The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1920-03-13
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
Information Bureau
FREDERIC J. HASKIN, Director.
Washington, d. G.
MIR. HURST AND THE COONTIE
BERRY.

Of starch out of a common weed
which grows all over the country and
in every vacant lot in the town, and
which was long regarded by most
people not merely as useless, but as
positive pest.
This factory is owned by one man,
who invented his own process, built
large part of his own machinery. and
does a large part of his own work.
He has perhaps the most absolute
monopoly in a monopoly-rfdden re-
public. He maintains his monopoly
by keeping his process of manufacture
an absolute secret. He will tell you
anything about himself and his fac
tory. except how it works. His name
is A. B. Hurst, and he is q big, gray
headed man, very good-natured, and
having more fun with his little fac
tory than a boy with a new sled.
The coontie berry, sometimes known
as the comte berry, upon which Mr..
Hurst has founded his fortune, is a
small shrub, usually less than a foot
high and decorated with large bright
red berries. having very tough skins.
If you pull up this plant, you are sur
prised to find that it has a very large
root, resembling sweet potato and
seemingly out of all proportion to the
size of the plant. The scientific name
of this plant is Zamia Floridana, and
it is a species of arrowroot. 1t grows
literally all over the sandy pine bar
Fens OF the east coast Of Florida. You
can walk ten feet from the road any
where and find a specimen. Mr.. Hurst
has an enormous supply of raw ma
terial to draw upon. and he gets it for
next to nothing. He pays farmers a
very small sum for the right to cart
away the coonties on their lands.
Starch is made from a similar plant
which is cultivated in the West Indies,
but as far as could be learned, Hurst
is the only man who has made a sue
cess of utilizing the wild one.
This coontie is very well, or rather
badly known to the natives, because
IT is the natural enemy of the turkey.
w hen the white men first moved into
these parts. they were surprised TO
discover that there were no wild tur-
keys on the east coast, altho the in
terror and the west coast country were
full of them. The reason for this
they discovered when they introduced
domestic turkeys. A domestic turkey
would get along fine until he came
to his first coontie plant, which would
necessarily be soon after his arrival.
He would then pause and scrutinize
those bright red berries with a glad
dened eye. He would seem to feel
sure that they were food of a very
desirable sort. In just few minutes
ne would have filled his crop with the
big, misunderstanding fruit. and for q
time thereafter he would enjoy sense
of personal well-being and content
ment. But this would not last long,
for he would soon begin to weaken.
Not that the coonties poisoned him.
According to the most reliable ac-
counts. the whole trouble with them
is that their outer integument is capa-
Bile of resisting all the mechanical and
chemical agents which a turkeys giz-
card can bring to bear upon them.
They do not afford the bird any more
nourishment> than so many marbles.
They occupy the bunker space, but do
not deliver the fuel value. After a
few days the turkey who has eaten
coonties dies of starvation and disap-
pointment.
Mr.. Hurst Is therefore not only
making use OF a hitherto useless plant,
but he is avenging the turkey, and
making the east coast of Florida safe
for him.
Mr.. Hurst used TO be an orange
grower but he lost heavily in the
great freeze of 1894, and resolved
there and then. as he put It, ito go
INTO some business that didn't depend
on the weather"
He got interested in making starch
by working for company which was
trying to manufacture it out of the
west Indian Cassava. While so en-
gagged he saw a specimen OF the root
or the coontie, and realized that here
was a rich and abundant source of
starch, If only a way could be found
OF getting at it. He went to work at
finding this way. The way proved
much Aonger and harder TO find than
any one would have believed possible.
There was an abundance of starch in
the coontie to be sure, but there were
also great many other things. The
difficulty was 10 make a starch free
of all impurities on a commercial
scale. And Mr.. Hurst took no chem
lists or engineers into his confidence
and formed no connections of any
kind. His was the cautious, secretive
method OF the countryman. He in
tended to work the thing out for him
self and TO be sole owner when he sue
ceeded. He spent all of his own mon
ey and borrowed all the money he
could, He invented machines that no.
body would try to make, and he made
them himself. He scored failure after
failure. But he had the creative mind
and the singleness of purpose that
goes with it. The making of starch
out of coontie berries became the one
object of his existence. Finally. after
he had worked more than twelve
years and spent $4,000, mostly bor-
rowed, he had the satisfaction of see
ing a perfect yellow starch. almost i'm
palpably fine of grain and pronounced
pure. He now produces three thou
sand pounds day and all of it is
bought in advance at a very good price
by one of the great biscuit companies.
They use it in certain products to
which they wish to impart special
keeping qualities. Mr.. Hurst expects
soon TO take out a trademark and to
put his product on the market in little
packages for household consumption.
He seems to have no idea, however.
OF capitaliZing or expanding. His fac
tory is big implanted shed out in the
pine woods where the coonties grow.
He vas-found working in it, stripped
to his undershirt and busted all over
with the fine yellowish powder which
is his product. His only assistant was
a negro, who shoveied the great tu-
bers into the crusher which initiates
the process. A small wood burning
engine furnished the power. and the
rest of the process consists of mys-
I terious series of watts and things, ele-
waited above the floor in such a way
. No. II - :