At a time like the present, when there is displayed by so many thousands of people in the country a desire to grow rich in a remarkably brief space of time, by rooting from the bowels of the earth the deposits of glittering gold which are known to exist there, one cannot help calling to mind many stories of similar attempts in the past. The Hawkesbury District is not one possessed of characteristics which indicate that it is gold-bearing - though there are in our midst residents who still hold tenaciously to the fondly-cherished opinion that in the wilds of Maroota and its vicinity the precious metal will one day be discovered and unearthed in great quantities. A good story is told of a practical joke played on a number of amateur prospectors several years ago, and is worth retailing. They had become impressed with the idea that gold could be readily found in the vicinity of North Rocks, and a party was formed to make search. A local practical joker was one of the number, and he melted down a brass candle-stick, and mixed the metal up with a quantity of broken quartz, with the result that when the mass became solid, it partook of the appearance of a huge piece of gold-bearing stone. A section of the gold-seekers sank a shaft, and while the others were delving away with might and main and picks and gads and all that sort of thing, he contrived to slyly secrete his "treasure" beneath a quantity of soft earth, the outcome being that some little time afterwards it was discovered, and amidst the most violent excitement the prospectors took horse and galloped into Windsor, hurrahing and cheering as they urged their steeds onwards at a hand-gallop. Charlie Tilley was in charge of the toll-bar in those days, and all the response he could get in answer to his demand for the toll, was a series of loud shouts to the effect that "gold has been discovered at Pitt Town." The cavalcade then journeyed to Mountford's chemist shop, and the caretaker of the huge nugget and requested that it should be subjected at once to the ordinary test. The bubble burst when the apothecary announced that the glittering mass was merely stone, intermingled with the base metal called brass. The ardour of the prospectors was knocked kite high in one act, and they slipped out of town and returned home, sadder if wiser men. They guessed that they had been the victims of a practical joke, and their suspicions certainly fell on the right man. Since that time, no venturesome spirit has ever fossicked round the vicinity of Pitt Town for gold.
By-the-way, Mr. W.H. Hull has some fine specimens of quartz, very rich in gold, which he is exhibiting as specimens from a newly-discovered Colgardie near Pitt Town - at least this is what he tells his friends. They are all anxious to discover its whereabouts, so that they might participate in the find.
(Windsor and Richmond Gazette - 14th April, 1894)
Note: North Rocks refers to the Maraylya area.
We hear that Mr. Paul, of Pitt Town, some time since discovered traces of a seam of coal at Long Neck, near Pitt Town. Now then, ye Windsor prospectors.
(Windsor & Richmond Gazette - 8th September, 1988)
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