Free Fever Season by Eric Zweig Page A

Spanish Flu back to North America. By now the disease was much more deadly than it had been in the beginning. In late August three sailors were sick with the Spanish Flu at a navy barracks in Boston. Within a few weeks thousands of people in Boston were sick. Most people got better, but lots of them were dying. Soon the same thing was happening in other American cities. Returning soldiers also brought the disease to Canada. It spread everywhere: big cities and small towns, rural farm communities and remote islands. It didn’t matter. Anywhere there was air to breathe that air could carry germs.
    The Spanish Flu hit Montreal during the last days of September. Some of the stories about the disease were so bad they didn’t seem real.
    â€œOne of the boys at school has a cousin in Boston,” Alice told David on their way home one day. “He says it turns your skin blue. He says some people turn so dark you can’t tell if they’re white people or Negroes.”
    David had heard the same thing, but he hadn’t wanted to believe it.
    Alice’s voice dropped to a whisper, her eyes big and round. “He says that blood comes out of your nose and mouth. Sometimes even your eyes and your ears.”
    David shook his head. That couldn’t be true. “He’s lying. He’s just trying to scare you.” But David had heard those stories, too. What if they were true? “Even if it’s true in Boston,” he told Alice, “the newspapers say the cases here are mild.”
    But they quickly got worse. About a hundred people died in Montreal during the first week in October. Soon the newspapers were filled with stories about the Spanish Flu, or la grippe , as they called it in French. Death tolls were reported almost like sports statistics. People were getting spooked. Something had to be done.
    Dr. Boucher was in charge of the Department of Health in Montreal. He decided that the city had to close all its public buildings. Theatres, dance halls, concert halls, and sports events were all cancelled. Schools were closed, too.
    â€œYou can catch it from anyone, so I want you to stay inside as much as possible,” David’s mother told him and Alice. “But fresh air is important, too, so keep the windows open. And if you want to go out, stay on the third-floor landing. I don’t want you going down to the street for any reason. And if the iceman comes, or anyone else, don’t let them in unless they’re wearing a mask over their nose and mouth! And both of you have to wear your masks, too, as long as other people are in the house.”
    People had been told to wear a mask at all times when they went out. Police could arrest anyone who didn’t. People could buy their masks in drugstores for anywhere from five cents to a quarter. For the people who couldn’t afford them — or were too afraid to go out! — newspapers printed instructions on how to make masks at home.
    â€œWhat about you?” David asked his mother. Offices and factories hadn’t been closed. “You still have to go to work.”
    â€œDon’t worry about me. All the windows are being kept open on the streetcars to keep the air fresh, and the police are watching every night to make sure they get cleaned out properly.”
    To ensure streetcars didn’t get too crowded, most stores had to be closed by four o’clock. That meant shoppers would all be home before other businesses closed for the day. Only drugstores, grocery stores, and restaurants were allowed to stay open late.
    â€œBut what about when you’re at the factory?” David pressed his mother.
    â€œAll the women in the sewing room will be wearing masks. Some of the windows will be propped open, too. And if anyone so much as coughs or sneezes, there’s a good chance they’ll be sent home.”
    The weather had been unusually cold and damp for several weeks. Lots of people already had colds. It