Boston Molasses Disaster 31033 224808144 2008-07-10T14:38:30Z 67.93.24.114 /* Cleanup */ Removed redundant entry. (Text appears in main entry already.) [[Image:BostonMolassesDisaster.jpg|thumb|320px|Aftermath of the disaster]]The '''Boston Molasses Disaster''', also known as the '''Great Molasses Flood''' and the '''Great Boston Molasses Tragedy''', occurred on [[January 15]] [[1919]], in the [[North End, Boston|North End]] neighborhood of [[Boston, Massachusetts|Boston]], [[Massachusetts]] in the [[United States]]. A large [[molasses]] tank burst and a wave of molasses rushed through the streets at an estimated 35&nbsp;mph (56&nbsp;km/h), killing 21 and injuring 150. The event has entered local folklore, and residents claim that on hot summer days the area still smells of molasses.<ref name=Smithsonian>{{cite journal| last = Park| first = Edwards| title = Eric Postpischil's Molasses Disaster Pages, Smithsonian Article| journal = Eric Postpischil's Domain| volume = 14| issue = 8| pages = 213–230| publisher = Smithsonian Institute| date = [[24 November]] [[2004]]| url = http://edp.org/molpark.htm| accessdate =2006-12-16}}</ref > ==Disaster== <!-- Deleted image removed: [[Image:Molasses.jpg|thumbnail|320px|Newspaper article recalling what happened on that day 60 years previously.]] --> [[Image:Boston molasses area map.png|left|thumb|250px|Modern downtown Boston with molasses flood area circled]]The disaster occurred at the [[Purity Distilling Company]] facility on [[January 15]] [[1919]], one day before the [[Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|18th Amendment]] (which [[Prohibition|prohibited alcohol production]]) was ratified. It was an unusually warm day. At the time, molasses was the standard sweetener in the United States. Molasses can also be [[fermentation (food)|fermented]] to produce [[ethanol]], which is used in making [[liquor]] and was a key component in the manufacturing of [[munitions]]. The stored molasses was awaiting transfer to the Purity plant situated between Willow Street and what is now named Evereteze Way in [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]]. Near Keany Square,<ref name="NYTimes1919" /> at 529 Commercial Street, a huge molasses tank 50&nbsp;ft (15&nbsp;m) tall, 90&nbsp;ft (27&nbsp;m) in diameter and containing as much as 2,300,000&nbsp;US gal (8,700,000&nbsp;L) collapsed. Witnesses stated that as it collapsed there was a loud rumbling sound like a machine gun as the [[rivet]]s shot out of the tank, and that the ground shook as if a train was passing by.<ref name=massmoments>{{cite web| last =| first =| authorlink =| coauthors =| title = Great Molasses Flood| work =| publisher = Massachusetts foundation for the Humanities| date =| url = http://www.massmoments.org/moment.cfm?mid=19| format =| doi =| accessdate =2006-12-16}}</ref> The collapse unleashed an immense wave of molasses between 8 and 15&nbsp;ft (2.5 to 4.5&nbsp;m) high, moving at 35&nbsp;mph (56&nbsp;km/h) and exerting a pressure of 2&nbsp;ton/ft² (200&nbsp;kPa).<ref name=ooze>{{cite web| last =| first =| authorlink =| coauthors =| title = The Great Molasses Flood of 1919| work =| publisher = The Ooze| date =| url = http://www.ooze.com/ooze6/X0024_The_Great_Flood.html| format =| doi =| accessdate = 2006-12-16}}</ref> The molasses wave was of sufficient force to break the girders of the adjacent [[Boston Elevated Railway]]'s [[Atlantic Avenue Elevated|Atlantic Avenue]] structure and lift a [[train]] off the tracks. Nearby, buildings were swept off their foundations and crushed. Several blocks were flooded to a depth of 2 to 3 feet. As described by Stephen Puleo, :<blockquote>''"Molasses, waist deep, covered the street and swirled and bubbled about the wreckage. Here and there struggled a form — whether it was animal or human being was impossible to tell. Only an upheaval, a thrashing about in the sticky mass, showed where any life was.... Horses died like so many flies on sticky fly-paper. The more they struggled, the deeper in the mess they were ensnared. Human beings — men and women — suffered likewise."''<ref name=DarkTide>Puleo, Stephen, “Dark Tide: The Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919”, page 98. Beacon Press, 2004, ISBN 0-8070-5021-0</ref></blockquote> ''[[The Boston Globe]]'' reported that people "were picked up by a rush of air and hurled many feet." Others had debris hurled at them from the rush of sweet-smelling air. A truck was picked up and hurled into [[Boston Harbor]]. Approximately 150 were injured; 21 people and several horses were killed — some were crushed and [[asphyxiation|asphyxiated]] by the molasses. The wounded included people, horses, and dogs; coughing became one of the biggest problems after the initial blast. <blockquote>...Anthony di Stasio, walking homeward with his sisters from the Michelangelo School, was picked up by the wave and carried, tumbling on its crest, almost as though he were surfing. Then he grounded and the molasses rolled him like a pebble as the wave diminished. He heard his mother call his name and couldn't answer, his throat was so clogged with