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N0KFQ > TODAY 15.01.13 17:19l 44 Lines 1929 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 34474_KB0WSA
Read: GUEST
Subj: Today in History - Jan 15
Path: IZ3LSV<IW0QNL<JH4XSY<F1OYP<VE2PKT<KA0MOS<KQ0I<N0KFQ<KB0WSA
Sent: 130115/1509Z 34474@KB0WSA.MO.USA.NA BPQK1.4.53
...
Jan 15, 1919:
Molasses floods Boston streets
Fiery hot molasses floods the streets of Boston on this day in 1919,
killing 21 people and injuring scores of others. The molasses burst
from a huge tank at the United States Industrial Alcohol Company
building in the heart of the city.
The United States Industrial Alcohol building was located on
Commercial Street near North End Park in Boston. It was close to lunch
time on January 15 and Boston was experiencing some unseasonably warm
weather as workers were loading freight-train cars within the large
building. Next to the workers was a 58-foot-high tank filled with 2.5
million gallons of crude molasses.
Suddenly, the bolts holding the bottom of the tank exploded, shooting
out like bullets, and the hot molasses rushed out. An eight-foot-high
wave of molasses swept away the freight cars and caved in the
building's doors and windows. The few workers in the building's cellar
had no chance as the liquid poured down and overwhelmed them.
The huge quantity of molasses then flowed into the street outside. It
literally knocked over the local firehouse and then pushed over the
support beams for the elevated train line. The hot and sticky
substance then drowned and burned five workers at the Public Works
Department. In all, 21 people and dozens of horses were killed in the
flood. It took weeks to clean the molasses from the streets of Boston.
This disaster also produced an epic court battle, as more than 100
lawsuits were filed against the United States Industrial Alcohol
Company. After a six-investigation that involved 3,000 witnesses and
45,000 pages of testimony, a special auditor finally determined that
the company was at fault because the tank used had not been strong
enough to hold the molasses. Nearly $1 million was paid in settlement
of the claims.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ KB0WSA.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
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