( In the previous article, we went back 101 years in history to explore one of the strangest incidents America has ever witnessed, we also learned How destrcutive and deadly was the molasses disaster despite how funny imagining a Tsunami of molasses can be. In this second part, we will analyze in details the causes of the tragedy. So please, if you missed part I then click the following link before reading this part. https://read.cash/@hamedbkh/events-from-history-bostons-sweet-tsunami-056aa80a )
Now, there is an important question to ask: What made the tank burst in the first place? What were the fatal events that made Boston swim in a big swamp of molasses and ruins that day? So many questions in need of answers... For that sake, let's go back in time to 1915 and the World War I, you will know why in a second.
In 1915, Purity Distilling Company wasn't just storring molasses to sell it as syrup, they were also fermenting it to produce Ethanol which is used to make munitions (such as dynamite) and liquors. At that time, the WWI was at the peak and the demand for Ethanol was very high. As a result, the company needed more place to store their growing need of molasses, and for that, Arthur Jell was given the task of constructing a new tank.
You might be thinking now that Arthur Jell was a well known engineer back then. Wrong!! Actually, he had no knowledge in architecture with no engineering experience! The man was originally the treasurer, and he was assigned to oversee the tank construction because Purity company thought he is the "cheapest and fastest" option available. With that being said, You don't have to be wearing a detective hat to conclude how fatal and crucial this decision was.
Being the treasurer, Arthur Jell decided to reduce the cost of the whole project. The steel used was too thin to handle the fermentation process of the molasses stored inside. There were also many structural issues with the tank design which caused a lot of pressure on the rivet holes. Worse, Jell decided to neglect all safety tests and the tank was declared as ready to use.
Since the first days of use, the steel was making noises every time the tank was filled, and when workers reported that, the only answer they got was " Well it's standing still"! Not only that, obvious cracks started to appear and it was so bad that people used to bring cups and fill them with the leaking molasses. When the company was informed of the situation, they just painted the tank brown to cover the leakage!
After gathering all these infos, it doesn't need a high IQ level to realize how the tank was a time bomb since the very first day of its use, but that poses another important question: Why the tank bursted only in January 15, 1919, 4 years after its construction, and not before that?
To answer that, we have to look at what happened 2 days before the incident. In January, 13, 1919, The tank was filled to full capacity which only happened few times before. Obviously, the weight of molasses was way more than what can the 4 years old tank handle. Moreover, the internal pressure caused by the fermentation process of 2.3 million Gallon of molasses was crashing the already cracked steel walls.
The molasses bomb was fully set to explode and only needed one more factor: Weather. The 15th of january that year was unusually hot comparing to a normal winter day in Boston, that fact meant more pressure inside the tank because the relatively high tempreture was expediting the fermentation process. The tank couldn't bear that tension and ended up creating a deadly Tsunami that won't be forgotten in the US history.
In the end, we can only feel sorry for the victims (many of them were kids and workers eating lunch in their break) and hope that someday, companies will consider public safety as their first priority instead of making as much money as possible even when that means destroying half of the city due to them neglecting basic safety tests.