People were advised to seek treatment if they exhibited any early \u201ccold-like\u201d symptoms, which included \u201ca sharp rise in temperature to 103 to 104 degrees, headache, pain in the back, throat feeling dry or sore.\u201d Flu survivors described the early stages of the disease as sounding like \u201ca concrete mixer is operating in one of the ears.\u201d The said ear would later become very sore.<\/p>\n

Wheeling\u2019s neighboring river towns were not exempt. Brooke County\u2019s Board of Health issued a shutdown of schools, poolrooms, lodges, churches, and all public gatherings on October 15. \u00a0Bridgeport, Ohio officials reported the city\u2019s first cases on October 17 and admitted that the virus had probably infiltrated much earlier. \u201cKeep the Crowd Moving\u201d was the adopted slogan in Bellaire as the city\u2019s board of health closed schools, churches, theatres, and saloons on October 25th. By Halloween morning, Moundsville, WV reported a total of 104 cases.<\/p>\n

One of the most distressing local cases involved the Baker family of Lind Street. All six of the family\u2019s children, along with their mother, were stricken with the dreaded influenza and admitted to OVGH, even as the patriarch lay bedridden at home in critical condition with Bright\u2019s disease (a kidney disorder<\/a>). Six-year-old Virginia, 16-month-old Joseph, and 4-year-old Ruth eventually succumbed. A fundraising effort led by the Wheeling newspapers collected $1300 for the destitute family.<\/p>\n

The heartbreaking specter of child funerals (including a double one at the Baker home) haunted the obituary page almost daily.<\/p>\n

\n
Child Dies of Spanish Influenza.<\/strong>
\nThe remains of the twelve year old son of Louis Evempolis of Market street arrived in the city yesterday afternoon. The boy died of Spanish Influenza at the Johns Hopkins Hospital Tuesday afternoon, where he had been confined for some time, undergoing treatment. The funeral will be held this afternoon from the family residence and interment will be made in Greenwood cemetery.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
\n
Overwhelmed<\/h2>\n
\n
Wheeling\u2019s two hospitals were quickly overwhelmed. According to Wheeling city council minutes, on October 22, Wheeling City Manager G. O. Nagle told the council that both the Wheeling Hospital and OVGH were nearly filled to capacity and that additional hospital beds would be needed.<\/p>\n
Health commissioner Williams suggested, at one point, establishing an emergency hospital in the old Haskins Hospital property, foreshadowing similar talk by 2020 Mayor Glenn Elliott of reopening part of the OVMC building (formerly OVGH) for the same purpose in response to COVID-19. The Haskins idea was abandoned when the City found the property was too far gone from hospital grade, and the prospect of reuse too expensive and daunting. Instead, the focus shifted to expanding the capacity of the two existing hospitals. Like Wheeling\u2019s 1918 city council, today\u2019s city administrators may find the prospect of focusing on existing facilities a more prudent choice for the same reasons.<\/p>\n
$\"Haskins$ <\/a>
Haskins Hospital, located at 3327 Eoff Street in South Wheeling, closed its doors June 1, 1915. Courtesy OCPL Archives.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
According to the 1918 minutes, Williams suggested, and Nagle proposed, that the hospitals\u00a0increase capacity \u201cby enclosing certain large porches which both hospitals possess by constructing temporary side walls, and installing emergency lighting and heating equipment.\u201d This idea was executed by both institutions.<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t $\"Nurses$ <\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\tNurses congregate under closed in porches at Wheeling Hospital in North Wheeling, 1928. Courtesy OCPL Archives. <\/em>\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t $\"The$ <\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\tThe “Solarium” at Ohio Valley General Hospital, circa late 1920s. Courtesy OCPL Archives. <\/em>\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n
Nagle opined (in concurrence with Williams) that the city should pick up the tab, and furthermore, should pay for destitute citizens who became patients. These noble gestures were to fizzle when the pandemic subsided.<\/p>\n
City Council then passed a resolution authorizing and empowering the City Manager and the Health Commissioner to \u201cmake such arrangements and take such action as in their judgment is reasonably necessary in caring for patients suffering from influenza during the present emergency.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n
City Hospital During the Pandemic<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n
After the 2019 closure of the Ohio Valley Medical Center (formerly Ohio Valley General Hospital) the Ohio County Public Library Archives was entrusted with the hospital\u2019s board of directors\u2019 minutes. Fortunately, the 1918 minutes are a part of the collection, and they provide interesting insights into the pandemic in Wheeling.<\/p>\n
The Superintendent of OVGH in 1918 was Pliny O. Clark, and he submitted monthly reports to the board.<\/p>\n
In his October 17 report, Clark noted that there were seventeen influenza patients at OVGH. They had been admitting such patients for two weeks, during which time two had died from pneumonia. Clark asserted that OVGH was the only hospital in the district to admit influenza victims for the first week. He later stated that the first case in Wheeling was diagnosed on October 2, 1918, and that no influenza patients had been refused by OVGH since the crisis had begun. Clark specifically named Wheeling and Glendale as the local hospitals that did not accept influenza patients at first, but noted that both were doing so by October 17.<\/p>\n
In his November report, Clark said that the Health Commissioner had asked local physicians to send only emergency work to the hospital, which reflects the current situation as people are being asked to defer elective surgeries<\/a>. For OVGH in 1918, the move proved wise, cutting the number of surgeries in half for November and by two thirds for December, by which time\u00a0OVGH was caring for as many as 100 Influenza cases per day, yet the crowding situation was decreasing.<\/p>\n
$\"One$ <\/a>
One of the operating rooms at Ohio Valley General Hospital, circa late 1920s. Courtesy OCPL Archives.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
By November 19, OVGH had admitted 195 influenza patients, confining them to the Third and Fifth Floors. Many of these patients were placed on the Fifth-floor porch constructed in response to the recommendation by health commissioner Williams (see above). The entrances to the stairway from the second and fourth floors were temporarily blocked.<\/p>\n
