Persistence

The Fourth Liberty Loan drive, drawing to its close in late October 1918, was a success. Lake County exceeded its quota by over $2 million; Hobart's quota had been $139,760, and its subscriptions amounted to $154,150 — this, in spite of the ravages that three previous Liberty Loan drives had wrought on local pocketbooks, and in spite of the influenza epidemic that had shut down public meetings throughout the state.

The flu was still spreading. Word came up from Indianapolis that health officials planned to extend the state quarantine until November 2. Hobart's health commissioner, Dr. Clara Faulkner, stated that while the disease had treated Hobart with unusual mildness, some 150 cases had been reported to her in less than a month. Dr. C.C. Brink said that he had treated 100 cases in the last two weeks, adding that he expected shortly to receive an order of anti-flu vaccine — useless, of course, but neither he nor his patients could know that.

Among the flu victims were six of Ross Graham's horses. Two died; the other four were expected to recover.

Human patients included Myrtle Guernsey, who lay ill at the Walter Blachly farm west of Ainsworth — she had returned from several months' stay in Montana just in time for the epidemic. West of Hobart, a delirious flu patient rose from his bed and wandered half-dressed around the neighborhood, brandishing a shotgun, until frightened neighbors sent for Marshal Fred Rose, Sr., who apparently got the man back to bed without violence. A 23-year-old employee in Charles Gruel's butcher shop fell ill with flu and was put to bed in the Gruel home where, in spite of the family's nursing, he died of pneumonia.

At Camp Custer in Michigan, the quarantine that had cancelled George Sauter's leave of absence did him no good: he caught the flu in camp. "For a few hours he was not expected to recover," said the Gazette, "but he did." Carl Halfman was not so fortunate — he died in camp of pneumonia on October 19, 23 years old, and not even two months a soldier; his remains were sent home for burial in the Turkey Creek cemetery. (The News soon reported that nearly 70 officers at Camp Custer were facing disciplinary action for carelessness or willful disregard of orders relating to the army's anti-epidemic measures.)

On October 25, Hobart lost a prominent and beloved figure: Jane Spray, who in her younger days had served as the town's postmistress for 17 years. While the News attributed her loss to the "heart trouble" from which she had suffered for several years, the Gazette (co-owned and edited by her brother-in-law) suggested that pneumonia developing from influenza had precipitated her death.

The following day, Dr. Faulkner — apparently troubled by the carelessness with which townspeople congregated in public places of refreshment — ordered local drugstores, soft-drink and ice-cream parlors to remove their chairs and shut off their "electric pianos." Furthermore, she warned, if in spite of such discomforts crowds persisted in gathering, she would close down those businesses altogether.

The October 24 issue of the News that carried the good news about the Liberty Loan drive and the bad news about the influenza epidemic also printed a statement attributed to Herbert Hoover, head of the U.S. Food Administration, who said, "There is no prospect of a proper ending of the war before the campaign of the summer of 1919."


Sources:
♦ "Closing Order May Hold For Another Week Is Report." Hobart News 24 Oct. 1918.
♦ "Dies of Pneumonia." Hobart Gazette 1 Nov. 1918.
♦ "Health Commissioner Issues Strict Closing Orders Last Saturday." Hobart News 31 Oct. 1918.
♦ "Hobart Goes Nicely Over Top in Fourth Liberty Loan Drive." Hobart News 24 Oct. 1918.
♦ "Hobart 'Over the Top.'" Hobart Gazette 25 Oct. 1918.
♦ Indiana Historical Commission. Indiana World War Records. Gold Star Honor Roll. A Record of Indiana Men and Women who died in the service of the United States and the Allied Nations in the World War. 1914 – 1918. Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Commission, 1921. http://books.google.com/books?id=OeMyAQAAIAAJ&l
♦ "Jane Eleanor Spray Passes Away Friday from Heart Trouble." Hobart News 31 Oct. 1918.
♦ "Jane Spray Passes Away." Hobart Gazette 1 Nov. 1918.
♦ "Kurt Seifert Passes Away at Midnight of Pneumonia." Hobart News 31 Oct. 1918.
♦ "Local and Personal." Hobart News 24 Oct. 1918; 31 Oct. 1918.
♦ "Local Drifts." Hobart Gazette 25 Oct. 1918.
♦ "Of General Interest." Hobart News 31 Oct. 1918.
♦ "The End of the War." Hobart News 24 Oct. 1918.