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Jun 26
41m 1s

Treacle Tears: The Boston Molasses Disas...

Pushkin Industries
About this episode

The children of North End, Boston, play in the shadow of an enormous steel tank of molasses. The thick, sticky sugar syrup is being used to make munitions for the First World War. When a worker notices dark molasses seeping from the tank he warns the company that there could be a leak. But the man in charge, Arthur Jell, has more important things to worry about: schedules to meet and profits to make. Besides, it's only sugar. How dangerous could it be?

For the sources, see the show notes at timharford.com.

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