Fighting The Influenza

• Real conditions of influenza were not known until nurses went out throughout the city• In some cases, whole families were found sick with no one to care for them, and in other families in which English was not the second language, nurse/ interpreters became necessary• In fact, interpreters are needed for the following languages: Greek, Polish, Lithuanian, and others• The Lowell Guild and the corps of nurses are doing all that is possible for the relief of the stricken families• The kitchen conducted by the Saco-Lowell shops is supplying a large quantity of nourishing soups to be distributed to needy families adapted to their condition • While it might be supposed that there is no poverty, it is noted that a man taking care of a wife and small family who is ill suddenly finds himself destitute; “many such cases have been encountered by nurses throughout the city and have received much needed succor through the various relief agencies”• Agent Mitchell of the Massachusetts mill is working hard to ensure transportation for the nurses, so volunteers are encouraged to contact him to volunteer their vehicles for nurses use• “It is a question of whether the influenza is in reality on the decline or whether the decrease in the number of cases reported is the result of preventative measures adopted by the board of health in conjunction with the good officers of the Lowell Guild and all the other agencies fighting the disease throughout the city.”Newspaper article