the smothering goo. He passed out, then opened his eyes to find three of his sisters staring at him<ref name=Smithsonian/></blockquote> ==Aftermath== [[Image:Boston molasses detail map.png|right|thumb|300px|Detail of molasses flood area. '''1.''' Purity Distilling molasses tank '''2.''' Firehouse 31 (heavy damage) '''3.''' Paving department and police station '''4.''' Purity offices (flattened) '''5.''' Copps Hill Terrace '''6.''' Boston Gas Light building (damaged) '''7.''' Purity warehouse (mostly intact) '''8.''' Residential area (site of flattened Clougherty house)]] First to the scene were 116 sailors under the direction of Lieutenant Commander H. J. Copeland from the [[lightvessel|lightship]] [[USS Nantucket (1907)|USS ''Nantucket'']] training ship that was docked nearby at the playground pier.<ref name="NYTimes1919">{{citation | issn = 1553395 | title = 12 Killed When Tank of Molasses Explodes | newspaper = [[The New York Times]] | date = [[January 15]] [[1919]] | publication-date = [[January 16]] [[1919]] | place = Boston | url = http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9B04E4D71339E13ABC4E52DFB7668382609EDE&oref=slogin | accessdate = 2008-05-30 | pages = 4 }}</ref> They ran several blocks toward the accident. They worked to keep the curious from getting in the way of the rescuers while others entered into the knee-deep sticky mess to pull out the survivors. Soon the [[Boston police]], [[Red Cross]], [[US Army|Army]] and other Navy personnel arrived. Some nurses from the Red Cross dove into the molasses while others tended to the wounded, keeping them warm, and made hot coffee—<!--start of passage needing citation-->ironically sweetened to taste with the surrounding molasses{{Fact|date=May 2008}}—as well as keeping the exhausted workers fed. Many of these people worked through the night. The injured were so numerous that doctors and surgeons set up a makeshift hospital in a nearby building. Rescuers found it difficult to make their way through the syrup to help the victims. It took four days before they stopped searching for victims; many dead were so glazed over in molasses, they were hard to recognize. Two who could not be identified were found on the fourth day. ==Cleanup== It took over 87,000 [[man hour]]s to remove the molasses from the [[cobblestone]] streets, theaters, businesses, automobiles, and homes.<ref name=DarkTide/> The harbor ran brown until summer. Local residents brought a [[class-action lawsuit]], one of the first held in [[Massachusetts]], against the United States Industrial Alcohol Company (USIA), which had bought Purity Distilling in 1917. In spite of the company's attempts to claim that the tank had been blown up by [[Anarchism|anarchists]]<ref name=>{{cite web| last =| first =| authorlink =| coauthors =| title = What caused the great Boston Molasses Flood?| work =| publisher = The Massachusetts Historical Society | date =| url = http://www.masshist.org/library/faqs.cfm#flood| format =| doi =| accessdate = 2008-06-16}}</ref> (because some of the alcohol produced was to be used in making munitions), a court-appointed auditor found USIA responsible after three years of hearings. USIA ultimately paid out $600,000 in out-of-court settlements (at least $6.6 million in 2005 dollars).<ref name=StraightD>{{cite web| last =| first =| authorlink =| coauthors =| title = Was Boston once literally flooded with molasses?| work = The Straight Dope| publisher = The Chicago Reader| date =| url = http://www.straightdope.com/columns/041231.html| format =| doi =| accessdate = 2006-12-16}}</ref> United States Industrial Alcohol did not rebuild the tank. The property became a yard for the Boston Elevated Railway (predecessor to the [[Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority]]) and is currently the site of a city-owned [[baseball]] field. ==Causes== The cause of the accident is not known with certainty, but the company was found liable and paid damages.<ref name=Bcom>{{cite paper| author = Robert Knox| title = The untold story of Boston's Great Molasses Flood| publisher = The Boston Globe| date = [[11 January]] [[2004]]| url = http://www.boston.com/ae/books/articles/2004/01/11/the_untold_story_of_bostons_great_molasses_flood/| accessdate = 2006-12-16}}</ref> Several factors that occurred on that day and the previous days may have contributed to the disaster. The tank was poorly constructed and insufficiently tested. Due to [[fermentation (food)|fermentation]] occurring within the tank, [[carbon dioxide]] production may have raised the internal pressure. The rise in the local temperatures that occurred over the previous day also would have assisted in the building of this pressure. Records show that the air temperature rose from 2°F to 41°F (-17°C to 4°C) over that period. The failure occurred from a manhole cover near the base of the tank, and it is possible that a [[fatigue (material)|fatigue]] crack grew here to criticality. The [[hoop stress]] is greatest near the base of a filled, cylindrical tank. The tank had only been filled to capacity 8 times since it was built a few years