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100 Years Ago - Times reporter victim of the influenza epidemic

Times-Tribune - 10/15/2018

Oct. 15--Oct. 15, 1918

Times reporter covers influenza, dies from it

Thomas Gerrity, City Hall reporter for The Scranton Times, was taken by the same disease that he was covering.

Little more than two weeks earlier, he had written the first story on how influenza was affecting the city of Scranton.

His symptoms were typical of the disease. Started out as a cold. Then rapid onset of influenza, which progressed into pneumonia. Then death.

Gerrity started work in 1903 as a reporter for the Scranton Truth, later joining the staff of The Times.

He was survived by his wife, Kathryn, and his three children, Jean, Jack and Elizabeth; his mother; and a brother and three sisters.

Epidemic waning

Scranton Health Department officials believed the Spanish influenza epidemic was waning. Health Department chief Dr. S.P. Longstreet said "the situation generally has taken a change for the better, but the people of the city should not grow overconfident. We have a long road to travel before the epidemic can be made a memory."

He also reported that the number of flu cases in the city stood at 2,217, with 104 deaths. Also, 989 homes were under quarantine as of Oct. 14.

The city's hospitals were treating a total of 348 influenza patients, and the emergency hospital at the 13th Regiment Armory was treating 76 patients.

BRIAN FULTON, library manager, oversees The Times-Tribune's expansive digital and paper archives and is an authority on local history. Contact Brian at bfulton@timesshamrock.com or 570-348-9140.

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