History

How A Tsunami Of Molasses Killed 21 People In America’s Weirdest Tragedy

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Molasses has been an important commodity for much of American history.  Besides its use in candy and confections, it is also distilled into alcohol.  But even apparently harmless substances can cause tremendous damage in the right circumstances; and this point was compellingly made in 1919 when a huge tank of molasses exploded in Boston’s North End.  The disaster is little-known today outside of New England, but the lesson is clear:  even seemingly “harmless” substances must be treated with the care they deserve.

A company called the United States Industrial Alcohol Company owned a huge molasses tank in the North End that stood 52 feet high and had a diameter of 91 feet.  The tank contained about 2.3 million gallons of dark, raw molasses.  The month of January 1919 had been an unusually mild one, and local residents were hopeful that the rest of the winter months would be about the same.  The weather was so good, in fact, that people were able to venture outdoors without having to wear coats for days on end.

But this period of tranquility was cut short by a tremendous explosion that took place around noon of January 15.  Witnesses described it as sounding like the report of a “thousand machine guns” going off at the same time; the metal storage tank burst into numerous fragments; and a tidal wave of molasses pushed its way out in every direction.

Small houses, railroad cars, and trees were ripped from their emplacements and carried forward like twigs in a stream.  Horses (still commonly used for labor and transportation in those days) and men were crushed or submerged under the black tide.  Fragments of the tank flew off in every direction like shrapnel, crashing into surrounding bridges, buildings, and railway cars.

The entire building that housed Boston Fire Station No. 31 was lifted off its foundation and hurled against the wooden pilings along the waterfront, killing several men in the process.  The initial explosion was followed by a massive sucking sound as the vacuum created by the blast was filled again by air.  Those buildings near the blast that were not destroyed by the shock wave were ripped apart when the vacuum effect followed directly after the initial explosion.

As the dark sludge spread out, it began to lose speed as its viscosity increased.  In large quantities in the open air, raw molasses is very different from the stuff found in a bottle in a household pantry; it is not the benign syrup that cooks drizzle into their baking confections.  The molasses that burst 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 down, and preventing him from getting up unless he was exceptionally strong.  Witnesses said that Commercial Street (the center of the disaster) was filled with molasses to a depth of four feet.

Attention immediately focused on what had caused the explosion.  The corporate attorney for US Industrial Alcohol, Harry F. Dolan, denied that the cause had been due to the tank’s construction.  The company would eventually try to blame the explosion on sabotage by anarchists.  However, a state explosives expert named W.L. Wedger was not so sure.  Noting that the tank was heated in the winter months to prevent the tank’s contents from freezing, he speculated that the unusually warm weather and inadequate ventilation inside the tank had caused it to burst.  The company’s only employee assigned to monitor the tank—a man named William White—had been away at lunch when the explosion occurred.

The sheer weirdness of the whole spectacle captivated the rest of the city; in the vicinity of the disaster, molasses was hanging from trees, poles, and coated entire buildings.  It would take months, perhaps years, for it to be fully removed.  The thick smell of the substance hovered like a cloud over the North End and beyond.

Trying to clean up the area was extremely difficult.  The sludge had settled in basements and cellars, and it had clogged sewage lines and drains.  Workers found that the only way to make any progress was simply to do it the back-breaking old-fashioned way:  by shovel and bucket.  More bodies of horses and men were discovered as the molasses was gradually cleared away.  The human death toll 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 facts:  (1) the tank had been filled to capacity; (2) the molasses had begun to ferment, giving off alcoholic fumes; (3) the sun had warmed the tank to an unsafe degree.  The lack of sufficient ventilation for the tank’s contents had further endangered the situation.

Why had no one noticed this before?  Under the building codes of the day, the tank was not classified as a “building,” but as a “receptacle.”  What this meant was that it fell outside any kind of regulation or inspection regime.  The chief of the Boston Fire Department, J.H. Plunkett, said this about the disaster:

[T]he molasses in the tank had to be heated in order to keep it at a temperature which would allow it to be drawn easily from the tank.  The heating was done by means of steam pipes run into the tank.  In heating such tanks, great care must be used to prevent overheating.  Molasses when fermenting, or when heated, throws off an alcoholic gas which has a tremendous pressure…There is no regulation over the construction and use of such tanks.  In my opinion there should be.

