THE PETERITE Vol. L
FEBRUARY, 1958
No. 347
EDITORIAL
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Any review of the Christmas Term, 1957, can hardly avoid comment on its most noteworthy feature, the epidemic of "Asian" influenza which ravaged St. Peter's with the same fury as it did all other schools, and indeed institutions of every kind, throughout the country. Since we are in an age of statistics we need make no apology for publishing on a later page some official figures recording the incidence of the disease. From these it can be calculated that something over 76% of the Senior School were struck down in the course of the three weeks during which the epidemic raged. The resources of the "San." were, of course, hopelessly inadequate, and one by one the dormitories of the boarding houses were converted into wards, until only the Manor was left as a going concern to house the comparative handful of survivors. Inevitably this wholesale dislocation of our normal life created serious problems of nursing, feeding, and domestic services generally. That the difficulties of these critical weeks during which St. Peter's was converted from a school into a hospital were surmounted with the minimum of fuss was due to the ready co-operation of so many that it would be invidious to select any individual for mention here. We would only record our grateful thanks to the many ladies from outside, parents and friends of the School, who so willingly and efficiently gave us their services. We must consider ourselves fortunate that with a disease which, as the statistics for the country as a whole showed, could be so much more virulent than the familiar kind of influenza, cases of serious illness were so few. Indeed, the Head Master himself was the worst sufferer and we sympathised deeply with Mr. Dronfield in his protracted and serious illness. He was struck down at the very end of the summer holiday, and several weeks elapsed before he was able to resume his normal duties. His absence from the School at so important a time as the beginning of a new School Year was particularly unfortunate. Even so, the Head Master never loosened his grip on the reins and, with his customary determination, succeeded in directing our affairs from his sick-bed and later, in the days of his convalescence, dealt with the problems of individual boys with the thoroughness with which we are all familiar. We congratulate the Head Master on making so complete a recovery from what was a very grave illness. Despite the loss of so much valuable time at the beginning of the term—so far as the work and the normal activities of the School 1
