“Dark Tide” Book Review

Zachary Kunkel

Stephen Puleo• One of the only people that has

researched this • Authority on the subject• Puleo uses different narrative voices to tell

the story from multiple perspectives.• Credentials: Has a masters in History,

Boston resident, newspaper author, contributes to American History Magazine.

Background Information

United States Industrial Alcohol was using Molasses to create munitions East End of Boston, January 1919The era right before Prohibition is passedAnarchist movement was in full swing in the USA

The Great Boston Molasses Flood

Sparked the largest civil suit in American history at that timeSome say the collapse was caused by anarchists who blew it up while others claimed that it was due to structural weakness and corporate greed

A steel tank of 2.3million gallons collapses into East End Boston, a populated residential and commercial zone

21 people killed, 150 injured

Anarchists in BostonDuring WWI a very strong anti-war/anarchist movement, especially by Italian immigrantsThreatened to destroy other USIA facilities in New York, with a failed bomb plot in 1916Boston was full of Italian immigrants that were central to the anarchist movement

Luigi Galleani

The Tank Built in 1915 without a building permit, only a permit for the foundationWasn’t scrutinized by city officialsBuilt and designed by Arthur Jell whom had a finance background and no engineering, construction or architectural straining58 feet tall, 90 feet in diameter and 240 feet in circumferenceWas not properly tested and the steel used was of insufficient thicknessThe construction was a rushed job

Life in East End Boston

FamiliesFirefighter’s stationCommuter rail lineTeamstersPoor, working-class neighborhoodItalian immigrantsWorking class Irishmen40,000 people, population density similar to Calcutta

Warning signs leading up to the flood

After the first shipment of molasses, the structure immediately started to leakChildren would sit underneath the tank and collect the molassesCreak, moan and roar like a lionAfter complaints and concerns were raised over the leaks and sounds, the company, United States Industrial Alcohol addressed the issue by painting the tank a gray color which masked the leaks

Moments leading up to the flood

WWI ended, there is no longer a demand for munitionsAlcohol production was now the ‘new thing’Prohibition was about to be passedUSIA was trying to profit off the last year of alcohol productionFilled the tank to capacity (2.3million gallons)Boston had a huge weather swing from single digit temperatures to the 40s in one dayTank at the moment of collapse was leaking with children collecting the molasses

January 15, 1919Residents hear very loud thundering noise emanating from the tank Tank collapses releasing 2.3million gallons of molasses (weighing about 26million pound) A molasses tidal wave forms: 20 feet high, 160 feet across and moving at 35miles per hour Wave moves for about 3/4 of a mile crushing everything in its path, picking up people, houses, animals, vehicles21 deaths occur mostly by crushing and asphyxiation150 injuries including skull fractures and pelvic and back injuries

ConsequencesCM Stoffard, a professor at MIT concluded that the tank shell was too thin and had used too few rivetsUSIA attempted to blame anarchists but ultimately was held responsible for the disasterClean up took 87,000 man hoursUsed chisels, brooms and saws to break apart the hardening gunkUsed water from harbor to flush the streets clean

Evolution of causesCourt documents are the only evidence and these blame USIA for the disaster as a result of structural inefficiencies and internal build up gaseous byproducts of fermentation.John Mason, who published an article in 1965 stated that “the defendants responsible for the disaster because the molasses tank… was not strong enough to withstand the pressure…the ‘factor of safety’ was not high enough”. Stephen Puleo’s book, written in 2003 (almost a century later) concurs with the court’s ruling but stresses corporate greed.Hinrichsen (2014) agrees that the structural issues were the root cause for the disaster and says that this disaster could have been avoided had the structure been built to the standards of the day.New developments: A structural and metallurgical engineer, Ronald Mayville, states that “the steel used was brittle because it contained a low amount of the chemical element manganese making it more likely to crack” (Schworm, 2015).

Effects on Emergency Management

1. Dangerous structures limited within residential and commercial zones and business are accountable for their structures

2. Inspectors must keep public health and well-being into consideration

3. Architects and engineers must provide signed and sealed plans to city authorities

4. Engineers and architects need to be certified and registered within professional organizations

5. Loopholes such as claiming the tank was not a building, therefore did not need a permit, were closed

“This is where regulation comes from -- not from some bored bureaucrat sitting in an office in Washington trying to think up ways to make life miserable and expensive for some innocent and unsuspecting businessman, but from real human suffering and tragedy brought about, all too often, by people who shirk what should be obvious responsibilities, who neglect basic diligence, who sacrifice safety for profit” (Steffen, 2009).

References Hinrichsen, E. (2014, November 14). The Boston Molasses Disaster: Causes of the

Molasses Tank Explosion (L. Stonecypher, Ed.). Retrieved July 16, 2015.Lyons, C. (2009). A Sticky Tragedy: The Boston Molasses Disaster. Retrieved

July 20, 2015 from http://www.historytoday.com/chuck-lyons/sticky-tragedy-boston-molasses-disaster

Mason, J. (1965). The Molasses Disaster of January 15, 1919. Retrieved July 10, 2015 from http://edp.org/molyank.htm

Puleo, S. (2004). Dark Tide: The Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919. Beacon Press.Schworm, P. (2015, January 14). Nearly a century later, new insight into cause of Great

Molasses Flood of 1919 - The Boston Globe. Retrieved July 10, 2015 from https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/01/14/nearly-century-later-new-insight-into-cause-great-molasses-flood/CNqLYc0T58kNo3MxP872iM/story.html#

Smith, N. (2012, April 6). Solving the Great Molasses Flood Mystery. Retrieved July 15,

2015 from https://slice.mit.edu/2012/04/06/great-molasses-flood/Steffen, D. (2009, December 20). How Regulation came to be: The Great Molasses Flood.

Retrieved July 18, 2015 from http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/12/20/816084/-How-Regulation-came-to-be-The-Great-Molasses-Flood#