otified.

Geneva is one of the prettiest and most thriving little towns in the
west. Situated, as it is, in the midst of one of the finest agricultural
districts in the country, its growth has been rapid beyond expectation,
while its social progress has been almost phenomenal. Stretching for
miles in all directions, over a country beautifully interspersed with
gentle elevations and depressions, lie the well-cultivated farms of the
honest tillers of the soil. The farm-houses, which nestle down beneath
the tall trees, present an appearance of comfort and beauty rarely
witnessed, while the commodious and substantial out-buildings evince the
thorough neatness of systematic husbandry. Standing upon a high knoll,
and gazing over the scene upon a bright sunny morning, the eye lights
upon a panorama of rustic splendor that delights the vision and
entrances the senses. The vast fields, with their varied crops, give
indications of a sure financial return which the gathered harvests
unfailingly justify, and the rural population of Geneva are, in the
main, a community of honest, independent people, who have cheerfully
toiled for the honest competence they so fully enjoy.

Nor is the town dependent alone upon the farmer and the herdsman for its
success in a financial sense. Nature has been bounteous in her gifts to
this locality, and in addition to the fertile and fruitful soil, there
is found imbedded under the surface, great mines of coal, of excellent
quality, and seemingly inexhaustible in quantity. This enterprise alone
affords employment to hundreds of men and boys, who, with their begrimed
faces and brawny arms, toil day and night in the bowels of the earth for
the "black diamonds," which impart warmth and light to countless happy
homes, and materially add to the wealth of the miners.

Numerous manufacturing industries also find a home here. Large
buildings, out of whose huge chimneys the black smoke is pouring forth
in dense volumes, and whose busy wheels and roaring furnace fires,
mingled with the sound of scores of ringing hammers, make merry music
throughout the day.

On certain days in the week Geneva presents a cheerful and animated
appearance. On every hand are heard the sounds of honest toil and the
hum of busy trade. Farmers from the surrounding country come in numbers
into the village to purchase their necessary supplies and to listen to
the news and gossip of the day, and the numerous stores transact a
thrivi