Ripsaw
Encyclopedia
Ripsaw was a Duluth
, Minnesota
newspaper published from 1917 to 1926 and again from 1999 to 2005. In its original incarnation, the paper was a scandal sheet
with a reputation for muckraking, sensationalism and criminal libel. It returned after a 73-year hiatus with a somewhat similar style, but made several stark transformations before folding a second time.
, a puritanical Christian who abhorred alcohol, gambling and prostitution. The paper debuted on March 24, 1917. Issues were published every other Saturday, with copies sold at newsstands for five cents. Offices were originally in downtown Duluth’s Fargusson Building, and later moved to the Phoenix Building.
Morrison produced the Ripsaw almost entirely by himself. Three known helpers were stenographer Alice B. Bartlett, a cartoonist who signed his work “Webster,” and Isadore Cohen, a pre-teenaged newsboy who hawked papers in front of the old St. Louis County State Bank. Other writers were also periodically featured, but the vast majority of the work was always done by Morrison, who called himself the “head sawyer” of the “Great Family Journal.”
The birth of the Ripsaw came shortly after St. Louis County
outlawed the sale of alcohol. When the city of Superior
, Wisconsin
, followed a few months later with its own voter-instituted prohibition, the Twin Ports
were supposed to be dry. But alcohol continued to flow at bootleg outlets and in townships nearby. Local politicians and police did little to enforce the prohibition, and Morrison mercilessly ridiculed them for it in the Ripsaw. He also editorialized in favor of streetcars, public toilets and higher pay for policemen.
During the Ripsaw’s first year, Duluth Chief of Police Robert McKercher and City Auditor “King” Odin Halden were both ousted from their positions after being labeled crooked in the Ripsaw.
, of corrupt legal practices and a weakness for women and whiskey. All three retaliated.
Morrison was quickly arrested by a sheriff from Walker, Minnesota
(the county seat of Cass County) on charges of criminal libel brought by Jamison. He was sentenced to 90 days in the Cass County jail, but raised bail and returned to Duluth pending appeal.
At the same time Morrison was seeking to raise the bond in Cass County, Power was bringing forth criminal and civil libel actions, claiming the October 25 Ripsaw article was written for the sole purpose of injuring him politically. A warrant for Morrison’s arrest was in the hands of Duluth police awaiting his release from the Cass County jail. A jury in Hibbing, Minnesota, found him guilty, and he was sentenced to 90 days in the county workhouse. He immediately appealed. Later, Morrison was ordered to make a public apology to Power. The charges against him were dropped and his sentence rescinded.
Later that month, Morrison pleaded guilty to the charges of criminal libel brought by Jamison.
The most powerful blow to the “Great Family Journal” came in the summer of 1925. Sen. Boylan, who, according to the Oct. 25, 1924 Ripsaw, had threatened to kill Morrison, was trying to have the paper shut down. He worked with Rep. George Lommen to draft several bills that would allow the suppression of scandalous newspapers. Sen. Freyling Stevens, a powerful lawyer, introduced the senate version of what would become known as the “Minnesota gag law,” which he is officially credited as author of.
The Public Nuisance Bill of 1925 was soon-after approved by the Minnesota Senate
and House of Representatives
. It allowed a single judge, without jury, to stop a newspaper or magazine from publishing, forever.
Governor Theodore Christianson
quietly signed the Public Nuisance Law, but Morrison was oblivious. On April 6, 1926, the Ripsaw attacked Minneapolis Mayor George Emerson Leach: “Minnesotans do not want loose-love governor.” In the next issue, Duluth Commissioner of Public Utilities W. Harlow Tischer was the target: “Tischer and his gang fail to establish graft plan.”
Morrison was served with a warrant for his arrest based on a complaint from Leach under an obscene-literature ordinance recently rushed through the Minneapolis City Council
. The next day, a temporary restraining order was placed on the Ripsaw by State District Judge H. J. Grannis of Duluth. Tischer claimed that the charges of graft were untrue and he demanded that the Ripsaw be stopped. The Finnish Publishing Company, which printed the Ripsaw, was also named in the injunction, and news dealers and newsboys were barred from distributing the paper.
Morrison’s trial was set for May 15, 1926. When that day came, however, Morrison did not appear in court. He was strangely ill.
On May 18, 1926, Morrison was rushed to St. Francis Hospital in Superior at around 1 a.m. Nine hours later, he was pronounced dead. The cause was reported in the Duluth Herald to be an embolism
, a blood clot on the brain. The Herald reported that Morrison “had been ill for 10 days, suffering from pleurisy following an attack of influenza, a general breakdown and attacks of syncope.”
Although there were brief efforts to revive the Ripsaw, it would be 73 years before the paper’s return.
Tischer continued to insist the injunction against the Ripsaw be maintained, even after Morrison’s death. Judge E. J. Kenney, however, allowed a continuation of the Ripsaw “without the articles objected to by Commissioner Tischer.”
On June 1, 1931, the “gag law” was found to be unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court, in what is considered to be the first and most important Freedom of the Press
decision in U.S. history.
Morrison, who had been employed at others papers in Duluth and elsewhere before he started the Ripsaw, did his attacking, often with great humor.
Microfilm copies of the Ripsaw are located in the Duluth Public Library and in the Library of the Minnesota Historical Society in St. Paul.
Some of the more notable of headlines of the Ripsaw include:
Ripsaw Columns
Tales of the Town, The Political Pot, Where is Bill Bailey?, Sawdust & Shavings, School Board Minutes, Commercial Club Activities,
Many Halden Stories are just the lead for further County Board information
Major News Stories, Rip-Saw
March 24, 1917
Magney for Mayor, Battle of Ballots
Scrub Out the Courthouse
Booze Boosters Badly Discouraged
The Passing of John Barleycorn
Ways Business is Done (Co. Board)
Hidden Hand Reaches for Water frontage
Lon Merritt Makes Good
Hidden Hand Sticks Itself Into City Business - Kettle River
April 7, 1917
Halden Seduces Hicken
Magney for Mayor
Little Alice in Wonderland (witty)
Ways Business is Done (Co. Board)
Unequal Taxation
April 21, 1917
Halden Handles House
City Hall Chatter
Hartley Hunteth Ye Octopus
Journalistic Jim?Jams (Street Railway)
May 5, 1917
Halden Hunts His Hole
Busy Beer Buyer (Blind Pigs)
How Ye Silberstein Prestige Was Saved
Mare Gonska The Goat
The Fight Over Fares
Hobbled Lawyer Towne
May 19, 1917
Halden No Longer Hides
Closed the Club (Blind Pigs)
Tinkering The Taxes
Where is Bill Bailey?
Knocking New Duluth (Streetcars)
Police Are Underpaid, Talk of Quitting
June 9, 1917
Helping Halden's House
"Feeding the Fox" (Zoo)
Blind Pig Biteth Ye Bottler - Pike Lake
Rank and File Fear Unfairness
High Grade Baseball is Promised Duluth
Where is Bill Bailey?
Burglars and Boozers Invade YMCA
Beer Wagons Are Banished
Chief McKercher's Large Marmon Car
June 23, 1917
Halden Hangs His Head
Percy Gets Pinched (witty)
Valiant Firefighters Return To Pike Lake (witty)
Col. Eva Quits the Club
Where is Bill Bailey?
New Duluth Gets Justice -Streetcars
Bishop McGolrick's Golden Jubilee
Willis Gorman Post Bears Honored Name - 1892
July 7, 1917
Friends Fear Chief McKercher is Gone Blind (witty)
Halden Hands Out the Double Cross
Old John Barleycorn Now Lies Mouldering
Minnesota Iron Ores Face a New Epoch
When the Merritt's Came To the Head of Lakes
Where is Bill Bailey?
Hermantown Annual Picnic
Victim of Blind Pig Suffers Bad Relapse
Some New Features At the Hotel St. Louis
July 21, 1917
Battling With Ballots For the School Board
Courthouse King Has a New Password
Kinnikkinic Cigarette Will Be Made
The Public Badly Needs Comfort Stations Now that the Saloons are Closing
When the Merritt's Came To the Head of Lakes
When Charles Towne Defeated Kinney - 1894
Where is Bill Bailey?
City's Harbormaster Works In Wisconsin
Cuyuna Range Iron Ore To St. Louis By Boat
Old John Barleycorn Makes Buhl Boisterous
August 4, 1917
A Fierce Speed Bug Bites "Uncle Bob" (witty)
The Courthouse King Faces Certain Exile
Food Hogs Are Loose
When the Merritt's Came To the Head of Lakes
Where is Bill Bailey?
Madam Julia Wallace Removed To St. Paul
People Get New Deal In School Elections
August 18, 1917
Hibbing Is Great Municipal Paradise
The Courthouse King Wields A Big Stick
Superior Reeks With Booze And Filth
"Strafing Mrs. German"
Where is Bill Bailey?
Picturesque Floodwood
September 1, 1917
Virginia Is As Beauteous As A Virgin
Captain Stevens Wears The Double Cross
Preacher Pulls Tigers Whiskers - Virginia
President Wilson's Reply to Pope Benedict's Peace Proposals
A Faithless Affinity Dodges a Plain Duty (Fable)
Where is Bill Bailey?
Captain James W. Bishop Loses State Sinecure
Woodland's Citizens Demand Miss House
The Boys Are Blasting John Barleycorn - Va.
County Road Foreman Pulled For Poaching
Hypocritical Pastor Despoils His Flock
Canny Son Of Austria Despoils McKinley
Cuyuna Range Ore Is Barged To St. Louis
September 15, 1917
Booze And Beer Banished By Ballot
Courthouse King Arrested For Contempt
Grand Jury Condemns Savoy Theater
The Village Of Park Point
Where Is Bill Bailey?