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Volunteer school teachers (the schools having been ordered closed) were making supplies for the hospital. Clark was so impressed, he asked them to organize a permanent organization to be known as the Hospital Emergency Corps. \u201cIn addition to the school teachers,\u201d Clark reported, \u201cwe have had several others who have assisted in various ways: Mrs. Alexander Glass assisting in the kitchen work continuously; Miss Anne Reymann also assisting in kitchen work, as well as Mrs. J. A. Bloch\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
Around the same time, the Intelligencer<\/em> noted that Father Moye at St. Joseph\u2019s Cathedral, not to be outdone, had volunteered the Catholic School teachers and Sisters from Cathedral School to lend a hand to the health department.<\/p>\n
Influenza also afflicted OVGH board members, three of whom were absent from the November and December meetings.<\/p>\n
At the December meeting, the Red Cross was said to be willing to supply pneumonia jackets<\/a> for use in the hospital. In the age before antibiotics, such jackets were used to treat pneumonia patients by helping to keep them warm. They sometimes included rubber tubes through which warm water could be circulated.<\/p>\n
Mrs. Alexander Glass (wife of the Wheeling Corrugating Co. founder and future Wheeling Steel chair<\/a>), offered to pay for the rental of an apparatus developed in Cleveland for the treatment of pneumonia.<\/p>\n
By January 1919, OVGH was almost exclusively treating influenza patients, the number of which began to drop in mid-December. Also in December, several OVGH doctors began to return from France. As late as March 1919, OVGH lost seven more influenza patients to pneumonia.<\/p>\n
In December, Superintendent Clark discussed the growing costs of the pandemic to the hospital, exacerbated by the loss of revenue as many of the new cases were \u201ccharity cases.\u201d Unusual expenses included the aforementioned pneumonia jackets ($2 or about $35 today), extra gowns, masks, and the cost of sterilization (alcohol), as well as the cost of expanding the staff to meet the emergency.<\/p>\n
Clark and the board closed the year trying, unsuccessfully, to recoup some of the influenza expenses the hospital had incurred from the city of Wheeling, which had been promised by City Manager Nagle (see above).<\/p>\n
\n
Nurses<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n
Early in October, the national Red Cross began pushing local organizers to recruit more nurses, nurses\u2019 aides, and volunteers between the ages of 19 and 35 to help with the flu crisis. Local Red Cross supervisors Mrs. R.J. Bullard and Mrs. Susan Cook expected as many as 200 to be registered from the Wheeling area.<\/p>\n
$\"\"$ <\/a><\/p>\n
On October 5, the Intelligencer<\/em> reported the sad news that Alice M. Young, a registered nurse from Wheeling who graduated from the Ohio Valley General Hospital School of Nursing class of 1901 and was working at Camp Sevier<\/a> in South Carolina, died after a bout with influenza and pneumonia. She is the only woman<\/a> from Ohio County listed in the Veteran\u2019s Memorial Database<\/a> maintained by the West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History.<\/p>\n
$\"Wheeling$ <\/a>
Wheeling Intelligencer<\/em>, October 5, 1918. Page 5.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
In his monthly report to the hospital board, OVGH Superintendent Pliny O. Clark made note of\u00a0Young\u2019s death, writing, \u201cSo far as we know, this is the first death among the twenty-three nurses who have gone into Red Cross work, from this Hospital.\u201d<\/p>\n
OVGH made noteworthy efforts to protect its nurses from infection. Clark wrote:<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are protecting so far as we are able, by spraying twice or three times a day, and requiring that all nurses while on duty wear masks, and that they eat five times a day; furnishing the very best food we can procure; more meat than usual. We hope in this manner, to reduce the danger. Our Officers are, however, working at tremendous pressure, and I would not be surprised to hear at any time, of the entire force being stricken down.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
$\"Nurse$ <\/a>
Nurse in the sterilizing room, Ohio Valley General Hospital, circa late 1920s. Courtesy OCPL Archives.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Indeed, as many as nineteen OVGH nurses were soon ill with influenza, and the city hospital was severely understaffed. One of these, a Miss Groves, died of pneumonia on October 22. A stricken intern recovered and returned to work. In addition to illness, many staff were lost to military service. By December, the school of nursing had canceled classes so that the students could be available to help with the influenza patients. A member of the housekeeping staff died in December and 19 of 21 laundry employees were out with the virus.<\/p>\n
$\"Nurses$ <\/a>
Nurses classroom at Ohio Valley General Hospital, circa late 1920s. Courtesy OCPL Archives.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nOn October 11, eight local Wheeling graduate nurses, including Margaret Schwinn, Josephine Detterman, Cecilia Finnerty, Nancy Hoppel, Julia Severn, Grace Droppleman, Ann Burke, and Lula McMann, were sent off to either to Virginia or Camp Meade<\/a> in Maryland, where the flu situation was particularly acute.<\/p>\n
On October 22, the Red Cross made another plea, this time for 2000 \u201cstrong, cheerful, energetic, self-reliant, and typically American, that is, capable of self-sacrifice and devotion\u201d women, between 25 and 35 years of age, for hospital and canteen work in France.<\/p>\n
Even as recruitment intensified, reminders of the risk appeared in the daily news. On October 26, Elizabeth Woodville, an 18-year-old student nurse from Virginia, died of influenza and pneumonia at Wheeling Hospital.<\/p>\n
The impact of the pandemic on nursing was significant.\u00a0Owing possibly to the effects of war and pandemic, the OVGH school of nursing had only one probationer for spring 1919. Typical class size was thirty. Superintendent Clark theorized: \u201cI expect\u2026young women have been making such good wages, that they do not\u2026now care to settle down to a three year\u2019s grind in preparation for nurse\u2019s work.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite recruiting efforts at local high schools, the enrollment situation did not improve much by fall 1919, when Clark described the shortage as \u201cacute\u201d and \u201calarming.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\n
Cures, Preventives, Treatments, and Folk Remedies<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n
\u201cThe doctor called the other day
\nHe said, \u2018You have the flu.\u2019
\nI trembled at those awful words.
