The San Francisco call., 1909-07-29
SUTRO'S HEIRS
ARE IN DISPUTE
OVER LIBRARY
Dr. Merritt, Daughter, Claims
Big Collection Under Clause
=: Giving Her Books
Further Contest Regarding Vas
sar Scholarship and cousin"
p:
=. Bequests Expected

another contest Is threatened over
tbe estate Of the late Adoiph Sutro. The
famous library. valued at more than
s250.ooe. and the two Vassar college
scholarships, amounting to $4,000. are
the subjects Of dispute As in the pre-
. Hious litigation. Or. Emma Merritt de-
sires to carry out the wishes of her
fetheT. Opposed TO her are the ma
= goritg OF the heirs The requests made
by Sutro TO large number OF cousins
have also been the source of disagree
nent. but it is stated that this feature
Will be compromised. on the other two
points. however, there is every prospect
OF z contest.
~ The suit which has only recently
: been decided by the supreme court. re-
lated merely 10 the trust provisions of
the viii. and in no way determined the
other issues involved. In attempting
: 10 settle the affairs of the estate the
heirs have been unable TO harmonize
-their views.
: LIBRARY IN DISPUTE
:: One OF the vital points of difference
Concerns the big library. The will pro-
Nided that all the papers. documents
and books should go TO Doctor Merritt
i is her view that the library was in
cluded in this bequest. The heirs op-
posing her hold that as the will was
ma de in 1882, il referred only to such
books as SutrO owned at that time. In
1882 the library was composed of only
5000 or 5000 volumes. It was some
time later that Sutro began TO buy
books with the idea Of accumulating a
library Of massive proportions. At his
death in 1898 he had become the owner
OF 200 Geo volumes.
The books We're stored in two build
ings one the Montgomery block and
the other a structure IN Battery street.
The latter was burned and with il half
Of the library. The remaining 100, 600
volumes are rich in historical works
and have been sought by both the state
. library at Sacramento and The state
university at Berkeley. Friends Of
Sutro have said that he expressed a
wish 10 give the library TO the public.
There is. however, no written record TO
that effect Under the usual cOnstruc-
tIoh Of the law a viii covers the prop
erty AZ the time Of death and not at
the time Of its writing. Under this in
terpretauon il would become the prop
erty OF Doctor Merritt. She has not in
minated what disposition she would
make or the big collection.
OPPOSE SCHOLARSHIPS
The contesting heirs have also ex-
pressed diSinclination to make the
payment TO Nassar college as proposed
in The viii The document provided
for two scholarships and set aside SlO.-
600 for the purpose. The money has
drawn interest at the rate of per cent
Tor 10 years. and nearly double the
original sum is. therefore, available.
l.
trust legal objection was also made
70 the Nassar bequest. The lftiga ton
over the scholarships was postponed.
= pending the determination of the legal
status of the charity portion of the
trust Now that this has been decided.
> the Nassar scholarship question will
come up anew. The college will be rep
resented by counsel in the forthcom-
ing litigation.
BEQU ESTS TO COUSINS
The differences over the cousin
clause Of the viii is on the eve of set
clement without litigation. This clause
provided:
I give 10 my cousins and their chill
dren and grandchildren. descendants of
my fathers brothers and sisters. who
are enumerated in the family tree pre-
pared within the last year by my
daughter. Katie, and who are not al
ready provided for in this will. the
sum Of $500 each.
This called for the distribution of
about 100000. II appears. however
that the family tree referred to was
never completed. The requests. it is
understood. VIII be compromised to the
satisfaction Of all concerned on per
centage basis.
Much speculation has been occasioned
as TO the disposition to be made OF
SUcro heights. II is now in the hands
OF the SIX heirs. and they are free 10
do what they please with the land. II
is rumored that they have under con-
sideration an offer by which the
grounds would be turned into a tract
for private residences. There is a
strong sentiment that the beautiful
park with its unsurpassed setting
should forever be kept intact as a pub
lie pleasure ground. To this end there
is talk OF a public movement to acquire
the gardens for the city