Evening star., 1937-08-11
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
BY MARGARET GERMOND.
ALL CATS ARE GRAY BY Charles G.
Givens. Indianapolis: Bobbs- Merrill

Co.
"Once there was race of lawyers in
East Tennessee
Jed Turner, silver-tongued defender OF
justice, who for more than half CEN
tury had successfully tied jures into
knots or twined them around his little
finger to save the hide or the property of
some poor devil caught in the meshes
OF criminal or civil law, has just won
bet. The scene is in Jeds old office,
where he and Judge Don Huller, General
Andy Holmes and Squire Dode Byrd have
gathered for drinks and an argument
after listening to Steve Clark plead
criminal case.
Jed Turner. the good God is apt to
smack you down any minute now, you've
got to be such braggart I never saw
man hurry into his dotage as fast as
you have in the past few years You're
positively senile, I'm damned if it amt
So
I'm bettin' Jed's right" said Squire
Byrd. I'm bettin' Jed can make a finer
speech with his mouth full of marbles
than any of these-here young lawyers.
Il wasn't Dragging. l made the simple
statement that I could make better
speech, by George, with five agate
marbles in my mouth than any of these
young fellers with their tongues free and
unincumbered. And I'm backing it up.
I've got five agate marbles in my mouth.
You saw me put them in and 1 didn't
palm any. Now you be the judge. What
do you want me to say?"
Give us ALI Taylors tribute to his
dead brother, Fiddling Bob" suggested
General Andy. You know that, don't
you, jedi"
The younger lawyer fingered with the
street crowd which always gathered be-
meath the window when an argument
was in progress in Jed's Office and listened
until Jed had finished his speech. spat
out his marbles, taken a drink and
begun his discourse upon Tennessees
race OF lawyers.
In Mr.. Given's story, Jed Turner rep
resents the last Of vanishing race of
legal giants whose hardihood, courage
and genius for oratory places them in
the forefront of unique great men whose
fame seldom spread beyond the limited
boundaries Of the regions they served
Countless other small communities have
loved and appreciated the stalwart men
of action who made local history in an
era that only now is being recognized by
the more closely knit modern world as
one of the most colorful in the whole
drama of nation building. The South
was particularly blessed with native tall
ent for the reason that nature for some
reason elects to concentrate upon locale
In the distribution Of phenomenal gifts
to mankind. Out of the East have come
the worlds greatest philosophers. In the
United States the Southland has pro-
duced the ma jority of the country's
great statesmen, lawyers and orators,
while other sections have been notable
for their able politicians. their Industrial
lists. their writer's and other gifted per-
sOnageS.
Survivors of that extraordinary era in
the South remember with pride the valor-
Gus, unsung heroes who would in larger
communities have become national fig
ures. And they regret, with Mr.. Givens
the passing of race of men who left
no tangible record upon which to base
an authentic factual history. In letter
to his father he writes:
Il had hoped that some day before it
was eternally too late some East Ten
nesseean with fair for words and color
would get around to writing story about
the great Tennessee Valley. And I hoped
that good part OF his book would be
devoted to the legal giants who roamed
the valley in the old days. 1t is a story
that needs telling-and now I am afraid
the time is gone when it could be told.
The old ones-the great orators, the
fiery jury pleaders, the tempestuous,
hot-headed fighters, the passionate
preachers-the showmen-of the old
Tennessee Valley are gone most of them.
And they've left no proper record be-
hind them
1t is perhaps "eternally too late" for
some contemporary to write the story
which Mr.. Givens has himself produced.
But it is doubtful whether a contempo-
rary could have made into vitally living
characters group Of men more con-
vincingly real than Jed Turner and
his cronies. Mr.. Givens is on home
territory in Tennessee and it will be
remembered that he made a notable
record as a newspaper man covering the
Scopes trial in Dayton.
Cloud Valley is an imaginary COM
munity created by the author as suit
able locale in which to revive representa-
tive types of the vanishing race Of
natural-born oratorical lawyers who de-
manded justice and knew how to get it,
When Jed Turner was admitted to the
bar there was no State law requiring
education at an accredited school and
the passing of a rigid examination. He
simply went up to the county court and
asked permission to practice in the county.
The questions he was required to answer
were: Whats your religion, son? Can
you hold your likker? Have you ever
been in any kind of trouble?"
Religion. law and liquor are important
in Cloud Valley. God, justice and whisky
are elementally and inseparably a part
OF every mans daily life. Adherence to
Methodism, respect for the rights of the
poor man and the ability to hold liquor
are the essential qualities of a gentle
man. Jed, club-footed giant of man
With reddish gray hair fiery red mus
tache, huge hands covered with sandy
bristles red face and red neck, is a
gentleman. So are Judge Huller, General
Andy, Squire Byrd and Jeds other
friends. And God is as realistic person.
age as any citizen of Cloud Valley. They
argue about God as though He were
present, just as they argue about good
likker and justice. For instance. Jed
and Judge Huller, returning from Chat
tanooga, both little drunk, hold forth
in this fashion:
God is Democrat. He has always
been a Democrat"