Dark Tide: The Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919 (Hardcover)

by Stephen Puleo (Author) "Isaac Gonzales knew what a terrible thing it was to be afraid at night..." (more)
Key Phrases: North End, United States, New York (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
In this volume, Puleo, a contributor to American History magazine, sets out to determine whether the collapse of a molasses tank that sent a tidal wave of 2.3 million gallons of the sticky liquid through Boston's North End and killed 21 people was the work of Italian anarchists or due to negligence by the tank's owner, United States Industrial Alcohol. Getting into the minds of the major players in the disaster-USIA suits, victims, witnesses, North End residents, politicians-he re-creates not only the scene but also the social, political and economic environments of the time that made the disaster more than just an industrial accident. While the collapse's aftermath is tragic, the story itself is not exactly gripping. More interesting are the tidbits of Boston's and America's history, such as the importance of molasses to all U.S. war efforts up to and including WWI, which Puleo uses to put the tank collapse in the context of a very complex time in U.S. history. The most striking aspect of this tale is the timeliness of the topics it touches on. Describing Americans being persecuted because of their ethnicity, a sagging economy boosted by war, and terrorism on U.S. soil that results in anti-immigration laws and deportations, Puleo could just as easily be writing about current events as about events in 1919. Overall, this is another piece in the jigsaw puzzle that is Boston's long and rich history. Photos.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From The New Yorker
In January, 1919, a fifty-foot tank filled with molasses exploded, sending waves of viscous goo through waterfront Boston and killing twenty-one people. Were Italian anarchists to blame or was it negligence by the tank's owner, the United States Industrial Alcohol company? Such matters form the crux of Puleo's account, which is narrated with gusto (and sometimes too much gusto: one victim has molasses "clinging to his private parts, like an army of insects that just keep coming"). Molasses was a vital commodity at the time, used in rum manufacture (the tank was full to the brim to cash in on pre-Prohibition demand), and it had been important in the production of First World War munitions. Puleo overreaches in claiming the story of the flood as a "microcosm of America"—an almost obligatory conclusion in this sort of history—but his enthusiasm for a little-known catastrophe is infectious.
Copyright © 2005 The New Yorker

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 263 pages
• Publisher: Beacon Press (September 2, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807050202
• ISBN-13: 978-0807050200
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #418,267 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "the product of world conditions", January 26, 2005

By	mwreview "mwreview" (Northern California, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Dark Tide: The Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919 (Paperback)

Dark Tide by Stephen Puleo details the molasses flood that devastated the Commercial Street area in Boston on January 15, 1919. A fifty-foot tall steel tank owned by United States Industrial Alcohol Company (USIA) collapsed and unleashed 2.3 million gallons of molasses on the congested waterfront district in a fifteen-foot-high wave moving as fast as thirty-five miles per hour. Incredible structural damage resulted as well as over one hundred injuries and a score of deaths. I had never heard of this tragedy until I ran across this book as an Amazon.com recommendation. It seems odd to me that this event is not more widely known due to its unusual nature. Puleo explains that it was considered an "isolated event not connected with larger trends in American history" (x). The author sets out to make these connections throughout his book. The story of January 15, 1919 and its aftermath is interwoven with the most important headlines of the day.

Puleo expertly connects the molasses flood to the Great War (the USIA was distilling molasses for industrial alcohol used in munitions production), anarchism and the Red Scare (the tank was built in a southern Italian district), Prohibition, and the pro-Big Business administrations of Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge. The author also demonstrates, mostly through the deposition of the USIA assistant treasurer responsible for the tank's construction, the unbelievably rushed and careless manner in which the tank was built. It leaked profusely from the outset. Workers near the tank, even the children in the community, noticed the leaks but the company responded only by occasionally re-caulking the plates and rivets and painting the tank molasses color to make the leaks less noticeable.

A moving account of the human suffering resulting from the bursting tank follows as well as a detailed look at the long trial and the verdicts and damages awarded. The author shows a lot of respect for Judge Ogden and, unfortunately, gives away the verdict in a caption under his photo before the section on the trial. The defense's argument was that the tank was exploded by anarchists (the trial coincided with incidents of anarchist violence as well as the trial of Sacco and Vanzetti). Puleo ends with the direct short-term and long-term effects of the Boston molasses flood. His view that the verdict marked a change in America's attitude towards Big Business; a trend that led to the election of Franklin Roosevelt, seemed a stretch, but the other more local ramifications were important and makes one wonder further why this tragedy is not more well-known. A list of the deceased, biographical essay, and index are included as well as a few photos (mostly taken on the scene of the flood's destructive wake).

My biggest criticism is that Puleo often describes what is going on in the minds of the people involved which, for a historical book, is always a dicey thing to do. He does not follow-up on Isaac Gonzales. He is introduced right at the beginning as the "general man" of the Boston tank that was haunted by fear that the leaking tank would explode. He finally had to leave his job and move to Ohio. He apparently gave testimony at the trial, but Puleo offers no excerpts from it, nor is there any word on Gonzales' reaction when finding out his greatest fear became reality. Gonzales was not listed among those on which Puleo followed-up (no fault of the author's if no information was available) but it would have been nice to read a post-flood statement from Gonzales and have the book go full circle. Despite these minor complaints, Dark Tide is a clearly written, thorough account of a little known tragedy that has more connection to the historical fabric of the country than a lot of tragedies that have gone on into legend.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Death by Molasses, January 11, 2005

By	Dennis Phillips "The Book Friar" (Bulls Gap, Tennessee USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Syrupy, sweet, sticky molasses have long been a favorite treat in America. Actually they were more than a treat because for many years molasses were America's primary sweetener. They also were the base ingredient for rum, America's primary beverage in colonial times. It was in fact a tax on molasses that first aroused colonial ire against Parliament. Molasses were also irrevocably associated with Boston because of the famous triangle trade of molasses, rum and slaves. 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.

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. 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. Puelo however, has also managed to make this the story of the victims of this tragedy. 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.

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. 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. 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. The reader will see the tank placed in a very congested area and the author will explain why it ended up there. He will also show how construction was rushed, poorly tested and never inspected. Basically it was a disaster waiting to happen.

When the inevitable did happen and the tank collapsed 2.3 million gallons of molasses surged out in a wave 35 feet high. 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. 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. 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. 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 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 history.

Mr. Puleo has brought us the story of this important event and has done so in a very enjoyable book. His descriptive abilities are strong and his writing style captivating. Pictures of the scene of destruction only add to the drama. The molasses flood of 1919 is seldom remembered today but it is an important event in American history. Maybe this book will help to restore this event to it's proper place in the public mind.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Incredibly Powerful Lesson in "Haste Makes Waste", October 20, 2003

By	Barry M. Iselin "Barry in Phoenix" - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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. Puleo 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. People like Arthur P. Jell, Isaac Gonzales, and families like the Cloughertys, Iantoscas and Distasios come alive and virtually leap off the pages of this sad and sordid tale, with some Sacco and Vanzetti thrown in to the mix.

The last part of the book describes the extremely lenghty court case overseen by the Honorable Judge Hugh Ogden. Ten years after the tank's construction, the legal wrangling was settled but the molasses forever stained the streets, wharves, neighborhoods and history of one of the most storied places in our nation.

Don't miss Dark Tide!!