The inevitable lawsuits erupted with nearly the same force that had burst the molasses tank.  They were not fully settled until 1926.  What came out of the litigation was that the tank manufacturer had used substandard materials in its construction; worse still, no comprehensive inspection of any kind had ever been made.  The damages that the U.S. Industrial Alcohol Company had to pay in a class-action suit eventually came close to one million dollars.  When we consider that 21 people died, this seems a very low number; but this was the age before adequate compensation for wrongful death negligence.

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112 thoughts on “How A Tsunami Of Molasses Killed 21 People In America’s Weirdest Tragedy”

        3. Was is the correct tense. They have now been sanitized to not offend the regressive left’s sensibilities. As a result they are not even shadows of their former selves.

    2. Mol asses. 1 mol = 6.02 * 10^23 asses. Liberals are asses. Most dark skinned people are liberals. Molasses is dark brown or black and is unrefined. What else is usually black and unrefined? City prisons. According to fake news central, Buzzfeed, approximately 1 mol of black people are incarcerated. Conclusion? Molasses is racist.

        1. I am in the process of writing an article about that phrase right now. For decades, guys spaces (clubs, workplace, sports, outdoor recreation) have been invaded by women. At first, not bad, a little eye candy is acceptable. But over time, if enough numbers of women are there, they expect men to change the environment to suit them (see football). Now, men everywhere are relegated either to cyberspace (certain websites or video games), or to the “man cave” ( a section of the basement or garage where a guy is allowed to decorate how he wishes).

        2. It seems like we’ve had more females posting here lately than I’ve seen in a while. A couple trying to pretend to be men, but most just blatantly female and fuck you about it.

        3. Case in point…..Last year, our church priesthood quorum had a softball game with burgers. Lots of fun. This year, the president had his wife convince him to invite the women’s group along. We still did the burgers, but the women decided to have a line dancing class, little kids came along. It ended up being us guys running the grills and watching the kids while the women did their line dancing. Ticked me off.

        7. Them and those GD ads about “I made $1000 in a week.” Did guys forget to NOT reply to those women, or what?

        8. Yup, house parties are like that. In grade school, you couldn’t imagine getting a girl to come to your friend’s birthday party, by high school, some girls are there, and it is nice, but a different energy as the guys are busy white knighting for their attention. By the time college comes around and couples are paring off, it is a much more subdued atmosphere. Now, when I see a get together, the wives are all chatty, and the guys are usually quiet, waiting to go home, because they can’t get a word in.

        10. I hear “NAWALT” women are even going there. I don’t, but it wouldn’t surprise me.

        12. You see some women who are customers in titty bars occasionally…mostly lesbos or bisexuals or women who are out with the hubby and trying to arrange a threesome (which always results in no threesome but a lot of lost cash they toss out in tips)…women just don’t fit in anywhere, hell, let’s be honest. Unless it’s at home. They are like cackling, motorized, wind-up toys that bounce off furniture and shit while making a lot of noise.

        13. I ran into a girl in a club one time. She asked if she was pretty. I said she was and she kissed me. Total stranger. Women in those places, working or viewing, are a mess.

        15. I picked up a pretty girl about 22 years old at a titty bar once; she was a customer. Why she was there I’m not totally sure, but I’m sure it was for reasons of fornication. We did some shots and partied a bit, then left. Took her to a hotel, got naked, started kissing her – and she threw up in my mouth. Then, she puked all over the walls. She wound up in the bathroom with her head hanging over the toilet, saying, “I’m sooooo sorry, I’m soooooo sorry,” over and over. Finally she asked me to call her boyfriend to come get her. I called her a cab instead. Really pissed me off because she was smoking hot with a killer body and I missed out…but yeah, the ones who visit strip clubs and aren’t dancers are messed up, too.

        16. That’s a hell of a thing. There’s a joke in there about the hotel complimentary mint, but I’m not sure it’s sporting. I guess I’m glad I only got a kiss.

        18. Saw some in one a few years back, was a girl’s birthday party. We had the option of going home with them, or the strippers. We picked the strippers, a poor choice.

        21. Any time women insert themselves in a work place there will be a struggle between staying on task & catering to the comfort & security of the females. Kind of explains the state of Public Education, doesn’t it?

        22. No that is explained by zero incentive to do better due to a government stranglehold monopoly. The nearly all female teaching ranks are just the maggots on the dead body.