\nAnd asked, \u201cWhat shall I do?\u201d<\/p>\n
Go right to bed, cover well,
\nAnd sweat and sweat like \u2014 thunder!
\n\u2018All right,\u2019 I said and then I sneezed
\nTill near did sneeze asunder.<\/p>\n
He left a spray with orders keen.
\nTo use it much and often;
\nSo I\u2019m doing as the doctor said,
\nBut sneezing and a\u2019coughing<\/p>\n
I am not a church going man,
\nBut do believe in praying.
\nSo from morning \u2019till late at night,
\nI\u2019m Spraying! Spraying! Spraying!\u201d<\/p>\n
~Anonymous [Intelligencer, 10-19-1918]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
In addition to vague hopes that things like rain would somehow \u201cpurify the air,\u201d businesses and people came up with a wide range of schemes and potions to stop the dreaded virus.<\/p>\n
Nurses at Ohio Valley General Hospital reportedly wore masks \u201cnot unlike the gas masks used by the soldiers in France\u201d while treating influenza patients at the hospital. \u00a0This was confirmed in Superintendent Clark\u2019s report to the OVGH board. Ordinary citizens were advised to wear gauze masks, which could be procured free of charge from the Red Cross.<\/p>\n
Anti-expectoration and well-functioning bowels became something of an obsession, as this October 23 Intelligencer piece confirms:<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen a fellow spits or blows the mucous from his nose on the floor or sidewalk the germs soon become part of the dust of the air and will be breathed in by others. If you cough, sneeze or laugh in another man\u2019s face you cause him to breathe your germs. Ventilate your sleeping quarters well. Avoid crowds because the air in crowded rooms just now is certain to contain the germ. Take plenty of exercise, keep bowels open and avoid all excess.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
At no point, however, in reading hundreds of articles about the Spanish Influenza in Wheeling\u2019s newspapers or other sources, did we encounter the suggestion that people should simply wash their hands<\/a>.<\/p>\n
$\"\"$ <\/a>Local businesses like Baer\u2019s Drug Store made efforts to contain the virus. Baer started using \u201csanitary paper cups\u201d at its soda fountains, and local barbers were said to be considering the \u201cwearing of masks.\u201d The Wheeling Traction Company and West Virginia Traction & Electric Company started fumigating their street cars with eucalyptus oil every morning before the cars left the barns. They also vowed to keep windows open during transit, though there seemed to be a few complaints about unopened windows.<\/p>\n
In addition to national brands like Vick\u2019s Vaporub (who suggested that nature combined with a good laxative and, of course, Vaporub, was the cure), bizarre things like Bulgarian Blood Tea (yes, Bulgarian Blood Tea) were said to help ease symptoms of the Spanish Flu.<\/p>\n
Offered at local druggists like Griests, Coleman\u2019s, Baer\u2019s, Irwin, and Hoge-Davis, Nostriola brand balm or liquid was said to \u201copen air passages\u201d to keep an acute cold from somehow becoming an attack of Spanish Influenza. Keeping the bowel open with calomel or saline draught was recommended, along with ten grains of Dover\u2019s powder (an opium-based concoction used to induce sweating) at night.<\/p>\n
$\"\"$ <\/a>Coleman\u2019s drugstore promoted its own \u201cMagic Balm,\u201d which would \u201cprevent and attack by keeping the nose and throat clean,\u201d as well as its own \u201cAntiseptic Solution\u201d for gargling, as \u201cthe nose and throat are the seat of the infection for this dreaded disease.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Wheeling\u2019s Nostriola Balm Company was pushing its \u201cMus-Tur-Pep,\u201d a frightening mixture of mustard, turpentine, and pepper marketed as the best and surest way to relieve Grip pains. And C.H. Griest & Co. Druggists touted Phosphated Iron as a \u201cblood tonic\u201d to \u201cGet the blood right.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dismissing the novelty of Spanish Influenza as just like \u201cOld Fashioned Grip<\/a>,\u201d Dr. Hartman\u2019s world famous Peruna anti-catarrhal<\/a> boasted the ability to restore and maintain \u201ca healthy condition of the mucous membranes\u201d which, of course, was the best way to ward off Spanish Influenza. Another insidious ad disguised as a recommendation from the \u201cHealth Board\u201d provided more dubious advice when it recommended running to the drugstore for a \u201cHyomei outfit\u201d [another type of anti-catarrhal] consisting of a bottle of the pure Oil of Hyomei and a little vestpocket, hard rubber inhaling device into which a few drops of oil are poured.\u201d<\/p>\n
Liquor sales jumped as temperance advocates blamed propaganda about \u201ccoffin varnish\u201d being a powerful flu preventive.<\/p>\n
Recommended disinfectants included exotic sounding herbal potions like perfume of carbolic acid, asafoedtida<\/a> (a pungent member of the celery family also known as \u201cstinking gum\u201d or \u201cdevil\u2019s dung\u201d), and old fashioned formaldehyde.<\/p>\n
On Oct. 11, a Pittsburgh based homeopathic physician named George F. Baer claimed to have experimentally discovered a successful treatment and \u201cinoculation against the malady.\u201d But Baer\u2019s \u201cpreparation,\u201d comprised of an odious sounding mixture of iodine and creosote, apparently failed to save the day.<\/p>\n
Remedies were not limited to potions or concoctions. McFadden\u2019s Men\u2019s Store on Market Street advertised it\u2019s thermal underwear line known as \u201cHeavies\u201d as \u201cInfluenza Armor,\u201d based on the unscientific assumption that \u201cbody chilling\u201d caused influenza. The same ad pushed the company\u2019s \u201crubber footwear\u201d line because: \u201cThere is danger in damp feet\u2026Better wear rubbers than become an object of interest to undertakers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Industrial laborers, many of whom had habitually shared public drinking cups at work, began to carry individual folding drinking cups in their pockets\u2014a wise move.<\/p>\n
Home remedies included fried onions and sugarless, hot lemonade, which was touted as both therapeutic and patriotic.<\/p>\n
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We may find these desperate efforts and snake-oil myths amusing, but 100 years later, the desperate myth-making continues<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\n
