A Question of Sentiment

The little clapboard house looks like a lot of others in Lamar, Mo. (pop. 4,500). But a large sign out front advertises its distinction. In 1882, John A. Truman, mule trader, bought the house for $685 and there Harry S. Truman was born.

Last week, Representative T. Fred Cline introduced a bill in the Missouri House of Representativesauthorizing up to $15,000 to purchase the house as a shrine. Republican Floor Leader William Cruce promptly pointed out that it was "a decrepit old house," and the whole property was assessed at only $600. Protested Cline: "There is a sentimental value. A lady buys antiques at 40 to 50 times their value because there is a sentimental value."

It wasn't only sentiment that kept the price up: there was also Constable Everett Earp (second cousin to Gunman Wyatt Earp, famed frontier marshal), who owns the place and keeps his real-estate office in the back. Earp removed the outdoor privy a couple of years ago, but the mule shoe that Father Truman nailed over the door the day Harry was born is still there. Earp explained: "I cut $5,000 off the price, if the state would allow the placement of a bronze plaque in the living room as a memorial to my mother and father."

Despite a few unpleasant remarks from the G.O.P. side, the bill seemed sure to pass the House; the Senate still had to act. Meanwhile, a visitor could get to see the inside by buying a souvenir postcard off Everett Earp; if he bought more than 50-c- worth Earp would show him the room where Harry S. Truman was born.

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