The Sun.
London, England, 1864-01-05 00:00:00

THAMES.

AN IRISH Row.—Catherine Briant, an elderly woman,
was brought up on remand, before Mr. Woolrych, charged
with violently assaulting and wounding Mary Leary.
The parties live in an Irish colony in Glasshouse-build-
ings, Rosemary-lane. On the night of the 25th ult., after
keeping up Boxing-day, Mrs. Briant invited Mrs. Leary
into her room, whch she hail no sooner entered than she
called out "Take that you theiving w--," and struck her
a violent blow on the head with a poker. Mrs. Leary fell
senseless at her neighbour's feet, and was revived only by
finding her finger in Mrs. Briant's mouth. The prisoner
was biting her finger and lacerated it.
William Brown, 82 H, said that when he was called into
the house where the parties lived Mrs. Leary was covered
with blood, which was streaming down her face from a
wound on her forehead.

Mr. John Comley, surgeon, 71, High•street, White-
chapel, stated that at halt-past 12 o'clock on Saturday, the
26th, or rather morning of the 27th, he was called to the
poor woman Mrs. Leary. There was a wound on her fore-
head an inch and a halt in length, and penetrating almost
to the bone. The woman had suffered a good deal since,
and there was a very great effusion of blood.
Mr. Woolrych again remanded the prisoner until Tues-
day next.

ATTEMPTED MURDER.—SamueI Ford, who was re-
manded on the 28th ult. for attempting to murder a girl
named Margaret Mahoney, at a house in Burton-entry,
White Horse-street, Itatcliff, was again brought up.
Mr. George King said, when the girl was brought to the
London Hospital, where he was officiating as house sur-
geon, she was bleeding from a cut in the neck behind the
ear. It was between three and four inches long. The
patient was not in a fit state to be removed.
Mr. Woolrych again remanded the prisoner until Wed•
nesday the 13th inst.

MARKETS—This Day.

HAY MARKETS.

SMITHFIELD.—Meadow hay, £3 Os to £4 lOs Od ; clover,
£4 Os to £5 lOs Od ; and straw, £1 5s to £1 lOs per load.
Trade steady.
CUMBERLAND.—Meadow hay, £3 Os to Ll lOs Od ; clovtr,
£4 Os to £5 108 Od ; and straw, £1 .5s to £1 lOs per IDEA.
A moderate demand.

WHITECHAPEL.—Meadow hay, £3 Os to £4 lOs Od ; clover,
£4 Os to £5 lOs Od ; and straw, £1 5s to £1 lOs per load.
A. fair inquiry.

COLONIAL.

During the last few days there has been very little busi-
ness transacted in Foreign and Colonial produce; no
public sales have been held, owing to the market being
closed for the Christmas holidays. Business, however,
will be resumed to -day. In the tallow market there has
been a more hopeful feeling, and prices for both present
and.forward delivery have shown an improved tendency.

LUCIFER MATCHES taco FLINT AND STEEL.—
Looking back at the old tinder-box of our boy-
hood is like looking back at the old wheel-lock muskets
we see in the Tower. On one or two occasions when
getting by the mail, the miseries of making a fire—that
middle passage, to a desolate breakfast in chambers—was
indelibly imprinted in our memory. The difficulty of hit-
ting the flint against the steel with due accuracy and
force, and the chances of abrading the knuckles in this
act, in the darkness of a winter's morning, are things the
youngsters of this generation are charmingly ignorant of ;
and then when the priceless spark was obtained, the un-
happy Prometheus either had the mortification of seeing
" people and parson going out of church," or of blowing
the light tinder into his eyes in his endeavours to make it
kindle. What a piece of barbarism was the sulphur-
match I There are old women now in the street who
thrust these abominations, done up fanwise, in your
face, evidently with the idea of proving how old they are.
But these preliminary agonies were small compared with
the attempt to light the rough faggot-wood of a past age,
often damp, and always too bulky to seize and retain the fire
applied to it. When we recollect all these dismal prepara-
tions which Betty had to encounter in years past, and then
compare them for a moment with the manner in which
things are made easy to our Abigails, we see that civilisa-
tion is not confined to a class, and that science is at work to
lighten the drudgery of the servant as energetically as it is
to increase the comforts and enjoyments of the prince. Who
invented the first lucifer.match ? We do not mean that
abortive nitric acid bottle and phosporus match, that as
often burned everything about it as it produced a light, but
the clean little Lucifer. How is it that we know nothing of
the 'man who save millions all over the world endless
trouble, whilst we are so eager to cumber our market-places
with km ties of obese alderman and purse-proud bankers! ?
Spectator.