Martins Ferry and Bridgeport Quarantine Wheeling<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n
In an effort to prevent the spread of the virus across the Ohio River where tantalizing saloons and stores were operating freely, the cities of Martins Ferry and Bridgeport, Ohio, initiated a largely ineffective \u201cquarantine\u201d against residents of Wheeling, requiring a permit for residents to cross into Ohio and vice versa.<\/p>\n
$\"View$ <\/a>
View of Bridgeport, Ohio and Wheeling Island, \u201cSouvenir of the Eighteenth Annual Session of the United Commercial Travelers of America,\u201d 1914. Courtesy OCPL Archives.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Bellaire refused to join the coalition, enabling Wheelingites to circumvent the effort by simply crossing into Ohio by ferry from Benwood. \u201cAll cars, machines, streets, roads, pedestrians and dreams lead to the Benwood Ferry, the\u00a0Intelligencer<\/em> advised, decrying the conspiracy of \u201cover the river towns\u201d led by the \u201cCzar of Bridgeport\u201d and \u201cHis Majesty of Martins Ferry\u201d as a \u201cBad Grudge\u201d and a \u201cRaw Stunt\u201d on the people of Wheeling. With an average of 180 people per ferry, the concern that such a concentration of people would actually increase the infection risk seemed warranted. In fact, the quarantine was apparently begun at the request of Dr. M.B. Williams, Wheeling\u2019s health commissioner, who saw the Ohio saloons as an inviting infection risk, especially after 78 new flu cases were reported in Wheeling on October 14.<\/p>\n
Wheeling\u2019s legal saloons had been shuttered since the 1914 Yost Law<\/a> was passed, prompting Wheeling visitors to ask, \u201cHow do I get to Bridgeport?\u201d When the quarantine proved detrimental to the saloon business in Bridgeport and Martins Ferry, talk of ending it ensued. But what then? Close the saloons? Early rumors had \u201cseveral large business interests\u201d directly petitioning President Wilson to \u201cclose all liquor establishment within a five-mile are of the war works firms here.\u201d But this gained no traction.\u00a0Entangled in an economic\/ethical conundrum of their own creation, the Czar and His Majesty begged U.S. Surgeon General Rupert Blue to send a federal \u201cinvestigating committee\u201d to make the decision for them. It was not forthcoming. Dr. Blue had other priorities.<\/p>\n
The quarantine\u2019s lack of effectiveness was exposed just two days later, when\u00a0Wheeling city health commissioner Dr. M. B. Williams sent a telegram to the Ohio state Health Commissioner, J.E. Baumann, complaining that the open saloon policy in Bridgeport resulted in overcrowded street cars and large crowds at the saloons themselves, a policy that \u201cplaces the dollar above the value of human life.\u201d Remarkably, all of this occurred even as Ohio prepared to vote on a new prohibition law and the Wheeling papers were filled with pro-dry advertisements.<\/p>\n
Ohio was not just more inviting to drinking men, it was also about religious freedom, as Catholics made the crossing to Bellaire in order to attend Mass, their own services having been prohibited as part of Wheeling\u2019s internal quarantine.<\/p>\n
$\"Quarantine$ <\/a>
Wheeling Intelligencer<\/em>, October 21, 1918. Page 2.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
After being lifted and re-established a few times, the quarantine against Wheeling was back on by November 20. Wheeling officials were outraged and called in the feds. On November 21, U.S. Surgeon General Blue himself came to town to personally \u201ctake charge\u201d and end the \u201csquabbling.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a November 23 editorial, the Intelligencer<\/em> reasonably heralded the best result:<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is fortunate that the health regulations in this and adjacent communities are not to be left to the decision of a number of conflicting and jealous bodies. We have been toying with the influenza epidemic entirely too long. While the inconvenience to the public caused by any regulations must be considerable, this inconvenience is not to be set against the health of the people. It would be absurd, of course, for Wheeling to quarantine against the towns across the river, or for those towns to quarantine against Wheeling or against each other. A common line of action should be followed. The new health regulations established by a competent official of the United States health service should be accepted cheerfully by everyone.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The quarantine was removed the same day.<\/p>\n
\n
Wheeling Quarantines Itself<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n
\u201cGet lots of fresh air, both day and night
\n<\/strong>Keep up the shades, let in the light
\nDon\u2019t cough or sneeze in anyone\u2019s face
\nDon\u2019t spit in any public place
\nAvoid all crowds, even walk to work
\nA little exertion do not shirk
\nIf you get \u2018sick\u2019 then stay in bed
\nWarm keep the body and cool the head
\nHigh or low, in poverty or in wealth
\nNotify the officials of public health\u2026\u201d
\n~Anonymous [Intelligencer<\/em> 10-14-18]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Without a vaccine or antibiotics to treat secondary infections, quarantine was the most effective weapon against Spanish Influenza. In 2020, mitigation strategies<\/a> remain very similar.<\/p>\n
On October 5, 1918, the West Virginia Health Department under\u00a0commissioner S.L. Jepson, at the behest of Governor John J. Cornwell and based on the recommendation of\u00a0 U.S. Surgeon General Rupert Blue<\/a>, issued the following order to all local health officers:<\/p>\n
