 Frederick Ringer's contributions to the economic development of Nagasaki and Japan were enormous.Over the years, he established a mechanized flour mill, a steam laundry, petroleum storage facilities, and stevedoring, trawling and whaling concerns.By the late 1890s, thanks to the Sino-Japanese War, the Spanish–American War, and the presence of the Russian Winter Fleet, Nagasaki was a boomtown and Ringer was the dominant foreign merchant there.