ABOUT
FISH, FUR AND FEATHER
Extract
from the London St. James’s Review, July 1898
Doctors disagree as to the precise value of fish
as food for man. There are many physicians of eminence
who maintain that man, and especially the working
species of the human being, cannot live and thrive on
fish alone, whilst others go to the opposite extreme by
citing instances amongst the hardy Scottish fisherfolk
who know not what the taste of “butcher’s meat” is
like from one year’s end to the other, but grow strong
mainly on a diet of the “denizens of the deep,” and
also quote the well-known fact that in Portugal and
other sea-girt countries, the humbler peasantry live
principally on fish and fruit, and, as a rule, are
healthier and hardier than their meat-consuming
brethren. However the case may be, there is a consensus
of medical and general opinion that fish forms a very
valuable and nutritious kind of diet, is easily
digestible and assimilable by weak and infirm
individuals, and, as a corrective to the overfeeding
propensities of the day, are to be strongly commended as
the pièce de résistance once
or even twice a week. Doubtless fish on Fridays and fast
days was originally prescribed by the priests of old, in
their capacity as the people’s physicians, purely on
hygienic grounds, and subsequently, by way of
enforcement, for the good of the masses, as an article
of religious belief.
“A
TYPICAL FAMILY FISHMONGER”
In
a vast city like London, competition in the ... [illegible]
...
is so keen that
only those can develop the business
successfully who are thoroughly intimate with its
conduct; whilst in capital and in credit the chief
fishmongers have too much at stake to run the risks that
would attend the sale of stale or unsound fish.
Moreover, the demand being brisk in the shops of those
who have a high character to maintain, the goods are so
rapidly disposed of as to forbid the possibility of much
being left on hand, and in the case of Mr. Appleyard,
such remainder is practically given away to poor people,
who besiege his various depôts at the close of the day.
The housekeeper can thus rely upon such fishmongers
implicitly, and
it becomes our pleasant duty in the present brief essay
to give a retrospective review of the rise and progress
of the largest and most reputed house of the kind in the
kingdom*, for the special benefit of our readers in the
Metropolis.
Mr.
John F. Appleyard is the successor to a business which
was founded at 110A, Waterloo Road, S.E., as far back as
the year 1863, by his father, and he is now ably
assisted in its direction by his son. That the
development of the undertaking has been steadily
progressive is evidenced by the fact that, from time to
time, branch establishments have been opened in various
parts of the town and its suburbs, the principal of which are at 77,
Bishop’s Road, Bayswater, W., opened in 1882; 3,
Wetherby Terrace, South Kensington, S.W., 1884 ... [Wetherby
has been misspelt 'Weatherby' in the original article]
... ; 82,
Westow Hill, Upper Norwood, 1887; 257, Finchley Road,
South Hampstead, N.W., 1890; 5, Upper Belsize Terrace,
1896; while the chief offices are situated at 34, York
Road, Waterloo Station, S.E.
At each of these places a well-organised business is ably maintained in the distribution of
fish of every esteemed variety, game, poultry and ice.
As illustrative of the valuable nature of these business
establishments, it may be mentioned that about two years
back, when the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincoln Railway
extension brought their line to St. John’s Wood, Mr.
Appleyard received compensation in the sum of no less
than £7,500
for the lease and disturbance of his original premises
at 181, Finchley Road, N.W.
The
salient features of Mr. Appleyard’s vast connection
are that he maintains an enormous stock of every fish,
wet and dry, from the best sources of supply, one
leading point being to meet all calls, even if a loss is
entailed thereby, the choicest fish often costing more
upon the open market sales than they fetch when
retailed. The stock is thus always kept equal to the
demands of patrons, and a point of commercial honour satisfied. The fish, game and poultry are not
supplied hap-hazard, but are carefully chosen, neatly
trimmed, filleted, gutted, cleansed, trussed, shaped,
&c., according to individual needs or fashionable
requirements, and are despatched to all parts as soon as
ordered, there being frequent daily deliveries to all
parts of the city and suburbs, promptitude and
punctuality in the delivery of all orders, however small
or extensive they may be, being secured at all costs.
Mr.
Appleyard has buyers in attendance at Shadwell and
Billingsgate, and keeps in constant touch with the
fishery centres of Grimsby, North Shields and Penzance,
also deriving supplies of the finest shell-fish from the
Orkney Islands, dry fish from “Aberdeen-awa,” Loch Fyne herrings from Glasgow, and
so on and so forth, his resources being such that many
local fishmongers apply to him for stock in time of
need, well knowing his ability to supply whatever they
require, even if the commodity sought is rare and
unprocurable elsewhere; but his principal business is to
cater for an essentially high-class family and hotel
connection, as far as possible on the ready-money
system, whereby he is enabled to avoid inflated prices,
and to supply goods of the primest
quality and in the finest condition at the lowest prices
consistent with the fluctuations of the market.
Over
one hundred salesmen, clerks, operatives, and others,
exclusive of quite an army of boys, find constant
employment at Mr. Appleyard’s various depôts, while
the delivery service consists of a contingent of about
forty horses, and a large number of carts, vans, &c.
The greatest goodwill exists
between Mr. Appleyard, his confrères in the
trade, and staff of workers, some of whom have been in
his employment for fifteen to twenty-five years, one and
all working for him with a willingness and ardour that
can only be fostered by liberality and kindly treatment.
*
As regards total turnover, our enquiries show that Mr.
Appleyard stands as the largest retail fish and poultry
merchant in the Metropolis. |
