Evening Republican, Volume 23, Number 40, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 February 1920 — “SPANISH FLU” [ARTICLE]

“SPANISH FLU”

I guess I’ll write a poem As Eve nothing else to do, And for want of something better, ' I will call it Spanish Fhi. The gasolineless Sunday May be a pretty thing When we think of what destruction The Spanish Flu may bring. AU people are uniting To check the deadly plague, 4nd many just to kill it Would give an arm or leg. It seems that when you take it You’re chilly down your spine, Next minute you are roasting From your marrow to your rine. You ache in every And your spirits are so blue, That you call the family doctor, And he says “you’ve got the Flu.” The Flu would not be fatal. But with it hand in hand, There is the germ Pneumonia, That takes you from the land. I read a simple method, That helps the Flu to halt, __ .By washing throat and nostrils, With water mixed with salt. Don’t mingle with the public, Associate with few. And keep away from coughers, And from the sneezers too. And sleep with windows open, Keep your liver in good tune, And try a dose of castor oil, Say—’bout a table spoon. Get your system in condition, To repel most all disease, Partake of food that’s wholesome, And stay out in the breeze. Drink lots of beverage, The purest Adam’s ale, The kind that Simple Simon found, Within his mother’s pail. And by -co-operation We can rid the land of Flu, And again can go among them Just as we used to do. Then we’ll meet our friends and Say “Hello and How’d-d-ja-do,” “Sure fine weather we are haying Did you have the Spanish Flu?” The above poem was written Oct. 6, 1918, by Leon E. Parks, son of Mr. and Mrs. G. L. Parks of Milroy. While written sometime ago it is interesting reading at this time.