Main Range Highway Soon Will Be Paved
September 29, 1917
Duluth Harbors Traitorous Food Hogs
Courthouse King Displays Royal Rage
Superior Opens Hotel de Jag
The Old Pioneer's Story
Journalistic Boswell Trifles With History
West End People Want Comfort Station
October 13, 1917
"Rasty" Wright Gambles In a Garage (witty)
Courthouse King Acquires a Royal Jag
Director Has Eagle Eye
Where Is Bill Bailey?
Wright/Davis Lands Make Many Much Money
Brutal Rib Breaker Frequents Floodwood
When Fat Boys Disagree, Lean Boys Hear Fact
The Last Log Drive
October 27, 1917
Blind Pigs Grunt On Superior Street
Courthouse King Is Very Autocratic
New Era For The Commercial Club
Double Murder At West Duluth - 1892
November 10, 1917
Police Busily Butchering Blind Pigs
Courthouse King Wrongs Otto Gafvert
The Voice Of The People Is Heard
Story Of a Horseshoe - Diamond Caulk
Knocking Out Konkel -Superior
Wearing Men's Pants Unsexes Lovely Woman
November 24, 1917
Municipal Piggery Denied For Duluth
Courthouse King Tastes Bitter Defeat
Architects Buck The School Board
1904 Milk Ordinance
"Uncle Bob" McKercher Rapes Public Decency In Raid At Woodman Hall
Brewing Gets Called Down
Turning City Garbage Into Oleaginous Pork
December 8, 1917
Gamblers And Crooks Infest Oliver
Courthouse King Tastes Bitter Defeat
Danculovic Avoids The Workfarm
White Swan Drugstore Conducts a Blind Pig
Douglas County Sheep
Mayor Konkel Fights With Back To Wall
December 22, 1917
Chief McKercher Finds His Lost Tongue
Courthouse King Faces Certain Exile
Underworld Bunch Deserts Duluth
Syndicate, Sin Duck Out Of Oliver
Dear Old Danculovic Loves Kaiser Bill
January 5, 1918
Chief McKercher Stutters When He Talks
The Old Political Pot Begins To Bubble
County Auditor Halden Is Doomed
Duluth Demands Common Justice - Railroads
Mistresses Of Music Engage In Bitter War
Superior Enjoyed Wet New Year
The Village of New Duluth
Two Phones Burdensome
January 19, 1918
Chief McKercher Goes On Warpath,
Two Charges Made Against Rip?-Saw Editor
Courthouse King A Political Suicide
Mayor Konkel Gets Cold Feet -Superior
The St. Louis Hotel Fire - 1893
Highspeed Speedway Was A Lively Ride
Superior's Toughest Hole
Will Buck John Barleycorn
Roadhouse Near Madhouse - Superior
January 26, 1918
No Issue
February 9, 1918
Red?light Parlors Shelter Blind Pigs
To Go Crazy Now Costs Money
Streetcar Strike That Was Finally Won - 1893
Over Dozen Big Fines Confront Mayor Konkel
Superior's Gamblers Given Stunning Blow
February 23, 1918
McKercher Protects Red Light Lady
McKercher Tried To Hang The Editor
Hot Campaign For Superior
Superintendent Hoke Retains Position
Workers Bribed Boss To Secure Employment
In Jail At Grand Rapids - 1894
Police Hunt For Beer, Find Scrubbing Water
March 9, 1918
The People Will Recall Silberstein
Spring Campaign Underway In Superior
Order Of Knights Of The Double Cross
Armstad Pulverizes de Waard
Beer Party At Billy Bernard's
The Virginia Fire In '93
Adelphi & Rex Hotels Lose Needed Licenses
Bagged The Belgian's Beer
Rates Discrimination Very Unfair To Duluth
March 23, 1918
Recall Petitions Are Being Signed
NPR Must Give Duluth Justice
County Auditor Halden Begins To Take Notice
King Booze Kicks Out Konkel - Superior
Food Kings Ignore Farmers
The Bummel Block Fire - 1893
Native Son of Duluth Makes A Cool Million
Janitor Tidball Resigns
April 6, 1918
McKercher Shows The White Feather
County Auditor Halden Pilgrims To The Range
Booze Is Banned By Superior
Police Close New Night School (witty)
Burning of the Old Board of Trade Building
Little Son of St. George Flouts American Eagle
April 20, 1918
The Leiser Store Wrongs Betty Eastman
Mayor of Ore Docks Charged with Adultery
How Dorothy Hill Was Protected
Halden Seeks More Political Pie
Woodworking Students Make Very Bad Botch
Proctor Pointers
Odin Halden Loses Trench
May 4, 1918
McKercher's Pet Red?light Lady Returns
County Auditor Halden Slated For Retirement
Baxter Gives a Surprise Party
Angry Husband Murders Wife
Courthouse Carpenter Serves Halden's House
Chief Engineer Stewart Resigns
Vaccination Hotly Attacked
May 18, 1918
Boiler Inspector Wrongs Working Girl
New Herd of Blind Pigs Boldly Invade Duluth
Superior Gets a Moral Scrubbing
Mountain Will Come To Mahomet - U.S. Steel
Company Improvement Programs At Proctor
Slackers Searched Out
June 1, 1918
Leiser Store Sued For $10,000
Dorothy Ducks
Sinful Hotels Are Suppressed
How Halden Moved Clifton Station
Crane Lake Portage Is An Historic Highway
"Square Deal" Victory Won Over Grt. Northern
Commissioners Ban Booze Right
June 15, 1918
S.S. America Shelters Gambling Den
The Mountain Visits Mahomet - U.S. Steel
Phillips Wants City Wood Yard
Rapid Erection Record For U.S. Grant School
Little American Gold Mine - 1893
Halden Hands Becloud Waterfront Titles
June 29, 1918
Bad Citizen Is Driven Out Of Superior
Bibulous Barleycorn Sadly Shocks Superior
Barleycorn Breed Is Dying Out Rapidly
Poets Observe The Passing Of John Barleycorn
Uncle Sam's Birthday
Barleycorn Knew Noah But Never Found Wisdom
U.S. Steel Corporation Is Duluth's Best Friend
July 13, 1918
Why Did Schutte Quit At West Duluth?
Thirsty Pilgrims Seek Oliver
"Townleyism" In Duluth Public Schools
Defective Ventilation Hazards Pupils' Health
The Lucky Grubstake -1893
July 27, 1918
Schutte Opposes Buying Of War Bonds
Onkel Bernard Assails Demon Rum
Superintendent Grubbs Is Charged With Moral Degeneracy - Proctor
Superior Cop Halts McKercher
When Frank Surveyed Site of Rainy Lake
Some Underworld Folk Still Infest Superior
Morgan Park Runs Amuck
August 10, 1918
Oliver Is Mecca For Thirsty Pilgrims
Bold Underworld Folk Still Haunt Superior
Gambling Under Giddings Store
Proctor Pointers
The Vermilion Iron Range
Rolly Waldemar Esterly Is Pinched In Superior
August 24, 1918
Underworld King Shot In Superior
Police Authorities Meet A Mystery Murder
Pulls Oliver's Red?light Joint
Labor Day In 1892
County Auditor Halden Is Doomed
Lies Hidden In Garret Three Days And Nights
Bridging Chester Park Deemed A Necessity
Guilty Of White Slavery
September 7, 1918
Rip?Saw Editor Arrested In Oliver
Dirty Nests In Duluth Unseen By Silberstein
Max Rosenberg May Not Recover
Odin Halden, King Of Camouflage
Superior's Sinful Set Hikes For Other Fields
September 21, 1918
Booze And Poker At Gary Canteen
Questionable Course Is Pursued By Kong Odin
Oliver Is Dry
Wicked Blind Pigs Infest Ranier
Why Don't Men Go To Church
Proctor's School Head Denies Nasty Charges
1892 Democratic County Convention
Superior's Blind Pigs Dying Off
Chisholm's Old Chief Runs Amuck In Duluth
October 5, 1918
Charges Filed Against General Resche
Gluttonous Food Hogs Rob Vegetable Growers
Aged Courthouse King Flies Into Rage
Kong Odin's Influence Has Been Most Sinister
Auditor Halden Fosters Illegal Sale Of Bonds
Grubb's Right To Teach Revoked - Proctor
Expensive Rugs For Dainty Feet
October 19, 1918
C.B. Miller Is Afraid Of The Carss
Four Houses Comprise The Produce Exchange
Courthouse Autocrat Has Been Most Unfair
Amorous Old Educator Charged With Huggery
Cat Ranch Prospectus
Trolley Patron Speaks Plainly
November 2, 1918
Red Cross Is Dragged Into Politics
McKercher Is Put In Guardhouse
Tight Little Monopoly Holds Michigan Street
Dorothy Hill Departs
Judge Fesler's Fiddle Plays Tunes For Halden
Swanstrom Boys Dig For Halden
Horngren And Rich Tour Range For Halden
Preus Gets Double Cross
Lumber Barons Blamable For Forest Fires
Wobbly Willie Winkum Roots Hard For Halden
November 16, 1918
Halden Is Kicked Out Of Courthouse
Superintendent Hoke Will Hike
Local Produce Pirates Promise To Lick Editor
Sunday Closing For Iron River
Grape Wine On Iron Range
Superior's Lid Lifters Get Very Heavily Fined
Grubbs Still Wiggles - Proctor
November 30, 1918
McKercher Leaves Rotten Record
Safety Commissioner Protects Food Hogs
Max Rosenberg & Woman Arrested In Superior
When Big Boom Was Well Under Way - 1887
December 14, 1918
McKercher Takes A Sneak
Grubbs Has Gone - Proctor
Railroad Employees Help Out Food Hogs
Soldiers And Sailors Scrap Over Monument
Max Rosenberg Gets Arrested
December 28, 1918
Police Arrest Col. W.F. King - Adultery
Local Produce Pirates Plot Against Rival
Max Rosenberg Heavily Fined
Streetcar Situation Is Bad Here And Below
McKercher Compelled To Pull Red Light Lady
Brisk Scramble For City Offices
January 11, 1919
McKercher Quits Under Fire
Vigilance Committee Superior's Possibility
Bibulous Boys Now Go To Gordon
Dry Superior Benefits Police
January 25, 1919
Burnside Pulls Wife's Hair
Patriots Desire Postmastership
Duluth City Council Asks For Tunnel Plans
Superior's Sinful Set Still Acts Shamelessly
Boxcar Detective Dill Slakes Burning Thirst
Soldier's Happy Home Invaded By Policeman
- Adultery
February 8, 1919
Peasants Fire on Col. Eva - Forest Fires
Erickson Would Crimp Food Hogs
Underworld Folk Losing Ground
Cause and Prevention of the Big Forest Fires
Sources of Forest Fires
John Barleycorn Hangs On At Iron River
Colonel Carlson is Fired at Minnesota Steel
Bessette and Rhinow Double Barreled Boys
February 22, 1919
Governor Forsakes Fire Victims
Tried to Choke Farmers Store - Food Hogs
Food Hog Methods Tipped Off By Teamster
Chris Peterson Takes The Count - Superior
Deep Waterway From Duluth To The Sea
Fire Relief Commission Junked Wearable Shoes
School Board Retains Superintendent Hoke
Lumber Barons Grab Grave Yard Insurance
School Board Members Betray Common People
March 1, 1919 - Missing
March 29, 1919
Farrell Violates City Charter
Old John Barleycorn May Regain Superior
Sporty Husband Finds Soul Mate
Mrs. Akonn Shocks Judge Parker - Superior
Commissioner Farrell Wasted Valuable Dirt
Trolley Line Purchase Is Problem For Voters
Farrell Broke Many Promises
Motor Corps Barred By Law
Farrell's Fat Pay Rolls Open Taxpayer Optics
Cloquet Lawyers Hustle Clients
Herr Hauptmann Squirms Under Charges
Tamping Machine Proved Failure
Farrell Roared About Salaries
Colonel Burnsides' Blind Pig Gets Caught
April 12, 1919
Madam King Is Granted A Divorce
Oliver Soon Will Have Bus Service
Gay Madam West Pays High Fine - Superior
Notrorious Elgin Hotel Shelters Immoral Folk
Filthy Nests in Duluth Unseen by Good People
Socialists Win At Two Harbors
Was Carlson Dangerous German Spy?
