The Dickson County herald. (Dickson, Tenn.) 1907-1979, 1916-07-07


for Europe; but as soon AZ he learned
OF Macgarrigie's return he sought hts
home and heard from M~acgarrigie
that he had sold his IRE squirt to Ger
many.
IL appears from an account OF Mac.
garrtgie given to the Daily Telegraph
By eaceheT friend. q newspaper man.
that the fire machine . designed al.
so for the destruction OF prtekly pear.
which 10 one OF the curses of Australia
and has already ruined huge tracts Of
good land In Queensland. This con
tributor says:
HE told me that he had offered TO
clear the whole OF the pear In Queens
land under certain terms. but the gov
eminent had turned II down. This
seemed at first inexplicable. as at the
time the government was offering a re
ward OF $4,000 for any effective plan
for getting rid OF the pest. When
told him this he secuted the idea OF
anything so paltry and dealt with q
sum OF that sort with the contempt OF
q multimillionaire.
He said that the only condition un.
der which he would show his hand was
that he should receive all expenses
and get the freehold OF all the land
he cleared. As there were ut the
time about 10000, 900 acres affected
one may understand the reason for
turning down the offer. The area now.
by the way. runs into 30, 1000. ZOO acres.
As | expressed doubt about the efec.
tiveness OF his plan, he invited me to
his place the following night TO see
the squirt at work. But II was a con
dition that no n was to accompany
me. | kept the appointment. =
He began operations by seating me
In q chair. from which ! was not to
move. by this means he made II i'm.
possible for me TO get q close glimpse
Of the machine, but the drum which
carried the oil seemed In the darkness
10 be similar In shape to the recepta.
Gle which appears In pictures Of those
Germans at the front engaged In this
sort OF warfare, He told me he was
ready, after pumping up the machine,
and then let II 80. II elected a con.
slant stream OF liquid Are from u short
hose length for some minutes. squirt.
ing over a distance OF about forty feet
With the anne mysterious manner
that he had begun operations, he bun
died the plant UP and put II away In
room and locked the door.
Then he sat down beside me and
ysrned. After urging that this thing
would not only destroy prickly pear,
hut noxious shrubbery and weeds Of
all sorts, he told me that what II was
originally intended for was an instru,
ment of warfare. Man he said with
great confidence. this thing would de-
stroy soldiers AS II they were rats.
What bayonet charge could stand Up
against Il? My idea is not a small
squirt like this, but as large as a big
are-hghting hose sending on a stream
Of fire with as much force and volume
as the biggest water hydrant In sgd.
ncy.
"A character Of this sort naturally
aroused interest. especially as he be-
gan TO talk about synthetic rubber
which he could make for Is cents a
pound tat a time when the genuine ar.
,icle was about ,2.50l: cenents he
could make at absurdly low rates.
tiles, bricks. explosives, ~anti-fouling
paint, boot dressings and other things.
| began to think that ! had struck m
Edison"
The journalist believes that MAGYAR
rigie sold tho explosive Just men
toned to the Germans. and he adds:
1T was terribly destructive, a. an
equal quantity OF Il with gel.gnite tore
a hole In a piece of galvanized iron
four times Its size"
Fred Wright OF Sydney rohs the nc.
counts OF M~acgarrigie OF something OF
their romanc by saying that the In
vsntor. whom be knew well, frequent.
ly suggested wildcat schemes for the
employment Of chemicals for the de-
s,ruction Of prickly pear and rhe ex.
termination Of rabbits" And be goes
O "Mr. Mscgarrisie's spray cciasistcd
of a solution Of phosphorus In an Tn
nammahle liquid. He tried htsulphtie
II carbon as a solvent for his psscs-
phorus and then mixed this with ether
eomhustible liquida There was facth-
Ing particularly original In the idea
and it raj not at all SAFE to handia
We afterward Experimental with by,
drogen phosphate for IRE sprays HIN
explosive consisted Of . grssssree sa1
e0narcgD