THE 1919 BOSTON MOLASSES TRAGEDY

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Ah yes.

Now ask yourself -- who would you want to see drowned in molasses in a similar fashion?

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 20 October 2005 14:21 (twenty years ago)

NED RAGGETT

― strongo hulkington's ghost (dubplatestyle), Thursday, 20 October 2005 14:22 (twenty years ago)

j/k

― strongo hulkington's ghost (dubplatestyle), Thursday, 20 October 2005 14:22 (twenty years ago)

You have to start *somewhere*

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 20 October 2005 14:23 (twenty years ago)

THE BRITISH

― strongo hulkington's ghost (dubplatestyle), Thursday, 20 October 2005 14:23 (twenty years ago)

Ned we can just do Boston again and take care of a lot of people's problems.

I kid, I kid.

― Allyzay knows a little German (allyzay), Thursday, 20 October 2005 14:24 (twenty years ago)

I would like to see some porn stars drown in molasses, as I could film it and sell it to food drowning fetishists as "Mo' Asses in Molasses."

― n/a (Nick A.), Thursday, 20 October 2005 14:24 (twenty years ago)

thank you, lord custos

― strongo hulkington's ghost (dubplatestyle), Thursday, 20 October 2005 14:25 (twenty years ago)

That is at least 4x funnier than Lord Custos.

― Allyzay knows a little German (allyzay), Thursday, 20 October 2005 14:26 (twenty years ago)

― n/a (Nick A.), Thursday, 20 October 2005 14:26 (twenty years ago)

i know, i was too harsh

― strongo hulkington's ghost (dubplatestyle), Thursday, 20 October 2005 14:26 (twenty years ago)

Can I change my answer to "Jess"?

― n/a (Nick A.), Thursday, 20 October 2005 14:26 (twenty years ago)

I would still call it "Mo' Asses in Molasses" though.

― n/a (Nick A.), Thursday, 20 October 2005 14:27 (twenty years ago)

JESS IN ACTION...in molasses

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 20 October 2005 14:27 (twenty years ago)

http://dannyayers.com/2004/04/olivo.jpg

― strongo hulkington's ghost (dubplatestyle), Thursday, 20 October 2005 14:27 (twenty years ago)

thats not a dillweed

― _, Thursday, 20 October 2005 14:29 (twenty years ago)

http://www.cilisboa.org/images/main/icons/dove.jpg

― n/a (Nick A.), Thursday, 20 October 2005 14:29 (twenty years ago)

are we all having a really slow work day?

― Allyzay knows a little German (allyzay), Thursday, 20 October 2005 14:30 (twenty years ago)

NO SHIT

― strongo hulkington's ghost (dubplatestyle), Thursday, 20 October 2005 14:31 (twenty years ago)

i dont even think anyone else is here!

― strongo hulkington's ghost (dubplatestyle), Thursday, 20 October 2005 14:31 (twenty years ago)

Extremely dead here.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 20 October 2005 14:32 (twenty years ago)

The Terror of the Scene

I went to original newspaper articles to find out what it was like. Envision a disaster scene with smashed buildings, overturned vehicles, drowned and crushed victims, and terrified survivors running away covered in molasses. Like the modern-day disasters with which we are unfortunately familiar, there was chaos, terror, buildings in ruins, victims to be dug out, trapped survivors to be rescued, rescue workers among the victims, and anguished families rushing to relief centers to find their relatives. It was like any horrible disaster scene, with the addition that everything was covered in smelly sticky brown molasses.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 20 October 2005 14:32 (twenty years ago)

sweet sweet death

― strongo hulkington's ghost (dubplatestyle), Thursday, 20 October 2005 14:32 (twenty years ago)

It was like any horrible disaster scene, with the addition that everything was covered in smelly sticky brown molasses.

― jw (ex machina), Thursday, 20 October 2005 14:34 (twenty years ago)

That doesn't sound like a disaster to me!

― Allyzay knows a little German (allyzay), Thursday, 20 October 2005 14:35 (twenty years ago)

In the pumping station attached to the big molasses tank, Bill White turned the key in the lock and started uptown to meet his wife for lunch. He bumped into Eric Blair, driver for Wheeler's Express, and said, "Hello, Scotty. What are you doing around here at noontime? Thought you and the old nag always went to Charlestown for grub?"

The young Scotsman grinned, "It's a funny thing, Bill. This is the first time in three years I ever brought my lunch over here;" and he climbed up on the bulkhead and leaned back against the warm side of the big molasses tank—for the first and last time.

Truman Capote this is not.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 20 October 2005 14:36 (twenty years ago)

http://www.wagonwheeltheatre.com/Bennigans/chocolate.jpg

― strongo hulkington's ghost (dubplatestyle), Thursday, 20 October 2005 14:36 (twenty years ago)

Good lord, there's a book:

In this volume, Puleo, a contributor to American History magazine, sets out to determine whether the collapse of a molasses tank that sent a tidal wave of 2.3 million gallons of the sticky liquid through Boston's North End and killed 21 people was the work of Italian anarchists or due to negligence by the tank's owner, United States Industrial Alcohol. Getting into the minds of the major players in the disaster-USIA suits, victims, witnesses, North End residents, politicians-he re-creates not only the scene but also the social, political and economic environments of the time that made the disaster more than just an industrial accident. While the collapse's aftermath is tragic, the story itself is not exactly gripping. More interesting are the tidbits of Boston's and America's history, such as the importance of molasses to all U.S. war efforts up to and including WWI, which Puleo uses to put the tank collapse in the context of a very complex time in U.S. history. The most striking aspect of this tale is the timeliness of the topics it touches on. Describing Americans being persecuted because of their ethnicity, a sagging economy boosted by war, and terrorism on U.S. soil that results in anti-immigration laws and deportations, Puleo could just as easily be writing about current events as about events in 1919. Overall, this is another piece in the jigsaw puzzle that is Boston's long and rich history.

Maybe it was Noize Dudes from Italy.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 20 October 2005 14:39 (twenty years ago)

THE BRITISH

Too late, the beer has already drownded us.

― Mädchen (Madchen), Thursday, 20 October 2005 14:43 (twenty years ago)

A total of eight people were killed, seven due to drowning and one due to alcohol poisoning.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 20 October 2005 14:44 (twenty years ago)

sounds like an average night in london to me

― strongo hulkington's ghost (dubplatestyle), Thursday, 20 October 2005 14:44 (twenty years ago)

PLUM

― David R. (popshots75`), Thursday, 20 October 2005 14:46 (twenty years ago)

"Was the work of Italian anarchists or due to negligence by the tank's owner, United States Industrial Alcohol"
There's a pretty big degree of difference between those two.

― jocelyn (Jocelyn), Thursday, 20 October 2005 14:48 (twenty years ago)

He bumped into Eric Blair, driver for Wheeler's Express

I knew Orwell did some odd jobs in his time, but I never suspected this.

― M. White (Miguelito), Thursday, 20 October 2005 14:49 (twenty years ago)

I found this link on the molasses page even more fascinating.

― Markelby (Mark C), Thursday, 20 October 2005 14:51 (twenty years ago)

I have met Noise Dudes from Italy randomly. They were sweet guys.

― jw (ex machina), Thursday, 20 October 2005 14:56 (twenty years ago)

Were they anarchists? Did they like molasses?

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 20 October 2005 14:58 (twenty years ago)

seven years pass...

Molasses disaster in Hawaii:

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/12/hawaii-honolulu-molasses-spill-fish-dying

― how's life, Friday, 13 September 2013 09:39 (twelve years ago)

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