Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1883-09-01

The MartnsburS IN dependent of last
week contains the following well-tleserved
notice of one of the most flourishing bust
ness firms of that place.
FRAZER & BISHOP
afford us material for somewhat detailed
comments, and so we proceed to tell "what
we know about this firm and its trade.
The co-partners are Hugh A. Frazer and
John W. Bishop, and their business 0per-
ations, as 4 firm, cover period of twelve
years. As intimatcd above, the business
done is Of diversified char acter. Frazer
d Bishop are manufacturers of fertilizers,
they are grain and coal dealers, and they
control Il large trade rs wholesale grocers.
To each Of these specialties we shall lave
occasion to refer. Tho contrasts present
ed in the extent of trade twelve years ago
! and now are very great. The limited
premises then occupied have given place
| TO commodious buildings, admirably
adapted to the necessities of the business,
and the volume of annual sales has more
than kept pace with this increase in facil-
| tiles.
| Ten years ago Frazer & Bishop inaugu-
! rated, as manufacturers, the fertilizer bust
ness in MartinSburg, and the first years
sales amounted TO only about thirty tons;
| this years sales will reach from 1900 to
1900 tons. Ten years ago the farmers,
! generally, were not over friendly to manu-
! featured fertilizers of any kind-now, few
! can afford 10 dispense with them, and
there can be no question that the excel
| lence of the STANDARD Bone Fertilizer"
made by Frazer 81 Bishop has had a Won
| aerful influence in effecting this change.
| The market that the firm seeks mostly lies
within the States of West Virginia, Mary
| land, Pennsylvania and Virginia. Within
this territory the fertilizer is known and
appreciated, and the demand for it con-
stantly increases.
As grain buyers, Messrs. Frazer &
Bishop fill conspicuous place in the list
! of the business firms of the city. Mar
tinsburg is the grain market for 4 largo
! area Of country, and Frazer 81 Bishop are
at all times ready to purchase all grain
Offering. How much they will buy this
, year it is, of course impossible TO tell, but
| their purchases i'll the past have, in some
! instances, reached from $4,000 to $4,000
! bushels per annum-a good showing for
! one firm, when we consider that there are
Il number Of buyers here.
! The coal trade of the firm is entirely
! local, but nevertheless it is an important
| item in tie total business Of the year.
| Both anthracite and bituminous Goals are
handled, and We should presume that
! fair estimate of the quantity OF black dia-
monds handled per anmum by Frazer s.
! Bishop would be about 5000 tons.
The wholesale grocery trade Of tho
! house, though mentioned last, is far from
| being least, among the interests in which
! the firm is engaged. Frazer & Bishop
were the first To establish wholesale
house i'll Martinsburg, and in prosecuting
the business they have carefully felt their
way. They have studied the needs of GUS
toners and have aimed to make their
house, in its ability to cater to the needs
| of retail grocers and general dealers, the
! peer of competitors anywhere. One trav-
! cling salesman is kept upon the rosd, and
the attentions of the house are chiefly di-
rected TO Berkeley, Jefferson and Morgan
counties, in this State; Frederick county,
! Virginia; Washington county, Maryland;
| and Franklin county, Pa. Within these
/ limits Frazer d Bishop, rs wholesale gro
| GERS and provision dealers, have gained =
! reputation for promptitude in filling Or
! ders and for reliability that it every way
! deserves and the esteem in which the firm
! is held is amply shown by its increasing
| trade. Frazer Is Bishop also pay a compile
ment 10 their customers when they admit,
as they did to the Independent reporter,
| that they found collections very good, and
J that their per cent. of losses was less than
! they had reason to expect. Their books
show that their total trade for 1882 was
not less than one-thrd better than for
! 1881, and the business thus far, this year,
! shows an improvement over the corrc-
| spending months of last year.
! The cU-partnorS unite in giving the
! uSiupSs tlpir nprspual attention. and
neither was = tyro in trade when the firm
was formed twelve years ago. Mr.. Frazer,
who is native of Shippensburg, has been
| connected with mercantile and manutac
! turing interests nearly all his lifc-he
built and operated the planning mill here
| and is, in every sense Of the word bust
ness man. The same, with equal truth,
may be said OF his partner, Mr.. Bishop,
who is native of Preston county, this
! State. He used TO he connected with bust
ness interests ut Chicago and other points
! in the West, and for two and a half years
was Government stor ekeeper at tho Han
| MIS- Distillcry COS. Distllery, in this city.
| Tho bOok-kcepcr and cashier is Mr.. w. III.
Keedy, who has Oiled these responsible
| positions in the house for the past ten
| years.
Frazer & Bishop have materially aided
| i'm advancing the best interests of Martins
burg, but what they have done they have
accomplished in very quiet matter-of-
fact way. They are not inclined to make
boasts or to parade their business transact
tons, and though the "etcher" tried hard
to find outwhat their operations aggregat-
ed per year, he was compelled to abandon
the attempt. All the same, the Independ-
ent extends the firm its sincerest congratu-
lations upon the prosperity that has ac-
companied the twelve years of its bust
ness existence.