On This Date in Minnesota History: August 27

August 27, 1908 – The new steel dock of the Duluth & Iron Range Railroad at Two Harbors and the machinery used in constructing the dock was damaged to the extent of $15,000 this evening by unknown men, believeded to be working their revenge on the American Bridge Company for being what is commonly called an “open shop” concern.

Duluth & Iron Range Ore Dock No. 6^{1, ^}

This is merely one of a series of similar outrages perpetuated throughout the country, all of them said to be due to the fact that the American Bridge Company, which furnished material for the Two Harbors structure, is opposed to labor unions.* Dynamite has been freely used at other places. At Two Harbors, so many watchmen were employed that the miscreants were evidently afraid to use any explosive for fear they would be caught.

The bridge company has offered a cash reward of $1,000 for anyone giving information that will lead to the arrest of the men who committed this evening’s outrage. A reward of $500 cash is offered to anyone who will furnish information that leads to the arrest of the man or men who stole a launch from Superior earlier in the week. This launch was used in getting to the dock and later taken back to Superior and beached.

Cash Reward Notice²

Agents for the company say that while the whole trouble, all over the U. S., started from grievances, real or imagined, held by the Structural Iron Workers Union against the American Bridge Company, they do not for a moment believe that local members of the union, either in Duluth or Two Harbors, had anything to do with the wrecking of the dock. It is believed that the guilty ones in tonight’s affair were from the outside and unknown in Duluth. It is further believed that officers and members of the local union had no knowledge whatever of the sabotage contemplated.

Most of the watchmen were placed at the land end of the structure, only two or three being placed along the dock. The agents of the company expected that if there was any trouble, it would come from the land end of the dock. They were obviously mistaken, as the saboteurs approached from the lake in a launch. They stole silently up the dock in the darkest hours of the night, landed and set about their work of destruction. It is believed they posted sentinels to watch for the approach of guards, for nothing was discovered of their work until the following morning, although to complete the job of destruction they must have been on the dock at least two hours.

They contented themselves with breaking delicate machinery, taking out parts of it and the bridge that could be removed and throwing them far into the lake. Other parts were bent and twisted all out of shape and form, made utterly worthless. So successfully did they work, that fully $15,000 damage was done before their plan of destruction was completed to their satisfaction. Then they boarded their launch again and headed out into the lake.

The stolen launch was returned to Superior, but not to the boathouse where it had been taken. It was run aground on Connor’s Point, and left there. It is believed the gang came back to Superior in the boat and then took a train for out-of-town points.

²Duluth Evening Herald; “Big Reward Is Offered. Docks at Two Harbors Damaged to Extent of $15,000. Vandals Steal Launch to Aid them in Their Work.”; August 28, 1908; p. 3.

¹http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM2QJ0_Duluth_and_Iron_Range_Railway_Ore_Dock_No_6_Two_Harbors_Minnesota

*http://www.iwlocal1.com/history/32YearStrike.html

^“Dock No. 6 was constructed from 1907-1909 and was the first steel ore dock built on the Great Lakes. The dock was designed by the American Bridge Company and constructed by the Barnett & Record Company. The dock was a vital link for the rich iron mines in northern Minnesota. The dock is located at the terminus of the Duluth & Iron Range Railway line (later Duluth, Missabe, and Iron Range Railway).

“The dock is 962' long, 51' wide and 74' high and has 148 pockets with ship loading spouts along each side. Ore loaded into vessels through mechanically operated trapdoors at the bottom of the pockets flowing by gravity through the openings. The pockets were filled by railroad hopper ore cars from the four tracks on the dock. These four tracks were connected with two tracks on the approach trestles connected to the railroad yard. The capacity of each pocket is 300 tons thus yielding a total storage capacity of 44,440 tons.

“The dock is no longer in use and the connecting trestles were removed in 1978. The two nearby docks are operational though only dock number two is used because it has been modified to accommodate Taconite pellets.”


*“In March of 1903, U. S. Steel, the American Bridge Company and all the other companies involved in the erection of structural steel, banded together to form the National Erectors Association (NEA).The aim of the NEA was to destroy all the unions involved in the building trades, including Carpenters, Bricklayers and Masons, but especially Ironworkers.”

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