More news from 1918 – a couple of telling articles:
Red Bluff Daily News
29 October 1918
SALOONS REFUSE TO OBEY ORDERS BOARD OF HEALTH
STOCKTON, October 26 —The saloon keepers of Tracy, backed up by the attitude of Mayor N. S. Dwelly, are keeping open today in defiance of the order of the city board of health of the West Side railroad town. The health board, acting upon advices from the state board of health, has demanded that the district attorney’s office proceed to enforce its order closing the saloons forthwith as a precautionary measure against the spread of the Spanish Influenza. Up to noon today Deputy District Attorney M. O. Woodward, to whom the matter was referred, stated that he was making investigations, and expected to take action before the day closes.
Los Angeles Herald
28 October 1918
Makes Coffin and Digs Grave for Son
PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 28. — Unable to secure an undertaker to bury his son Jack, a senior at the high school, who died a week ago from Spanish influenza, Rabbi Rosenfeid fashioned a coffin out of rough boards secured from a lumber dealer, hired an express wagon and buried the body with the aid of a friend, after digging the grave.