brought no significant editorial changes : it continued to appear as a neutral, patriotic paper. Economically, however, the paper was weak, and the new owners sent out Frank Aaltonen to try to improve the situation. It was, however, already the beginning of the end, which the paper's last business manager, Nicholas Aho, has described: "Aaltonen realized he was in unknown territory and soon went back East. Weighed down by continuing financial difficulties, Sulkanen resigned after a year and a half. The business manager, Kosti Erlund, also resigned, and so did soon afterwards his successor, Jalmar Nukala. With Sulkanen's departure there was a staff re-organization, and Lauri Lemberg, foreman of the composing room, became business manager and John J. Ollila became editor." Lemberg soon returned to the composing room, and then Nicholas Aho became business manager.

It was on 15 October 1948 that the readers of the Päivälehti were to have a sad announcement: "A great misfortune has occurred to the Päivälehti ... the paper has continued publication because profits from private printing orders have permitted it, but now that we have lost our presses and with that the possibility of accepting job orders, it seems impossible to go on. The board of directors of the Päivälehti, aware of the insufficiency of income, is forced to discontinue publication of the newspaper, of which the present issue is to be the last."

The Keskilännen Sanomat: The last entrant in this chapter of the rise and fall of Finnish newspapers in Duluth was a paper named the Midwest News, Keskilännen Sanomat, which was established in 1949. Its editor became Onni K. Syrjäniemi, whose long career in the newspaper field had begun in 1918 in

Pohjan Tähti, until 1926, during the latter years serving as editorin-chief. After that came three years with similar rank on the Amerikan Suomalainen, also in Fitchburg, and then the same position with the Kansan Lehti in Cleveland, Ohio, until 1934. After a two-year interval on the staff of the Päivälehti his name next appeared in Astoria, Oregon, where he was editor-in-chief of the Suometar from 1939 to 1941, when he came east to the New Yorkin Uutiset for an eight-year stay before taking over the new Keskilännen Sanomat in Duluth. Syrjäniemi was honored with membership in the Order of the White Rose of Finland in recognition of his work.

The Keskilännen Sanomat was published by the Midwest Finnish Publishing Company, whose board of directors included A. W. Havela, president, John V. Niemi, vice-president, A. E.

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