There was no flu vaccine in 1918. And that year's so called "Spanish Influenza" was roaringly deadly - killing 21 million people worldwide and over 2300 in Rhode Island alone during its short reign of terror.

There were plenty of rumors when it started, and government officials weren't immune to sparking them. They were eager to blame the deadly illness on "the enemy" and to terrorize the suffering citizens with innuendo.

Col. Phillip Doane, the head of the Health and Sanitation Section of the Emergency Fleet Corps announced, "It would be quite easy for one of these German agents to turn loose Spanish Influenza germs in a theater or some other place where large numbers of persons are assembled. The Germans have started epidemics in Europe, and there is no reason why they should be particularly gentle with America."

Ordinary people had other theories and stories, though, that they passed around as easily as the flu itself. One woman in Boston said she had seen a ship come into port with a greasy dark cloud hanging around it just before the epidemic began. Others said that the German pharmaceutical company Bayer had packed the flu in its aspirin.

What to do about it was also a breeding ground of theories.

Isolation, of course, was the number one panacea. Theaters, schools and businesses were closed one by one as the epidemic raged through the state. "Liberty Loan" rallies that were held to raise money for the war effort had to be halted since they were fingered as a prime agent for its spread.

People wore cotton masks everywhere in public. Though they weren't really very effective in stopping the spread, at least they were some help, and they kept people from sneezing into one another's faces. In Tucson, AZ, even minor league baseball was played in masks.

In Rhode Island, the fall version of the flu (there had been a less deadly version in the Spring) began at Newport's Navy base in early September. Within 10 days, over 30 sailors died in the Naval District. It easily spread out into the community. By October 3, the Newport Daily News reported that "Camphor, whiskey and onions are in great demand by persons who have their own notions about keeping off the disease, but the health authorities are not offering any suggestions in this line."

The medicine trade jumped on the bandwagon instantly. It is possible they even believed their own advertisements.

"Spanish Influenza can be prevented easier than it can be cured," one advertisement read. "At the first sign of a shiver or sneeze, take Hill's."

According to many sources, liquor provided some protection and some cure, but this was a source of friction between Newport, which was dry, and the rest of the state. The Newport Daily News triumphantly reported that "the internal use of alcohol in the present situation is substantiated by medical publications. In brief, the argument is that alcohol puts to sleep the blood corpuscles which otherwise would work to destroy the disease germs, and hence has a direct tendency to increase the disease."

Providence volleyed back that Newport would never have succumbed to the disease in the first place if it hadn't been dry, and quoted studies on the efficacy of the use of booze in the treatment of pneumonia.

Back to Newport (which, by the bye, had the lowest rate of deaths from the disease in the state). The paper said the studies had been misquoted and that "A patient who is not accustomed to the use of liquor stands a greater chance of rallying under its use than one who is."

In the end, Newport was probably right, but not for the reasons they stated. Since it was a dry county, there were no open saloons, and since there were no saloons, there were fewer gathering spots for patrons to spread their infections, and without a spreading spot, the epidemic slowed down a bit.

Today, of course, in addition to vaccines (which probably wouldn't have helped in 1918, since the strain was unknown, untested, and therefore unprotected) we know that isolation, covering coughs, rest, fever and pain control, hand washing and plenty of fluids are the best ways to stay healthy during an outbreak of the flu.

On the other hand, how many studies have REALLY been done on the effectiveness of onions and liquor on the flu?

About the author, Patti Cassidy: Patti Cassidy is a writer/photographer/videomaker who lives on an island in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island. She moved there after spending half of her life in the desert of Arizona. She revels in contrast.

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