its shadow, although an effort was made to start up again, under the aegis of a new society, named Uusi Yritys (New Attempt). The Swedish Finns had their own society, a chapter of the Runeberg Orden, which still counted 39 members in 1954.

Finnish religious activity began with the establishment of a congregation in April 1894, affiliated with the Suomi Synod. For a church, they were able to purchase the temperance society hall, which was then remodelled. The first pastor to serve here was Heikki Sarvela, of whom the local inhabitants still recall that no new Finnish arrival lived too far him to visit and no project of the church too difficult for him to complete.

The membership of the Biwabik Suomi Synod church never rose to more than 50 persons, except briefly in the 1920s. In the early years, and after the 1920s, the membership hovered between 20 and 30, and then fell sharply after World War II to drop to 6 in 1953. The factors causing this have been the natural ones of mortality and departures from the community, and also the presence of a relatively strong Finnish Methodist church.

The Finnish workers' society in Biwabik was started in July 1905, with 25 members at the beginning. During the next few years the number was doubled, but it never rose above 70. It was not until 1910 that a hall for the society was obtained, but prior to that a fairly large library had been assembled and a dramatics group had been organized. When the schism came, the society split into a right and left wing: the hall remained in the hands of the left wing supporters of industrial unionism, and the right remained an independent organization, supporting the Industrialisti, and was active until the depression of the 1930s caused a gradual, steady decline.

In the field of music, the name of Victor Taipale (who came here from Eveleth) remains significant, for in 1902 he started a school band in Biwabik, the first one in the state.

The Biwabik Coop Mercantile Association was established in 1907 and joined the Cooperative Central in 1928. A modest enterprise on the whole, its sales in 1938 amounted to $73,000.

During Finland's Winter War, there was a Finnish relief organization in Biwabik, with Mrs. C. Rand as chairman.

Aurora

East of Biwabik, but still within the Mesabi range, lies the Town of White, whose most significant population center is Aurora. In 1900 the entire township had but 7 inhabitants, but a

482