Superior's Pest House Disgrace To City
Gust Beck Keeps Booze on Farm at Hawthorne
August Jeffers Breaks Up Home
Faked Professor Jumps The Town
April 26, 1919
Crooks Kill Mike Madigan - Superior
Autocratic Directors Crush Krebs And Smith
Should Improve Railroad Street
Blind Pigs Nest In Phoenix Block
Cowardly Ignoramus Breaks Loose
Dual Water System Hazards Public Health
Women Start Campaign Against Tobacco
New Independence Folk Use Town Funds Freely
Mysterious Company At Cloquet
May 10, 1919
Food Hogs Ravage Duluth
Hoke May Be Hunting New Superintendency
Florence Nightingale Birdies Fly
Discourage the Coming of Carnival Companies
Forest Fire Relief Work
Hotel Superior Sporty Spot
Police Once More Grab Blind Pigger Burnside
Check Valves Unsafe, Local Plumbers Insist
May 24, 1919
Is Gary A Hot?Bed Of Vice?
Dr. Nyquist Indicted In Superior
County Commissioners Oppose Eight Hour Day
Nordin Loses Fire Damage Action
New Fishing Laws
Lumber Company Seeks Grave Yard
Underworld King Of Superior Is Indicted
Mayor Baxter Reduces Superior Police Force
Red?light Women Heavily Fined - Superior
June 14, 1919
Proctor Chief Is Bad Actor
Food Hogs Profit From Potatoes
The Arrest Of Ah Sing - 1892
Cloquet Woman Is Heroine Of Forest Fires
School Board Autocrats Dodge Union Labor
Superior Thugs Assault Editor
Outlaw Gang Attacks Martin Widness
June 28, 1919
Dr. Hoke Flunks In Detroit
Unfortunate War Baby Came Into Jensen Home
Spirited Contest In Union Circles
Food Hogs Monopolize Area Milk
Teachers Stood Up When Hoke Entered
Postmaster At Cloquet Holds Up The Rip?Saw
O'Brien Admits Defeat To Baxter - Superior
Uncle Sam Soaks Wicked Rosenberg
Madam Reed Comes Back To Superior
Dances By Liberty Club Need Stricter Manager
July 12, 1919
Ohio Tailor Sues Shaibley
The Candidacy Of John L. Morrison
Food Hogs Boost Prices Of Fruit
Sturdy Commoner Beats Autocrats Twice
Superior Says Farewell To Booze
July 26, 1919
Tailor Takes Judgment Against Schaibley
Telephone Monopoly Chokes City
Conditions At Work Farm Severely Attacked
Superior Bravely Combats Pittsburgh Plus
Mrs. Myrtle Cushway Sought Her Revenge
August 9, 1919
Work Farm Boy Beaten Up
Tammany Braves Hold Annual Clam?Bake
Blind Pig's Still Grunt In Superior
Conklin's Plan For a Tunnel Under the Ship Canal - 1892
Double Barreled Boys Becoming Plentiful
Inmate Of County Jail Utters Worthless Paper
Booze Boys Seek Baxter's Scalp
Cops once More Arrest Burnside and Al Power
So?Called Blue Sky Laws Insult To Intelligent
Duluth sold Birthright but Lost Mess of Pottage
August 23, 1919
Greeks Grab Superior Girls
Schaibley Goes Into Bankruptcy
Entire Nation Aroused By High Food Costs
Blanche White Buys Grand Hotel
Naylor Family Hard Hit By Forest Fires
Kindly County Will Sue Railway Company
Land Barons Plan Raid On State Treasury
People Oppose Old Ward System
Professor Simon Harries Blueberry Pickers
Food Hogs Sell Corn To Their Rural Cousins
September 6, 1919
Dark Girls Woo White Men
Fight On Food Hogs Seriously Under Way
Fred Harris Plays High Finance
Strange Took Eva For "Dummy"
State Forester Cox's Dismissal Demanded
American Loyalty League Discussed By Strange
Bad Booze Burglars Ravage Iron River
Big Moose Lake Meeting held by Fire Sufferers
Rosenberg Kicks Out George O'Brien
Sold Burning Booze Without Any License
Big Bully Of Bingoland Compelled To Back Down
Getting Rowley Alimony Is Very Difficult
September 20, 1919
Children Play At Prostitution
Ransom Metcalfe Talks of High Cost of Living
Cloquet Lawyers Roast Rip?Saw
Change Of Venue For Fire Cases?
Sanitary Sewer Bothers Residents of Woodland
Col. Eva's Armory Bunch Wasted Much Valuable Hay
Hotel Superior Sued For Damage
Superior Law Breakers Decide to Plead Guilty
King Colahan's Consort Wears Her Crown Tilted
Beer Foams in Bingoland as Camouflage For Booze
Simple Rustics Make Snappy Drink
Blind Piggers Rampant in Mesabi Range Towns
October 4, 1919
Young Knudsen Jumps Jail
Chief Murphy's Minions Get Active On St. Croix
How To Eliminate The Food Hogs
Dean Madsen Tenders Eye Blackened By Col. Parker
Hoke Steals Educational Idea
P:olice Woman Desired
Chiropracters Boast Of Their Influenza Record
Carlton County Cannot Give An Impartial Trial
When The Weyerhaeuser's Bought Leech Lake Pine - 1893
Rosenberg Threatens To Shoot
Badlands Of Bingoland Yield Many Lawless Men
October 18, 1919
Daily Papers Protect Food Hogs
Park?Pointers Dislike Fool?Proof Streetcars
State Examiner Audits Eva's Books
Opposition Makes Hatch Hustle - Eveleth
Policemen's Annual Ball - 1893
Conditions Are Improved In Old St. Croix Section
Matt Bolen Loses Flesh When Mated With Amelia
Knudsen Peddled Booze to his Fellow Inmates
Joe Naughton's Former Woman Must Do Time
Superior Starts Drive Against Vice And Crime
Commissioners May Move Supt. Young to Virginia
Strong Hands Of Justice Firmly Grasp Rosenberg
November 1, 1919
Harris Charged With Fraud
This Year's State Tax Is Highest Ever Known
Duluth's West End Wesley Calls At Rip?Saw
County Attorney Green Returns Home
Memorial Hospital Worries Local Builder
Cloquet Telephone Agent Roasts The Rip?Saw
Graft And Scandal Smut The Hard Road Movement
Jascha Heifetz, 18, Will Appear
Lavinsky Shoots Up Cafe America - Superior
Douglas County Schools Maintain High Standards
Douglas County Sheriff Arrests Oliver Sports
Superior Organization Will Crimp Wickedness
November 15, 1919
Boy Robs Roth Brothers Store - Superior
Victim Of Cruel Vampire Takes The Suicide Route
Carl Takla Refused Bail
Funck Becomes Municipal Judge
Cloquet Union Men Wrathy
Cloquet Chief Of Police Arrests Wrong Man
Condition Of Treasury Startles School Board
Peter Rabbit Streetcar Jumps At Lawyer Whitley
Torrance Gives Wife A Black Eye - Superior
Superior's Politicians Look Over The Cards
Hunger, Worry And Want Drive Good Women Crazy
Rosenberg's Bartender Now Happy Egg Vendor
November 29, 1919
Police Raid The West Hotel
Chisholm's Enchantress Possess A Bad Record
Bruce Palmer Bans Suggestive Dancing - Proctor
Some Light And Comments On Local Paving History
Duluth's Pioneer Record Of Suicides - 1893
Cloquet Chief Of Police Sued For Damages
People Marvel Because City Is Postmasterless
Wolfe Convicts Bingoland Crooks - Superior
Bettty West's Close Escape
December 13, 1919
Magie Ignores McKercher
Girls Warmly Welcome Pilgrim From Proctor
An Artistic Job Of Fistic Decoration
William Chisholm Did Not Steal
When Henry Truelson First Came To Duluth - 1893
Judge Lichten Refuses Joel Lichten Citizenship
Street Railway Company Asks Municipal Favor
Bold Bingoland Boy Goes Crazy - Superior
Madam Smith Is Convicted In Judge French's Court
Commissioner Tomlinson Fools Bingoland Bunch
December 27, 1919
Play Poker In Turkish Bath
Twenty Local Policemen Are Called Onto Carpet
Bartoni Keeps Salacious Salon - Chisholm
Page Morris ?? Politician
Special H.C.L. Committee Makes Final Report
Duluth Boy Robs Kelly Of Famous Heirlooms
Bob McKercher Suspected Of Courting Clerk's Job
Commissioners Suspend McKinnon
The Bells Of Bingoland After Absolute Divorce - Superior
"Big Bill" Adams Finds Level
Trouble Faces Louis Roth - Chisholm
Sports May Hike For Cuba - Superior
January 10, 1920
Sick Boy Brutally Treated
Accused Policemen Given Hearing
McCusick Keeps Dump At Lucknow - Buhl
Bankruptcy For Schaibley
Snake?House Is Unpopular - Cusson
Jacob Anderson Wins Forest Fire Damage Suit
Gentleman Jim Shilty Kept Blind Grunter
Incorrigible Optimist Greatly Discouraged
City Servants Annoyed By Cavenaugh's Buzzer
Bingoland Bunch Backs McKinnon - Superior
Mother Carney Has Girls In First Street Retreat
Burgled Massey's Medicine
Two Bold Bingoland Boys Arrested In Tame Duluth
January 24, 1920
