St. Louis Post-Dispatch from St. Louis, Missouri • Page 87

Kingsbury Dilemma Memories Or Quality Of Life Robert Sanford Of the Post-DUpatch Staff A REAL ESTATE AD early in the century described the new homes north of Forest Park as being on high ground "so that the southwest breezes come directly from the hills, cooled and freshened by their passage through the abundant foliage, free from miasmic vapors." Though the ad writer was getting dangerously close to hot air as a subject, his product turned out to be solid. He was selling the idea of the private place the big, thick-walled, roomy homes being built on private streets. They were heralded as the finest city residences anywhere. Today the breezes are cooled in the coils of air conditioners and the automobile has added miasmic vapors aplenty. The houses remain, and they still have the capability of inspiring hyperbole in real estate ads.

"They just don't make houses like that any more," Is a common observation about such grand homes. So it came as something of a surprise early this year when residents of Kingsbury Place found that a long-time resident there had decreed in her will that her house be torn down. She was Mrs. Louise Woodruff Johnston of 4 Kingsbury Place. Mrs.

Johnston, dead at the age of 72, had lived in the house more than SO years. She left no heirs. She left a lot of money to a dozen welfare beneficiaries, most of them in St. Louis. THE NEIGHBORS on Kingsbury Place opposed the razing of the house and filed suit oh grounds that it would reduce the value of the property by more than $0,000 and that a vacant lot would be a spawning ground for rats and a hiding place for prowlers.

The issue is pending in circuit court. The house stands. Further, the residents prevailed on the City Landmark Commission to designate doctor thosteson I 1 i llllinr Kingsbury Place as a landmark all of it, the more than 60 houses in a variety of architectural styles: Victorian, Georgian, Tudor, Regency, Italian Renaissance. This tack has proceeded further with a bill before the Board of Aldermen to designate Kingsbury Places and abutting Washington Terrace as a historic district. That action is pending.

The idea of having your house destroyed after you die is not new. Mrs. Richard McCulloch, who died in 1956, decreed that her house at 4394 Westminster Place be razed and it was. Mrs. McCulloch was the widow of the former president of the old United Railways Co.

and St. Louis Car Co. She was the former Mary Grace Beggs, daughter of John I. Beggs, a utility magnate who left an estate of $54,000,000. Mrs.

McCulloch's 18-room house, a friend said, was built for her at the time of her marriage. Only th 'cCulloch family lived there, and Mu. McCulloch flatly didn't want anyone else ever to live there and said so. IN THE CASE of Mrs. Johnston, none of her neighbors or friends knew that she planned to have the house razed.

She left no provision for care of the property. She decreed only that the house be razed and the lot sold. Why did she do it? the neighbors asked. Why? Her attorney, Harry Kroeger, who drew her will, might have been told her reasons but he refuses to talk about it, citing the privacy of the lawyer-client relationship. "You wouldn't want to hire a lawyer to do your will and then have him tell the world about it," he said.

The ordered razing of the home Just seems out of character for Mrs. Johnston, some friends say. They recall that she was an easel painter of some ability who liked to paint things she considered beautiful. She liked to paint pictures of flowers and old houses, among other things. Three of her flower scenes sold at a show of her work while she was ill in a hospital shortly before her death.

Though the house on Kingsbury is rather plain on the outside (white stucco walls, tile roof and French windows in the Mediterranean style) Mrs. Johnston kept it decorated in tasteful combinations of pastels on the inside, friends say. "I have seen her agonize on and on about what shade of green to use in a bedroom," a friend says. "And in the end her choice seemed perfect. She had an artist's eye for colors." So the house, friends say, was something of a treasure to her.

Why should she want it torn down? Some thought it so out of character for Mrs. Johnston that they blamed the decision on her father. Dr. Frederick E. Woodruff, who built the house.

a check of Dr. Woodruff's will at the Probate Court shows no mention of razing. DR. WOODRUFF, an opthalmologist and one-time president of the St. Louis Medical Society, had the house built in 1920.

That was at about the time his daughter was a maid of honor at the Veiled Prophet ball. She went on to Vas-sar College and then returned to live with her parents. Her mother, Mrs. Florence Holmes Woodruff, died in 1947. The daughter married Earl Maynard Johnston in 1150.

They lived in the Kingsbury house with Dr. Woodruff. He died in 1962 and Mr. Johnston died two years later. Mrs.

