Omaha daily bee., 1899-07-02
GRAFTON OFFENDS BILLINGS
So the Doctor Refuses q Charity he Was
About to Bestow.
FORMER NEBRAsKAN lNHERITS A FORTUNE
One OF His Books withdrawn from
the Grafton Public Library,
Which Action the Doctor
Calls BiRotry.

DR.. Frank S. Billings, formerly a we'll
known Nebraskan and at the head of the
| United States experiment station at Lin
coin, has come into many thousands of dol
lars since his departure from this state and
on account of this and other things has
become an interesting figure in the Massa-
chusetts community of which he is now a
member The latest action of his to bring
his name to public attention is his decision
not to endow the town of Grafton, Mass,
with a 900 educational fund, as he de-
clares he and his wife had intended to do.
The reason for his change OF attitude is a
slight put upon him by the town library in
Withdrawing one of his books from crcula-
tion.
BY the will OF Robert c. Billings OF Bos-
ton, an uncle of the doctor, the latter in
herts 100000, his wife 100000 and his
daughter $4,000. Several other relatives
OF the Boston millionaire were similarly
remembered and the balance of his estate
was beoueathed TO various charitable and
educational institutions. one of the latter
being Harvard university. Rev. Edward
Everett Hale is among the individual bene-
ficiaries OF the same will
DR. Billings lives on Worcester street in
Grafton. The will by which his family is
W DS tUTlCHeu IO Une extent OF SlOU,uVU was
probated in the Suffolk court the last week.
1t is not the first of such inheritances to
come to the doctor, though It is believed
to be the most valuable. The doctor has
now given 1t out that he and his wife had
fully intended to establish an educational
fund for the benefit of orphan girls and
daughters of parents Of limited means living
in Grafton, who by it's aid, were to secure
an education far beyond anything they could
have obtained without it. A condition
which was to have been attached to the use
of this memorial fund was that the bene
ficiaries were to have shown capabilities
above the average high school student and
should maintain a good standing at college.
1t was also to be required that the young
women assisted be free thinkers or the
daughters of free thinkers They were,
however not to be bound by any require
ment as to religious or ethical belief. Thus
DR.. and Mrs. Billings had intended to dis
pose of their superfluous thousands and
show their appreciation of the town in
which they live. But the doctor is now
convinced that he was about to misplace his
generosity and waste his means trying to
enlighten a community untitled to receive
the light for generations to come. And
the truth was revealed to him by the man
ner in which the library trustees treated
one OF his books.
PecuIiarities of the Doctor.
DR.. Billings is a man of scholarly attain
ments and real scientific ability, as all who
were acquainted with his work in this state
admit. He claims to have been the origi-
nator of the method Of combating hog
cholera which is now being developed in all
sections Of the country, though on that point
there is difference of opinion, the workers
ta1a In fhn EnlI ~ orip oil thpln
claiming that they have discarded much or
all of Billings method. Be that as it may,
it was not because of incompetency on his
part that his work in Nebraska was brought
to termination, but rather to his extreme
peculiarities and his disposition to work too
much at his own pleasure and out of har-
mony with his associates. 1t cannot be said
that he suffered from lack of appreciation
while here, although that was his belief.
Furnishes Town of Grafton.
DR., Billings is the author of several books,
not all confined to technical scientific sub
jects. When writing, as when speaking, he
insists upon exercising absolute freedom of
the pen, and his style is marked by vgor
and frankness of expression that has preju-
diced against him those with whom he hap
pens to disagree. Instead OF accepting his
many challenges to meet him in discussion
and refute his assertions with reasoning he
claims they have adopted unfair and un-
derhanded means of checking the spread Of
his fame and his doctrines. 1t is certain,
at least, that one of his books, How Shall
the Rich Escape?" was withdrawn from the
Grafton library after it had been admitted
and placed in circulation.
For this action, which he characterizes as
a piece of the narrowest bigotry, the doctor
has determined to deprive the town of the
,nl,
ceived at his hands, preferring to SOW the
seed of free thought where it has more
promise of receiving careful cultivation.
His UncIc's Vast Fortune.
The character and the interests OF the
uncle, who left an estate worth 81, 900 900,
may be judged from the number of his be-
quests and the nature of the institutions re-
ceiving them. In addition to those men
toned above the following were made:
To Harvard university, 100000 to Massa-
chusetts Institution of Technology, 100000;
to Massachusetts, Institute of Technology, to
found the Billings student fund" with the
understanding that any student receiving
benefit from the fund is expected to abstain
from the use of alcohol or tobacco in any of
their varied forms, $50 900; to the Museum
of Fine Arts, Boston, $1OO,O 900; to Massachu-
setts General hospital, $50 900; TO New Eng
bury, $4,000; to Massachusetts Charitable |
Eye and Ear iniirmary of Boston, $50 900; to
Perkins institute and Massachusetts School |
for the Blind, $4,000; to the Kin
dergarten for the Blind at Jamaica
Plain, Boston, 10000; to Ameri- |
can Unitarian association, Boston |
$4,000; TO the "Grindall Reynolds" fund of |
the same association, slO,O 900; to the Boston
Young Mems Christian association, Is Boys- |
ton street, Boston, 5,OOO to the Home for
Aged Men, West Springfield street, Boston, |
$25 1000; Hampton Normal and Agricultural |
institute Hampton Va 5,0O0 Tuskegee |
Normal school, Tuskegee, Ala 10000; At |
lanta university, Atlanta, Ga. $40, 900; Mass |
achusetts Society for Aiding Discharged Con- |
victs, Boston, 1000; Boston Asylum and |
Farm School for INDECENT Children. Thomp- |
sons island, 10000; Childrens Mission for
Children of Destitute Parents, fremont |
street, Boston, 10000 Boston LyIng-in hos
pital 100000; Morton hospital, Taunton, $l0,-
600; Benevolent Fraternity of Churches Bos-
ton, 10000; Home for the Aged, Walnut
avenue, RoXbury, 100000 Boston Home for
Incurables, 10000; WashingtonIan Home,