The city lay in a pleasant valley, embraced by imposing wooded hills.

There was plenty of water about, a lake, a river, a creek; none of these, however, was navigable for commercial purposes.
But this in nowise hindered the city's progress.

On the tranquil bosom of the Erie Canal rode the graceful barges of commerce straight and slowly through the very heart of the town.

Like its historic namesake, the city lived under the eternal shadow of smoke, barring Sundays; but its origin was not volcanic, only bituminous.

True, year in and year out the streets were torn up, presenting an aspect not unlike the lava-beds of Vesuvius; but as this phase always implies, not destruction, but construction, murmurs were only local and few.