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Informationen zum Autor Kirsten Anderson; Illustrated by Dede Putra Klappentext "An unusually warm winter day resulted in 2.3 million gallons of molasses flooding the North End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. The disaster killed 21 people and injured 150 others. Rescue missions were launched to save people from the sticky and deadly mess, led by the Red Cross, the army, the navy, and the Massachusetts Nautical School. With the help of hundreds of volunteers over the course of several weeks, the streets were cleaned up. But the smell of molasses and the horror of the preventable tragedy lingered for decades to come"-- Leseprobe What Was the Great Molasses Flood of 1919? January 15, 1919, was a warm day in Boston, Massachusetts—almost forty degrees by noon. That wouldn’t count as “warm” in most places, but during the previous few days, temperatures had been close to zero. Near Boston Harbor, where there was a constant wind blowing in from the sea, it had seemed even colder. That day may have felt like a short holiday from winter, but it was business as usual in the crowded area near the harbor. Ships and trains came and went, loading and unloading their cargo. Adults were hard at work. Kids went to school. But then, everything changed. At 12:41 p.m., Robert Johnson was standing on the deck of the Bessie J. , a US Navy ship anchored in Boston Harbor. Suddenly, he heard a loud rumbling sound from shore. H. P. Palmer, an accountant, heard the rumbling from his office building near the harbor. As Palmer looked up, the entire building began to shake. The firefighters at Engine 31 were playing cards and talking when they heard a booming crash. One of them ran to the window. “Oh my God,” he shouted. “Run!” Boston Police patrolman Frank McManus headed toward the callbox on Commercial Street. It was time for his regular check-in with police headquarters. As he began to call in his report, he heard a sound like shots fired from a gun. McManus turned around just in time to see the enormous molasses tank on Commercial Street collapse. As a wave of thick dark liquid rushed from it, the patrolman yelled into the phone, “Send all available rescue vehicles and personnel immediately—there’s a wave of molasses coming down Commercial Street!” It almost sounds silly at first. A monster wave of molasses oozing down a city street? But there was nothing funny about the molasses flood. When the fifty-foot-high molasses tank burst apart that day, it released 2.5 million gallons of the sticky syrup, killing and injuring people and animals. The flood knocked down buildings and railroad tracks. It caused about $100 million (in today’s money) worth of property damage. What had gone wrong? And why was there a giant tank filled with molasses in one of the most crowded neighborhoods in the city of Boston? Chapter 1 The North End The North End is one of Boston’s oldest neighborhoods, located right next to the busy harbor, where ships brought plenty of business to the area. There, the early English colonists had built wharves where ships from all over the world could dock, and warehouses to store their goods. Wealthy merchants kept offices near the harbor and lived in grand mansions nearby. By the middle of the 1700s, the North End had become one of the city’s most fashionable neighborhoods. That changed in the 1800s. The North End stayed busy. But there was so much noise and traffic that the people who had become rich from all the businesses there left for fancy new neighborhoods. There was still a lot of activity around the docks. But the rest of the North End was neglected. Buildings fell apart. Trash piled up in the streets. It was no longer a safe part of the city. Many Bostonians stayed away from the North End. But not everyone. In the 1...
