Welcome back to Bad Things in History, where we re afraid we can t let you do that, Dave.
The 1920s Eventful. Deadly. As the end of the decade approached, the threat of ruin and
death emerged from every direction. Our series examining the worst and least known
events of this decade continues with some of the most messed up things that happened in 1928.
Let s begin with death in Los Angeles. St. Francis Dam
Los Angeles, mostly due to its location, has always had problems acquiring water.
At first, residents were able to depend on a nearby river. But the population of
the city began exploding in the early 1900s and soon the river alone was not enough.
The Los Angeles Aqueduct was constructed in 1913 to help the growing city. It transported
water from a nearby valley which was enough to support the population of 300,000 people.
However, by the late 1920s the population of the city had nearly doubled.
The growing metropolis needed a new and reliable water supply.
The solution was to build a dam within the San Francisquito Canyon.
When rain finally filled the canyon, the newly constructed dam would hold it in place.
Then the water could be released to city residents as needed.
After construction was completed, water began filling the new reservoir on March 12th, 1926.
Although some areas of the dam had water seeping from them, engineers were not
concerned. They claimed it was normal for a structure the size of the St. Francis Dam.
Over the next several months new cracks and new leaks formed around the dam.
Engineers inspected the structure but thought there was no reason to be worried about it.
They were wrong. A little before midnight on March 12th, 1928, the St. Francis dam failed.
None of those who witnessed the event survived so nobody is sure exactly how it happened.
What is known is that the reservoir behind the dam suddenly and violently released
12.4 billion gallons of water into the canyon below.
A 120-foot-tall wave moved through the canyon and into the valley below.
It destroyed hydroelectric power generation facilities. Then the wave moved through
several towns as well. Around two hours after emerging from behind the St. Francis dam, the
mass of water washed debris and victims into the Pacific Ocean. At least 437 people were killed.
An investigation determined that the rocks beneath the dam had flaws which made them
unsuitable for storing large amounts of water. Engineering practices were
changed to prevent this from happening again. The St. Francis dam was never rebuilt.
The Pineapple Primary
During the 1920s, Chicago was an extremely violent place. Thanks to alcohol prohibition, bootlegging
was big business. Al Capone s organization was responsible for most of the alcohol smuggling.
Capone also had to pay elected officials to ensure his business could operate.
William Hale Thompson was happy to help.
He was a Republican and was first elected as mayor of Chicago in 1915. After becoming
involved with several corruption scandals William decided to not run for reelection in 1923.
A Democrat, William E. Dever won the election. He became mayor and unlike his
predecessor began cracking down on illegal establishments that served alcohol.
William Thompson decided he should again become mayor and ran for re-election in 1927.
Thanks to donations from Al Capone, William won and again became mayor.
He then used the city s resources to punish those that tried to fight
crime in the previous administration. Charles S. Deneen was also a Republican. He
was a former Governor of Illinois and became a United States Senator in 1925. Charles was
not willing to let William have control of the Republican Party. Although neither William nor
Charles was running for office in 1928, members of their political coalition were up for reelection.
The two rivals fought for control of the state. The public knew that William Thompson was corrupt.
Charles Deneen, by contrast, was seen as slightly more honest.
On March 26th, 1928, someone threw a bomb into Charles Deneen s home. It damaged the front porch
and broke windows all along the street. Charles had left for Washington D.C. a few hours before.
The assassins had missed their chance to kill him.
The Republican Primary election was held on April 10th, 1928.
In the months leading up to the event there were sixty-two bombings in the city of Chicago.
Two politicians were also killed. Investigations under the William Thompson administration
never found anyone to charge for these crimes.
During World War One hand grenades were sometimes referred to as
pineapples. Thus the Republican Primary of 1928 became known as the Pineapple Primary.
Despite William Thompson s attempts to intimidate voters and his political opponents, Charles
Deneen s faction won their elections. By 1931, William Thompson s political career was over.
West Plains Dance Hall Explosion West Plains, Missouri was founded in
1832. The area has experienced its fair share of violent events.
During the US Civil War, the town was close to the border between the Union and the Confederacy.
Because of its location residents were subjected to constant guerilla warfare.
Before the end of the war, most West Plains would be destroyed.
At one point the Confederacy occupied the town. Residents were told that they had to
leave or join the Confederacy. Over ninety percent of West Plains residents fled.
After the war ended people again began settling in the area. African Americans also lived in
West Plains, Missouri. But in 1903 they were driven out of the town. Anonymous letters were
sent which said that any African Americans who remained in the town would be killed.
On April 13th, 1928, around sixty people were gathered in Bond Dance Hall. It was on the second
floor of a building in downtown West Plains. On the floor below the dance hall was a garage.
During the day, the owner was usually repairing vehicles for those who lived in the area.
Suddenly a violent explosion occurred. The building that housed the garage and
the dance hall was completely destroyed. A nearby courthouse was also damaged and windows all along
the street were shattered. Thirty-seven people were killed and twenty-two were badly injured.
