[The following takes place during the Great Molasses Flood. Context, courtesy of Wikipedia: “The Great Molasses Flood, also known as the Boston Molasses Disaster or the Great Boston Molasses Flood, occurred on January 15, 1919 in the North End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. A large molasses storage tank burst and a wave of molasses rushed through the streets at an estimated 35 mph (56 km/h), killing 21 and injuring 150.”]
As in many disasters luck played a part in deciding who was to live and who was to die. A patrolman walking his beat felt some liquid splash against the back of his uniform but was able to duck around a corner before the force of the wave hit. A sailor chatting with a pretty girl on the street felt himself swept away and slightly injured. The girl was among the missing. In North End Park, Dave Spellman watched as the wave of sticky goo washed his friend Ralph Martin into the harbor.
A workman unloading a loud of lard was severely injured and his horse killed when the wave of molasses struck his delivery wagon. An oil tanker was completely demolished, and a teamster loading a wagon at the street railway terminal was thrown to the pavement and his horse and wagon crushed. Two girls, age nine and eleven, didn’t return to school for the afternoon and were presumed missing in the carnage.
Most deaths in the mayhem were the result of asphyxiation. As the Boston Post again explained:
There was no escape from the wave. Caught, human being and animal alike could not flee. Running in it was impossible. Snared in its flood was to be stifled. Once it smeared a head – human or animal – there was no coughing off the sticky mass. To attempt to wipe it with hands was to make it worse… It plugged nostrils almost airtight.
Source:
Pletcher, Larry. “The Great Molasses Flood.” Massachusetts Disasters: True Stories of Tragedy and Survival. Insiders Guide, 2006. 108. Print.
Further Reading:
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