previously, putting the walls under an intermittent cyclical load. An inquiry after the disaster revealed that Arthur Jell, who oversaw the construction, neglected basic safety tests, such as filling the tank with water to check for leaks. When filled with molasses, the tank leaked so badly that it was painted brown to hide the leaks. Local residents collected leaked molasses for their homes. Based on the date of the accident, some have claimed that the tank may have been overfilled so that the owners could produce as much ethanol for liquor as possible before [[Prohibition]] came into effect. But the [[Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|18th Amendment]], enacting Prohibition, did not become law until more than a year later, and the [[Volstead Act]] did not ban the production of industrial alcohol, so these claims are groundless.{{Fact|date=June 2008}} ==People killed== {| |- | {|class="wikitable sortable" style="width:420px;" |- !Name!!Age!!Occupation |- |Patrick Brown||44||Laborer (North End Paving Yard) |- |William Brogan||61||Teamster |- |Bridget Clougherty||65||Homemaker |- |Stephen Clougherty||34||Unemployed |- |John Callahan||43||Paver (North End Paving Yard) |- |Maria Distasio||10||Child |- |William A. Duffee||?||Resident in vicinity<ref name="NYTimes1919" /> |- |William Duffy||58||Laborer (North End Paving Yard){{Fact|date=May 2008}} |- |Peter Francis||64||Blacksmith (North End Paving Yard) |- |Flamino Gallerani||37||Driver |- |Pasquale Iantosca||10||Child |- |James H. Kinneally||Unknown||Laborer (North End Paving Yard) |- |Eric Laird||17||Teamster |- |George Layhe||38||Firefighter (Engine 31) |- |James Lennon||64||Teamster/Motorman<ref name="NYTimes1919" /> |- |Ralph Martin||21||Driver |- |James McMullen||46||Foreman, Bay State Express |- |Cesar Nicolo||32||Expressman |- |Thomas Noonan||43||Longshoreman |- |Peter Shaughnessy||18||Teamster |- |John M. Seiberlich||69||Blacksmith (North End Paving Yard)<ref name="NYTimes1919" /> |- |Michael Sinnott||76||Messenger |- |}<ref name=DarkTide2>Puleo, Stephen, “Dark Tide: The Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919”, page 239. Beacon Press, 2004, ISBN 0-8070-5021-0</ref> ==Today== The sites of the molasses tank and the North End Paving Company have been turned into a recreational complex, officially named Langone Park, featuring a [[Little League Baseball|Little League]] ballfield, a playground, and [[bocce]] courts.<ref>[http://www.cityofboston.gov/parks/openspaces/main.asp?ID=94 City parks]</ref> Immediately to the east is the larger Puopolo Park, with additional recreational facilities.<ref>[http://www.bostonharborwalk.com/placestogo/location.php?nid=3&sid=21 Places to go]</ref> A small plaque at the entrance to Puopolo Park, placed by the Bostonian Society, commemorates the disaster.<ref name=bostonOnline>[http://www.boston-online.com/bizarro/disasters.html Boston On-Line: Disasters]</ref> The plaque,[http://www.wickedgood.info/images/molassesplaque.jpg] entitled "Boston Molasses Flood", reads: "On January 15, 1919, a molasses tank at 529 Commercial Street exploded under pressure, killing 21 people. A 40-foot wave of molasses buckled the elevated railroad tracks, crushed buildings and inundated the neighborhood. Structural defects in the tank combined with unseasonably warm temperatures contributed to the disaster." ==References== *{{cite book | last=Puleo | first=Stephen | title=Dark Tide: The Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919 | publisher= [[Beacon Press]]| location=Boston, Massachusetts | year = 2004|isbn=0-8070-5021-0 }} ==Notes== {{reflist|2}} ==External links== {{Commonscat}} *[http://www.theamericanstoryteller.com/story-details.cfm?story=248 Listen online - The Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919 - The American Storyteller Radio Journal] *[http://www.masshist.org/library/faqs.cfm#flood What caused the great Boston Molasses Flood?] from the Massachusetts Historical Society *[http://edp.org/molyank.htm "The Molasses Disaster of January 15, 1919"], reprinted from [[Yankee Magazine]] * [http://www.bostonphoenix.com/boston/news_features/this_just_in/documents/03521177.asp An interview] with Stephen Puleo, author of the book listed above (in References section) * [http://web.archive.org/web/20050309220954/www.gcrek.net/media/ Molasses flood site], present-day pictures and list of 1919 inhabitants, at archive.org * [http://mywebpages.comcast.net/sevenjays/JoshuasSong.htm "Joshua's Song"], children's book (fiction) centered upon the incident {{coor title dms|42|22|07.1|N|71|03|20.7|W|type:landmark_scale:2000}} [[Category:Environmental disasters in the United States]] [[Category:1919 disasters]] [[Category:1919 in the United States]] [[Category:History of Boston, Massachusetts]] [[Category:Boston cultural history]] [[Category:Industrial disasters]] [[Category:Disasters in Massachusetts]] [[da:Melasseulykken i Boston]] [[fr:Grande inondation de mélasse de Boston]] [[it:Tsunami di melassa di Boston]] [[he:אסון הדבשה של בוסטון]] [[ja:ボストン糖蜜災害]] [[no:Melasseulykken i Boston]] [[sv:Melasskatastrofen i Boston]]