Molasses is an important product for most of American history. Besides its
use in candy and confectionery, it is also distilled alcohol. But even
seemingly harmless substances can cause considerable damage in the right
circumstances; and this point was made in 1919 when a huge irresistibly
molasses tank exploded in the northern district of Boston. The disaster is
now little known outside of New England, but the lesson is clear: even
seemingly substances "harmless" should be treated with the care they
deserve.
A company called industrial alcohol in the US Company had a huge molasses
tank in the northern part, which was 52 feet high and had a diameter of 91
feet. The reservoir contains approximately 2.3 million gallons of darkness,
raw molasses. The month of January 1919 had been the unusually mild, and
local residents have expressed the hope that the rest of the winter months
would be about the same. The weather was so good, in fact, that people
could venture outside without wearing coats for days.
But this period of peace was cut short by a tremendous explosion that
occurred about noon of January 15. Witnesses described as sounding like the
report of a "thousand machine guns" who were leaving at the same time; the
molten metal storage tank into many fragments; and a molasses wave pushed
his way in all directions.
Small houses, railway cars, and trees were uprooted and carried forward
their locations like twigs in a stream. Horses (still commonly used for
work and transportation in the days) and men were crushed or submerged
under the spill. Tank fragments flew in all directions like shrapnel,
crashing into bridges, surrounding buildings and railway cars.
The entire building that housed the fire station in Boston No. 31 was
lifted off its foundation and thrown against the wooden pilings along the
beachfront, killing several men in the process. The initial explosion was
followed by a massive sucking sound as the vacuum created by the explosion
was refilled with air. These buildings near the explosion that are not
destroyed by the shock wave were gutted when the vacuum effect followed
immediately after the initial explosion.
As the spread black mud, he began to lose speed as increasing its
viscosity. In large quantities in the air, raw molasses is very different
from the substance found in a bottle in a household pantry; it is not the
Benin syrup cooked in their cooking confections net. Molasses that erupted
on the North End waterfront in 1919 was more like the natural tar found in
tar pits: it could freeze a man in his tracks, pinning him and prevent up
to less that he was exceptionally strong. Witnesses said that Commercial
Street (the center of the disaster) was filled with molasses at a depth of
four feet.
Be careful concentrate more on what had caused the explosion. The corporate
lawyer for US Industrial Alcohol, Harry F. Dolan, denied that the cause was
due to the construction of the reservoir. The company would eventually try
to blame the explosion on sabotage by anarchists. However, a government
explosives expert named W. L. Wedger was not so sure. Noting had shattered
the tank was heated during the winter months to prevent the contents of the
gel reservoir, he speculated that the exceptionally hot and insufficient
ventilation inside the tank. one employee of the company to monitor the
tank of a man named William White, was absent at lunch when the explosion
occurred.
The sheer oddity of the whole show captivated the rest of the city; near
disaster, molasses was clinging to trees, poles and lying down entire
buildings. It will take months, even years, to be completely removed. The
thick odor of the substance hung like a cloud above the north end and
beyond.
Try to clean the area was extremely difficult. The sludge was installed in
basements and cellars, and had clogged lines and sewage drains. Workers
have found that the only way to make progress was simply to do the
backbreaking old way: the shovel and bucket. More bodies of horses and men
were discovered as molasses was gradually cleared. The record of human
deaths stood at 21; the number of injured was about 150.
Federal officials were called in to assist in the investigation. chemical
and metallurgical examination soon revealed the following: (1) the tank was
filled to capacity; (2) molasses began to ferment, generating alcoholic
fumes; (3) the sun has warmed the reservoir to a dangerous level. The
absence of adequate ventilation for the tank contents were still endangered
the situation.
Why did one noticed before? Under the day building codes, the tank has not
been classified as a "building" but as a "receptacle". This meant that it
was not under any kind of regulation or inspection regime. The head of the
Boston Fire Department, H. J. Plunkett, said this about the disaster:
[T] he molasses in the tank had to be heated to maintain a temperature that
would allow him to pull easily from the tank. Heating was carried out by
means of steam lines directed in the tank. By heating these tanks, great
care must be used to prevent overheating. Molasses are fermented during, or
when heated, throws an alcoholic gas is enormous pressure ... There are no
regulations on the construction and use of these tanks. should there be in
my opinion.
The inevitable lawsuit broke with nearly the same force that broke the
molasses tank. They are fully settled before 1926. What came out of the
dispute was that the tank manufacturer had used substandard materials in
its construction; worse yet, no complete inspection of any kind has never
been done. The damage that US industrial alcohol Company had to pay in a
class action finally came close to a million dollars. When you consider
that 21 people died, it seems a very small number; but it was the age
before adequate compensation for negligence in wrongful death.
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