\u201cYou are hereby instructed that owing to the very wide prevalence of influenza in a virulent form, this Department hereby issues instructions requiring all cases of the disease to be promptly reported and quarantined until entirely well. Local Health Officers are required, when an outbreak appears in a community, to close all theaters, poolrooms, soft drink places, schools, churches and Sunday Schools. All public meetings must also be abandoned.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The health department also printed a circular that was passed around in bulk and sent to the newspapers. It read in part:<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery able-bodied man and woman who is willing to assist in stamping out the disease, especially teachers where schools are closed, should tender their services to the local Red Cross chapter or branch, which will give instructions and assign them to work. Doctors and nurses volunteering should wire the state health commissioner, Charleston. The need us urgent.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
$\"Influenza$ <\/a>
Wheeling Intelligencer<\/em>, October 11, 1918. Page 8.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
By October 7, even war-related gatherings (which had already replaced society events seen as trivial during a war) held by women\u2019s clubs like Carroll Court, Catholic War Relief Society, King\u2019s Daughters, and Daughters of Isabella, were suspended. Even the state D.A.R. convention to be held in Wheeling was canceled. These suspensions were viewed as part of the patriotic duty. \u201cSociety is at a standstill so far as affairs of a higher vein are concerned,\u201d the Intelligencer<\/em> lamented on October 12, yet \u201cevery loyal woman has made each day result in 100 percent accomplishment in her particular branch of patriotic service\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
The Wheeling Women\u2019s Club, for their part, traveled to local factories and plants, including Kalbitzer Packing, Reymann Packing, Neuralgyline Co., Warwick China, Bloch Brothers Tobacco, White Swan Laundry, Northwood Glass, Gee Electric, Wheeling Tile, American Sheet and Tin Plate, and Wheeling Mold and Foundry, with Red Cross nurses and doctors to educate workers by \u201cspreading anti-flu propaganda\u201d.<\/p>\n
Even Red Cross meetings were forbidden under the quarantine, but Ms. Bullard, Ms. Cook, and staff persisted by working from home, another tradition that continues<\/a>. As late as October 16, the Red Cross workers of the local \u201cItalian Society\u201d were planning a dance at Arion Hall \u201cproviding the \u2018flu\u2019 ban is lifted,\u201d of course. It was not.<\/p>\n
Both the Ohio Valley Trades and Labor Assembly and the J.W. Holliday post of the G.A.R. (Civil War veterans) suspended meetings for the first time in their respective histories.<\/p>\n
In Marshall County, the Republican Party canceled all of its planned speaking engagements for November candidates and all of its committee meetings.<\/p>\n
The Ohio towns of Martins Ferry, Bridgeport, and Bellaire joined the quarantine effort on midnight, October 25, decreeing that \u201call schools, churches, picture houses, theatres, lodge meetings and in fact everything of this nature will be done away with until the ban is lifted.\u201d<\/p>\n
The effects of quarantine were often heartrending. In Bellaire, for example, a mother and daughter quarantined in their home with smallpox, were allowed to view the body of a second daughter who had died of influenza. The open coffin was placed on the porch so that they could briefly grieve.<\/p>\n
Back in Wheeling, the ongoing campaign to support the war effort with the sale of Liberty Bonds clashed with the quarantine requirements regarding the flu. Mid-month, for example, the city permitted the Musicians Union Band to parade in support of the Liberty Loan campaign, decreeing by way of compromise: \u201cCrowds will not be allowed to collect, and the band will not be permitted to stop, but will have to keep moving. Persons will not be allowed to follow the band.\u201d<\/p>\n
With 34 new cases reported, the flu put an end to Halloween \u201cpranks and parties.\u201d It was in fact, \u201cthe quietest Halloween in the History of Wheeling.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n
The Importance of Consistency and Truth-Telling<\/h2>\n
\n
A big part of the problem with the 1918 quarantine effort was one of inconsistency. Newspaper headlines constantly declaring the epidemic was under control, or that the quarantine would be lifted, soon caused confusion and distrust, making compliance more difficult to obtain. This is a lesson for the present. To get buy-in and compliance in order to \u201c flatten the curve<\/a>,\u201d we must have a consistent message<\/a> from the top down.<\/p>\n
False hope during the 1918 pandemic was an epidemic of its own, as numerous headlines as early as mid-October trumpeted the end of the flu and the return of normalcy. No matter how bad things got, statements of conditions were routinely softened with boasts about how well Wheeling was doing compared to other communities.<\/p>\n
$\""Flu"$ <\/a>
Wheeling Intelligencer<\/em>, October 10, 1918. Page 5.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
As early as October 10, the Intelligencer<\/em> asserted that the epidemic was \u201cunder control\u201d since only five new cases had been reported in 24 hours. \u201cIt is thought that health officials halted the threatening epidemic by closing all public places before the disease had become widespread,\u201d the writer boasted. This was due to the closing of the saloons in Bridgeport and Martins Ferry \u2014the same saloons that would be mysteriously reopened two weeks later.<\/p>\n
On October 16, seven new cases in 24 hours was hailed as a sign that the \u201cclosing order\u201d would be lifted in \u201conly a few days.\u201d It was not. Instead, on October 23 forty-three new cases meant that the people of Wheeling were \u201cnot exercising all due precaution to stamp out the disease\u201d and the spike in cases was \u201ccaused by neglect on the part of citizens to adhere closely to the instructions issued by the health department.\u201d This bit of atypical candor was quickly tempered just three days later, as 22 new cases and several deaths were viewed as indicative that the situation was \u201cunder control.\u201d<\/p>\n
$\"Health$ <\/a>
