On January 15, 1919 around 12:30pm in Boston’s North End residents suddenly heard the sound of an elevated train passing by, followed by the sound of machine gun fire, or something like a loud thunder clap before a 25 foot wave of molasses came rushing out onto the city as the rivets and metal walls from the Purity Distillery Company’s 50 ft tall (and 90 ft and diameter) molasses storage tank exploded. 2,300,000 gallons of molasses filled the streets, reaching speeds up to 35 mph. The wave of molasses was strong enough to sweep buildings off of their foundations and crush them, a streetcar was momentarily moved off of its tracks, and streets were filled with 2-5 feet of molasses. People were picked up and hurled many feet and many people became trapped when the molasses started to cool.
via Historic America
Puleo quotes a Boston Post report:
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.
Cleaning crews took weeks to clean up the mess and even longer to clean up the rest of Boston because site seers and cleaning crews tracked molasses everywhere.
“An inquiry after the disaster revealed that Arthur Jell, USIA's treasurer, neglected basic safety tests while overseeing construction of the tank, such as filling it with water insufficient to check for leaks, and ignored warning signs such as groaning noises each time the tank was filled. He had no architectural or engineering experience. When filled with molasses, the tank leaked so badly that it was painted brown to hide them. Local residents collected leaked molasses for their homes. A 2014 investigation applied modern engineering analysis and found that the steel was half as thick as it should have been for a tank of its size, even with the lax standards of the day, and it also lacked manganese and was made more brittle as a result. The tank's rivets were also apparently flawed, and cracks first formed at the rivet holes”
via Boston Globe
Residents of the area filed what is thought to be one of the first class action lawsuits against the company, who claimed anarchists blew up the tank, but after three years if hearings the company paid out $628,000 (9.26 mil for inflation), thus relatives receiving 7,000 (103,000) for each victim.
Pasquale Iantosca, 10 years old was outside collecting firewood when he was swept up by a wave- his body wasn’t identified until mid January.
Flaminio Gallerani, 37 was said to be sitting on his truck when the flood hit, he was reported missing soon after the carnage but wasn’t found until 11 days after the flood.
Cesare Nicolo, 32, a wagon driver who wasn’t found until 4 months after the flood.
William Brogan, 61, a teamster who was caught in the flood.
Bridget Clougherty, 65, the rush of molasses caused a vacuum and ripped her house from its foundation, which was then crushed by fallen buildings and rubble.
John Callahan, 43, worked as a paver in the North End Paving yard.
Maria Distasio, 10, found at the base of the molasses tank.
William Duffy, 58, worked a paver in the North End Paving yard, survived by his wife of 35 years and 19-year old daughter.
Peter Francis, 64, worked as a blacksmith in the North End Paving yard
James H. Kinneally, ?, worked in the North End Paving yard
Eric Laird, 17, was delivering a shipment when the flood hit, his body was found under “molasses-coated mass of wrecked auto trucks, express boxes and packages in the freight shed of the Bay State Electric Freight Railway,” according to the Globe.
George Layhe, 38, a firefighter crushed by the wreckage of the firehouse
James Lennon, 64, a foreman with the North End Paving Yard
Ralph Martin, 21, working with the Blackstone Supply Company
Michael Sinnott, 74, working as a messenger for the Public Works Department, “He had returned to work 20 minutes before the explosion and was thrown several feet against a pile of paving stones and suffered a fractured skull, both legs broken, contusions and internal injuries,” the Post reported.
James McMullen, 46, foreman for the Bay State Express
Thomas Noonan, 43, longshoreman “He and his son, Carthage Noonan, were returning home from South Boston and when on Commercial st were caught in the flood of molasses and wreckage,” the Globe reported.
Peter Shaughnessy, 18, teamster “His horse, covered with molasses, was found dead yesterday, near North End Park, and the wagon was found wrecked,” the Globe reported on Jan. 17. “No trace of the young man was found.” the day of the flood was his first day on the job
John Sieberlich, 69, worked in the North End Paving Yard