1921 Duluth & St Louis County MN, Van Brunt.pdf - Garon.us

560 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
But Fate had written that things were to change. Down near the edge
of Sellers' open-pit mine lived a Swede named Iver Lind.. Lind owned a
span of Kentucky mules. These animals, lean and angular, powerful and
stu'bborn, were Lind's choicest possession. Long ago they had become accustomed
to the din of the dynamite and the steam shovel.
One morning Lind was harnessing his mules, preparatory to starting his
day's labors. Half harnessed they were, and Lind was sweating and swearing
over their stubbornness, congratulating himself, withal, upon owning such a
perfect span when, suddenly the whistle in the Sellers' mine blew a warning
note.
A blast was due. It was too late for either Iver or his mules to get to
shelter.
Bang. The blast tore loose. It sent a barrage of stones and gravel
high in the air. * * * One of the descending rocks struck one of Lind's
mules.
This was something to which the mule had never become accustomed.
Wit'h a kick and a bray he broke loose. The bray filled the air, whil'e the
^ick found lodgment in Lind's anatomy.
Iver rose full of wrath. First, the mules and then the mining company
was to feel the weight of his anger. Into the barn, with accompanying blows
and curses, went the mules. To the office of power went Iver.
At once the Swede wanted to start injunction proceedings against the
Sellers' Mining Company. The ensuing action affected only Lind's property,
but its results were far-reaching.
It started a legal battle in Hibbing which extended over several years,
and attracted and aroused the interest of the entire country.
Here are some of the results of the suit, and the resultant injunction:
a. It cost the mining companies several million dollars, they now
admit.
b. It paved every street in Hibbing.
c. Likewise, in every street it installed a white-way.
d. It woke the people of Hibbing up with a start.
e. It brought them a clearer realization of a number of problems affecting
their welfare than they ever had before.
f. It roused the Hi'bbing spirit, and that sustained the people of Hibbing
through one of the most trying periods in the history of the town.
g. It put thousands of dollars into the pockets of the people, who now
are disposing of their holdings on the "north forty."
It is the best thing all round, that ever happened to Hibbing, and everybody
realizes it now.
And so, with an injunction growing out of a kick of a mule, peace, comparative
quiet, and much prosperity, came to Hibbing.
The Outstanding Figure.—The outstanding figure in this period
of Hibbing's history, this period of evolution—it has been called
revolution—undoubtedly was Victor L. Power, "who worked his way
through the mines as a blacksmith" and thus knew mining conditions
almost as well as he knew Blackstone and state law, when he took
up the legal fight for the people of Hibbing against the mining companies.
He has been termed : "Hibbing's Fighting Mayor," and
again: "Little Grant of the North," and in the years of litigation, so
strenuously prosecuted by the mining companies until they came to
the realization that human rights, the right of life and limb, are preeminent,
Attorney Power demonstrated his ability at the legal bar.
He has many enemies—that much may be inferred ; every forceful
successful man is envied ; indeed, the man who never made enemies,
never did anything worth envying—but Victor Power is undoubtedly
the outstanding figure in the municipal history of Hibbing, and Hibbing
has been wonderfully transformed since he became mayor, in
1913. Quoting from a campaign statement recently issued by the
"Power Administration," it appears that extraordinary development
has come to Hibbing since 1913. The statement reads, in part:
Victor L. Power's first service as a village official began in March,
1912. At that time Hibbing was a ragged village of only 8,250 souls. Today,
the population has incerased to 15,082.