OCTOBER 29, 1918
‘Influenza’: no improvement
Our obituary columns this morning bear melancholy witness to the ravages of the great plague of influenza and pneumonia. Messages from one or two places in the country state that the epidemic is abating, but in London there is little or no sign of improvement. Yesterday the number of members of the Metropolitan Police Force suffering from influenza had risen to 1,410, and deaths to 30. Of the London Fire Brigade staff 117 are ill. At Hackney fire station seven men out of 11 are on the sick list. During the 48 hours ending at 7 o’clock yesterday morning 61 persons seized with influenza in the streets were taken to hospitals by the ambulance service. Several of the London borough councils are making a house-to-house distribution of leaflets advising people of the best preventives and giving instructions as to what to do in case a member of the household becomes afflicted.
During the week-end there were 57 deaths in Poplar from the disease, 12 of which occurred in institutions. The borough of St Pancras has been placarded with posters advising the public to keep warm and rest in bed on the first appearance of the symptoms of influenza. A gargle is recommended consisting of a saltspoonful of salt in half a glass of water, coloured purple with a weak solution of permanganate of potash.
At the London Hospital between 20 and 80 nurses — one-tenth of the total nursing staff — are away from duty, and many additional beds had to be provided for new patients during the week-end. At the Great Northern Hospital there are about 100 cases. Some 20 nurses are away from duty, and the staff is much overworked. Many girls from the clerical department are doing light work in the wards.
Among the deaths recorded in our obituary columns on page 1 today are 34 from influenza, pneumonia, or kindred diseases, including 12 deaths of soldiers. Of the latter nine are attributed to pneumonia, combined in two cases with influenza, and in one each with malaria and dysentery; two to influenza and one to meningitis following influenza and pneumonia. Of the other 22 deaths, 10 are attributed to pneumonia and influenza combined, seven to pneumonia, four to influenza, and one to pleurisy following influenza.
OCTOBER 27, 1918
The fall of Ludendorff
A dispatch from Berlin states that the German Emperor has accepted the resignation of General Ludendorff. German Main Headquarters reports, which up till Saturday were signed “Ludendorff, First Quartermaster-General”, were issued yesterday above the signature “The Chief of the General Staff of the Army in the Field” [Field-Marshal von Hindenburg].
The fall of Ludendorff is the fall of the third great German military figure in the war. The late General von Moltke — justly or unjustly — paid the price of the failure of the original German plan of campaign. General von Falkenhayn, who succeeded Moltke in December, 1914, as Chief of the General Staff, disappeared at the end of August, 1916, when the failure of the great Battle of Verdun had been sealed in the Battle of the Somme. General von Ludendorff now pays the price of the fatal German offensive which opened under his auspices on March 21 last and has brought Germany to her present plight.
There is as yet no sign of Hindenburg’s removal. Hindenburg lately celebrated his 71st birthday amid all signs of public indifference, but it may well be thought undesirable to disgrace him. At any case, Ludendorff goes because Ludendorff is responsible; it is notorious that Hindenburg was opposed to the military plan adopted this year. It was Ludendorff who just before the German offensive began in March said: “If the enemy does not want peace, he shall have battle. The battle will naturally be the most tremendous of the entire war, but our splendid soldiers, and the same spirit of resolution and self-sacrifice at home, will, with God’s help, win us an honourable peace — a German peace, not a soft peace.”
For a long time the German public really believed in Hindenburg, but the initiated were always aware that Ludendorff supplied the brains of the partnership. Since the first great defeats of the Russians Hindenburg and Ludendorff have been inseparable — until their recent differences. But during the past two years it has been Ludendorff’s opinion that has carried weight in all military decisions and in the military interferences with policy.
Again and again he has been described as the real master of Germany. Great is his fall.
OCTOBER 26, 1918
Spread of influenza infection
There is little or no indication at present that the influenza epidemic is abating. In London and elsewhere some of the public services are seriously affected. There were stated to be 1,300 members of the Metropolitan Police Force suffering from the disease yesterday, and in 25 cases it has proved fatal. One division alone has 100 men on the sick list. Eighty-two members of the London Fire Brigade are off duty owing to influenza. During the 24 hours ending at 7 o’clock yesterday morning the ambulance service of the LCC had removed to hospital 25 persons who were suddenly taken ill with influenza in the streets. Many more schools in various parts of the country are being closed for a fortnight or more, and in same large centres of population the closing of theatres and other places of amusement is under consideration with a view to checking the spread of infection. On the other hand, Dr Thresh, Medical Officer of Health for Essex, attributes the spread of the disease along the lines of railway from London to Southend, Epping, Waltham, Colchester, and Cambridge to overcrowding in railway carriages, and says that while this continues it is useless to ask people not to attend churches, cinemas, and meetings where they do not get half so much crowded together as on the railway.
In several families there have been two or more deaths. A London constable, whose family of four was attacked, died on Thursday night, and his wife yesterday morning. On returning home from leave a soldier named William White, of Hoxton, found his wife ill with influenza. At the inquest at Shoreditch yesterday he told the Coroner that he had not written to his wife, as he had intended to give her a surprise. She died on Monday. Their 15 months old baby was taken to the infirmary on the same day and died on Tuesday, also from influenza.
Over 100 deaths have occurred in Woolwich, generally after only one or two days’ illness. At each of five inquests yesterday death was attributed to complications arising from influenza. The local undertakers, with depleted staffs, cannot cope with the increased number of burials, and one large firm has been granted the services of a number of soldiers as coffin-makers, drivers, and bearers.
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