1 00:00:00,800 --> 00:00:03,320 Speaker 1: Well, as you well know, floods caused by Mother Nature 2 00:00:03,320 --> 00:00:07,280 Speaker 1: have been plaguing mankind since I don't know rain was invented. 3 00:00:07,720 --> 00:00:11,680 Speaker 1: But what about man made floods that don't actually involve water. 4 00:00:12,440 --> 00:00:16,360 Speaker 1: Imagine wading through an eighteen inch deep tidal wave of 5 00:00:16,440 --> 00:00:20,120 Speaker 1: sticky molasses, or how about trying to escape a tsunami 6 00:00:20,200 --> 00:00:23,760 Speaker 1: of hot beer or a torrent of scalding whisky. I'm 7 00:00:23,800 --> 00:00:27,280 Speaker 1: Patty Steele. All of these disasters were caused by the 8 00:00:27,280 --> 00:00:30,560 Speaker 1: public's love of alcohol, and all of them were deadly. 9 00:00:30,960 --> 00:00:38,120 Speaker 1: That's next on the backstory. We're back with the backstory. 10 00:00:38,680 --> 00:00:42,440 Speaker 1: So backstory listener Chuck Bell suggested a story about the 11 00:00:42,440 --> 00:00:46,920 Speaker 1: Great Boston Molasses Flood of nineteen nineteen, and doing some 12 00:00:47,080 --> 00:00:50,320 Speaker 1: research on that led me down a rabbit hole to 13 00:00:50,400 --> 00:00:53,920 Speaker 1: the eighteen fourteen beer flood in London and then to 14 00:00:54,000 --> 00:00:57,520 Speaker 1: the eighteen oh six whisky flood in Glasgow, Scotland. It 15 00:00:57,600 --> 00:00:59,760 Speaker 1: seems like our thirst for a shot of something to 16 00:00:59,800 --> 00:01:03,120 Speaker 1: take the edge off can sometimes lead to trouble. We 17 00:01:03,200 --> 00:01:06,200 Speaker 1: start off in Boston. It's around twelve thirty in the 18 00:01:06,240 --> 00:01:11,479 Speaker 1: afternoon on January fifteenth, nineteen nineteen. It's been a cold winter. 19 00:01:12,040 --> 00:01:15,920 Speaker 1: The Purity Distilling Company has an enormous vat of molasses 20 00:01:16,000 --> 00:01:20,600 Speaker 1: sitting outside its factory. Why molasses, Well, it turns out 21 00:01:20,680 --> 00:01:23,800 Speaker 1: it can be fermented to produce ethanol, the act of 22 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:27,720 Speaker 1: ingredient in all sorts of alcoholic beverages. It's also a 23 00:01:27,760 --> 00:01:31,880 Speaker 1: major ingredient in making munitions. The day before the disaster, 24 00:01:32,120 --> 00:01:35,120 Speaker 1: a new load of warm molasses had arrived by ship 25 00:01:35,520 --> 00:01:39,800 Speaker 1: and was transferred into the tank already holding molasses that 26 00:01:39,880 --> 00:01:43,039 Speaker 1: had been super chilled by the cold weather. Did the 27 00:01:43,120 --> 00:01:47,920 Speaker 1: temperature variation weaken the tank? Who knows? Witnesses heard a 28 00:01:48,040 --> 00:01:51,440 Speaker 1: loud creaking sound. They said they felt the ground shake 29 00:01:51,640 --> 00:01:54,280 Speaker 1: and then a roar as it collapsed. There was a 30 00:01:54,320 --> 00:01:58,480 Speaker 1: long rumble like a passing train, they said. Others spoke 31 00:01:58,520 --> 00:02:02,800 Speaker 1: of a tremendous crashing sound, a deep growling, a thunderclap 32 00:02:03,000 --> 00:02:05,960 Speaker 1: like bang, and a sound like a machine gun as 33 00:02:06,000 --> 00:02:09,400 Speaker 1: the rivets shot out of the tank. The tank holding 34 00:02:09,440 --> 00:02:12,560 Speaker 1: as much as two point three million gallons of this 35 00:02:12,720 --> 00:02:16,400 Speaker 1: sticky stuff had burst at its seams. A wave of 36 00:02:16,480 --> 00:02:20,520 