Big Bill Adams Is Arrested
Charge Non?Feasance Against The Sheriff - International Falls
Kremer Hoke Re?Elected School Superintendent
Publishing Fight At Two Harbors
Palmer Licks Up Moonshine - Proctor
Chisholm Sports Deeply Discouraged
Teacher Screamed Lustily
Snippy Women Show Scorn For Soldier Coal Bearer
Snake?House Defended By Hinterland Pilgrims
Appealing Story Of Mary
Bingoland Gangsters Fear Defeat - Superior
Terminal Situation Seriously Hampers City
February 4, 1920
Railway Robbery In Ranier
Chisholm Banishes All Slot Machines
Government May Settle Hinterland Fire Losses
Sugarless Situation Is Serious
Rabbit Tales For Teaching
Colonel Jim Burnside Hones For Bill Booze
Food Hogs Feed City Dump
Lynching of Rapist Belange At Mt. Iron - 1893
Weary Wobbly Complains Of Camp At Cusson
Lumber Camp Experience Displeases Duluth Man - Biwabik
Hinterland Residents Complain Of Road Work
Profiteers Harry Hibbing
Corporations Seek Baxter's Scalp - Superior
Darkest Africa Raided By Police Of Superior
Bells Battle For Divorce
Stevens Couple Sever Marital Ties
Hyberg and Mrs. Ek Elope - International Falls
February 21, 1920
Finds Love Pirate In Cloquet
Prisoners Are Denied Brain Food
School Head Quickly Quits
Great Family Journal Grows Like Greenbay Tree
Meadowlands Taxpayers Oppose School Principal
A Certain Rich Man...
Wife Knocked Out Oken's Teeth
Superior's Politicians Think About Primary
Weakly Paper Flings Mud At Mayor Fred A. Baxter - Superior
Papa Jim Buys Bingo Farm
Chisholm Sports Resent Moral Uplift
Bad Lands Bunch Will Flit - Superior
March 6, 1920
Sleuths Raid Superior's Blind Pig
Sports Of Chisholm Play New Card Game
Meadowlands Will Hold A Special Bond Election
Lingonberries On The Free List
Profiteers Greater Menace Than The "Reds"
Grave Irregularities Charged Against O'Neill
Feared Burnside Will Go Batty - Superior
Konkel's Man Duffy Wins Union Support
Weakly Leader Assumes To Speak For Union Men
Flunky Of Backers Flouts Federal Law
Berenico Hikes For Hurley
Max Rosenberg Has A Pull
March 20, 1920
Cancer Kills Earl Gonyea
Col. James Chester Bell Chases With New Chicken - Superior
Rainier Outlaws Go To Jail
Pittenger Peeves Party Bosses
Poker Is Nashwauk's Game
County Superintendency Sought By Man
Baxter Beats Bingoland Bunch - Superior
Primaries In Superior Slated For Next Tuesday
Buhl Woman Pinched By Ranier Inspector
April 3, 1920 ??? May 26, 1923 ??? Missing
June 9, 1923
Two Barbers Held Under Heavy Bail
The Law Nabs Michelizzi
Huge Booze Supply Found By Sheriff -I?Falls
May Stevens Leaves Town
Cops Get Pete Schaeffer
Anderson Keeps Blind Pig
Aliens Make West Duluth Lawless and Disorderly
June 23, 1923 ??? October 11, 1923 ??? Missing
October 25, 1924
Boylan Threatens Murder
Bert Jameson's Unfitness Due To Physical Reasons
Two Undesirable's Must Go
George O'Brien Is Pinched For Conducting Big Still
(This last issue is the issue that prompted the Minnesota
Legislature to pass a gag law allowing the Police to confiscate
newspapers with “libelous” articles. The law was overturned
In a case involving a St. Paul newspaper by the U.S. Supreme
Court in the famous Near v. Minnesota
decision guaranteeing
freedom of the press to American newspapers).
There were further issues of the paper, but they have been
lost.
The Ripsaw became a weekly publication on April 5, 2000. Paul Lundgren was hired as managing editor and the paper was transformed into an alternative news, arts and entertainment source. One year later, it was accepted into the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies
.
While Morrison’s original Ripsaw fought against “ol’ John Barleycorn,” the personification of demon alcohol, the new Ripsaw reveled in the exploits of Slim Goodbuzz. The slender and sarcastic Duluthian traveled the region in search of inebriated adventure for his celebrated “Barfly on the Wall” column.
Another favorite of Ripsaw readers was the comic strip “Violet Days,” by Chris Monroe
, which is now featured in the Minneapolis Star Tribune and Duluth News Tribune
.
Co-publisher Cord R. Dada sold the majority of his ownership in the paper to Brad Nelson’s brother Tim Nelson in April 2001, relieving himself of all duties at the Ripsaw and leaving Brad Nelson as the majority owner and sole publisher of the paper. Within a few months, Lundgren was dismissed and Nelson became editor/publisher.
The last weekly issue was published on Dec. 31, 2003. Three months later, the Ripsaw returned to monthly status, this time as a full-color magazine edited by Tony Dierckins. It lasted 10 issues before reverting back to newsprint for its final three issues, which were published every other month, ending in September 2005.
The Ripsaw's former "web jerk" Adam Guggemos went on to found Duluth's weekly Transistor in 2004, which has featured columns and comic strips by numerous former Ripsaw contributors.
Duluth, Minnesota
Duluth is a port city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and is the county seat of Saint Louis County. The fourth largest city in Minnesota, Duluth had a total population of 86,265 in the 2010 census. Duluth is also the second largest city that is located on Lake Superior after Thunder Bay, Ontario,...
, Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
newspaper published from 1917 to 1926 and again from 1999 to 2005. In its original incarnation, the paper was a scandal sheet
Scandal Sheet
Scandal Sheet is a black-and-white film noir directed by Phil Karlson. The film is based on the novel The Dark Page by Samuel Fuller, who himself was a newspaper reporter before his career in film...
with a reputation for muckraking, sensationalism and criminal libel. It returned after a 73-year hiatus with a somewhat similar style, but made several stark transformations before folding a second time.
The Great Family Journal
The original Duluth Ripsaw was founded by John L. MorrisonJohn L. Morrison
John Loyal Morrison founded the controversial Duluth, Minnesota newspaper Ripsaw. His editorial attacks on area politicians were so unrelenting that a state law was passed specifically to shut down his paper...
, a puritanical Christian who abhorred alcohol, gambling and prostitution. The paper debuted on March 24, 1917. Issues were published every other Saturday, with copies sold at newsstands for five cents. Offices were originally in downtown Duluth’s Fargusson Building, and later moved to the Phoenix Building.
Morrison produced the Ripsaw almost entirely by himself. Three known helpers were stenographer Alice B. Bartlett, a cartoonist who signed his work “Webster,” and Isadore Cohen, a pre-teenaged newsboy who hawked papers in front of the old St. Louis County State Bank. Other writers were also periodically featured, but the vast majority of the work was always done by Morrison, who called himself the “head sawyer” of the “Great Family Journal.”
The birth of the Ripsaw came shortly after St. Louis County
St. Louis County, Missouri
St. Louis County is a county located in the U.S. state of Missouri. Its county seat is Clayton. St. Louis County is part of the St. Louis Metro Area wherein the independent City of St. Louis and its suburbs in St. Louis County, as well as the surrounding counties in both Missouri and Illinois all...
outlawed the sale of alcohol. When the city of Superior
Superior, Wisconsin
Superior is a city in and the county seat of Douglas County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 26,960 at the 2010 census. Located at the junction of U.S. Highways 2 and 53, it is north of and adjacent to both the Village of Superior and the Town of Superior.Superior is at the western...
, Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
, followed a few months later with its own voter-instituted prohibition, the Twin Ports
Twin Ports
The Twin Ports of Duluth, Minnesota and Superior, Wisconsin are located at the western part of Lake Superior and together are considered the largest freshwater port in the world. They are twin cities and seaports, connected to the Atlantic Ocean through the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence...
were supposed to be dry. But alcohol continued to flow at bootleg outlets and in townships nearby. Local politicians and police did little to enforce the prohibition, and Morrison mercilessly ridiculed them for it in the Ripsaw. He also editorialized in favor of streetcars, public toilets and higher pay for policemen.
During the Ripsaw’s first year, Duluth Chief of Police Robert McKercher and City Auditor “King” Odin Halden were both ousted from their positions after being labeled crooked in the Ripsaw.
Morrison’s Demise
The downfall of the Ripsaw began with the October 25, 1924 issue. Morrison accused State Senator Mike Boylan of threatening him with mayhem and death, Cass County Probate Judge Bert Jamison of having acquired syphilis at a brothel and Victor L. Power, a former mayor of HibbingHibbing, Minnesota
Hibbing is a city in Saint Louis County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 16,361 at the 2010 census. The city was built on the rich iron ore of the Mesabi Iron Range. At the edge of town is the largest open-pit iron mine in the world. U.S...
, of corrupt legal practices and a weakness for women and whiskey. All three retaliated.
Morrison was quickly arrested by a sheriff from Walker, Minnesota
Walker, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there were 1,069 people, 449 households, and 258 families residing in the city. The population density was 734.3 people per square mile . There were 517 housing units at an average density of 355.1 per square mile...
(the county seat of Cass County) on charges of criminal libel brought by Jamison. He was sentenced to 90 days in the Cass County jail, but raised bail and returned to Duluth pending appeal.
At the same time Morrison was seeking to raise the bond in Cass County, Power was bringing forth criminal and civil libel actions, claiming the October 25 Ripsaw article was written for the sole purpose of injuring him politically. A warrant for Morrison’s arrest was in the hands of Duluth police awaiting his release from the Cass County jail. A jury in Hibbing, Minnesota, found him guilty, and he was sentenced to 90 days in the county workhouse. He immediately appealed. Later, Morrison was ordered to make a public apology to Power. The charges against him were dropped and his sentence rescinded.
Later that month, Morrison pleaded guilty to the charges of criminal libel brought by Jamison.
The most powerful blow to the “Great Family Journal” came in the summer of 1925. Sen. Boylan, who, according to the Oct. 25, 1924 Ripsaw, had threatened to kill Morrison, was trying to have the paper shut down. He worked with Rep. George Lommen to draft several bills that would allow the suppression of scandalous newspapers. Sen. Freyling Stevens, a powerful lawyer, introduced the senate version of what would become known as the “Minnesota gag law,” which he is officially credited as author of.
The Public Nuisance Bill of 1925 was soon-after approved by the Minnesota Senate
Minnesota Senate
The Minnesota Senate is the upper house in the Minnesota Legislature. There are 67 members, half as many as are in the Minnesota House of Representatives. In terms of membership, it is the largest upper house of any state legislature. Each Senate district in the state includes an A and B House...
and House of Representatives
Minnesota House of Representatives
The Minnesota House of Representatives is the lower house in the Minnesota State Legislature. There are 134 members elected to two-year terms, twice the number of members in the Minnesota Senate. Each senate district is divided in half and given the suffix A or B...
. It allowed a single judge, without jury, to stop a newspaper or magazine from publishing, forever.
Governor Theodore Christianson
Theodore Christianson
Theodore Christianson was an American politician who served as the 21st Governor of Minnesota from January 6, 1925 until January 6, 1931.-Background:...
quietly signed the Public Nuisance Law, but Morrison was oblivious. On April 6, 1926, the Ripsaw attacked Minneapolis Mayor George Emerson Leach: “Minnesotans do not want loose-love governor.” In the next issue, Duluth Commissioner of Public Utilities W. Harlow Tischer was the target: “Tischer and his gang fail to establish graft plan.”
Morrison was served with a warrant for his arrest based on a complaint from Leach under an obscene-literature ordinance recently rushed through the Minneapolis City Council
Minneapolis City Council
The Minneapolis City Council is the governing body of the City of Minneapolis. The City Council is composed of 13 single member districts, called wards. Barbara Johnson is president of the council. The council is dominated by members of the DFL Party with 12 members. The Green Party has one member...
. The next day, a temporary restraining order was placed on the Ripsaw by State District Judge H. J. Grannis of Duluth. Tischer claimed that the charges of graft were untrue and he demanded that the Ripsaw be stopped. The Finnish Publishing Company, which printed the Ripsaw, was also named in the injunction, and news dealers and newsboys were barred from distributing the paper.
Morrison’s trial was set for May 15, 1926. When that day came, however, Morrison did not appear in court. He was strangely ill.
On May 18, 1926, Morrison was rushed to St. Francis Hospital in Superior at around 1 a.m. Nine hours later, he was pronounced dead. The cause was reported in the Duluth Herald to be an embolism
Embolism
In medicine, an embolism is the event of lodging of an embolus into a narrow capillary vessel of an arterial bed which causes a blockage in a distant part of the body.Embolization is...
, a blood clot on the brain. The Herald reported that Morrison “had been ill for 10 days, suffering from pleurisy following an attack of influenza, a general breakdown and attacks of syncope.”
Although there were brief efforts to revive the Ripsaw, it would be 73 years before the paper’s return.
Tischer continued to insist the injunction against the Ripsaw be maintained, even after Morrison’s death. Judge E. J. Kenney, however, allowed a continuation of the Ripsaw “without the articles objected to by Commissioner Tischer.”
On June 1, 1931, the “gag law” was found to be unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court, in what is considered to be the first and most important Freedom of the Press
Freedom of the press
Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the freedom of communication and expression through vehicles including various electronic media and published materials...
decision in U.S. history.
Headlines of The Duluth Ripsaw
During its short life, The Duluth Ripsaw was indeed a muckraking publication, in the finest tradition of that genre of publications. It was only in its final years that it ran into legal problems by attacking individuals who no doubt should have been attacked for some of their activities.Morrison, who had been employed at others papers in Duluth and elsewhere before he started the Ripsaw, did his attacking, often with great humor.
Microfilm copies of the Ripsaw are located in the Duluth Public Library and in the Library of the Minnesota Historical Society in St. Paul.
Some of the more notable of headlines of the Ripsaw include:
Ripsaw Columns
Tales of the Town, The Political Pot, Where is Bill Bailey?, Sawdust & Shavings, School Board Minutes, Commercial Club Activities,
Many Halden Stories are just the lead for further County Board information
Major News Stories, Rip-Saw
March 24, 1917
Magney for Mayor, Battle of Ballots
Scrub Out the Courthouse
Booze Boosters Badly Discouraged
The Passing of John Barleycorn
Ways Business is Done (Co. Board)
Hidden Hand Reaches for Water frontage
Lon Merritt Makes Good
Hidden Hand Sticks Itself Into City Business - Kettle River
April 7, 1917
Halden Seduces Hicken
Magney for Mayor
Little Alice in Wonderland (witty)
Ways Business is Done (Co. Board)
Unequal Taxation
April 21, 1917
Halden Handles House
City Hall Chatter
Hartley Hunteth Ye Octopus
Journalistic Jim?Jams (Street Railway)
May 5, 1917
Halden Hunts His Hole
Busy Beer Buyer (Blind Pigs)
How Ye Silberstein Prestige Was Saved
Mare Gonska The Goat
The Fight Over Fares
Hobbled Lawyer Towne
May 19, 1917
Halden No Longer Hides
Closed the Club (Blind Pigs)
Tinkering The Taxes
Where is Bill Bailey?
Knocking New Duluth (Streetcars)
Police Are Underpaid, Talk of Quitting
June 9, 1917
Helping Halden's House
"Feeding the Fox" (Zoo)
Blind Pig Biteth Ye Bottler - Pike Lake
Rank and File Fear Unfairness
High Grade Baseball is Promised Duluth
Where is Bill Bailey?
Burglars and Boozers Invade YMCA
Beer Wagons Are Banished
Chief McKercher's Large Marmon Car
June 23, 1917
Halden Hangs His Head
Percy Gets Pinched (witty)
Valiant Firefighters Return To Pike Lake (witty)
Col. Eva Quits the Club
Where is Bill Bailey?
New Duluth Gets Justice -Streetcars
Bishop McGolrick's Golden Jubilee
Willis Gorman Post Bears Honored Name - 1892
July 7, 1917
Friends Fear Chief McKercher is Gone Blind (witty)
Halden Hands Out the Double Cross
Old John Barleycorn Now Lies Mouldering
Minnesota Iron Ores Face a New Epoch
When the Merritt's Came To the Head of Lakes
Where is Bill Bailey?
Hermantown Annual Picnic
Victim of Blind Pig Suffers Bad Relapse
Some New Features At the Hotel St. Louis
July 21, 1917
Battling With Ballots For the School Board
Courthouse King Has a New Password
Kinnikkinic Cigarette Will Be Made
The Public Badly Needs Comfort Stations Now that the Saloons are Closing
When the Merritt's Came To the Head of Lakes
When Charles Towne Defeated Kinney - 1894
Where is Bill Bailey?
City's Harbormaster Works In Wisconsin
Cuyuna Range Iron Ore To St. Louis By Boat
Old John Barleycorn Makes Buhl Boisterous
August 4, 1917
A Fierce Speed Bug Bites "Uncle Bob" (witty)
The Courthouse King Faces Certain Exile
Food Hogs Are Loose
When the Merritt's Came To the Head of Lakes
Where is Bill Bailey?
Madam Julia Wallace Removed To St. Paul
People Get New Deal In School Elections
August 18, 1917
Hibbing Is Great Municipal Paradise
The Courthouse King Wields A Big Stick
Superior Reeks With Booze And Filth
"Strafing Mrs. German"
Where is Bill Bailey?
