"Holyoke was a success. It had achieved what thousands of towns had yearned for: it had become a major industrial center; it had grown rapidly, it was 'on the map.' It was also true that the sewers of the town emptied into the canal that flowed through it; that the community was unable to provide for its paupers; that its disease and death rate had tripled. But only the enemies of progress grumbled—cantankerous farmers and chronic malcontents... The town which failed in the race for industry dwindled into gentle impotence; to succeed as Holyoke did meant to explode into some terrible and tormented form whose sickness was acclaimed true health; to neither succeed nor to fail meant to live from one hope to the next, finding in each just enough nourishment to keep dreams alive."