added, bringing the 1938 gross sales up to $124,748. Later, the petroleum end of the cooperative business was leased to the Range Cooperative Federation, and under that name still continues to serve the consumers.

When poor health forced Mäki to resign in 1940, he was succeeded by Paul Vidmar, a capable young man of Yugoslav descent. Under him and his successor, George Lee, sales climbed, if only temporarily, to their highest point yet, to $170,991 in 1941, partly due, of course, to inflated war prices. Subsequent able directors - Wäinö Kätkä, Helmer Märsylä, Frank Mehtälä and Einard Heiss - managed to increase sales but were not able to halt the general decline, to $107,709 in 1951, for example.

The situation demanded drastic action, and the board of directors once more acted boldly, as in 1933, to counter the inroads of individual entrepreneurs and chain stores : in 1953 new, modern quarters were built at 2401 First Avenue, complete with adequate parking areas. With the introduction of self-service, sales have gradually increased, with the 1956 figure standing at $139,705.

The business manager since 1955 has been Verner Miettunen. The board of directors in 1957 consisted of Nick Mannila, Erick Seppä, Harvey Markland, John Ruona, Joe Juvonen, Frank Tuomela, W. J. Sandstedt, E. Arthur Anderson and Fred Salmi. Of these, neither Markland or Anderson are of Finnish descent.

Connected with the Consumers' Cooperative has been the Credit Union established in 1938. There were 19 founding members, but by 1957 membership had climbed to 411. At that time, also, members had $150,078 in deposits, $149,159 had been loaned to 178 borrowers, and a reserve of $4,422 was on hand. The first board of directors, who gave such a firm basis to the Credit Union, consisted of Dr. W. R. Welsh, John Newberg, Wally Wirtanen, Niilo Mäki and John Taylor. Business Manager in 1957 was Fred Salmi.

Additional cooperative enterprises begun on Finnish initiative include the Hibbing Milk Producers' Association, founded in 1927, which grew in strength after it established its own distributing system. Sales in 1952 were more than $115,000 under business manager Anton Mäki. Another cooperative venture has been the Hibbing Cooperative Mortuary, a branch of the Range Cooperative Federation. Started in 1947, it took care of 47 funerals in the first seven months of its existence.

Finally, there has been a Cooperative Club, started in 1930 on the initiative of Amanda Wuopio. Begun at the time the workers'

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