        24. Not to mention that ANY sort if risk taking or risky behavior like horseplay (from a woman’s perspective…note it does not disallow inviting 1000’s of sworn enemies into your country) will be frowned upon.

        25. I think the descriptive “old hens” is perfect for the beings you just described.

        28. I’ve been wondering if anyone besides me is uneasy about this. Currently there are quite a few women posting here regularly, not just the occasional hit-and-run attack or troll. These current posters say all the right things. They talk like us, think like us, etc. I’m just a little suspicious, and I can’t help but wonder how many are feminists bragging to their fellow travelers how they’ve infiltrated this forum, and are probably making careful note of the misogynistic, sexist, or patriarchal things said here.
          Some of their comments are so good I even find myself upvoting them. But these chicks really don’t belong here. A couple may be on the level, though I think we might do well to just start ignoring them. They’re really not adding anything to the dialog, and some of ’em are probably hosing us.

        31. It’s possible that they could also be the ‘women against feminism’ phonies.

        32. Like it’s a big deal that a woman can make a thousand dollars a week — ANY woman can make $1000 a week…on her back.

        33. Sure… in which case I’m sure they have their sites/forums, or if not they should create one. They don’t need to be here reading our comments about day game and night game, who we would or wouldn’t bang, our conquests, mens fitness tips, best countries for chicks, etc., etc.
          There is really very little here of any relevance to the women participating here, so ya gotta wonder…

        34. That chameleon trait was the basis for the Julia Roberts Richard Gere movie, The Runaway Bride.

        35. Women against Feminism aren’t complete phonies. They are legitimately opposed to the wacko extremism of the end stage third wave feminists and emerging fourth wave feminists. Where they are phony in the extreme is that they will fight tooth and nail to preserve the excessive privileges granted to them by all the prior waves of feminism. They have no issue with a man having his children stolen from him, as well as most of his assets and a huge portion of his future earnings, in divorce. They are noting that more and more men are just saying no to the horrid deal of modern marriage. This is why they act like they are against feminism.

        36. Why not all of them now? I am a regular on several boards that specifically bar women from participating. It improves the discussion immensely.

        37. That reminds me of the story of the aging couple (in their sixties) who were arguing. The woman said she was going to leave him. He replied, “How will you support yourself?” She said she would sell her pussy on the street. He said she would starve. She stomped off and came back 2 weeks later with $600.25. He said, “Why the unusual amount? Who paid you the quarter?” She said, “They all did.”

        38. Those women can have the titty bars to themselves as far as I am concerned. I have boycotted all strip joints in the west for several decades because they are sexist and abusive. That is they are sexist against men and abusive towards men. Why pay a woman to abuse you and leave your balls blue?

        39. Once, in my stupid youth, a group of us Naval personnel had a standing Friday get together at a strip joint in Orlando, where we were in Nuclear Power School. It was a class joint, with a floor show, comics, and Vegas style costumes. I can name the place because it went out of business over 30 years ago; Club Juana. The catch phrase was, You know you Juana. One time a guy brought his visiting fiancée to the club with him. She remarked, “What is the big deal, I’m better looking than these girls.” She was correct, but I pointed out to her, “But you aren’t dancing naked on our table.”

        40. I went a couple times before I was in the church. Yeah, it is a pathetic existence.

        41. Women reflect the opinions of powerful men. If women post here and say “all the right things”. They will compare your badassery to the mewling little chodes they brag to. Then when they know their shitty self hating friends arent watching, they’ll try to find an excuse to hook up with a red pilled “badboy”.
          The only thing you have to watch out for is the inevitable testing of frame. Ie they will test to see if you really believe what you say.

        45. Good man. We all should start doing the same. But I doubt most will.
          We need to stick together on this. I notice some of our most prolific “red-pilled” posters here are strangely silent on this subject….

        46. Those are professional spammers and I guarantee they are not females. They are dudes from Africa, Asia, Russian jews, etc., Replying to these spammer, no matter how harshly, will accomplish ZERO.
          Are you so naive you fall for the fake female names and profile pics?????

        47. They are here for the same reason women always invade mens’ spaces. They wonder what we are saying about THEM. That and other women are very little fun to be around, even though they try to convince themselves that they are all sisters and boozing it up with the other claws at tgif’s on thursday night is all that.

        48. Yep.
          And they are the ones having long convos with them.
          …
          How can they not see the “women” are just timewasters and distractors.

