On my left, a huge wave of dark thick liquid came barreling through picking up dogs, horses, carriage, cars all on the way towards my house. It was a scream, a piercing scream that I will never forget.I ran to the window and looked down at the road, but saw nothing. The rushing and crashing became closer.closer almost as if a herd of tractors was riding through Commercial Street towards my house. I have walkedĭown Commercial Street and followed the Freedom Trail countless times yet, I have only heard of the Boston Molasses Flood once, while watching the HistoryĪt first, I had no idea what it was, especially after it followed with a loud Street, two blocks away from Commercial Street in the North End. Red Cross Rescuers Rushing to ScenePersonal History Molasses or falling debris killed 21 people and injured 150 residents from the Taking down houses, lifting trains, and destroying Engine 31 firehouse. Liters of molasses created a 40-foot wave that drowned Boston’s North End, River and Copp’s Hill and owned by The United States Industrial Alcohol (USIA), Similar to the firing of a machine gun, which were the sounds of breaking 2014.įlood occurred on January 15 th, 1919 on Commercial Street in the 10.3 "Prohibition Will Be Ratified Today By State Needed ' Molasses Disaster- Boston Herald Cover.10.1 The Big Commemeration: An Article By Sofie Mae Niziak.7.1 Dark Time: Racism and Discrimination.7 Boston Molasses Not Mentioned in History Books.6.3.1 Court Room Interrogation of Arthur P.6.3 Charles Spoffor and Colonel Ogden Investigations.3 Wreckage of the Flood on Commercial StreeRed Cross Rescuers Rushing to ScenePersonal History.Bostonians can smile at the Great Molasses Flood now, but in January of 1919, that cascade of disasters was deadly serious. Some say that on a hot summer day along the North End’s docks, the sickly sweet smell of molasses lingers. Everything Bostonians touched was sticky for months. Sightseers tracked the goo back to homes, into hotels, onto pay-phones and onto doorknobs. Firehoses from hydrants and harbor fireboats washed away as much as possible. It’s difficult to know how many dogs, cats and horses died.Īs you can imagine, the clean-up was awful. Many were saved by Massachusetts Maritime Academy cadets who rushed off their docked training vessel and plunged into the brown goo to rescue people. Twenty-one people were killed and more than a hundred were injured. The steel girders of the Boston Elevated Railway were buckled, knocking a rail-car off the tracks. Homes and buildings were destroyed, smashed from their foundations. In front of the molasses went a blast of air that blew some folks off their porches and tumbled others along the street like rag dolls. The big tank exploded, sending a 25-foot wall of molasses roaring down the hill toward Commercial Street at about 35 miles an hour. Just after noon, North End families felt the ground shake and heard a sound like a machine gun- the tank’s rivets popping out. The unseasonably warm temperature quickly rose from 2° F (-16.7° C) to 40° F (4.4° C), expanding the liquid, and natural fermentation produced CO2 increasing tank pressure. Local families often collected some of the dripping molasses to sweeten their food. It was poorly built of thin steel painted brown to hide its leaks. The enormous tank holding the molasses was about 50 feet tall and 90 feet in diameter, holding 2,300,000 gallons. This may have prompted Purity to collect as much molasses as possible. The 18th Amendment to the United States Constitution, prohibiting sales of alcoholic beverages, was due to be passed the very next day. Purity Distilling Company fermented and distilled molasses to make rum and alcohol. The weather was one factor: unusually warm for winter. On January 16, 1919, a cascade of tremendous size was poised above Boston’s North End. Most disasters are a cascade: small failures and minor circumstances, one leading to another, blossom into a cataclysm.
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