The Spanish Flu Pandemic and Boxing in the U.S. During October 1918

[Chuck1052]

The Spanish Flu Pandemic killed an estimated 20 to 50 million people worldwide and an estimated 675,000 people in the U.S. From September 1918 to November 1918, the so-called "Second Wave" of the Spanish Flu Pandemic swept through the U.S. with the deaths from the flu increasing dramatically. According to a number of sources, about 195,000 people died from the Spanish Flu in the United States during October 1918. A great majority of the American Spanish Flu Pandemic deaths took place from August 1918 to May 1919.

Astoundingly in the U.S., 99 percent of the Spanish Flu Pandemic deaths occurred in people who were under the age of 65 years of age while nearly 50 percent of the deaths occurred in adults from the ages of 20 to 40. It was thought that many Americans 65 years of age or older may have developed an immunity from the Spanish Flu by being exposed to the 1889-1890 Flu Pandemic, which was known as the "Russian Flu." According to the 1920 U.S. Census, the population of the U.S. was 106,461,000, about 1/3 of what it is now. If the U.S. had a population of 300 million during 1918 and 1919, it may have resulted in a total of two million deaths due to the Spanish Flu Pandemic in the country.

During October 1918, many American boxing venues were shut down for a few weeks largely due to the staggering number of deaths in the U.S. at the time. A large number of the venues resumed staging boxing shows during November 1918.

[funso banjo baby]

the huge death toll was exacerbated by post-war austerity and general ill-health across vast swathes of Russia, Europe, the Americas and elsewhere.

[dagosd2000]

The Spanish Flu Pandemic killed an estimated 20 to 50 million people worldwide and an estimated 675,000 people in the U.S. From September 1918 to November 1918, the so-called "Second Wave" of the Spanish Flu Pandemic swept through the U.S. with the deaths from the flu increasing dramatically. According to a number of sources, about 195,000 people died from the Spanish Flu in the United States during October 1918. A great majority of the American Spanish Flu Pandemic deaths took place from August 1918 to May 1919.

Astoundingly in the U.S., 99 percent of the Spanish Flu Pandemic deaths occurred in people who were under the age of 65 years of age while nearly 50 percent of the deaths occurred in adults from the ages of 20 to 40. According to It was thought that many Americans 65 years of age or older may have developed an immunity from the Spanish Flu by being exposed to the 1889-1890 Flu Pandemic, which was known as the "Russian Flu." According to the 1920 U.S. Census, the population of the U.S. was 106,461,000, about 1/3 of what it is now. If the U.S. had a population of 300 million during 1918 and 1919, it may have resulted in a total of two million deaths due to the Spanish Flu Pandemic in the country.

During October 1918, many American boxing venues were shut down for a few weeks largely due to the staggering number of deaths in the U.S. at the time. A large number of the venues resumed staging boxing shows during November 1918.

Chuck
Didn't Bob Fitzsimmons die of the Spanish flu?

[Chuck1052]

The Spanish Flu Pandemic killed an estimated 20 to 50 million people worldwide and an estimated 675,000 people in the U.S. From September 1918 to November 1918, the so-called "Second Wave" of the Spanish Flu Pandemic swept through the U.S. with the deaths from the flu increasing dramatically. According to a number of sources, about 195,000 people died from the Spanish Flu in the United States during October 1918. A great majority of the American Spanish Flu Pandemic deaths took place from August 1918 to May 1919.

Astoundingly in the U.S., 99 percent of the Spanish Flu Pandemic deaths occurred in people who were under the age of 65 years of age while nearly 50 percent of the deaths occurred in adults from the ages of 20 to 40. According to It was thought that many Americans 65 years of age or older may have developed an immunity from the Spanish Flu by being exposed to the 1889-1890 Flu Pandemic, which was known as the "Russian Flu." According to the 1920 U.S. Census, the population of the U.S. was 106,461,000, about 1/3 of what it is now. If the U.S. had a population of 300 million during 1918 and 1919, it may have resulted in a total of two million deaths due to the Spanish Flu Pandemic in the country.

During October 1918, many American boxing venues were shut down for a few weeks largely due to the staggering number of deaths in the U.S. at the time. A large number of the venues resumed staging boxing shows during November 1918.

Chuck
Didn't Bob Fitzsimmons die of the Spanish flu?