Picturesque Floodwood
September 1, 1917
Virginia Is As Beauteous As A Virgin
Captain Stevens Wears The Double Cross
Preacher Pulls Tigers Whiskers - Virginia
President Wilson's Reply to Pope Benedict's Peace Proposals
A Faithless Affinity Dodges a Plain Duty (Fable)
Where is Bill Bailey?
Captain James W. Bishop Loses State Sinecure
Woodland's Citizens Demand Miss House
The Boys Are Blasting John Barleycorn - Va.
County Road Foreman Pulled For Poaching
Hypocritical Pastor Despoils His Flock
Canny Son Of Austria Despoils McKinley
Cuyuna Range Ore Is Barged To St. Louis
September 15, 1917
Booze And Beer Banished By Ballot
Courthouse King Arrested For Contempt
Grand Jury Condemns Savoy Theater
The Village Of Park Point
Where Is Bill Bailey?
Main Range Highway Soon Will Be Paved
September 29, 1917
Duluth Harbors Traitorous Food Hogs
Courthouse King Displays Royal Rage
Superior Opens Hotel de Jag
The Old Pioneer's Story
Journalistic Boswell Trifles With History
West End People Want Comfort Station
October 13, 1917
"Rasty" Wright Gambles In a Garage (witty)
Courthouse King Acquires a Royal Jag
Director Has Eagle Eye
Where Is Bill Bailey?
Wright/Davis Lands Make Many Much Money
Brutal Rib Breaker Frequents Floodwood
When Fat Boys Disagree, Lean Boys Hear Fact
The Last Log Drive
October 27, 1917
Blind Pigs Grunt On Superior Street
Courthouse King Is Very Autocratic
New Era For The Commercial Club
Double Murder At West Duluth - 1892
November 10, 1917
Police Busily Butchering Blind Pigs
Courthouse King Wrongs Otto Gafvert
The Voice Of The People Is Heard
Story Of a Horseshoe - Diamond Caulk
Knocking Out Konkel -Superior
Wearing Men's Pants Unsexes Lovely Woman
November 24, 1917
Municipal Piggery Denied For Duluth
Courthouse King Tastes Bitter Defeat
Architects Buck The School Board
1904 Milk Ordinance
"Uncle Bob" McKercher Rapes Public Decency In Raid At Woodman Hall
Brewing Gets Called Down
Turning City Garbage Into Oleaginous Pork
December 8, 1917
Gamblers And Crooks Infest Oliver
Courthouse King Tastes Bitter Defeat
Danculovic Avoids The Workfarm
White Swan Drugstore Conducts a Blind Pig
Douglas County Sheep
Mayor Konkel Fights With Back To Wall
December 22, 1917
Chief McKercher Finds His Lost Tongue
Courthouse King Faces Certain Exile
Underworld Bunch Deserts Duluth
Syndicate, Sin Duck Out Of Oliver
Dear Old Danculovic Loves Kaiser Bill
January 5, 1918
Chief McKercher Stutters When He Talks
The Old Political Pot Begins To Bubble
County Auditor Halden Is Doomed
Duluth Demands Common Justice - Railroads
Mistresses Of Music Engage In Bitter War
Superior Enjoyed Wet New Year
The Village of New Duluth
Two Phones Burdensome
January 19, 1918
Chief McKercher Goes On Warpath,
Two Charges Made Against Rip?-Saw Editor
Courthouse King A Political Suicide
Mayor Konkel Gets Cold Feet -Superior
The St. Louis Hotel Fire - 1893
Highspeed Speedway Was A Lively Ride
Superior's Toughest Hole
Will Buck John Barleycorn
Roadhouse Near Madhouse - Superior
January 26, 1918
No Issue
February 9, 1918
Red?light Parlors Shelter Blind Pigs
To Go Crazy Now Costs Money
Streetcar Strike That Was Finally Won - 1893
Over Dozen Big Fines Confront Mayor Konkel
Superior's Gamblers Given Stunning Blow
February 23, 1918
McKercher Protects Red Light Lady
McKercher Tried To Hang The Editor
Hot Campaign For Superior
Superintendent Hoke Retains Position
Workers Bribed Boss To Secure Employment
In Jail At Grand Rapids - 1894
Police Hunt For Beer, Find Scrubbing Water
March 9, 1918
The People Will Recall Silberstein
Spring Campaign Underway In Superior
Order Of Knights Of The Double Cross
Armstad Pulverizes de Waard
Beer Party At Billy Bernard's
The Virginia Fire In '93
Adelphi & Rex Hotels Lose Needed Licenses
Bagged The Belgian's Beer
Rates Discrimination Very Unfair To Duluth
March 23, 1918
Recall Petitions Are Being Signed
NPR Must Give Duluth Justice
County Auditor Halden Begins To Take Notice
King Booze Kicks Out Konkel - Superior
Food Kings Ignore Farmers
The Bummel Block Fire - 1893
Native Son of Duluth Makes A Cool Million
Janitor Tidball Resigns
April 6, 1918
McKercher Shows The White Feather
County Auditor Halden Pilgrims To The Range
Booze Is Banned By Superior
Police Close New Night School (witty)
Burning of the Old Board of Trade Building
Little Son of St. George Flouts American Eagle
April 20, 1918
The Leiser Store Wrongs Betty Eastman
Mayor of Ore Docks Charged with Adultery
How Dorothy Hill Was Protected
Halden Seeks More Political Pie
Woodworking Students Make Very Bad Botch
Proctor Pointers
Odin Halden Loses Trench
May 4, 1918
McKercher's Pet Red?light Lady Returns
County Auditor Halden Slated For Retirement
Baxter Gives a Surprise Party
Angry Husband Murders Wife
Courthouse Carpenter Serves Halden's House
Chief Engineer Stewart Resigns
Vaccination Hotly Attacked
May 18, 1918
Boiler Inspector Wrongs Working Girl
New Herd of Blind Pigs Boldly Invade Duluth
Superior Gets a Moral Scrubbing
Mountain Will Come To Mahomet - U.S. Steel
Company Improvement Programs At Proctor
Slackers Searched Out
June 1, 1918
Leiser Store Sued For $10,000
Dorothy Ducks
Sinful Hotels Are Suppressed
How Halden Moved Clifton Station
Crane Lake Portage Is An Historic Highway
"Square Deal" Victory Won Over Grt. Northern
Commissioners Ban Booze Right
June 15, 1918
S.S. America Shelters Gambling Den
The Mountain Visits Mahomet - U.S. Steel
Phillips Wants City Wood Yard
Rapid Erection Record For U.S. Grant School
Little American Gold Mine - 1893
Halden Hands Becloud Waterfront Titles
June 29, 1918
Bad Citizen Is Driven Out Of Superior
Bibulous Barleycorn Sadly Shocks Superior
Barleycorn Breed Is Dying Out Rapidly
Poets Observe The Passing Of John Barleycorn
Uncle Sam's Birthday
Barleycorn Knew Noah But Never Found Wisdom
U.S. Steel Corporation Is Duluth's Best Friend
July 13, 1918
Why Did Schutte Quit At West Duluth?
