11/17/2023 0 Comments Boston molasses flood modernPuleo weaves a tale around the construction and collapse of a 2.2 million-gallon molasses storage tank resulting in the Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919.Dark Tide is a detailed look back at the time of WWI, what life was like in Boston, and the part played by both immigrants and anarchists alike.The early 20th Century comes alive as Puleio describes the U.S participation in the war effort, the part played by industrial alcohol, and the need to build a huge storage tank right under the noses of the unsuspecting and unempowered people living in Boston's North End.Not only do we learn the history of this period, but we personally experience the harrowing moments leading up to and during the actual molasses flood. This book is a must-read for those who love the socio-political machinations of our country in its early industrialized days.Stephen Puleo's non-fiction effort is truly a masterful history lesson wrapped up in a powerful story about greed, arrogance, fear, and just plain stpidity. The case against USIA ended up setting a precedent that from then on would force large companies to take responsibility for their actions and for this reason alone this is an important event in American hist The court case that followed is also told in a wonderfully readable way, which is not an easy task when dealing with often-tedious legal arguments. The anguish, fear and desperation felt by these people as they struggled to survive is related here with as much feeling and drama as will be found in any novel. Puleo gives us not only the stories of surviving family members as they searched for their loved ones buy also many amazing stories of survival as described by those who were badly injured but survived. It is hard to imagine the horror of drowning in molasses but that is exactly what happened to some people while others were crushed in obliterated buildings. When the inevitable did happen and the tank collapsed 2.3 million gallons of molasses surged out in a wave 35 feet high. Basically it was a disaster waiting to happen. He will also show how construction was rushed, poorly tested and never inspected. The reader will see the tank placed in a very congested area and the author will explain why it ended up there. As Puleo tells his readers about the construction of the tank he begins to introduce his audience to some of the people who lived and worked near by. World War I had greatly increased the demand for industrial alcohol and as USIA increased it's production they decided that they needed this molasses storage tank. United States Industrial Alcohol (USIA) used molasses to make it's product and that industrial alcohol was in turn used by companies like DuPont to make smokeless gunpowder and high explosives for artillery shells. The story is riveting in itself but the author's ability to give a human face to the disaster makes this book not only an interesting read but a touching one as well. Puelo however, has also managed to make this the story of the victims of this tragedy. This is a story not just of a disaster but of the social tensions of that era and the callous disregard for human life displayed by big industry in search of war profits. Stephen Puleo has done a masterful job in this book of telling the story of this storage tank it's construction, use, disintegration and the aftermath. It was no accident then that United States Industrial Alcohol had a distillery near Boston and therefore decided to build a huge molasses storage tank near Boston harbor. Molasses were also irrevocably associated with Boston because of the famous triangle trade of molasses, rum and slaves. It was in fact a tax on molasses that first aroused colonial ire against Parliament. They also were the base ingredient for rum, America's primary beverage in colonial times. Actually they were more than a treat because for many years molasses were America's primary sweetener. Syrupy, sweet, sticky molasses have long been a favorite treat in America.
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