I wonder how many of my readers have reflected that it is just one hundred years since the friction match was invented. Credit for its introduction has been ascribed to various persons and countries, but I hear that Vienna has now definitely established her claim to the honour. Recent researches into the archives of that city have proved that in the year 1831 Stephen von Romer applied for, and obtained, a patent for friction matches. He was a Hungarian who settled in Vienna in 1809, becoming a chemist of some renown as well as a literary figure of the day. He experimented for a long time with the production of matches, continuing the laboratory experiments made in the same direction by the Parisian chemist, Derosne, who had failed to reach the commercial stage in his progress. In 1846 von Romer was killed in an accident, and his work was carried on by his assistant, a man named Prelisel, who secured the necessary finance for the manufacture of matches, and received all the credit for his former employer's contribution to the convenience of mankind.
The Irish Times, February 26th, 1931.