Johnston represented the end of a line of inherited money and her death terminates family trust funds. Her mother, daughter of John A. Holmes, a lumber executive, left an estate of about $2,800,000. Two-thirds of the bulk of the estate was left to Dr. Woodruff and a third to Mrs.

Johnston. Dr. Woodruff, one of the organizers of THE KINGSBURY PLACE home of the late Mrs. Louise Johnston that she decreed 'be torn down. (Post-Dispatch photo fcy Scott C.

Dine) MRS. JOHNSTON with her father (left) and husband in a vacation photograph in 1954. about flats on changes in the city Waterman Boulevard across the alley that once had held four families but had Thirst Could Be Symptom Of Diabetes DEAR DR. THOSTESON: What could be wrong with a person with no appetite? My husband has been this way for as long as I have known him, at least five years. Food just has no appeal and it's down to only a few items he'll even consider eating now.

He eats only to survive. Most of the time it's one meal a day, and he won't touch a vegetable or fruit. He's always thirsty and drinks excessive amounts of cola drinks. He isn't taking any medication or drugs. He is only 23 and I know he is ruining his health.

He says he will go to the doctor but doesn't know what tests, If any, to have. Could low blood sugar cause this? D.B. IT DOESN'T in the least resemble low blood sugar; but he might have too much sugar in his blooddiabetes, that is. At least that is one of a number of possibilities that ought to be investigated. His excessive thirst could be a symp-ton of that.

But before I try to do too much guessing, I'd want to know some other things. What about his weight? His emotional condition? Any other symptoms that could be significant. A deep-seated psychological problem could cause this. That business of putting off going to the doctor because he "doesn't know what tests to have, if any," is pretty nonsensical, because you don't go to the doctor and teil him what tests you want run. It's the doctor's responsibility to select such tests as are needed.

Clearly, your husband's diet is one that is going to cause a lot of trouble for him in the near future if it isn't doing so already. So get him to a physician and find out what's wrong. DEAR DR. THOSTESON: I read your article on hyperactivity in children. Our son, 10, has all the symptoms you mention.

He has been tested by school consultants and appears to have at least average intelligence. Yet he cannot keep up with his class and seldom completes his assignments. His behavior is bad, he is always bugging other children and the teachers think he may have trouble later in life. They have suggested that we take him to a psychiatrist. Before doing so I would like to ask you for any suggestions you may have.

Are there any special schools for such children in our area? MRS. S. V. I WOULD SUGGEST thai you do just what the consultants toi you to do: have the boy examined by a psychiatrist. If it's a case of hyperactivity, that's one thing.

If it's a behavioral problem of some otheT sort, that's something else. It's futile to talk about "special schools" until you have a solid diagnosis of the problem. And that's what the school people told you to do. So do it. Much heart trouble Is preventable.

Write to Dr. Thosteson in care of the Post-Dispatch for a copy of his booklet, "How To Take Care of Your Heart," enclosing a long, self-addressed (use zip code), stamped envelope and 25c In coin. the house is torn down. It would seem that they might have cause to oppose the will. But to oppose it would put them in the position of biting the hand that feeds them." So the action to save the house has come from the neighbors.

"We don't need another vacant lot," said Mrs John D. Bartley a neighbor. "We need another young family that will care about the house and the neighborhood." The neighborhood has changed, and perhaps to the better, another Kingshu-ryite said. There was a time when almost everyone there had a lot of money and some of them regarded their homes simply as status symbols in the social museum. Newer residents are more seriously devoted to family and community matters, the woman said.

"Why, there are families here now whose home is the most valuable thing they possess," she said. "MRS. JOHNSTON'S decision to tear down the house couldn't have been a spile move against Che neighborhood," a friend said. "She just wasn't that way." "Well, I have heard Mrs. Johnston go on about how other neighborhoods were crumbling," an acquaintance said.

"She seemed to be overly upset about the in excess of $2,000,000, goes in bulk to 12 beneficiaries. Her will provides 15 per cent for the St. Louis Symphony Society and bequests of 10 per cent each to the Presbyterian Home for Children, McMillan Hospital and St. Luke's Hospital. Bequests of 8 per cent each go to St.

Louis Children's Hospital and Friends of the St. Louis Art Museum. Bequests of 5 per cent each go to the American Cancer Society, (lie Arthritis Fund and Vas-sar College. But the hassle about the house has the estate tied up at this time. "It's a funny thing," a lawyer said.

