UNHEEDED ADVICE

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 370, 3 November 1932, Page 2

UNHEEDED ADVICE

ICHARACTER MOULDING POLICE CHIEFS MESSAGE AS RETIRING TEACHER. WORDS RECALLED IN GAOL._ "Be careful, lads; the good things in lif e can only come by working for them." These words formed the farewell message from a young schoolmaster' to his pupils at the Willb'vV'S School, Kirkham, forty-one years ago. The strange manner in which these words were to become interlinked with tragedy and rom'ance f orms an, extraordinary story. It was told to a News of the World, representative by the former schoolmaster himself, Mr. H. E. Derham, the present Chief Constable of Blackpool. "It is a long journey," said Mr. Derham, "to travel back forty-one years along the avenue of time. ■ But I remember that day as clearly as if it were yeste'rday. I had been trained for the teaching profession, but the police service attracted me, as it had attracted my father before me. "On my last aay as a teach'er I gave the boys a little lecture on the moulding of character, but one of them, unfortunately, did not take my words to heart. Later, when he went out into the world on his own, he tried to find the 'short cuts' to affluence. Instead of that, however, he found the 'short cuts' to prison. Finally — about thirty-five years after we had parted at the school gates at Kirkham— he landed in Dartmoor. ''He wrote to me from there, saying that- a latsht sense of manhood had suuuenly taken possession of him. It had come to life, he said, through thinking of his schooldays, when I was the teacher and he was the pupil. "In the lonelin'ess of his cell the man had recalled my parting words. He also said that he had still three years of his sentence to serve, and asked if i would help him when he was released.

"I knew, of course, that his record was bad," continued Mr. Derham, "but that would never prevent me from helping any man or woman if I believed that their desire to go straight was sincere. "I wrote to this man and also to the governor of Dartmoor Prison, and the correspondence between us continued for two years. Then the man was released — a year earlier than expected. He came, as arranged, direct to Blackpool to see me. We had several long heart-to-heart talks together, and eventually decided on the clas's of business he should start in. I agreed to buy all the necessary ■equipment for him out of my own. pocket, and to stand by him until the business was self-supporting. "That was three years ago," added Mr. Derham with pardonable pride showing in his eyes, "and ITl guarantee there is no more respectable and law-abiding citizen in Blackpool than that man is to-day. His rigid determination to go straight was a success from the start, and I am confident that lns reformation is permanent. His cup of happiness would be overflowing but for the unfortunate death of his wife. God bless him!" Help for Prisoners., During Mr. Derham's forty-one years' service in the Blackpool Police Force he has consistently believed in

the motto "It is never too late to mend!" His helping hand is by no means reserved only for those he has known in other days. He has repeatedly helped his o\Yn prisoners ip the court by pleading for leniency after he himself had proved th'em guilty of the offeiices with which they were .charged. Only recently he financed the defence of a notorious criminal at the Preston sessions. ...... When asked what • was his pet: hobby, Mr. Derham picked up a little yeliow hook. It was the annual report of the chief constable's clothing fund. He sees to it that no poor child in -Blackpool is a'llowed tb go' witho.ut food, boots or clothing. That js his hobby, and it occupies so much of his time outside of his official duties that he has not .had a holiday since 1926, "Quite .recently," Mr. Derham stated, "a man • stood Watching ' the children lined- up at the police station for n'ew boots.' Wheh the last ■ hau been served he came up to me wiping his eyes, He told me that it was at thjs same police statibn that he received his own first pair of school boots. He is now' a sergeaht in the Giiards."' ' : •Mr. Derham has seen the Blackpool Police Force grow from eleven men to** 160, its present strength. And every man, whether in the detective or uniform branch, swears by "the chief." He in turn swears by his staff. ■ i "Safety First" Schemes. Mr. Derham's interest in safety first devices is almost an obsession — and a valuable one to the public. His latest scheme has become known as "Blackpool's yellow carpets." These are painted right across the street at ' busy cros'sings, making it impossible for the eye of the motorist or the pedestriah to miss them.