The Soldiers' Club was opened on September 13th, 1915, in rooms of the Y.M.C.A., which were loaned by the directors. As larger numbers of repatriated soldiers came back to Auckland, the accommodation at the Y.M.C.A. became insufficient, and new premises for the club were found in Albert Street, which were opened on 20th October, 1920. The most serious epidemic of disease ever experienced in Auckland was the outbreak of influenza, which occurred in October, 1918. The account of the epidemic given in the "Auckland and Charitable Aid Board: a History" is the best account the writer has seen, and he therefore makes no apology for quoting from it. "Influenza in a somewhat unusual form was prevalent in the city from the early part of October ... but the worst phases dated from a fortnight after the arrival of the R.M.S. _Niagara_ from Vancouver, on the 12th of the month.... On the berthing of the vessel in Auckland, twenty-eight men were removed to the Hospital and placed in an isolation ward. Within a few days the disease was communicated to members of the Hospital staff. Simultaneously it spread to the community.... The insufficiency of the ordinary hospital accommodation to meet the demands of such an extraordinary emergency were early apparent. Temporary hospitals were accordingly established at the Seddon Memorial Technical College, "Kilbryde" (Point Resolution), the Sailors' Home, the Avondale racecourse buildings, Myers Kindergarten, the Y.W.C.A. hostel, Vermont Street schools, and St. Joseph's schoolroom, Grey Lynn. The Auckland Racing Club's buildings at Ellerslie were converted into a temporary convalescent home.... Rigorous measures were taken at the beginning of November to limit the spread of the disease. Business in the city was brought almost to a standstill. Places of amusement and worship, banks, schools, hotel bars, and many warehouses were closed; public meetings ... were forbidden; such facilities as the telegraphic, telephonic, railway and shipping services were curtailed, and all classes of the community united in the supreme work of meeting [combating] the scourge.... The visitation was at its height in the first two weeks of November.... By the middle of November it was evident that the progress of the disease had been stayed, and from that time onward it gradually diminished in severity until by the end of the month only isolated cases remained." The official statistics of the deaths for the Auckland registration district during the period of the epidemic was 1013, or 7.57 per thousand of the population. The largest number of deaths recorded in one day was 56. On November 8th an announcement of the signing of the Armistice was received in Auckland, which later proved to have been premature. Despite the epidemic, which was then at its height, the city went wild with joy, and never were such scenes enacted as on that morning. When the official intimation was received, four days later, there was no demonstration.