La Grippe

• The Spanish Flu killed more people worldwide than WWI, with the death toll hitting between 20 and 40 million people.
• More deaths from the flu were recorded from 1918-1919 than there were in the four years that the Bubonic Plague struck Europe. 
• The Spanish Flu hit Macon on October 15, 1918, with 250 new cases reported in the previous 48 hours.  
• A new preventative measure also appeared on the streets of Macon -- "flu masks", which basically were cloth masks with small eye, nose, and mouth holes.
• Camp Gordon ended its military quarantine, which had been in place for several weeks due to the flu epidemic. But the scare was not over -- Maj. Joel B. Mallett, selective service officer for Georgia, instructed all local boards of health to cease physical exams for new military registrants until further notice - - effectively stemming the draft (albeit temporarily). While this was ordered as a preventative measure against the flu, it also was possible because Allied armies were on the brink of defeating Germany at the time.