Speaker 1: molasses rushed through the streets at around thirty five miles 37 00:02:20,560 --> 00:02:25,080 Speaker 1: per hour, sweeping people, vehicles, and buildings in its path. 38 00:02:25,120 --> 00:02:30,360 Speaker 1: Away The Boston Globe story said molasses waist deep covered 39 00:02:30,360 --> 00:02:34,239 Speaker 1: the street and swirled and bubbled about the wreckage. Human 40 00:02:34,280 --> 00:02:37,880 Speaker 1: beings as well as horses were trapped thrashing about in 41 00:02:37,960 --> 00:02:42,120 Speaker 1: the sticky mass like flies on sticky flypaper. There was 42 00:02:42,160 --> 00:02:45,960 Speaker 1: no escaping, and as the molasses cooled in the freezing air, 43 00:02:46,320 --> 00:02:50,000 Speaker 1: it became harder to escape and harder to rescue victims. 44 00:02:50,560 --> 00:02:53,120 Speaker 1: In all, twenty one people were killed and about one 45 00:02:53,200 --> 00:02:56,560 Speaker 1: hundred and fifty were injured. Where it is during the summer. 46 00:02:56,760 --> 00:03:02,000 Speaker 1: For years afterward, the air smelled like sweet molasses. Eventually 47 00:03:02,040 --> 00:03:05,120 Speaker 1: the distilling company had to pay what would amount to 48 00:03:05,320 --> 00:03:08,760 Speaker 1: millions of dollars in damages. They'd been rushing to make 49 00:03:08,840 --> 00:03:12,639 Speaker 1: ethanol for the making of liquor since the amendment making 50 00:03:12,720 --> 00:03:17,840 Speaker 1: prohibitional law was ratified the very next day, January sixteenth, 51 00:03:17,960 --> 00:03:22,160 Speaker 1: nineteen nineteen, and went into law a year later. Now 52 00:03:22,240 --> 00:03:25,880 Speaker 1: going back to another alcohol related flood, there's the Great 53 00:03:25,919 --> 00:03:31,600 Speaker 1: London Beer Flood of October seventeenth, eighteen fourteen. The Horseshoe 54 00:03:31,600 --> 00:03:35,720 Speaker 1: Brewery had a massive wooden fermentation tank that was held 55 00:03:35,720 --> 00:03:40,080 Speaker 1: together with huge iron rings. It held thousands of barrels 56 00:03:40,080 --> 00:03:44,320 Speaker 1: of brown ale on that October afternoon, one of the 57 00:03:44,360 --> 00:03:48,280 Speaker 1: iron rings around the tank snapped. About an hour later, 58 00:03:48,640 --> 00:03:53,120 Speaker 1: the whole tank burst, releasing the hot fermenting beer with 59 00:03:53,240 --> 00:03:56,800 Speaker 1: such force that the back wall of the brewery collapsed. 60 00:03:57,280 --> 00:04:01,240 Speaker 1: It blasted open several more vats. Now more than three 61 00:04:01,320 --> 00:04:05,400 Speaker 1: hundred and twenty thousand gallons of beer began rushing down 62 00:04:05,440 --> 00:04:09,440 Speaker 1: nearby streets in a twenty five foot high wave. It 63 00:04:09,480 --> 00:04:12,960 Speaker 1: all happened in a London slum area with poorly built houses, 64 00:04:13,320 --> 00:04:17,400 Speaker 1: so basements were flooded and several houses collapsed. All this 65 00:04:17,640 --> 00:04:20,800 Speaker 1: free beer led to hundreds of people just scooping up 66 00:04:20,839 --> 00:04:23,559 Speaker 1: what they could in whatever containers they had on hand. 67 00:04:24,240 --> 00:04:26,760 Speaker 1: Some resorted to just drinking it out of the street. 68 00:04:27,600 --> 00:04:30,520 Speaker 1: In all, eight people were killed, but there were reports 69 00:04:30,560 --> 00:04:33,880 Speaker 1: of the death of a knife from alcohol poisoning. Scores 70 00:04:33,880 --> 00:04:37,359 Speaker 1: of people were injured. While there were lawsuits against the brewery, 71 00:04:37,560 --> 00:04:40,040 Speaker 1: the courts ruled it had been an act of God. 72 00:04:40,800 --> 00:04:44,960 Speaker 1: And finally there was the Lochkatrine Distillery in Glasgow, Scotland. 