distributed at the Finnish Socialist Hall. Hundreds of men had shown up, and not all of them could even get into the hall. And of those who did manage, only those who were able to get near enough to Petriella, who was wearing a red silk scarf around his neck, and who was sitting at a table in the middle of the hall, were able to get any money, for as soon as what little money Petriella had was handed out he walked away, and that was that. Events such as this, which were rare, were also unimportant, compared to the almost daily distribution of food which took place.

Needless to say, the atmosphere which had been optimistic in the beginning began to change when day followed day with nothing altered in the situation. The only obvious result of the strike seemed to be the resumption of work at many mines with the help of strikebreakers. The first break in the united front of the strikers themselves came on 31 July, when the stevedores came to terms and returned to their jobs, but since the nearest ports, Two Harbors and Duluth, were relatively far from the mining area itself, this actually did not have too great an effect on the morale of the miners. Then came the news that the Independent Mining Company had accepted the union demands, so that work in its mines at Mt. Iron was resumed immediately, and although this even should have lifted the strikers' morale, such was not the case : nothing was as demoralizing to men on strike as to see men of their own union going gaily to work in neighboring mines. In fact, some gave up and went back to work, but no Finns and not many Italians were among them, but the dauntless spirit of these alone was not enough to prevent others from giving in. Gradually management even succeeded in getting ore trains into movement again, and the scales began to show clearly that the strikers were losing their battle. All sorts of expedients were brought up and discussed at their meetings, which were held amid deepening gloom, and one decision reached was to send union members to seek work at the open pit mines and then, once on the job, to wage propaganda among the strikebreakers: "It was done, but there were no results."

The end appeared near. The ranks of the strikers grew thinner, and autumn was at hand, and the bleakness of the season also had its effect. Although the Työmies still urged, as late as `3 November, "Don't go to the mines, the strike is not over and won't be over until the steel trust yields," the hopeless struggle was over before the first snow fell over the area, which was no longer a place where Finns could work.

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