2,318 New Cases Of Flu Reported

• Even with the large number of new cases reported, the health authorities are “optimistic.”• 1 case reported at the Algiers Naval Station and 1 case reported at the West End Station. • State Board of Health received reports of 2,566 Wednesday. • Dr. Robin announced that many municipal employees will be inoculated with vaccine. • Albert Workman, president of the Provident Sanitarium for colored people offered the sanitarium as a hospital for “colored” influenza patients. It was accepted for use by the Board of Health. Sanitarium holds 30 – 40 beds and 5 “negro” doctors are employed. • The reports received by the State Board of Health through Tuesday evening showed an increase of cases throughout LA. Exclusive of New Orleans, there was an increase of 3,739 cases from Monday. The number of cases reported Tuesday was 9,474. • Dr. Dowling is hopeful that, given sunny and mild weather, the epidemic situation should improve soon. • Dr. Dowling: “The health authorities are not being afforded the co-operation on the part of the general public which is absolutely necessary if we are to check this epidemic and finally stamp out the disease. Unless a very much greater measure of such co-operation comes immediately there is the gravest sort of danger that we will find ourselves confronting a most appalling situation. I dislike to say anything which might be calculated to create fear and alarm, but the sooner the public realizes the imperative necessity for observance of the advice and orders issued by the health authorities, the better it will be for everyone. If they fail to recognize it, I am terribly apprehensive of what the result will be. This applies not only to New Orleans and Louisiana, but to every section of the United States at this critical time.” (Dr. Dowling’s statement is reported to be in response to fact that “large numbers” in several churches attended church services on Wednesday morning.) • Dr. Dowling continues to receive complaints that the streetcars are overcrowded. He is sending officers to inspect streetcars Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning during rush hours. The inspectors will take down the numbers of cars and the names of conductors when overcrowding is present. Affidavits will be obtained and the conductors will be arrested immediately. • Dr. Dowling told a States’ representative about his interaction with a druggist. The druggist removed tables and chairs from his business to prevent people from crowding inside. However, people still gathered in large numbers inside his shop. Customers did not listen when the druggist asked them to not loiter in his shop. When he could not stop people from crowding, he closed his shop and went home. Dr. Dowling advised the druggist to post signs in his shop that stated that only a certain number were allowed in the shop at a time.• Only one doctor (out of seven) and one nurse in Abbeville are not sick with influenza. There were 32 new cases and 3 deaths in Abbeville on Tuesday. Dr. H. L. Ethridge, the only healthy physician, was asked to report to Camp Arthur on Thursday. He requested that Dr. Dowling help him get a furlough from Surgeon General Blue.Newspaper article