Wheeling Intelligencer,<\/em> October 22, 1918. Page 3.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nDuring the long wait for the \u201cAll clear,\u201d the mantra for sporting and social events became: \u201cAs soon as the influenza regulations are lifted in this city\u2026\u201d Then, as now<\/a>, the most consistent griping was sports-related, as football and baseball games were routinely scheduled, analyzed, then canceled at the last minute because of the much-despised \u201cban.\u201d Bowling clubs also canceled \u201ca number of spirited contests.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t $\"Sports$ <\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\tWheeling Intelligencer<\/em>, October 18, 1918. Page 7.\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t $\"Wheeling$ <\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\tWheeling High football player, circa 1918. Courtesy OCPL Archives, Schreiber Family Collection.<\/em>\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n
Shows like \u201cthe Unmarried Mother\u201d scheduled to run at the Court Theatre were promoted routinely, always with a disclaimer like, \u201cproviding the Spanish Influenza order is lifted by Health Commissioner Williams. Seats go on sale tomorrow.\u201d This constant drumbeat could not have been helpful in keeping people focused on containment strategies.<\/p>\n
On October 31, the Intelligencer<\/em> reprinted a communication from West Virginia Health Commissioner S. L. Jepson, which read in part,<\/p>\n
\u201cSince the time is approaching when the subsidence of the influenza epidemic will be so marked that it will be safe to withdraw all quarantine regulations, the State health Commissioner hereby announces that since he cannot possibly know local conditions as well as can the local health authorities, he will not assume the responsibility for removing the quarantine restrictions. This must be determined by the health authorities of each municipality and county\u2026\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Yet the pandemic did not end.<\/p>\n
In December 1918, as Wheelingites waited desperately for the quarantine to be lifted, things got dicey, nerves were frayed and tempers flared. The theatrical stage employees and motion picture operator\u2019s organization unions, for example, \u201cpassed resolutions condemning the action of the city officials in their \u2018on again, off again\u2019 policy in regard to the placing of the ban.\u201d The frustration stemmed from the fact that city manager Nagle and health commissioner Williams lifted the ban on November 22 after a six-week layoff, then put the ban back in place on November 23 with a 6 pm curfew.<\/p>\n
On November 23, the Intelligencer<\/em> mocked the curfew:<\/p>\n
\u201cThe \u2018flu\u2019 germ was abroad all during the night. This morning the germ will hunt its home and remain there until 6 o\u2019clock tonight when the hideous thing will emerge and scatter disease and death among the citizens of the Ohio Valley. That is the least that can be said about the present quarantine regulations existing at present in this section.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
And eloquently expressed a sentiment in support of what we now call \u201csocial distancing<\/a>\u201d that would serve us well in 2020:<\/p>\n
\u201cToo much emphasis is laid on the dollar. In a great many persons\u2019 opinions, the dollar should go begging if one life can be saved by a strict quarantine. Pressure is brought to bear by the managers of amusement companies and moving picture shows that they are losing money by a strict observance of the quarantine regulations. No one has complained but the managers. It would appear from the history of the past few days that managers of theatres place dollars above life and health in this city and in the Ohio Valley as well. Many people are of the opinion that if a strict and absolute quarantine will stamp out the disease then it is time to stop playing and get busy in that line. About the best thing to do is to make people believe that the flu germ lives in the daytime as well as at night.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
But on December 9, another reporter contradicted his colleague:<\/p>\n
\u201cWe endorse the action of the theater managers in the stand they have taken in trying to keep the city open and to compel the health department to quarantine and placard homes as was done in other cities, believing that this rule if followed out would have done more to keep Spanish influenza from spreading than other unimportant rules which were laid down. Quarantining would have at least kept the people who have been exposed in their home and prevented the spread of disease.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Frustration mounted as, even when the pandemic seemed to end, it sprang back to life. The December 13, 1918 edition of Public Health Reports from the United States Public Health Service<\/em> stated that telegrams were sent to State health officers asking about recrudescence<\/a>\u00a0[recurrence] of the disease. West Virginia reported recrudescence of influenza in Charleston, South Charleston, Bluefield, and Clarksburg, and in Wheeling \u201cconditions were said to be as bad as ever\u2026\u201d A week later, recrudescence was noted at Sutton, Pineville, Lester, Shepherdstown, Huntington, and Clothier, and nothing had changed for the Friendly City: \u201cepidemic bad at Wheeling.\u201d<\/p>\n
Finally, on December 30 the long-awaited good news broke and the circus ended as the reopening of schools after eleven weeks of closure (and one aborted re-opening) signaled the end of Wheeling\u2019s quarantine period. A slew of social events and New Year\u2019s Eve parties were subsequently announced.<\/p>\n
On January 3, 1919 the Intelligencer declared: \u201cThe epidemic is almost entirely wiped out.\u201d This time, it appears they were correct. The horrific pandemic ended as quickly and as mysteriously as it had begun.<\/p>\n
\n
The Economic Impact in Wheeling<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n
One of the major concerns about the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic is the probable national<\/a> and global\u00a0 long-term economic impact<\/a>, including record unemployment, bankruptcies, stock market collapse, and the possibility of recession or even depression.<\/p>\n
In 1918, war production may have boosted the economy, but by forcing store closings and quarantine, the pandemic still had detrimental effects.<\/p>\n
On August 31, 1918, Bradstreet\u2019s Weekly<\/em>, a business journal published in New York, reported \u201cTrade at a Glance\u201d in Wheeling positively, noting \u201cWhole & job trade\u201d and \u201cRetail trade\u201d in the district as \u201cGood,\u201d and \u201cManufacturing & industry\u201d as \u201cActive.\u201d<\/p>\n
