The San Francisco call., 1898-07-29

The ald or the law Is to be again fn- voked to the end that Adolph Sutro may spend the declining days of his most remarkable life at his dearly be- loved heights overlooking the Pacific Ocean. At present he is to all intents and purposes a prisoner being confined to one room in the home of his daughter and guardian, pr. Emma Merritt, on the northwest corner of Sutter street and Van Ness avenue.
 Since the day of his forcible and sen- sationaI removal from his old home, some months since, his household has been as one divided against itself. His son Charles, his daughter Clara and his brothers and sisters have brought all the pressure possible to bear upon Dr. Merritt to induce her to unbend her will and permit her father to again return to his own home. She has the strong mind of her illustrious father, devel- oped to the point of obstinacy, it Is af- t1rmed, and cannot be turned from her way.
 Her relatives do her the credit to say that if she errs it is a fault of the mind and not of the heart, as she has sur rounded her father with all the com
  The one exception to this is the forcible retention of MT. Sutro amid uncon- genial surroundings. This, 1t is claimed, is the great error she Is com uniting. The unfamiliar room, the ab- sence of people and articles to which the sturdy millionaire was accustomed all prey upon his mind and retard the complete recovery of his faculties.
 MT. Sutro has not been a helpless in valid for some time. He is able to be about his room and for a time was so well that he was promised a drive. At the last moment he was denied this privilege, to his great sorrow. During the review of the Fourth of July pro- cession he stood at the window of his room and enjoyed the moving spectacle before him. He even recognized friends in the crowds that thronged the streets and beckCned them to come to him.
 It has been practically determined to again test the matter through the medium of the law. Suit will be brought in the names of his children. to which will be added those of his two sisters, residing in this city, and of his brother in Germany. They feel that were Mir Sutro's wishes to be consulted
 
 things that his life would go out with the sun casting it's last rays upon his deathbed as it sank below the horizon of the Pacific Ocean.
 The feeling of MT. Sutro's relatives are expressed in the appended inter view with his sister.
 From the day that MT. Sutro was removed from his home at Sutro
  relatives have been trying to convince pr. Emma Merritt, his guardian. that his removal was not for the best" said Mrs. w. Winterberg, Adolph Sutro's sister, yesterday ''All the pressure that could possibly be brought to bear on her has been exerted, but without avail. She has her point of view, and all the rest of his relatives on this coast have theirs.
 'It seems impossible to reconcile them, as they are so radically different. pr. Merritt is providing all the com forts that modern ideas in the treat ment of the sick can suggest, except the one which we feel is most needed in MT. Sutro's case. That one is con- genial surroundings. He Is now con- fined to one room, and is to all intents anu purposes prisoner. lie IS Kept under lock and key, and at times begs piteously for the freedom he so long enjoyed.
 His near relatives are permitted to visit him, but other personal friends are rigidly excluded. MT. Sutro recog- nizes this, and is worried by It. He is not confined to his bed continuously, at times being able to be about for ex- tended periods. We do not claim that he is strong and vigorous, as we know that if such were the case 1t would take more than locks and bolts to keep him in confinement.
 'In his rational moments he is great ly distressed at his inability to find fa- miliar objects He worries at the sup posed loss of his two light overcoats; of books and treasures to which he was accustomed, and to his gold watch. This has been replaced by a cheap affair that does not keep time. He is continually asking for his favorite man-servant Tom and complaining about the two women nurses in whose charge he has been placed.
 MrA Sutro is not the aged man he has bEsn pictured to be. He was born on April 29, 1880, making him now in his sixty ninth year. It has been stated repeatedly that he was over 80 years of age, which is untrue
 Tn view of his magnificent physique