31/1/2015 Karst Features of France: The Pernod Accident

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Image: Fire at the Pernod Factory on 11-AUG-1901 after 2 hours.

Image: Fire at the PernodFactory on 11-AUG-1901 after1:30 hours.

Image: Fire at the Pernod Factory on 11-AUG-1901 after 3 hours.

Image: L'Illustration of 17-AUG-1901 aboutthe fire.

Image: Bottles were melting by the heat of thefire.

The Pernod AccidentThis is not a page about aplace, but it is one about thefunniest accident we know of,which is based on karstgeology.

At the end of the 19thand the beginning of the 20thcentury a drink called Absinthwas very famous in France. Itwas a liquour with manyingredients, including anis.Like all those anis liquours(e.g. Ouzo, Raki,...) it is aclear liquid until it is mixed with water, then it becomes milky.

As a matter of fact theoriginal Absinth containedsome slightly poisonousingredients. It would havebeen hard to get a lethal dosewithout being killed by the

alcohol much earlier, but this poisonous touch was partof the Absinth myth. And there was a rumour of it beingan aphrodisiac. Unfortunately those peculiarities wherethe reason why it was forbidden some years later.

On 11th August1901 a lightning hitthe plant of thePernod company in Pontarlier. It was set on fire, and thehigh temperature made the huge tanks with alcoholexplode. Some one million litres of Absinth poured acrossthe plant, down the sewer system and straight into the riverDoubs. The river turned white and smelled of anis.

Two days later,ANDRÉ BERTHELOTvisited the Source dela Loue more than15km from Pontarlier,on the other side of ahigh mountain ridge.While enjoying theromantic atmosphereat the clear spring, hesuddenly noticed a

change. The water turned milky, and a smell of anisfilled the air.

He knew this smell from the pub, but he had to take a mouthfull, to believe it: The waterof the big spring turned into a free apéritiv! It is not handed down, if he filled his water-bottle...

This story was heard by the founder of modern speleology, E. A. MARTEL, and nine yearslater he made a dye tracing experiment. He found a swallow hole in the bed of river Doubsand added a strong, non-toxic, green colour. 64 hours later, the Source de la Loue turnedgreen. The connection of the Loue and the Doubs across the mountain ridge was proofenand the dye tracing of ground water invented.

But now the next act in this play started: the owners of some small mills along theDoubs had problems with a strange lack of water for many years now. As they heard of the

31/1/2015 Karst Features of France: The Pernod Accident

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swallow holes, the started to look for them and filled theme with concrete when they foundthem. So the water stayed in the Doubs.

But now the residents along the Loue had problems with missing water. And so the casecame before court. The decision: the already sealed sinks may stay as they are, but newchanges of the course of the water will be punished.

This kind of story happened in many karst areas all over the world. Another famous oneis the  Donauversickerung (Danube Sink), where the water of the young Danube sinks toreappear in the   Aachtopf (Aach spring). But Pernod was never used for dye tracingexperiments again!

See alsoSource de la LoueE. A. MartelDonauversickerungSearch Google for "Pernod fire 1901"Google Earth PlacemarkThe History of Pontarlier Anis mentions the story.Absinthe Pernod Fils at The Virtual Absinthe Museum: The 1901 Fire at the PernodfactoryJade Liqueurs Fine AbsinthesPernod Fils - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaA Pontarlier Visit at The Virtual Absinthe Museum: The Old Pernod Fils FactoryPernod RicardToxin in absinthe makes neurons run wild

Last updated 09/12/2013 13:34:31, Terms of Use, © Jochen Duckeck.