Roger, Bob Fitzsimmons died of pneumonia in both of his lungs on October 22, 1917, which was before the Spanish Flu Pandemic took place.

- Chuck Johnston

[dagosd2000]

Chuck
Didn't Bob Fitzsimmons die of the Spanish flu?

Roger, Bob Fitzsimmons died of pneumonia in both of his lungs on October 22, 1917, which was before the Spanish Flu Pandemic took place.

- Chuck Johnston

[tiny_acres]

The Spanish Flu Pandemic killed an estimated 20 to 50 million people worldwide and an estimated 675,000 people in the U.S. From September 1918 to November 1918, the so-called "Second Wave" of the Spanish Flu Pandemic swept through the U.S. with the deaths from the flu increasing dramatically. According to a number of sources, about 195,000 people died from the Spanish Flu in the United States during October 1918. A great majority of the American Spanish Flu Pandemic deaths took place from August 1918 to May 1919.

Astoundingly in the U.S., 99 percent of the Spanish Flu Pandemic deaths occurred in people who were under the age of 65 years of age while nearly 50 percent of the deaths occurred in adults from the ages of 20 to 40. According to It was thought that many Americans 65 years of age or older may have developed an immunity from the Spanish Flu by being exposed to the 1889-1890 Flu Pandemic, which was known as the "Russian Flu." According to the 1920 U.S. Census, the population of the U.S. was 106,461,000, about 1/3 of what it is now. If the U.S. had a population of 300 million during 1918 and 1919, it may have resulted in a total of two million deaths due to the Spanish Flu Pandemic in the country.

During October 1918, many American boxing venues were shut down for a few weeks largely due to the staggering number of deaths in the U.S. at the time. A large number of the venues resumed staging boxing shows during November 1918.

The things I learn on boxrec.
This post covered more than my history book in high school.
Thanks for sharing

[wouter]

Chuck
Didn't Bob Fitzsimmons die of the Spanish flu?

Battling Jim Johnson was one of the victims.

[Chuck1052]

Chuck
Didn't Bob Fitzsimmons die of the Spanish flu?

Battling Jim Johnson was one of the victims.

That is very true.

- Chuck Johnston

[Seamus]

My Aunt died of it in the Back of the Yards. She was 3, my Mom wasn't even born yet.

[Coco]

Puts the corona virus into perspective.

The effects to the normal flu are much worse.

However the really dangerous thing is the panic which has been produced.

[Seamus]

The Dodge brothers both died of it. I know they weren't boxers, but it wasn't worth telling them that.

[Ambling Alp II]

It is true that the normal flu season is more dangerous than most people seem to think.

However, potentially it could be a lot worse than the regular flu is if we didn't do anything at all; as evidenced by what has happened in some other countries who were hit with this early.

[Caractacus]

Chuck
Didn't Bob Fitzsimmons die of the Spanish flu?

Roger, Bob Fitzsimmons died of pneumonia in both of his lungs on October 22, 1917, which was before the Spanish Flu Pandemic took place.

- Chuck Johnston

maybe (if he did have the Flu)he caught it somewhereeven before it became an epidemic ?
were did Bob Fitzsimmons travel around too in 1917 ? (if anywhere)

[Chuck1052]

According to an item in the December 31, 1918 edition of the Des Moines Tribune (Des Moines, Iowa) on the Newspapers.com website, the following boxing figures passed away due to influenza and its complications during 1918, Professor Mike Donovan, a well-known middleweight of the past and a boxing instructor; Jim Stewart, heavyweight boxer, Matty Baldwin, a retired lightweight contender; Battling Jim Johnson, heavyweight; Al Thomas, lightweight; Terry Martin, welterweight; and Joe Tuber, bantamweight. I will go into greater detail about each of the mentioned boxing figures in a later post on this thread.

According to newspaper reports, Jim Jeffries, a former world heavyweight champion, and Mexican Joe Rivers, a lightweight contender at his peak during the early 1910s, came down with the Spanish Flu, but eventually recovered. Unfortunately for Rivers (Real name- Jose Ybarra or Joseph Hilliard Ybarra), his wife, Pauline Slert Ybarra, passed away on November 25, 1918 after coming down with the Spanish Flu.

According to at least one source, Frank "Frosty" Darcy (Full name- Francis Michael Darcy), a younger brother of Les Darcy and an Australian welterweight, died after coming down with the Spanish Flu at the age of 20 on May 5, 1919. (The Spanish Flu Pandemic hit Australia hard beginning in early 1919.).

