"BLACKBOY."

Star (Christchurch), Issue 11593, 11 January 1916, Page 1

"BLACKBOY."

WESTERN MYSTERY PLANT., YIELDS WHISKY, TAR AND 4 DYNAMITE.

FRBMANTLE., November .24. ; Most- astonishing products are, said to be visible in. species ci : shrubs, particularly indigenous to Western Australia, known as the ' ! blackboy '* trto and the zauiia palm. .■ .< The blackboy probably obtains- * name from the fact, that itstrunk ~f qoinpysed of black, brittle, .substance, which has boon prized by the blacks, the bushmen, and the housewife as an article of ready conflagration. Its average .height is about five feet, but it often reaches twice: that altitude. Branching out- from ltfe block trunk ate largo green spikes. which invest it with a. majestic appear., .iiice,'and which clearly brings it within.] the palm family. ' -.-. Years ago mysterious properties.,were : attributed"to the blackboy. In various pacts' of Western Australia it'.was known, to the authorities that whisky, had been illicitly manufactured, but the component parts of this spirit were never discovered, although it was persistently reported that it had been manufactured from the blackboy. People' generally scoffed, as people will do'when a new idea such as this is suggested. But as the result of experiments carried out by Mr W. Rowley,, a well-known Western Autralian as.sayer and analyst, there is room to believe that blackboy lias; always had ,a .spirituous agency. .Mr Rowley is entering upon fresh fields of investigation at more than a mature age. He-i is more than seventy years of age, yet the energy and enthusiasm he is putting into his research is worthy of a-, scientist of the twenties. "Mr Rowley is something more than' an expert mentor in blackboy. He is a demon-' strator. He has demonstrated that tor can be extracted from tho black-' boy palm and zamia palm in large. 'quautiti.es, and on a profitable basis, with many by-products. H t >is not the first who has. ..demonstrated with the. products of the blackboy, although, his work has led him further afield in tin's, i direction than anyone, else. The w.'iy German lias already been on the scene. and before- the war' picric .acid extracted from the black | boy was freely shipped to Germany. I' where its explosive qualities probably i/pWiracted attention. Mr Rowley, havj ing been assisted- by. a little capital, is' J now working day and night at his la- | boratorv and workshop at. May land's.. | producing the most astonishing results., j Ho has extracted'liquid tarVhieh is j superior to coal tar. He has shown j that coal tar contains water and light I oils'up to 25 per cant, and has to bo' j subjected to -a. high temperature, iii | order to evaporate these, associates, j However, the tar. from the blackboyv i which' contains ~'a.. much ! higher -par-; { cent age of pitch, only needs to ' be'' j warmed before amplication. j When one considers that 500,000 gal- ■' lons of tar per year are required locally' Land that this quantity can be produced j from the. blackboy. it will at- once bej f?c-?n wliat commercial-value die pain: J BY-PRODUCTS-I Mr Rowley states that it is surprisj i-ig '"hat- other products .can be obI t-aincd from what was regarded as the, ! very domestic blackboy. Besides tar ; there are resin, varnishes, stain, '•■ beni r /.oL creosote, acetate of lime, acetate of ; soda, actone, oxalic acid, methyl, alc.c- ---! hoi, formalin, picric acid., acetic acid.' ! p«per puln. cellulose, disinfectants, ! pitch, sanitary soaps, cattle dips, ohar r ; coal, brifjuetits. and food's for stock, j and poultry. Xor is this all. After 1 all these are extracted there* is, an 1 aqueous residue which is valuable. It- ' can be used to kill the dreaded poison | plant, -winch is thick in seme parts 'of i Western Australia, and is particularly I deadly on the prickly, pear. The edible. | clement is a vegetable albumen, tho i easiest form of assimilation. -Mr'. [Rowley also contends that starch can !be obtained from the zamia palm. The. ! big core of the zamia palm is: nearly. I alf "iarch or arrowroot. From starch i one gets sugar and g-ucose and treacle, | And even the motorist is catered for by ! blackboy. Mr Rowley alwjjp has on ': show a motor spirit extracted from the' i blackbo»- and the zainin. This spirithas been tested by the best judges, and seme' of them have pronounced it su- . pei i or-to any other motor spirit, benzol included. _ ! The work of demonstration .;s stib' i proceeding, and sceptics are daily be*j ine, convinced. While tho' blackboy. j lifts its head in the bush in its green. ! -grandeur, and suffers its trunk to be ] sacrificed on the domestic hearth, Mr 1 Rowley, its -demonstrator, bends his ! head in the further work of-discovery.' ' He is thorough in all his methods, and I even at his advanced age.'he is learning j German for the purpose oi reading ! their books on industrial and eonunerj oial chemistry.