Twenty of those killed were so damaged that nobody could identify the bodies.
They were buried in a mass grave nearby. The cause for the explosion was never determined.
One theory claimed that gasoline in the garage seeped throughout the building.
A spark from someone lighting a cigarette might have triggered the explosion. Decades later
another theory emerged which claimed that a truck full of dynamite was parked in the garage.
Snail In The Bottle
In most western countries today the legal concept of negligence is well understood.
Those who fail to act under certain circumstances can be criminally or financially responsible.
A case that began in Scotland is the foundation for this modern concept.
On August 26th, 1928, May Donoghue took a train to Paisley, Scotland. She went to the Wellmeadow
Caf and met a friend. The two women placed their orders. May asked for a Scotsman ice cream float.
This special item was a mix of ginger beer and ice cream.
The owner of the cafe came to the table to put the finishing touches on May s order.
He poured ginger beer from a dark bottle onto the ice cream.
Then he put the bottle on the table and went to help another patron.
May began enjoying her ice cream float. May s friend picked up the bottle of ginger
beer. Intending to drink the rest of the beverage, she poured the contents into a glass.
As the bottom of the bottle emptied, May and her companion noticed something
strange in the glass. There was a decomposed snail which obviously came from the bottle.
Upon seeing the snail May immediately claimed to be ill. She complained of abdominal pains.
Several days later on August 29th May went to see a doctor.
On September 16th she was admitted to the Glasgow Royal Infirmary. May was
diagnosed with gastroenteritis and shock. She discovered that a man down the street
from the cafe was the person who made the ginger beer. His name was David Stevenson.
May hired a solicitor and instructed him to sue for damages.
Scottish law wasn t clear about whether May was entitled to damages.
Normally if a transaction caused harm it was dealt with
as a matter of contract law. May didn t have a contract with David Stevenson.
One of the judges in a lower court ruling gave the following opinion,
I am unhesitatingly of opinion that those who deal with the production of food or
produce fluids for beverage purposes ought not to be heard to plead ignorance of the active danger
which will be associated with their products, as a consequence of any imperfect observation
of cleanliness at any stage in the course of the process of manufacture ... Tainted food
when offered for sale is, in my opinion, amongst the most subtly potent of 'dangerous goods',
and to deal in or prepare such food is highly relevant to infer a duty.
Justice did not move quickly in Scotland. The case moved between courts and received various
and conflicting opinions. In late 1932 there was finally agreement among Scotland s courts.
May Donoghue had a valid case and could proceed with her lawsuit.
A hearing was scheduled for January 1933. Before the hearing could take place,
David Stevenson died. He passed away on November 12th, 1932.
SS Vestris
In 1911 a shipbuilding company in Belfast, Ireland built three cruise
ships. These were sold to a shipping line. The SS Vestris was included in this delivery.
SS Vestris embarked on her maiden voyage on September 9th, 1912. It became part of a route
that would take passengers from New York to River Plate, a river between Argentina and Uruguay.
The ship then traveled from River Plate to Liverpool.
After Liverpool, the vessel returned to New York and started the route over again.
The Vestris wasn t always the safest ship. In September 1919 it was carrying 550 passengers.
They were in the middle of the ocean and far away from help.
A fire broke out in the coal bunkers.
After fighting the fire for four days the crew finally had to ask for help. Another
ship escorted SS Vestris to Saint Lucia. It took several days but the fires were extinguished.
The cruise ship returned to service and continued traveling its normal route for many years.
On November 10th, 1928, Vestris left New York.
The ship was overloaded and was sitting too low in the water. It was
also poorly balanced and titled to one side. On November 11th, the ship ran into a heavy storm.
The deck was flooded, and two lifeboats were swept away. Then a big wave caused Vestris
to lean steeply on its starboard side. Overnight the crew kept fighting to save the
ship. But by the morning of November 11th it was taking on so much water that all hope was lost.
The Vestris was off the coast of Norfolk, Virginia when the order was given to abandon ship.
The captain sent an SOS and gave the coordinates of his ship s location.
But his navigation skills were not up to the task. He was off by at least thirty-seven miles.
Rescue ships were delayed by hours because of this mistake.
Most of the passengers were put into lifeboats. But mishaps and bad luck
caused almost all of them to sink. Shortly thereafter the SS Vestris joined its lifeboats
at the bottom of the sea. Rescue ships did not arrive for at least five more hours.
There were 326 people on board including passengers and crew. Of those, 111 died.
This includes thirteen children. Every child on the Vestris died when the lifeboats sank.
The worldwide press coverage caused problems for the company that owned Vestris.
Passengers stopped booking trips with them and soon thereafter service to South
America stopped. ----------
Whether it was poor planning, an unfortunate mistake, or political violence, thousands of
innocent people met their end in 1928. Was it just the unpleasant and chaotic nature
of reality that ended their lives? Or was there something more nefarious at work?
Let us know what you think in the comments below.
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