Thirsty Pilgrims Seek Oliver
"Townleyism" In Duluth Public Schools
Defective Ventilation Hazards Pupils' Health
The Lucky Grubstake -1893
July 27, 1918
Schutte Opposes Buying Of War Bonds
Onkel Bernard Assails Demon Rum
Superintendent Grubbs Is Charged With Moral Degeneracy - Proctor
Superior Cop Halts McKercher
When Frank Surveyed Site of Rainy Lake
Some Underworld Folk Still Infest Superior
Morgan Park Runs Amuck
August 10, 1918
Oliver Is Mecca For Thirsty Pilgrims
Bold Underworld Folk Still Haunt Superior
Gambling Under Giddings Store
Proctor Pointers
The Vermilion Iron Range
Rolly Waldemar Esterly Is Pinched In Superior
August 24, 1918
Underworld King Shot In Superior
Police Authorities Meet A Mystery Murder
Pulls Oliver's Red?light Joint
Labor Day In 1892
County Auditor Halden Is Doomed
Lies Hidden In Garret Three Days And Nights
Bridging Chester Park Deemed A Necessity
Guilty Of White Slavery
September 7, 1918
Rip?Saw Editor Arrested In Oliver
Dirty Nests In Duluth Unseen By Silberstein
Max Rosenberg May Not Recover
Odin Halden, King Of Camouflage
Superior's Sinful Set Hikes For Other Fields
September 21, 1918
Booze And Poker At Gary Canteen
Questionable Course Is Pursued By Kong Odin
Oliver Is Dry
Wicked Blind Pigs Infest Ranier
Why Don't Men Go To Church
Proctor's School Head Denies Nasty Charges
1892 Democratic County Convention
Superior's Blind Pigs Dying Off
Chisholm's Old Chief Runs Amuck In Duluth
October 5, 1918
Charges Filed Against General Resche
Gluttonous Food Hogs Rob Vegetable Growers
Aged Courthouse King Flies Into Rage
Kong Odin's Influence Has Been Most Sinister
Auditor Halden Fosters Illegal Sale Of Bonds
Grubb's Right To Teach Revoked - Proctor
Expensive Rugs For Dainty Feet
October 19, 1918
C.B. Miller Is Afraid Of The Carss
Four Houses Comprise The Produce Exchange
Courthouse Autocrat Has Been Most Unfair
Amorous Old Educator Charged With Huggery
Cat Ranch Prospectus
Trolley Patron Speaks Plainly
November 2, 1918
Red Cross Is Dragged Into Politics
McKercher Is Put In Guardhouse
Tight Little Monopoly Holds Michigan Street
Dorothy Hill Departs
Judge Fesler's Fiddle Plays Tunes For Halden
Swanstrom Boys Dig For Halden
Horngren And Rich Tour Range For Halden
Preus Gets Double Cross
Lumber Barons Blamable For Forest Fires
Wobbly Willie Winkum Roots Hard For Halden
November 16, 1918
Halden Is Kicked Out Of Courthouse
Superintendent Hoke Will Hike
Local Produce Pirates Promise To Lick Editor
Sunday Closing For Iron River
Grape Wine On Iron Range
Superior's Lid Lifters Get Very Heavily Fined
Grubbs Still Wiggles - Proctor
November 30, 1918
McKercher Leaves Rotten Record
Safety Commissioner Protects Food Hogs
Max Rosenberg & Woman Arrested In Superior
When Big Boom Was Well Under Way - 1887
December 14, 1918
McKercher Takes A Sneak
Grubbs Has Gone - Proctor
Railroad Employees Help Out Food Hogs
Soldiers And Sailors Scrap Over Monument
Max Rosenberg Gets Arrested
December 28, 1918
Police Arrest Col. W.F. King - Adultery
Local Produce Pirates Plot Against Rival
Max Rosenberg Heavily Fined
Streetcar Situation Is Bad Here And Below
McKercher Compelled To Pull Red Light Lady
Brisk Scramble For City Offices
January 11, 1919
McKercher Quits Under Fire
Vigilance Committee Superior's Possibility
Bibulous Boys Now Go To Gordon
Dry Superior Benefits Police
January 25, 1919
Burnside Pulls Wife's Hair
Patriots Desire Postmastership
Duluth City Council Asks For Tunnel Plans
Superior's Sinful Set Still Acts Shamelessly
Boxcar Detective Dill Slakes Burning Thirst
Soldier's Happy Home Invaded By Policeman
- Adultery
February 8, 1919
Peasants Fire on Col. Eva - Forest Fires
Erickson Would Crimp Food Hogs
Underworld Folk Losing Ground
Cause and Prevention of the Big Forest Fires
Sources of Forest Fires
John Barleycorn Hangs On At Iron River
Colonel Carlson is Fired at Minnesota Steel
Bessette and Rhinow Double Barreled Boys
February 22, 1919
Governor Forsakes Fire Victims
Tried to Choke Farmers Store - Food Hogs
Food Hog Methods Tipped Off By Teamster
Chris Peterson Takes The Count - Superior
Deep Waterway From Duluth To The Sea
Fire Relief Commission Junked Wearable Shoes
School Board Retains Superintendent Hoke
Lumber Barons Grab Grave Yard Insurance
School Board Members Betray Common People
March 1, 1919 - Missing
March 29, 1919
Farrell Violates City Charter
Old John Barleycorn May Regain Superior
Sporty Husband Finds Soul Mate
Mrs. Akonn Shocks Judge Parker - Superior
Commissioner Farrell Wasted Valuable Dirt
Trolley Line Purchase Is Problem For Voters
Farrell Broke Many Promises
Motor Corps Barred By Law
Farrell's Fat Pay Rolls Open Taxpayer Optics
Cloquet Lawyers Hustle Clients
Herr Hauptmann Squirms Under Charges
Tamping Machine Proved Failure
Farrell Roared About Salaries
Colonel Burnsides' Blind Pig Gets Caught
April 12, 1919
Madam King Is Granted A Divorce
Oliver Soon Will Have Bus Service
Gay Madam West Pays High Fine - Superior
Notrorious Elgin Hotel Shelters Immoral Folk
Filthy Nests in Duluth Unseen by Good People
Socialists Win At Two Harbors
Was Carlson Dangerous German Spy?
Superior's Pest House Disgrace To City
Gust Beck Keeps Booze on Farm at Hawthorne
August Jeffers Breaks Up Home
Faked Professor Jumps The Town
April 26, 1919
Crooks Kill Mike Madigan - Superior
Autocratic Directors Crush Krebs And Smith
Should Improve Railroad Street
Blind Pigs Nest In Phoenix Block
Cowardly Ignoramus Breaks Loose
Dual Water System Hazards Public Health
Women Start Campaign Against Tobacco
New Independence Folk Use Town Funds Freely
Mysterious Company At Cloquet
May 10, 1919
Food Hogs Ravage Duluth
Hoke May Be Hunting New Superintendency
Florence Nightingale Birdies Fly
Discourage the Coming of Carnival Companies
Forest Fire Relief Work
Hotel Superior Sporty Spot
Police Once More Grab Blind Pigger Burnside
Check Valves Unsafe, Local Plumbers Insist
May 24, 1919
Is Gary A Hot?Bed Of Vice?
Dr. Nyquist Indicted In Superior
County Commissioners Oppose Eight Hour Day
Nordin Loses Fire Damage Action
New Fishing Laws
Lumber Company Seeks Grave Yard
Underworld King Of Superior Is Indicted
Mayor Baxter Reduces Superior Police Force
Red?light Women Heavily Fined - Superior
June 14, 1919
Proctor Chief Is Bad Actor
Food Hogs Profit From Potatoes
The Arrest Of Ah Sing - 1892
Cloquet Woman Is Heroine Of Forest Fires
School Board Autocrats Dodge Union Labor
Superior Thugs Assault Editor
Outlaw Gang Attacks Martin Widness
June 28, 1919
Dr. Hoke Flunks In Detroit
Unfortunate War Baby Came Into Jensen Home
Spirited Contest In Union Circles
Food Hogs Monopolize Area Milk
Teachers Stood Up When Hoke Entered
Postmaster At Cloquet Holds Up The Rip?Saw
O'Brien Admits Defeat To Baxter - Superior
Uncle Sam Soaks Wicked Rosenberg
Madam Reed Comes Back To Superior
Dances By Liberty Club Need Stricter Manager
July 12, 1919
Ohio Tailor Sues Shaibley
The Candidacy Of John L. Morrison
Food Hogs Boost Prices Of Fruit
Sturdy Commoner Beats Autocrats Twice
Superior Says Farewell To Booze
July 26, 1919
Tailor Takes Judgment Against Schaibley
Telephone Monopoly Chokes City
Conditions At Work Farm Severely Attacked
Superior Bravely Combats Pittsburgh Plus
Mrs. Myrtle Cushway Sought Her Revenge
August 9, 1919
Work Farm Boy Beaten Up
Tammany Braves Hold Annual Clam?Bake
Blind Pig's Still Grunt In Superior
Conklin's Plan For a Tunnel Under the Ship Canal - 1892
Double Barreled Boys Becoming Plentiful
Inmate Of County Jail Utters Worthless Paper
Booze Boys Seek Baxter's Scalp
Cops once More Arrest Burnside and Al Power
So?Called Blue Sky Laws Insult To Intelligent
Duluth sold Birthright but Lost Mess of Pottage
August 23, 1919
Greeks Grab Superior Girls
Schaibley Goes Into Bankruptcy
Entire Nation Aroused By High Food Costs
Blanche White Buys Grand Hotel
Naylor Family Hard Hit By Forest Fires
Kindly County Will Sue Railway Company
Land Barons Plan Raid On State Treasury
People Oppose Old Ward System
Professor Simon Harries Blueberry Pickers
Food Hogs Sell Corn To Their Rural Cousins
September 6, 1919
Dark Girls Woo White Men
Fight On Food Hogs Seriously Under Way
Fred Harris Plays High Finance
Strange Took Eva For "Dummy"
State Forester Cox's Dismissal Demanded
American Loyalty League Discussed By Strange
Bad Booze Burglars Ravage Iron River
Big Moose Lake Meeting held by Fire Sufferers
Rosenberg Kicks Out George O'Brien
Sold Burning Booze Without Any License
Big Bully Of Bingoland Compelled To Back Down
Getting Rowley Alimony Is Very Difficult
September 20, 1919
Children Play At Prostitution
Ransom Metcalfe Talks of High Cost of Living
Cloquet Lawyers Roast Rip?Saw
Change Of Venue For Fire Cases?