As the flu pandemic began to spread in West Virginia, the economic effects began to show. On October 19, 1918, Bradstreet\u2019s Weekly<\/em> was reporting of Wheeling, \u201cMild weather with the epidemic of influenza have served to slow up retail trade.\u201d A week later, the publication reported of Wheeling, \u201cThe slowing up in all lines of trade, due to influenza, is very noticeable. Coal production has fallen off about 20 per cent. Houses dealing in electrical and mining supplies report many new orders and an active business. Dealers in confections are behind on orders. Building is quiet. Collections are good. Pottery production has been ordered cut 50 per cent.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Wheeling Intelligencer<\/em> reported the following on October 22, 1918:<\/p>\n
\u201cThe \u2018flu\u2019 has put quietus on business in this city good and hard. Last week is said to have been the quietest in practically every commercial line. Across the river towns issuing quarantine against Wheeling has put the kibosh on commercial activities between this city and \u2018over there.\u2019 A veteran produce dealer said yesterday that last week was the quietest in his line in the past score of years.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
By November 2, the Bradstreet\u2019s<\/em> update for Wheeling had worsened: \u201cBusiness is lagging, due to interruptions caused by influenza. Retail trade has been noticeably curtailed.\u201d The \u201cTrade at a Glance\u201d this time reported Wheeling\u2019s \u201cWhole & job trade\u201d as \u201cQuiet,\u201d \u201cRetail trade\u201d as \u201cDull,\u201d and \u201cManufacturing & industry\u201d in the district as \u201cRestricted,\u201d with the following remarks: \u201cInfluenza restricts trade and industry.\u201d<\/p>\n
A week later, though Wheeling was still in the throes of the pandemic, the economic situation seemed to have stabilized. \u201cTrade at a Glance\u201d reported that the Wheeling district on November 9 showed the \u201cWhole and job trade\u201d as \u201cquieter\u201d and \u201cRetail Trade\u201d as \u201cFair,\u201d with \u201cManufacturing & industry\u201d returning to \u201cActive.\u201d Though the local businesses were recovering from the spread of Influenza through the workforce, Wheeling industries were hit with another blow. Bradstreet\u2019s<\/em> reported that week, \u201cWholesale business shows some falling off and retail trade is only fair. Manufacturers continue working full time, but orders have fallen off, due to the possibilities of early peace.\u201d Armistice would be announced just two days later, and the end of the Great War added to the economic impact of the Influenza pandemic.<\/p>\n
Isaac M. Scott, President of Wheeling Steel & Iron Co., released a statement in the trade publication, The Iron Age<\/em>, reviewing the company\u2019s disappointing operations for the year of 1918. \u201cThe loss in production for the year, as compared with the two previous years, can be accounted for (a) to shortage of raw materials; (b) shortage of labor, due to the draft, and later in the year, to the effects of the influenza; (c) curtailment of operations in certain departments under orders from the Government, and (d) falling off in demand after the signing of the armistice,\u201d noting that \u201cThere was an active demand for the company\u2019s products up to the time of the signing of the armistice.\u201d<\/p>\n
$\"Men$ <\/a>
Men running off slag before pouring a heat of Bessemer Steel in the Benwood Works of Wheeling Steel, 1926. \u201cFrom Mine to Market.\u201d Courtesy OCPL Archives.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
By the end of December, \u201cTrade at a Glance\u201d had returned to reports of \u201cGood\u201d and \u201cActive\u201d in Wheeling, with Bradstreet\u2019s<\/em> reporting, \u201cWholesale trade is good and manufacturers are still operating full time. There has been unprecedented holiday trade with retailers.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n
What About the Public Library?<\/h2>\n
\n
Wheeling\u2019s public library remained open until at least mid-October, providing fodder for attempted levity in this October 15 piece in the Intelligencer\u2019s \u201cAbout Town\u201d section:<\/p>\n
\u201cMerchants and manager of shops and business places have put the ban on loafers during the Spanish influenza epidemic. Many of the evening loafers are now all dressed up and have no place to go \u2014 not even a motion picture house , and it\u2019s too cool to sit in the park, and they can\u2019t even while away the time in the evenings in the Ohio side bar rooms. A suggestion: The Wheeling public library is still doing business at the old stand.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The library apparently closed<\/a> around the 20th of October.<\/p>\n
$\"\"$ <\/a><\/p>\n
But that did not stop the Intelligencer from making dubious jokes like this one, on October 23:<\/p>\n
\u201cSpeaking of magazines, the village wit circulated a report the other day that the Wheeling library was not closed on account of the \u2018flu\u2019 epidemic, but it was to prevent pro-Germans from blowing up the magazines.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\n
Epilogue: 1919<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n
Not surprisingly, the reports of diagnosed 1918 H1N1 cases and deaths were wildly inconsistent at every level. Dealing with our own pandemic 102 years later, it seems few lessons<\/a> have been learned. If testing is woefully inadequate now, imagine how it must have been in 1918. Even looking internationally, the 1918 death estimates range from 50 to 100 million, a rather massive range.<\/p>\n
Consider, for example, the numbers published in 1919 by the West Virginia State Health Department:<\/p>\n
\u201cReported in Wheeling from Oct. 5-17: Cases, 110; Deaths, 4<\/p>\n
Reported in Ohio Co. from Oct. 15-Nov. 15: Cases, 1177; Complications, 127; Deaths, 75<\/p>\n
Reported Statewide from Oct. 15-Nov. 15: 71,079 cases; 7,675 complications; 2,818 deaths.\u201d<\/p>\n
The following caveat was included:<\/p>\n
