The Argus at KellyGang 30/9/1876 (2)
There are three or four bridges having five or six openings each of 15ft., and some difficulty has been found at times to drive the piles into the solid rock of which the bed of the gullies is generally com- posed, and it has been found necessary to make them extra strong, to stand the rush of water when the freshets come down from the ranges. In addition to the bridges there are also several large brick culverts, which have materially added to the cost of the line. These culverts are 10ft in diameter, and vary in cost from £400 to £700, according to their length. The contractors have carried out their work well and faithfully, under the supervision of Mr Hardie, the Government engineer who has charge of this line.
The train reached Beechworth about half past 3 o'clock, and its arrival at the station was the signal for loud demonstrations of applause from the large crowd assembled to welcome the visitors. His Excellency was received upon alighting from the carriage by the chairman and members of the reception committee. A brief address of welcome was read by Mr Scarlett, the secretary of the committee.
His Excellency returned the following reply: "Mr President and Gentlemen, - " I thank you for this loyal address, and for the hearty reception which you have given me, and I fully appreciate the interest of the occasion which has induced the authorities of this shire to invite me to come among you this day. The opening of a new line of railroad must always be a turning-point in the annals of every community. We, indeed, the men of the present age, living in the midst of progress, and being as it were part of the great movement onward, do not always recognise the vital importance of the changes that are constantly taking place through the instrumentality of civil engineering, the youngest of the professions. Well, it cannot be too often repeated that the invention of the steam-engine and its application to the various arts and manufactures, and above all locomotion, are as important to mankind in the present century as was the invention of the printing press some four centuries ago. What printing did for the interchange of ideas and the development of the powers of the mind, steam is doing in increasing the material well-being of our race in particular.
As I have said on a previous occasion of this kind, improvements that reduce the cost of transport are calculated to lower the price of every article brought to market, and are thus equivalent to an addition to the natural productive powers of every country. I would remark, in conclusion, that measures connected with railroad legislation excite comparatively little political feeling, and are not often of the class of measures that make or unmake Ministries; but that, fraught as they are with consequences more important to the industry and progress of the community at large than many questions which are raised to the dignity of election cries and party shibboleth, they well deserve, and I am confident they will receive, the vigilant care and patient consideration of the people of Victoria and of its representatives in the colonial Parliament generally.
The main line of the North-Eastern Railway, of which the new line to Beechworth is a branch and feeder, has already proved to be a financial success, for after paying the working expenses and the interest of the money borrowed for its construction, it contributed to the public revenue during the post year a net profit of £24,000. We all desire that this success may be extended in future years. Once more, Mr President and gentlemen, I thank you for your cordial welcome, and I have now to declare the Beechworth line open for traffic. This announcement was received with loud applause, and hearty cheers were also given for the Governor and his guests. The vice-regal party were then driven to the Commercial Hotel, and after a short rest returned again to the new goods shed, in which the banquet was to be held.
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