The Straight Dope 12/31/2004

The Straight Dope -- By Cecil Adams
http://www.straightdope.com

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THE STRAIGHT DOPE 12/31/2004

Dear Cecil:

My girlfriend told me that on a recent walking tour of Boston the guide
told her about the Boston molasses disaster of 1919. Seemingly a huge
tank of molasses crumbled under the tremendous weight, sending a "tidal
wave of molasses traveling 35 mph" down the street, where it proceeded
to kill tens of people and many horses. A little research on the
Internet uncovered that such an event seems to have occurred, but even
the most skeptical of Web sites still relates that the molasses moved at
35 mph. In January, no less. My question is: In 1919, how could they
have possibly measured that speed? Is it simply another exaggeration in
this already hyperbolized story? Is any of it to be believed? --James,
New York

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Cecil replies:

Oh, the great molasses flood definitely happened. Twenty-one people
died, 150 were injured, and nearby buildings were reduced to kindling.
Molasses traveling at 35 mph in January is impossible, you say? If
photos of the aftermath and eyewitness testimony don't change your mind,
you can do like me and check with a professor at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology. After reviewing four pages of calculations, I'd
say it's clear that when a 50-foot-tall tank of any liquid gives way,
the contents are going to do more than just ooze.

The blackstrap deluge was no laughing matter at the time. 

For more, see:
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/041231.html

STAFF REPORT

Dear Straight Dope:

Early Christian myth suggests that St. Patrick chased the snakes out of
Ireland. This sounds like a load of rubbish to me but the fact remains
that there are no species of snakes native to Ireland. Why is this?
--Rich 

SDSTAFF Colibri replies:

Snakes in Ireland were wiped out not by St. Patrick, but by the last ice
age. Up until roughly 10,000 years ago the British Isles, along with
most of the rest of northern Europe, was covered by icecaps and
glaciers, not the most snake-friendly of environments. Both Ireland and
Great Britain were part of the continent then--sea level was lower since
so much of the Earth's water was locked up as ice. Snakes survived in
southern Europe, where conditions were warmer. Once the climate
improved, snakes were able to recolonize northern Europe, but didn't
manage to reach Ireland before rising ocean water caused by melting ice
cut them off by forming the Irish sea--snakes don't cross water very
well. Only three species of snakes were even able to reach Great
Britain--the grass snake, smooth snake, and adder. They either colonized
it before the English Channel formed, or perhaps were somehow able to
cross it afterward.

For more, see: 
http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mirishsnakes.html

STRAIGHT DOPE CLASSIC - 06/05/1987

Dear Cecil: 

I've always wondered why there are such widely varying names in
different languages for the country between France and Poland. We call
it Germany, the French call it Allemagne, and the Germans themselves
call it Deutschland. Surely we see in such disagreements the roots of
much recent tragic history. Why can't everybody just be sensible and
settle on one name? --Listener, Drew Hayes Show, WMAQ, Chicago 

Cecil replies:  

You're a good soul, Les, but you lack an appreciation of the
philological niceties. There is no necessary correspondence between a
nation's name for itself and the name outsiders bestow upon it. This is
especially true when the nation or people is very old. In ancient times,
when international affairs consisted chiefly of heaving rocks at the
tribe over the hill, a people's name for itself was often the local
equivalent of "us folks" or "the people," while its name for foreigners
was generally some variant on "those frog-faced heathens" or, more
kindly, "the gang over yonder." Naturally, the gang over yonder called
itself "the people" in its own language while reserving another term for
the cretins down the pike.  

The various names for Germany are a good example of this.

For more, see:
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_162.html

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