      4. What exactly are you doing here? You don’t strike me as though you’d belong here.

      1. Be careful, or they will lure you into their pizza shops and (((molassest))) you.

  2. Fun story, yes it was more hazardous back then, but the the rate of progress between 1880 and 1970 was unreal.

  4. If obesity is a deadly epidemic, I’d say molasses has killed far more people than we give it credit for.

  5. I had a professor who drilled into my head that, when engineers screw up, people die. This was one of a few examples he pulled out every semester to illustrate that point.

      1. That’s right, the worst of it is, engineer’s hands are tied by government regulation. I never really get to design much, just come up with an idea and see if it fits. Then i tweak it where there are conflicts. No wonder progression has slowed.

        1. Sounds like what Doug Coulter said in that interview about his open-source home nuclear reactor.

    4. I am an engineer and I completely agree and can not warn people enough of the dangers of trusting ill-capable men & women [ engineers ] with the lives of others without proper periodical system check & control.

        1. Yes out of the billions of engineer designed structures and machines there have been failures. The difference is as Hubert Hoover stated:
          The great liability of the engineer compared to men of other professions is that his works are out in the open where all can see them. His acts, step by step, are in hard substance. He cannot bury his mistakes in the grave like the doctors. He cannot argue them into thin air or blame the judge like the lawyers. He cannot, like the architects, cover his failures with trees and vines. He cannot, like the politicians, screen his shortcomings by blaming his opponents and hope the people will forget. The engineer simply cannot deny he did it. If his works do not work, he is damned…

    1. Yeah, imagine yourself being engulfed by tar, the thing filing your lungs by entering your nostrils.
      sweet.

      1. I’m sorry I offended you by making light of a sticky situation.

      1. $7000 is $102,400 today. not saying it’s a fortune – just wanted to mention the correct numbers.

  11. I saw a documentary on this disaster once, they say the vicinity where it happened still smells of molasses in hot days. Almost 100 years later.

  13. When you have a fermentable substance, you must always be aware of yeast farts. Can shatter glass bottles. I go with non thermo reactive plastic cause it can withstand about 110psi and not chemically decompose.
    But damn the result is good.

  14. Where did Grandma get her molasses from for over 50 years? Scraping it off trees, benches, and street bums. Always unsulphured!

  15. I went to a railroad tank car once spewing hot molasses. Fire dept had a hard time with it. Next day every bee for like a mile radius was around there. Fucking mess

  16. had to pay in a
    class-action suit eventually came close to one million dollars. When we
    consider that 21 people died, this seems a very low number; but this
    was the age before
    more relevant, i doubt you’ve adjusted that number for inflation.
    prior to the Federal Reserve, the USD had periods of both inflation and deflation so that over long periods the value of the dollar didn’t change much.
    since the Great Depression, the Fed has never permitted the dollar to do anything but inflate ( devalue ), so a 1919 $1 is worth ~= $14 in 2017 money.

    1. I was aware that $1 = $14 in today’s currency. Even adjusting for inflation, $7000 ($98,000 in today’s figures) per death seems like a low number for a wrongful death settlement. At least by today’s standards. People now get a lot more…

      1. Yeah, but that’s not to say that that increased amount is somehow more “just”, it’s just more.

  18. Wonder-woman woman only screenings….hmmm lets have men only movie theiters men only gyms…if they wana be like that…we men will start excluding woman from OUR events.

  19. The only thing that can be said of the Boston Mollasses Tragedy is that it pretty much typifies Corporate Greed and Recklessness, the desire for profit above all concern.

  21. it’s always weird to hear when sugar and its derivatives turn out to be explosives;in the city where I live we have had 2 explosions from the place where they process sugar (we call em “ingenios”) and witnesses always describe the fire as worse than gasoline

  23. I’d wish QC would write more articles of this kind. I always find new interesting historical stuff.

  24. Flour dust in the air can be ‘explosive’. IIRC, mills in the past have exploded from the fine combusible particulates. This principle can also be used with a small amount of putty explosive like C4. One ounce of C4 under aluminum powder used as a base charge under a 5 lb bag of flour can completely destroy a house, whereas the C4 alone would not.

  25. This event is hardly unknown outside of Boston. I was a Mechanical Engineering student in the 70s and studying this failure was part of our materials science class. The event was incorporated into boiler codes everywhere. It was discussed in fracture mechanics. It is well known in the engineering community, everywhere.

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