The long list of important discoveries which owe their origin to an accident must be extended, I see, to include the latest development in connection with the household match.
Dr Ferdinand Ringer, the Austrian chemist, who has just discovered the secret of an "everlasting" match after a three years' search, has described how he was induced to begin the quest by an accidental burn from the head of a "safety" match which blew off in his hand while being struck.
After many disappointments, Dr Ringer has succeeded in producing a match which is really "safe" and more important still, while costing only a halfpenny, can be used over six hundred times - equal to the life of about twelve boxes of the present kind.
In London alone more than £1,500,000 is spent every year on matches. The domestic importance of this new discovery needs no stressing, while on the commercial side it is reported that Herr Ivar Kreuger, the "World Match King," has already offered £1,000,000 for the secret. The Irish Times,
July 28th, 1931.