SEVENTEENTH DISTRICT AGRICULTURAL ASSOCIATION. 571 



ADDRESS OF HON. A. A. SARGENT, 



DELIVERED AT THE OPENING OF THE SEVENTEENTH AGRICULTURAL 

 DISTRICT ASSOCIATION OF NEVADA AND PLACES COUNTIES. 



Fellow Citizens: I congratulate you upon this auspicious opening, at 

 the Queen City of the mountains, of the Agricultural Fair of the Seven- 

 teenth District. The evidences all around us of energy and enterprise are 

 characteristic of this community and of the Seventeenth District, while the 

 success that has crowned your efforts must he gratifying to you, as it is to 

 your visitors on this occasion. For over thirty-five years Nevada has been 

 a leading center of thought and action in this State. Seated in this hollow, 

 scooped out by nature among the surrounding hills, which rise amphi- 

 theater-like all around it. with beautiful regularity, like the walls of the 

 Roman Coliseum, remote from tide water, and for many years of its his- 

 tory, having difficult communication with the exterior, it has always made 

 its mark upon the current thought of the State, and had peculiar influence 

 in shaping public policies. While its sons have held many proud and 

 influential positions in State and nation, its citizens have been noted as 

 sympathizing with all patriotic and beneficial aims, and been ready with 

 intelligent opinions and decisive action. 



It is always a pleasure for the wandering sons of Nevada to revisit their 

 old home; and they are found in all parts of the State, leaders in enter- 

 prise and society. The greatest boon Nevada has conferred on the State 

 has been the gift of its citizens, trained here as young men, and sent out to 

 build up the enterprises of other communities. But Nevada is still rich in 

 this regard, as is evidenced to-day by its air of comfort and prosperity, and 

 the grand success attending this novel enterprise. 



But I am here on this occasion not to praise you, or merely to give 

 expression to the pride felt by your truants in their old home. Larger 

 numbers of them would gladly be with us to-day, were it possible; for there 

 is something in this balmy air of the foothills, something invigorating and 

 health-giving, that may be vainly sought away from California, and unsur- 

 passed in our State. The splendid skies of Italy are poisoned with the 

 cast-off, decaying cuticle of countless generations. Southern France and 

 Spain writhe in the grasp of the pestilence fiend. The long, dark Winters 

 of Northern Europe cause one to sigh for the brisk, crisp, fleeting Winters 

 of these foothills. In our sister States of the west the tornado tramples 

 down life and property; and this terrible instrumentality has lately demon- 

 strated its power in two populous Atlantic cities. It is here, in this health- 

 ful, bright spot, productive as Eden of the most luscious fruits, where 

 malaria has never yet stolen in on the midnight air; where the children 

 are as chubby as cupids, and the maidens as fresh as the dawn; where 

 manhood is full of vigor, and womanhood of intelligence, that a permanent 

 civilization and stable community may be expected. 



Nevada and Placer Counties have been more closely linked together since 

 their origin, and are now more assimilated in feeling than either has ever 

 been or now is with any other county. They were for a long time united 

 in the same judicial district; their pursuits are identical, in mining and 

 agriculture; their soil, climate, and- altitude are the same. It was a wise 



