Illustrated Australian News at KellyGang 16/2/1880 (2)
( see previous)
South of Murchison there will be scarcely any increase of area under cultivation as compared with last year, and not much in Rodney; but in the northern part of Moira the increase will be very great, so that, with a heavy yield over an augmented area, the quantity of grain from these two counties may be expected to be very large.
The opening of the new line of railway from Seymour to Shepparton, which may be regarded as the heart of the district, has been of incalculable value to the farmers. Mooroopna, one of the subjects of our illustration, is a well-built pretty town with about 300 inhabitants. The building on the left of the picture is the brewery of Messrs. O'Farrell, Connor and Co., and the enterprise of its owners is well exemplified by the fact that it “contrives a double debt to pay,” not only supplying the district, with an excellent brew of ale to the extent of some 50 to 60 hogsheads per week, but has at its summit a tank containing 60000 gallons of water pumped up from a well in connection with the Goulburn, that is reticulated to sonic 250 residences in the township, thus giving them a constant supply of excellent water.
The Railway authorities have here been busily engaged in receiving and forwarding wheat to the extent of some 8000 bags per day. The township has some good buildings, and, as the back country is taken up and in active and profitable use, bids fair to become a wealthy centre of population. About midway between Mooroopna and Shepparton, the road crosses the Broken River, and the subject of our illustration gives one of those 'spells' that must be so welcome to man and beast. To the stranger the scene is new and strange. The bush is a glowing flickering turmoil, fanned by the hot wind into a maze of yellow light and blue misty shadows, the water, to the eye, is delightfully cool and deep, looking, and the cattle, still yoked in pairs together, absolutely revelling in rest and shade.
The railway station at Shepparton, which it is intended at some future time to be extended to Tocumwal, is depicted in a very, embryotic condition, the stationmaster's and booking office being only a small wooden hut with an iron roof, size about 14 feet by 8 feet, and during the late severe weather the discomfort of' the three or four hardworked officials must have been intense. At present it is a wilderness of wheat bags; the platform is crammed to overflowing; teams are arriving by the score, and the town common outside the railway fence is bright and lively with the campfires of teamsters waiting to discharge their loads.
The township of Shepparton consists of one long, straggling street, with a right angle of buildings on the river end. It boasts a handsome building as branch of the Commercial Bank, and a rather remarkable number of good hotels. As the commercial centre of a large agricultural country it will no doubt become the leading spirit in the district, its situation on the river, which is here broader and more imposing than the Yarra at Melbourne, giving it exceptional advantages.
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