Spanish Influenza of 1918Written by Joe Bott
In late summer of 1918 when Spanish Flu arrived in Philadelphia, PA, my great uncle Rev. Jeremiah Mahon was a parish priest at St. Mary's Church at 252 S. 4th St. They say flu started with a cough in summer of 1918 and by time it ended 120 days later, it left 22 million people dead worldwide. In Philadelphia after just 28 days there were 12,191 reported deaths and 47,094 reported cases. This flu targeted mostly young and robust, Jeremiah was just 32 years old. My Uncle Jeremiah was one of approximately 800 people who died in Philadelphia on Saturday, October 19th, 1918. New York beat that number by 851 deaths in one day. Jeremiah was one of my family heroes. Not only was he a very respected priest in a very Irish Catholic family, but when Spanish Influenza came and 67% of Philadelphia's nurses were off ill or scared, he volunteered to help tend to ill in a local hospital. That's how he caught flu. In his epithet there is a part that goes, "His Kindly, genial disposition, his winning smiles and affable ways, won for him a host of friends in every parish where duty called him to labor. Everybody loved him."
| | Shopping With ChildrenWritten by Sylvia White
Is you weekly shopping trip with kids an absolute chore ! or are you happy to take them along ?Lots of moms don't have any choice in matter, if they don't own a car it can be sheer agony waiting at bus stops then struggling on and off buses with kids and a pushchair. Gone are days when a helping hand was offered, and if bus is full, no gallant young man will jump up and offer his seat to harassed mom. Next step is supermarket, a haven of joy to youngsters. Low shelves full of goodies, long aisle, fantastic for kids to run up and down creating havock, even most obedient child can't resist lure of this playground. How often do you get home and find a few extras in your shopping bags that you hadn't noticed going through checkout, usually things that you might never use, or of course odd bar of chocolate or packet of sweets. If you are on a budget this can be very annoying as many families have to count their pennies. Have you noticed how many supermarkets have these automated bob builder cars and other amusements for kids, its a tug of war most times to drag them away, usually crying because you can't afford money it takes to let them go on.
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