The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1919-06-24

about 1t, The soul which holds itself
aloot is only half alive,
1t is because the soul Of Pat" Grove
abandoned itself to France that he lived
so bravely and magnificently those II
months which preceded Issoudun. And
when like a falling leaf he tumbled
from the sky 1000 feet and lay dead
upon that field, the world knew that he
mad not been a wastrel with the days
that God had given him.
ne had seen, he had acted, he had
FELT, he had talked right up to the ulti-
mate second Of his life. The record was
Kept in a series Of marvellous letters to
his mother.
Lieut.. James r. Grove was A
'chasse' pilot in the United States air
service, and when he died he was near
ing that great hour when he should
nave scared out over the trenches of
hate and measured his courage and his
cunning with the German foe for the
glory Of his country's flag.
At previous stages in his relatively
short career he had worked as reporter
on the Commercial Appeal in Memphis
and was known as Jim Crow by way
OF facetious note of the similarity OF
his name to that of the author Of the
segregation law, He covered" river
'''b WV anu lildbt his IltTk OH mat
job, for he was the first to discover the
beginnings Of Mud Island. He is said
TO have detected the formation Of the
island by the currents, even before the,
steamboat pilots had noticed 1t. The
pilots laughed at him for this, and to
leer him promised that II land did APP
pear, they would name it after him. So
when the island first appeared it was
named Jim Grove Island" and 1t was
only afterward that the an
pellation was applied to 1t.
ihen Grove went to New York and
did well, becoming assistant dramatic
editor for the Sun, He was a lovable
certain genius. They liked him in New
YORK and liked what he had to say. 1t
was there they called him Pat"
Then he tried banking, going into the
service department Of the National
Bank of Commerce. Then tho war cane
and, OF course, he Joined promptly. He
spent the summer at the ground school
In C~amridge, Mass, and after receiv-
ing further instruction at Mineola,
sailed from New York for France on
Nov. % as a cadet for the 18th foreign
detachment. aviation section, signal
corps. He was commissioned a second
lieutenant at Tours in July, 1918. He
met death on Sept. 20, his long and
arduous training for combat work about
completed.
While he was training there in
France, Grove kept his eyes and his
ears and his heart open. He tramped
about the French countryside and he
flew above tho French cities and forests
and villages. He went into chateaux
and into the matched cottages of vii
layers, He got on familiar sympathetic
terms with France and her people. And
all OF the things he saw and heard and
lived, he described TO his mother in let
tiers of marvellous charm, and in spite
of their happy Carefree style, real liter
allure. These letters ten one of a fine
young soul, whom 1t is a delight to
know intimately and much about
France and about our effort over
there that is worth knowing. The
story Of Observation-Disclosures of
the Chateau" is especially fine and ap-
pealing, 1t has been called one of the
best pieces of writing that has come
from the American expeditionary
forces" and certainly it stirs the heart
deeply.
After Groves death these letters,
some of which had been previously pub
lished in the New York Evening sun,
New York Times, Richmond Evening
Journal, southern Woman's Magazine
and the Trt-State Daily of Sheffield,
Ala, We're compiled and published in IA
book by Nicholas l.. Brown, cloth $3.50,
New York.
hoNaltlcS from ule sale OF the BOOK
20 to the mother of Lieut.. Grove. OF
whom he was her only son. Mrs. James
r. Grove resides in Sheffield, Ala, 1Ol
Park boulevard.
Mai, Grove, the young flier's father,
died several years ago. He was a Con-
federate veteran and was one of the
founders of the ku kluN Khan.
Both father and son were native Ten
nesseans, being Of old Scotch stock,
long settled in Pulaski. Giles county,
Tenn. Young Grove was a graduate Of
Vanderbilt university.