In our examination of natural disasters this year, the oral history group has been recalling its own experiences of fire, flood and pestilence, but few of us were alive when one of the most frightening epidemics of modern times occurred.

 This was known to most people as “the Spanish flu”, and to others as the “black plague”, because of the bluish appearance of many of its sufferers.

This dreadful disease was thought to have originated in the United States and brought to Europe by American soldiers in the last years of World War 1. In 1919 it began to strike down people who were already weakened by years of war and deprivation.

It remains one of the great disasters of recorded history , thought by some experts to rival the “Black Death” of the 14th century.

In Australia, it affected the lives of millions of people, and in a period of six months in 1919 more than 15,000 died of influenza, and as many as two million Australians became infected.

The Orange Leader reported the first case in England in January 1919, and by the end of that month schools were shut and “nurses and doctors worked to death”.

Then, on January 29,1919, the pandemic reached Sydney and the government began to act.

An advisory body was set up and one of the first pieces of advice given was to those people who were apparently endeavouring to treat themselves.

“Alcohol has neither a preventative nor curative effect! Avoid it!”

There was much discussion in Orange about whether the 1919 show and various race meetings  should be cancelled, as visiting Sydney sportsmen “were liable to spread the disease”.

The Orange Leader agreed and reported that as a result “horse owners and trainers are up in arms and refer to the matter in ultramarine language, calling down all sorts of maledictions on the heads of the government officials responsible”.

By March1919, the dreaded influenza had reached Orange. Seven people were hospitalised and help from the Voluntary Aid Detachment was urgently requested.

The new cases rose steadily to 21 and the makers of patent medicines were having a field day.

“Pruno for influenza never fails” claimed one,  and Nicholas aspirin tablets were also  offered as a complete cure.

On April 18 a proclamation was made to  the citizens of Orange : “For further prevention of the spread of pneumonic influenza, no person shall remain in any licensed hotel for longer than five minutes; all theatres, billiard rooms, reading rooms, picture shows and other places of public amusement and entertainment are to be closed and kept closed.”

It was even more difficult to attend church  where  “all people attending religious services must wear masks and be placed not less than three feet apart and the preacher must be six feet away from the nearest member of the congregation”.

Despite all these precautions the flu continued to strike the citizens of Orange just as it was doing throughout Australia and the rest of the world. It seemed to impact mainly on the young and healthy and hospitals were overflowing.

There was also much suspicion from the good citizens of Bathurst who did not want to be contaminated by railway workers who travelled between the two towns.

As cases continued to occur and deaths became more frequent, The Leader announced that inoculations were to be given at the Town Hall on Wednesdays and Saturdays, although one  wonders just what was in the vaccine!

There was also much advice given in the press by local citizens who claimed to have found amazing curative qualities in a mixture of lime and milk “even if the patient is on the brink of death”.

Mrs CH Hodge of ‘Hermitage’,Orange, suggested that “carrying a stick of cinnamon and chewing it now and then would be of great assistance”.

Despite all this, 225 people in Orange became ill and 14 died.

Meanwhile, Kathleen May Kelly was working long hours at Orange District Hospital.

Her daughter, Noreen Mullen, remembered her mother telling her about the enormous load that both doctors and nurses had to carry during the crisis. There were no magic pills, and careful nursing was the only way to save many patients. They were often on duty for 18 to 20 hours with no allowance for overtime.

To make matters worse, Mrs Mullen told me that the undertaker refused to come near a corpse, and so the nurses had to carry them, carefully wrapped in a sheet, across the road to the morgue.

Many years have passed since those frightening days and medical knowledge has increased enormously.

But so has world travel and the chances of another pandemic cannot be ignored.

The Ebola virus is at this moment ravaging Africa.

However, our defences are also high and in the past decade the internet has allowed health agencies to spot emerging viruses much sooner and, with local public health and media information, super computers are being enlisted to predict their  spread.

Next month: personal experiences with epidemics