Today in Rum history

[Archbishop S. M. Octavian]

Jan 15 1919

In Boston, an immense storage tank alongside a rum distillery suddenly explodes, producing a flash flood of 2.3 million gallons of sticky molasses. Whole buildings are knocked off their foundations and reduced to rubble by an eight-foot wall of liquid traveling 35 miles per hour. 21 killed and 150 injured as a result of this industrial accident.

Read the full story on the frontpage.

[Count Silvio]

Thank you for posting this story. I would have forgot it myself. There are stories that you can still smell the molasses on a hot summer day. Can anyone confirm or deny this urban legend?

[Scottes]

Funny, I'm reading the book about this catastrophe and have *just* gotten to the part where the tank fails. I didn't link the date listed in the book to the current date....


As to the urban legend of being able to smell molasses 88 years later, I can say that I have spent a lot of time in that neighborhood - including a couple hours on the exact spot where the tank used to stand - and I have never smelled molasses.

[Count Silvio]

Funny, I'm reading the book about this catastrophe and have *just* gotten to the part where the tank fails. I didn't link the date listed in the book to the current date....

Dark Tide?
How is the book so far?

As to the urban legend of being able to smell molasses 88 years later, I can say that I have spent a lot of time in that neighborhood - including a couple hours on the exact spot where the tank used to stand - and I have never smelled molasses.

Oh well, makes a good story though!

[Scottes]

Dark Tide?
How is the book so far?

It's OK. A little too much unrelated history - WWI and all that. The writing is OK, but the whole damn story could fit into 10 or 15 pages, so a whole book is a waste. IMHO.