\u201cThis report is necessarily incomplete and does not represent the total number of influenza cases, complications and deaths which occurred in West Virginia during the epidemic. It is based upon reports from doctors in their respective communities and also upon reports from other sources. Doubtless in a number of instances the reports are based on estimates rather than correct observations.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Indeed.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s fair to say that, for all the suffering and carnage it caused, the 1918 influenza pandemic motivated positive changes in public health policy.<\/p>\n
In 1957, the West Virginia State Nurse\u2019s Association called 1919 a \u201cfateful year\u201d noting that \u201cthe 75-year history of public health work in the state contains no other single year that had more concentrated efforts on so many fronts. It was in that year that: the Legislature finally took steps to abolish panaceas for venereal disease\u2026the state assumed supervisory control of water supplies, sewage and drainage projects with an eye on the growing evidence of links between such matters and epidemics\u2026sanitation posters appeared in rural districts; the marking of water supplies as \u201csafe\u201d or \u201cunsafe\u201d was begun; legislation enabled three-mill taxes to allow a county to support a full-time health officer and his assistants\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
Wheeling city council minutes confirm that on Nov. 6, 1918, an ordinance \u201cproviding for the appointment of a Health Commissioner and constituting a Department of Health, providing regulations for communicable diseases, vaccinations, \u2026reporting of births and deaths, disposal of the dead, collection and disposal of garbage, \u2026supply and sale of water\u2026 and keeping of clean of premises within the city of Wheeling,\u201d among other things, was presented to the Wheeling City Council.<\/p>\n
The massive 26-page ordinance was adopted on April 29, 1919.<\/p>\n
\n
Conclusions<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n
Some have argued that the most important lesson<\/a> we can learn from the H1N1 pandemic of 1918 is that governments must tell the truth, gain public trust, and gain compliance for things like \u201csocial distancing\u201d and closures to \u201cflatten the curve.\u201d By studying Wheeling\u2019s experience in 1918, we learn that city officials and media did not always tell the truth, preferring a false optimism in order to lift morale for the war effort. When this happened, the result was always the same: the bans and quarantines had to be brought back, and the time for containment was pushed forward, resulting in more infections, and more deaths.<\/p>\n
As many have correctly noted, we are all in this together. And the sooner we comply with the necessary steps for suppression of COVID-19, as they have been laid out via many sources<\/a>, the sooner we will be able to return to normalcy.<\/p>\n
The good news is, despite many mistakes, we survived 1918, and we will survive 2020. The only question remains, how much time and how many people will we lose before we heed the vital lessons of our history?<\/p>\n
\n
Sources<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n
\n
Annual Report of the State Health Department, West Virginia, 1919.<\/p>\n
Board Minutes and Reports of Superintendent Pliny O. Clark, Ohio Valley General Hospital, 1918-1919.<\/p>\n
Bond, D.H., A half-century of nursing in West Virginia: the history of the West Virginia State Nurses\u2019 Association<\/em>, 1907-1957., W. Va. State Nurses Assoc., 1957.<\/p>\n
Bradstreet\u2019s Weekly<\/em>, August-December, 1918.<\/p>\n
City Council minutes, City of Wheeling, West Virginia, 1918-1919.<\/p>\n
Public Health Reports<\/em>, the official journal of the U.S. Surgeon General and the U.S. Public Health Service,\u00a0Sept. 27 to Dec. 20, 1918.<\/p>\n
\u201cWheeling Steel & Iron Co. Had Decreased Production \u2014Influenza a Factor,\u201d The Iron Age<\/em>, March 6, 1919, pg. 651.<\/p>\n
Wheeling Intelligencer<\/em>, September, October, November, and December 1918, and January 1919.<\/p>\n
\n
With Gratitude<\/em><\/h3>\n
\n
Many thanks to Mary McKinley, Jim Stultz, and the many other former OVMC staff and School of Nursing alumni who obtained permission to release hospital meeting minutes and helped OCPL staff procure the records<\/a> of the Ohio Valley General Hospital and School of Nursing. Thanks also to City of Wheeling Clerk BJ Delbert and the City of Wheeling Human Resources Department for allowing access to City Council Meeting Minutes.<\/p>\n
Many thanks as well to the Ohio County Public Library, without whose resources<\/a> we could not have written this timely article.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
-Written and researched by Se\u00e1n P. Duffy and Erin Rothenbuehler Schools were closed. So were restaurants, amusement parks, theatres, movie houses, and even the public library. Hotels sat empty. Meetings, parties, and society events were canceled. Sporting events postponed. People<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8452,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[40,6,816],"tags":[996,1000,999,809,1007,1006,942,1005,995,814,994,998,993,1010,101,289,997,1008,1004,755,1001,1009,968,992,221,55],"coauthors":[310,313,312],"class_list":["post-8183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archiving-wheeling","category-contributor-ocpl","category-wals-foundation","tag-996","tag-avian-flu","tag-bird-flu","tag-camp-lee","tag-coronavirus","tag-covid-19","tag-first-world-war","tag-flu","tag-flue","tag-great-war","tag-grippe","tag-h1n1","tag-influenza","tag-nurses","tag-ohio-valley-general-hospital","tag-ovgh","tag-pandemic","tag-pneumonia","tag-quarantine","tag-red-cross","tag-rupert-blue","tag-social-distancing","tag-spanish-flu","tag-spanish-influenza","tag-wheeling-hospital","tag-wwi"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/AW-2020-03-20_FI-final.jpg?fit=738%2C355&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5pkc7-27Z","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8183"}],"version-history":[{"count":221,"href":"https:\/\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8183\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8468,"href":"https:\/\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8183\/revisions\/8468"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8452"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8183"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=8183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}