The Duluth rip-saw. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1917-19??, 1917-09-29
JOURNALISTIC BOSWELL
TRIPLES WITH HISTORY
Real Facts Show That Rev. Frederick T. Gates Was
Not the Man Who "Made the Mesaba Iron
-: Range What 1t is Today"

VI luuuSCI1 CS VII W1ACAA AAls AOOChS-
teller had put some of his capital.
In that way, he finally came to
Duluth and first saw the Mesaba
iron range, in 1898.
Mr.. Gates first saw the Mesaba
iron range through the courtesy
of Alfred Merritt, then president
! Of the Duluth, Missabe & North
ern Railway: 1t was at the time
of meeting Of the Minnesota
Iron Company. Mr.. Merritt Sc
cured a boat and took Marshall
Field, H. H. Porter, Philetus
Sawyer, then U. S. senator from
Wisconsin, Alexander McDougall,
Mr.. Gates and others up the bay
to see the new ore dock, then
building. That was followed by a
tour of the Mesaba iron range
over the D., M. & N, Duluth s
first and only ore-carrying road,
due to the loyalty the Merritt
brothers had for this city.
After Mr.. Rockefeller absorbed
the Merritt mines and their rail-
way, the D., M. & N, Mr.. Gates
became president Of the railway
in February, 1894, and in due
course, he also became president
Of the Lake Superior Consolidated
Iron Mines.
Now, dear reader, if you believe
in a fair, just and correct nara
ton of history written nearly a
quarter of a century ago, take a
few glimpses at some of the acts
of the man whom the editor of
the News Tribune declares "Made
the Mesaba range what it is to-
day" And who incorrectly
states that everything done in &C
quiring, developing and working
the mines and shipping and reduc-
ing the ores therefrom, is "The
product of the brain of this man"
Once upon a time a Duluth
man saw a letter on file at No. &c
Broadway, New York, in which
Rev. Frederick T. Gates declared,
over his own signatures that the
Merritts made a mistake when
they built the Duluth, Missabe &
Northern Railway into Hibbing,
now "The Richest Village on
Earth"
The humblest office clerk or
toughest brakeman knows today
that it was no mistake. Many men
of ordinary intelligence and bust
ness acumen felt, away back in
1893, that it was a wise move and
not a mistake.
Where was there anything in
that letter that signifed "The vi
sion and genius of Mr.. Gates?"
The pioneer Merritts and their
associates already had made the
mines, the railway and the ore
docks blooming actualities. About
the only thing that came later was
the fleet Of ore-carrying boats and
Mr.. Gates cannot take full credit
for that.
The Wright & Davis people,
wealthy lumbermen of Michigan,
had built logging railroad from
Swan River to Hibbing. They
owned theSroad, pine timber and
thousands Of acres Of land, much
of it being iron land. The proven
Mahoning mine was among the
holdings.
The Wright & Davis people,
fearing wasting by their heirs,
wished to collect and conserve
their wealth, therefore offered
their properties on the Mesaba for
100000, only 100000 in cash
being asked, the remainder being
acceptable in interest-bearing pa
per.
! Mr.. Alfred Merritt, then presi-
dent of the D., NJ. & n, advised
and urged Mr.. Gates to buy the
Wright & Davis interests. The
man with "the vision and genius"
refused.
eve will get it later for So, $780,
0OO," he thrifty said.
"You will never get it at ALL"
replied Mr.. Merritt, man whom
toad-eaters for Mr.. Gates refuse to
credit with having "vision and
genius. -
But Mr.. Merritt was right. The
Rockefeller interests never did get
the Wright & Davis interests.
The late D. M. Philbin, a prac-
tical, capable railroad man, was
general manager of the D., NJ. &
Min those, days, When a bit slim
ulated around the hotel Hobbies.
he often expressed his opinion of
the Rockefeller bunch, thereby be-
coming nerSOna non urafa to those