73 00:04:45,600 --> 00:04:48,760 Speaker 1: Early on the morning of November twenty first, nineteen oh six, 74 00:04:49,160 --> 00:04:53,520 Speaker 1: one of the distillery's massive vats collapsed. It released around 75 00:04:53,560 --> 00:04:58,000 Speaker 1: fifty thousand gallons of red hot whiskey. Now the vat 76 00:04:58,080 --> 00:05:00,360 Speaker 1: was situated on the top floor of the b building, 77 00:05:00,440 --> 00:05:04,240 Speaker 1: so two more giant vats were also carried away. So 78 00:05:04,400 --> 00:05:07,880 Speaker 1: now one hundred and fifty thousand gallons of whisky flooded 79 00:05:07,880 --> 00:05:11,279 Speaker 1: into the basement where draft, which is the refuse from 80 00:05:11,320 --> 00:05:14,280 Speaker 1: the malt used to make the whisky, was stored. As 81 00:05:14,320 --> 00:05:17,080 Speaker 1: the whisky mixed with the draft, it turned into a 82 00:05:17,360 --> 00:05:20,760 Speaker 1: sort of liquid glue before flooding out onto the street, 83 00:05:21,200 --> 00:05:25,560 Speaker 1: trapping people and animals that were nearby. Amazingly, while a 84 00:05:25,640 --> 00:05:28,599 Speaker 1: number of people were injured, there was only one death, 85 00:05:28,680 --> 00:05:32,719 Speaker 1: a man had drowned in the whisky tsunami. What's interesting 86 00:05:32,760 --> 00:05:35,840 Speaker 1: in all these cases is that each changed the laws 87 00:05:35,880 --> 00:05:40,680 Speaker 1: surrounding alcohol production facilities. The Boston molasses flood paved the 88 00:05:40,720 --> 00:05:45,240 Speaker 1: way for modern corporate regulations. The London Brewery stopped using 89 00:05:45,279 --> 00:05:50,240 Speaker 1: wooden fermentation vats, and in Glasgow the La Katrine Distillery 90 00:05:50,440 --> 00:05:54,280 Speaker 1: simply shut down the year after their flood. Again, I 91 00:05:54,320 --> 00:05:57,719 Speaker 1: want to thank backstory listener Chuck Bell for suggesting this story. 92 00:05:58,000 --> 00:06:01,200 Speaker 1: I hope you are enjoying the backstory with Steele. Please 93 00:06:01,279 --> 00:06:04,640 Speaker 1: leave a review and follow or subscribe for free to 94 00:06:04,720 --> 00:06:09,280 Speaker 1: get new episodes delivered automatically and like Chuck did, Please 95 00:06:09,279 --> 00:06:11,080 Speaker 1: feel free to DM me if you have a story 96 00:06:11,120 --> 00:06:14,000 Speaker 1: you'd like me to cover. On Facebook, It's Patty Steele 97 00:06:14,279 --> 00:06:23,080 Speaker 1: and on Instagram Real Patty Steele. I'm Patty Steele. The 98 00:06:23,160 --> 00:06:28,039 Speaker 1: Backstories a production of iHeartMedia, Premiere Networks, the Elvis Durand Group, 99 00:06:28,120 --> 00:06:31,880 Speaker 1: and Steel Trap Productions. Our producer is Doug Fraser. Our 100 00:06:31,920 --> 00:06:36,040 Speaker 1: writer Jake Kushner. We have new episodes every Tuesday and Friday. 101 00:06:36,440 --> 00:06:38,640 Speaker 1: Feel free to reach out to me with comments and 102 00:06:38,720 --> 00:06:42,640 Speaker 1: even story suggestions on Instagram at Real Patty Steele and 103 00:06:42,720 --> 00:06:45,719 Speaker 1: on Facebook at Patty Steele. Thanks for listening to the 104 00:06:45,760 --> 00:06:49,480 Speaker 1: Backstory with Patty Steele, the pieces of history you didn't 105 00:06:49,600 --> 00:06:50,640 Speaker 1: know you needed to know.