Captives of the Spanish Lady

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The disease known as the Spanish Flu, was sometimes called ‘The Spanish Lady’. The lack of press censorship during the First World War in neutral Spain meant that reports of the disease emerged from that country early in the outbreak.

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    I first learned of the border closures from a display in the Tenterfield Railway Museum around 2005.  A photo shows the tents erected to house hundreds of Queenslanders who arrived at the station on the train from Sydney, to be told they were now quarantined for seven days.  Having expected a day’s rail journey, the passengers were faced with at least a week of waiting and anxiety. 

    As I read the reports in The Tenterfield Star, the warmth and humour of the reluctant participants became evident. The people of Tenterfield too, were taken by surprise.  700 extra mouths to feed and billet.  Masks appeared. A few opportunists tried to take advantage of the fear in town by selling quack preventive ‘medicines’. They were all told it would be just a week.  A week that grew.  Ten days…  Fourteen…   

    The trains kept coming. But who was going to pay for the food and other supplies needed to keep these visitors?

    The  Queensland and New South Wales governments squabbled. The Federal Government refused to get involved. Warwick and Toowoomba councils sent tents and finally a quarantine camp was set up. Some locals complained that the visitors might pollute the creek running through town. Injections and zinc inhalations  were compulsory for inmates but luckily there were games and music too. And opportunities for young lovers to break the rules.

    As the end of the week drew near, the Queensland government suggested an extension. The anger of the Tenterfield council exploded. The date for their agricultural show was looming. That could not be delayed. Some men even offered to go to Wallangara and build a new camp. The internees and the locals held their breath.

    Who would blink first?