Sanitary Sewer Bothers Residents of Woodland
Col. Eva's Armory Bunch Wasted Much Valuable Hay
Hotel Superior Sued For Damage
Superior Law Breakers Decide to Plead Guilty
King Colahan's Consort Wears Her Crown Tilted
Beer Foams in Bingoland as Camouflage For Booze
Simple Rustics Make Snappy Drink
Blind Piggers Rampant in Mesabi Range Towns
October 4, 1919
Young Knudsen Jumps Jail
Chief Murphy's Minions Get Active On St. Croix
How To Eliminate The Food Hogs
Dean Madsen Tenders Eye Blackened By Col. Parker
Hoke Steals Educational Idea
P:olice Woman Desired
Chiropracters Boast Of Their Influenza Record
Carlton County Cannot Give An Impartial Trial
When The Weyerhaeuser's Bought Leech Lake Pine - 1893
Rosenberg Threatens To Shoot
Badlands Of Bingoland Yield Many Lawless Men
October 18, 1919
Daily Papers Protect Food Hogs
Park?Pointers Dislike Fool?Proof Streetcars
State Examiner Audits Eva's Books
Opposition Makes Hatch Hustle - Eveleth
Policemen's Annual Ball - 1893
Conditions Are Improved In Old St. Croix Section
Matt Bolen Loses Flesh When Mated With Amelia
Knudsen Peddled Booze to his Fellow Inmates
Joe Naughton's Former Woman Must Do Time
Superior Starts Drive Against Vice And Crime
Commissioners May Move Supt. Young to Virginia
Strong Hands Of Justice Firmly Grasp Rosenberg
November 1, 1919
Harris Charged With Fraud
This Year's State Tax Is Highest Ever Known
Duluth's West End Wesley Calls At Rip?Saw
County Attorney Green Returns Home
Memorial Hospital Worries Local Builder
Cloquet Telephone Agent Roasts The Rip?Saw
Graft And Scandal Smut The Hard Road Movement
Jascha Heifetz, 18, Will Appear
Lavinsky Shoots Up Cafe America - Superior
Douglas County Schools Maintain High Standards
Douglas County Sheriff Arrests Oliver Sports
Superior Organization Will Crimp Wickedness
November 15, 1919
Boy Robs Roth Brothers Store - Superior
Victim Of Cruel Vampire Takes The Suicide Route
Carl Takla Refused Bail
Funck Becomes Municipal Judge
Cloquet Union Men Wrathy
Cloquet Chief Of Police Arrests Wrong Man
Condition Of Treasury Startles School Board
Peter Rabbit Streetcar Jumps At Lawyer Whitley
Torrance Gives Wife A Black Eye - Superior
Superior's Politicians Look Over The Cards
Hunger, Worry And Want Drive Good Women Crazy
Rosenberg's Bartender Now Happy Egg Vendor
November 29, 1919
Police Raid The West Hotel
Chisholm's Enchantress Possess A Bad Record
Bruce Palmer Bans Suggestive Dancing - Proctor
Some Light And Comments On Local Paving History
Duluth's Pioneer Record Of Suicides - 1893
Cloquet Chief Of Police Sued For Damages
People Marvel Because City Is Postmasterless
Wolfe Convicts Bingoland Crooks - Superior
Bettty West's Close Escape
December 13, 1919
Magie Ignores McKercher
Girls Warmly Welcome Pilgrim From Proctor
An Artistic Job Of Fistic Decoration
William Chisholm Did Not Steal
When Henry Truelson First Came To Duluth - 1893
Judge Lichten Refuses Joel Lichten Citizenship
Street Railway Company Asks Municipal Favor
Bold Bingoland Boy Goes Crazy - Superior
Madam Smith Is Convicted In Judge French's Court
Commissioner Tomlinson Fools Bingoland Bunch
December 27, 1919
Play Poker In Turkish Bath
Twenty Local Policemen Are Called Onto Carpet
Bartoni Keeps Salacious Salon - Chisholm
Page Morris ?? Politician
Special H.C.L. Committee Makes Final Report
Duluth Boy Robs Kelly Of Famous Heirlooms
Bob McKercher Suspected Of Courting Clerk's Job
Commissioners Suspend McKinnon
The Bells Of Bingoland After Absolute Divorce - Superior
"Big Bill" Adams Finds Level
Trouble Faces Louis Roth - Chisholm
Sports May Hike For Cuba - Superior
January 10, 1920
Sick Boy Brutally Treated
Accused Policemen Given Hearing
McCusick Keeps Dump At Lucknow - Buhl
Bankruptcy For Schaibley
Snake?House Is Unpopular - Cusson
Jacob Anderson Wins Forest Fire Damage Suit
Gentleman Jim Shilty Kept Blind Grunter
Incorrigible Optimist Greatly Discouraged
City Servants Annoyed By Cavenaugh's Buzzer
Bingoland Bunch Backs McKinnon - Superior
Mother Carney Has Girls In First Street Retreat
Burgled Massey's Medicine
Two Bold Bingoland Boys Arrested In Tame Duluth
January 24, 1920
Big Bill Adams Is Arrested
Charge Non?Feasance Against The Sheriff - International Falls
Kremer Hoke Re?Elected School Superintendent
Publishing Fight At Two Harbors
Palmer Licks Up Moonshine - Proctor
Chisholm Sports Deeply Discouraged
Teacher Screamed Lustily
Snippy Women Show Scorn For Soldier Coal Bearer
Snake?House Defended By Hinterland Pilgrims
Appealing Story Of Mary
Bingoland Gangsters Fear Defeat - Superior
Terminal Situation Seriously Hampers City
February 4, 1920
Railway Robbery In Ranier
Chisholm Banishes All Slot Machines
Government May Settle Hinterland Fire Losses
Sugarless Situation Is Serious
Rabbit Tales For Teaching
Colonel Jim Burnside Hones For Bill Booze
Food Hogs Feed City Dump
Lynching of Rapist Belange At Mt. Iron - 1893
Weary Wobbly Complains Of Camp At Cusson
Lumber Camp Experience Displeases Duluth Man - Biwabik
Hinterland Residents Complain Of Road Work
Profiteers Harry Hibbing
Corporations Seek Baxter's Scalp - Superior
Darkest Africa Raided By Police Of Superior
Bells Battle For Divorce
Stevens Couple Sever Marital Ties
Hyberg and Mrs. Ek Elope - International Falls
February 21, 1920
Finds Love Pirate In Cloquet
Prisoners Are Denied Brain Food
School Head Quickly Quits
Great Family Journal Grows Like Greenbay Tree
Meadowlands Taxpayers Oppose School Principal
A Certain Rich Man...
Wife Knocked Out Oken's Teeth
Superior's Politicians Think About Primary
Weakly Paper Flings Mud At Mayor Fred A. Baxter - Superior
Papa Jim Buys Bingo Farm
Chisholm Sports Resent Moral Uplift
Bad Lands Bunch Will Flit - Superior
March 6, 1920
Sleuths Raid Superior's Blind Pig
Sports Of Chisholm Play New Card Game
Meadowlands Will Hold A Special Bond Election
Lingonberries On The Free List
Profiteers Greater Menace Than The "Reds"
Grave Irregularities Charged Against O'Neill
Feared Burnside Will Go Batty - Superior
Konkel's Man Duffy Wins Union Support
Weakly Leader Assumes To Speak For Union Men
Flunky Of Backers Flouts Federal Law
Berenico Hikes For Hurley
Max Rosenberg Has A Pull
March 20, 1920
Cancer Kills Earl Gonyea
Col. James Chester Bell Chases With New Chicken - Superior
Rainier Outlaws Go To Jail
Pittenger Peeves Party Bosses
Poker Is Nashwauk's Game
County Superintendency Sought By Man
Baxter Beats Bingoland Bunch - Superior
Primaries In Superior Slated For Next Tuesday
Buhl Woman Pinched By Ranier Inspector
April 3, 1920 ??? May 26, 1923 ??? Missing
June 9, 1923
Two Barbers Held Under Heavy Bail
The Law Nabs Michelizzi
Huge Booze Supply Found By Sheriff -I?Falls
May Stevens Leaves Town
Cops Get Pete Schaeffer
Anderson Keeps Blind Pig
Aliens Make West Duluth Lawless and Disorderly
June 23, 1923 ??? October 11, 1923 ??? Missing
October 25, 1924
Boylan Threatens Murder
Bert Jameson's Unfitness Due To Physical Reasons
Two Undesirable's Must Go
George O'Brien Is Pinched For Conducting Big Still
(This last issue is the issue that prompted the Minnesota
Legislature to pass a gag law allowing the Police to confiscate
newspapers with “libelous” articles. The law was overturned
In a case involving a St. Paul newspaper by the U.S. Supreme
Court in the famous Near v. Minnesota
Near v. Minnesota
Near v. Minnesota, 283 U.S. 697 , was a United States Supreme Court decision that recognized the freedom of the press by roundly rejecting prior restraints on publication, a principle that was applied to free speech generally in subsequent jurisprudence...
decision guaranteeing
freedom of the press to American newspapers).
There were further issues of the paper, but they have been
lost.
Rebirth
It was in January 1999 that the Ripsaw returned. Brad Nelson and Cord R. Dada published a monthly scandal sheet similar to Morrison’s original Ripsaw. Its first lead story, “Dotygate,” accused Duluth Mayor Gary Doty and his administration of various crimes associated with the demolition of buildings on East First Street to make way for construction of the Duluth Technology Village.The Ripsaw became a weekly publication on April 5, 2000. Paul Lundgren was hired as managing editor and the paper was transformed into an alternative news, arts and entertainment source. One year later, it was accepted into the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies
Association of Alternative Newsweeklies
The Association of Alternative Newsmedia is a diverse group of covering every major metropolitan area and other less-populated regions of North America. AAN members have a combined weekly circulation of over 6.5 million as well as a print readership of nearly 17 million active, educated and...
.
While Morrison’s original Ripsaw fought against “ol’ John Barleycorn,” the personification of demon alcohol, the new Ripsaw reveled in the exploits of Slim Goodbuzz. The slender and sarcastic Duluthian traveled the region in search of inebriated adventure for his celebrated “Barfly on the Wall” column.
Another favorite of Ripsaw readers was the comic strip “Violet Days,” by Chris Monroe
Chris Monroe
Christine Monroe is an American painter and cartoonist best known for her weekly comic strip “Violet Days,” which appears in the Minneapolis Star Tribune and Duluth News Tribune....
, which is now featured in the Minneapolis Star Tribune and Duluth News Tribune
Duluth News Tribune
The Duluth News Tribune is a newspaper in Duluth, Minnesota. It is published by Forum Communications, which bought it in 2006 after The McClatchy Company acquired the News Tribunes previous owner, Knight Ridder.The present incarnation of the newspaper is the outcome of the merger and takeover of...
.
Co-publisher Cord R. Dada sold the majority of his ownership in the paper to Brad Nelson’s brother Tim Nelson in April 2001, relieving himself of all duties at the Ripsaw and leaving Brad Nelson as the majority owner and sole publisher of the paper. Within a few months, Lundgren was dismissed and Nelson became editor/publisher.
The last weekly issue was published on Dec. 31, 2003. Three months later, the Ripsaw returned to monthly status, this time as a full-color magazine edited by Tony Dierckins. It lasted 10 issues before reverting back to newsprint for its final three issues, which were published every other month, ending in September 2005.
Spinoffs
The website Perfect Duluth Day was founded in 2003 by Barrett Chase and Scott Lunt. Chase was a cartoonist and copy editor for the Ripsaw, and Lunt helped deliver the paper. Former Ripsaw Managing Editor Paul Lundgren became a part-owner of Perfect Duluth Day in 2009, as did freelance illustrator Brian Barber.The Ripsaw's former "web jerk" Adam Guggemos went on to found Duluth's weekly Transistor in 2004, which has featured columns and comic strips by numerous former Ripsaw contributors.