"Some of these beneficiaries could lose $5000 or more if McMillan Hospital in the Barnes group, left an estate of about $2,500,000. He had set up a trust fund of about $2,000,000 yielding income to Mrs. Johnston during her lifetime, then filling bequests to 30 welfare beneficiaries. This included $100,000 each rn St. Luke's Hospital and Deaconess Hospital and $50,000 to McMillan Hospital.

It included $50,000 bequests to the Presbyterian Home for Children, the Washington University Department of Opfhalmology, the Board of Pensions of the Presbyterian Church and Shaw's Garden. MRS. JOHNSTON'S estate, reportedly A White House Aid That We Can Bet On art toidroald" gone to eight or 10. And about others that were virtually empty. Another friend said, "She was always very thoughtful of others.

I think it was just her personal wish. Her happiest memories were in that house. Her life rhere with her father and her husband. She had heard of other houses elsewhere in the city being taken over by several families. She just didn't want her memories desecrated.

"And, oh dear, she wouldn't have wanted any publicity or talk about it!" But talk Mrs. Johnston has got. Her decision to destroy the house has led to the naming of Kingsbury Place as a landmark and may lead to the declaration of the first private-place historic district in the city. LN ANTICIPATION of the historic district ordinance, the City of St. Louis has asked to enter the case on the side of the neighbors, seeing that the case will test tfie constitutionality of the historic district ordinance.

The lawsuit might be a landmark in itself. The neighbors contend in the suit that they have a right to oppose her decision on grounds of reasonableness and the effect of her act on health and safety, the prevention of crime and the quality of life. This is an extension of nuisance law, attorneys say, along the lines that a person is limited in what he or she can do if the effect is bad on the surroundings. There is no precedent case. To this, the trustee of the estate answers that the neighbors have no standing in the case, that it is simply an open-and-shut matter of common law property rights.

Meanwhile, some neighbor men continue to cut the lawn at Mrs. Johnston's house and the neighbor women keep the roses trimmed in the garden. June 17, 1973 3F ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH WASHINGTON ONE THING that everyone in this country seems to agree on is that we must restore faith in the executive branch of the Government. Although President Nixon has appointed new people to the White House, most of them are old faces that just have been moved arnuiul from one post to another.

What the nation needs desperately is someone in the White House who has complete and unequivocal backing of nil the American people someone who has never been touched by scandal of any kind, whose credibility is unquestioned and who is a symbol of everything Americans Ix'lieve their leaders should be. The only one on the American scene to do this is Secretariat, the triple-crown winner of the Kentucky Derby, the Prcakness and the Belmont Stakes If President Nixon would appoint Secretariat to an important positif.i in the White House, he would be going a long way toward his promise of cleaning house and restoring the image of the presidency. Mr. Nixon would be saying to the American people, "You want new faces in the White House. I'm giving you a winner." NOW BEFORE you scoff at my suggestion I would like to point out there is a precedent for such an appointment.

The Roman Emperor Caligula appointed his own horse as a proconsul to Rome. It's true that Caligula did this to show his contempt for the Senate, but I don't think any self-respecting person believes that Mr. Nixon would appoint Secretariat for the same reason. As a special assistant to the President, Secretariat could accompany the President to Camp David and San Clemente. Mr.

Nixm could confide in him without fear that his conversation would be leaked to the press. And whem the President gets tired and weary from all the affairs of sate, he could ride Secretariat around the White House lawn. The 3-year-old stallion could also fulfill other functions in the White House. When Press Secretary Ron Ziegler, or his assistant Gerald Warren, receives a particularly tough question they could say, "We'll check that out with Secretariat ami get back to you later." Or if Secretariat can't answer it, they can always reply "That a horse of a different color." Secretariat could show up for political fund-raising dinners and at congressional hearings. could get involved in the energy crisis and go to Paris with Henry Kissinger BUT HIS most import mt function would be that when the President's enemie" call for his or impeachment, Secretariat could warn the country that you don't change in midstream.

As President Nixon has said tunes he would go to any lengths to clear up Watergate, Secretariat lould -vply him with 31 lengths to start with. 1 have given ic.isons why Prescient N.xon would want Secretariat in his Cabinet. But why wo.ild Secretariat take the job at this time? The answer is that Secretariat being retired from racing this year and therefore would have no conflict of interests. Also, America has been good to Secretariat and he would like t) pay it back with some public service. At 3 years old, he feels he still has a lot to give this country.

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