- Chuck Johnston

[Caractacus]

Sam Ranzino aka Young Dundee who won the Bantamweight Championship of Maryland in April 1917
died of Influenza October-11-1918 in Baltimore (age 17 y)

[Chuck1052]

Sam Ranzino aka Young Dundee who won the Bantamweight Championship of Maryland in April 1917
died of Influenza October-11-1918 in Baltimore (age 17 y)

It appears that Young Dundee's real name was Salvatore Ranzino and that he was born during May 1900.

- Chuck Johnston

[Chuck1052]

Joe Stein, a Harlem welterweight or middleweight, died of influenza, probably during October 1918. Stein evidently gave Mike Gibbons a tough time of it in a bout. It appears that Stein was of Irish descent and that his actual last name was O'Brien.

- Chuck Johnston

[Caractacus]

I had heard on the radio that Philadelphia was Ground Zero for the Spanish Flu here in the USA.

[Chuck1052]

I had heard on the radio that Philadelphia was Ground Zero for the Spanish Flu here in the USA.

- Chuck Johnston

[Caractacus]

I came across this info over at Google Books and it could update this Boxer profile here.

Eddie Evers -real name Edward F. Wielund (1890-1919)

https://www.boxrec.com/en/proboxer/250451

a professional batam-weight boxer contracted Influenza just 2 months after enlisting in the Army and died less then a year later .
He is buried in Chippiannok Cemetery at Rock Island Illinois.

( there is a photograph of his grave-stone and a picture of him ,his grave-stone reads 1890-1919)
UPDATE
-came across some additional info regarding Eddie Evers from Oct.4 Rock Island Argus newspaper
he was born December.10.1891
and died October(3)1919
he had diabetes and quit boxing and enlisted in the U.S Army September 1918
in November he got the Spanish Flu (stationed at Gettysburg,Pa with the Company B. Tanks Corp)
and was sent to the Marine Hospital in Chicago before returning home to Rock Island where he died)
He was 5 ft 4" tall and fighting weight was 116-118 lbs)

[Ric]

I had heard on the radio that Philadelphia was Ground Zero for the Spanish Flu here in the USA.

The Smithsonian has a great article on the possible origins ("Ground Zero" possibly being Haskell County, Kansas): 'How the Horrific 1918 Flu Spread Across America': https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/ ... 180965222/

[Chuck1052]

According to various sources, Paddy Carroll (Full Name: Patrick J. Carroll), a boxing promoter, died at the age of 57 after a bout with pneumonia and the flu in Chicago on October 7, 1918.

Bill Brennan and Willie Jackson came down with the Spanish Flu, but recovered from it

- Chuck Johnston

[Chuck1052]

According to an item in the October 15, 1918 edition of the San Francisco Examiner, two San Francisco boxers, Harry Pelsinger and Johnny McCarthy, were bedridden due to the Spanish Flu. They would later recover.

- Chuck Johnston

[Chuck1052]

Knockout Brown (Real Name- Valentine Braun) reportedly came down with the Spanish Flu, but recovered from it.

- Chuck Johnston

[Chuck1052]

According to a number of sources, a Liberty Loan Parade with an estimated 200,000 people attending in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on September 28, 1918. This was despite the fact that a Spanish Flu virus spread to Philadelphia (which had a population of 1.7 million at the time) by way of the Philadelphia Naval Yard on September 19, 1919, resulting in 600 sailors coming down with the virus within a matter of days. During a six-week period in Philadelphia, more than 12,000 people died of the flu with total of 47,000 people being stricken with it. In a six-month period, about 16,000 died with a total of more than a half million being stricken.

Around the same time In St. Louis (which had a population of nearly 800,000 at the time, making it the fourth-largest city in the United State, a parade was cancelled. Starting on October 7, 1918 in St. Louis, Dr. Max C. Starkoff, the city health commissioner, shut down schools, theaters, motion picture houses, sporting venue, saloons and other public gathering spots. In addition, he ordered that gatherings be no more than twenty people and that churches could not to hold services Dr. Starkoff took such actions with the backing of Mayor Henry Kiel. As result of the quarantine, St. Louis would have the lowest rate of flu deaths among the ten biggest cities in the U.S. According to one source, of the 31,500 people who were stricken in St. Louis, only 1,703 died.

- Chuck Johnston