On a field near Kalgoorlie in 1894, a miner named Winter cheated his mate out of gold worth ?80, which was a considerable sum of money back then given that the country was just emerging from the effects of an international depression and the Federal Bank had collapsed the year before. The mate, who was known as 'Bull', had learned of the treachery from another man. Interrogated before a mob of miners, Winter ultimately confessed to the theft but refused to repay Bull. To steal from a mate was bad enough but not to repay the money when the theft was discovered absolutely infuriated the miners.
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