurer: The Honorable Gerald Parker Jr. Montgomery County Common Pleas Court 41 N. Perry St. Dayton, Ohio 45422-4999 937.225.4448 gerald.parker@montcourt.oh.gov

Elections will take place at the DBA Annual Meeting on Friday, May 29, 2020.

TRUSTEES MESSAGE: Quarantine in Dayton continued from page 4

When court re-opened, more than 100 cases were heard on the first day. Parenthetically, Judge Budroe would survive this epidemic, but he died three years later when he contracted diphtheria from a lawyer who appeared before him.

By early-November, the Spanish Flu epidemic was abating in Dayton. Restrictions on adults began to be lifted, although schools remained closed and children banned from public places. But Daytonians continued to take common sense precautions: they dressed extra-warmly as building custodians and streetcar drivers kept windows open to circulate crisp Fall air; they held open-air, outdoor church services; and saloons, soda fountains, and ice cream parlors became “carry-out only” to avoid congregating.

Daytonians couldn’t help but gather in crowds, however, on November 11 th when news of the Armistice ending WWI resulted in spontaneous parades and celebration. The Dayton Daily News reported: “Shoulders and hats were peppered with confetti hurled into faces of the throngs by bagsful, as one means of giving vent to the feelings. Everyone took the bombardment good naturedly. In fact, the jolly spirit of the crowd was one of its most striking features. People shook hands and extended greetings in the most informal manner.” www.daybar.org Health Commissioner Peters later declared that the Dayton public displayed a remarkably favorable attitude through the crisis and that the community’s spirit helped speed the epidemic’s passing. Daytonians celebrated Christmas 1918 with a report of no deaths that day. By New Year’s Day, all restrictions were lifted and children were cleared to return to school (surely to the delight of their parents). But the toll had been heavy: 40,000-50,000 had been stricken ill (out of a total Dayton population of about 150,000) and over 650 residents had died. The Spanish Flu would go on to kill more than 675,000 Americans and 20-50 million people world-wide. But because of Daytonians’ readiness to help their neighbors, governmental prudence, and informed action, Dayton weathered the Spanish Flu as well as any city might. We can all reflect on what we could do to help our families neighbors and community should an epidemic ever visit our city again.

**Credit to the Dayton Daily News archives and Dave Greer’s invaluable tome, Sluff of History’s Boot Soles. Both were plagiarized heavily.