The Duluth rip-saw. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1917-19??, 1919-10-18
TALES OF LONG AGO
The Rp-saw Historian Digs Into Dongs in the Dim Dis
tant Past and Unearths Interesting Incidents
of DAYS That Are No More.
HOW HENRY TRUELSEN SAW AN
IMPORTANT POINT.

HOW HENRY TRUELsEN SAW AN
| IMPORTANT POINT.
George Pattulo, a writer for the Sat,
urday Evening Post, in a recent arti-
Gle, very truthfully said, viz:
GAS a people we are addicted to
surging forward irresistibly in mass,
only to swing around after we have
overrun the mark, and surge just as
hard in the opposite direction. The
statement is beyond gainsaying. You
can see the tendency in any new en-
thusiasm the nation embraces, in any
hero it exalts."
| A few years after the panic Of 1898,
the financial affairs of Duluth had
reached a condition where immediate
and radical retrenchment became i'm
perative. Early in the year Of 1896,
Henry Truelsen was elected mayor
with a mandate from the people to
prune salaries to the limit and to get
public expenditures on an emergency
basis. It was disagreeable duty and
devolved upon man who would have
taken greater pleasure in increasing
salaries and widening the city's activ-
tiles.
But Henry Truelsen possessed su-
preme loyalty to his public duty, there
fore he handled difficult situation as
we'll as it possibly could have been
done. After that, the tide of prosper
ity turned and began to rise again but,
at the end of q second term of poorly
paid service, the Joy of engaging i'll
?reater work and expenditure was re-
served for others.
So it ever has been and ever will be.
One sows and another reaps; one makes
the sacrifice and another enjoys the
benefit.
Henry Truelsen was as gentle in his
manner as woman. broad in his SYM
patbies, unselfish in his aims and re-
lentless in his opposition to sham, de-
ceit and hollow pretense.
A certain citizen of Duluth was in
the office of the board of public works
early in 1892, when Truelsen was pres
ident of the board and on the day the
bids were opened for the construction
Of the present Lake avenue viaduct.
Most of the large bridge concerns of
the country were represented and the
competition was keen. The bids had
been opened and read. Then, as was
customary, the representative of each
firm was permitted to address the
board of public works on the merits Of
his respective plans.
| Although no formal and final deci-
sion had been made, it was officially
and generally understood that a GER
tain bidder was practically sure of the
lob. When the hearing was concluded,
it was noon and adjournment was
taken.
| Among the first to return after the
noon recess was the representative Of
the firm regarded as the successful
competitor in the contest. He, felt
elated, as was natural, at the prospect
of carrying away the we'll worth while
contract. He and Henry Truelsen
stood facing a window and, in their
conversation, referred occasionally to
the blue-prints lying on a table in
front of them.
The salesman-engineer was speaking
OF the attractive features Of his plans,
remarking that the only advantage
claimed by his nearest competitor was
an under instead Of an overhead truss,
which he, himself, regarded as imma-
terial.
Truelsen's head Immediately went
up with a quick movement so charae.
teristic Of many people when a new
idea Eliminates the brain. His big,
dark eyes had been gazing vacantly
out Of the window when the engineer
inadvertently and unwittingly directed
the Truelsen attention to a feature of
the bridge construction that, up to the
moment, had escaped the president Of
the board of public works.
In an instant the Truelsen mind was
busy with two pictures. Mentally, he
was standing on Lake avenue, which he
knew SO we'll and where he had done
business for so many years. His men.
tai glance started at a point between
the railroad tracks and the canal and
looked towards Superior street. Next
be mentally stood at the intersection
OF Lake avenue and Superior street and
visualized the perspective to the south.
ward.
In one picture, Henry Truelsen saw
a huge mass of steel extending into
the air and obstructing the view in
either direction. In the other picture,
he saw broad, smooth street over the
railroad right-of-way, across which OBJ
iects on either side could be clearly
seen.
A choice and decision were quickly
made and then sight and thought re-
turned to their physical precinct.
Truelsen turned and said, very softly,
as if mindful of the keen disappoint-
ment his words would bring to the man
at his side:
"We want the other bridge"
And the other bridge was built