Second line of inquiry

It is remarkable how one event can have two different aspects, and that, when it comes to being investigated the two do not come together until the answers have been found.
I have already given an account of the investigations into the break-in at the North Sandhurst State School and also regarding the arson of the building.
Mr James Henry, the head teacher of the school, reported the matter of the school house having been broken into to Sergeant Fahey.
Plain clothes Constable Walsh had been instructed by his superior officer to inquire into the matter.
In order to secure whatever threads of information possible, Constable Walsh began by questioning many people in the neighbourhood of the school.
Constable Walsh lived in Brodie Street, Quarry Hill. During his many conversations on the opposite side of the Bendigo area, in Irishtown, he came upon a significant piece of information.
Constable Walsh knocked on the door of a weatherboard cottage opposite the North Sandhurst State School in Nolan Street.
The constable related to the occupant his line of inquiries. He was soon to receive the first positive breakthrough in this case. The cottage occupant was a German-born tailor named Herman Christian (Carl) Weibgen.
Mr Weibgen was born on January 28, 1841 at Clausthal, Hanover and came to Victoria, via Liverpool, England, onboard the ship Daphne in 1868.
In 1876, he married Mathilda Theodore Haltermann, who went on to become a leader among the women members of St John’s Anglican Church, North Bendigo.
There was a significant age gap between the couple, which was not uncommon in the 19th century.
Mr Weibgen became a respected figure in both the German and Anglo communities of Bendigo.
After his naturalisation he referred to himself as Carl.
Mr Weibgen became prominent in the tailoring and drapery business in Bendigo. He was active in the Trades Hall, promoting the rights and welfare of tailors and tailoresses.
His status within the German community of Bendigo also grew rapidly. He became the president of the Bendigo Deutscher Verein (German Society).
Mr Weibgen had become an active member of this important cultural and welfare organisation, almost since the time of his arrival in Bendigo.
In 1881, he was so highly thought of that he had been presented with an illuminated address.
Constable Walsh was told by Mr Weibgen that on the Saturday morning, at about 2am, he had occasion to get out of bed and saw a light in the school room.
This light was an unusual event, so Mr Weibgen went outside to investigating the matter.
He was already cautious in relation to the happenings at the school, as about a month earlier a portion of the building had been burnt down.
As Mr Weibgen was about to step on the path, he heard very light footsteps which came running past his house heading north towards Ironbark Gully.
Mounted Constable Gough came to Constable Walsh’s assistance and they finally narrowed down their leads to the Young children of Jackass Flat – the direction the youthful feet were running in.
On the Friday night in question, widower John Young had gone to work, leaving the children in bed, apparently asleep.
The eldest, 14-year-old Catherine, was left in charge.
It was Catherine and sister Helena who induced young brother Henry to become part of their scheme.
So they stole out into the darkness and perpetrated their crime.

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