The Washington times., 1923-06-05
ARABIA TEMPLE i'm
FOREFRONT OF GOOD
WORKS i'm DISTRICT
Has Disproved Idea
That Shrine is Only
q PLAYGROUND

AS1AAy 1pVVVT A1Oth uVStAhS
but an ambition In the way Of
tangible assets to one Of the most
valuable pieces of corner property
in the business center Of the big
gest city in Texas; from a mere
program Of dreams to a reaIiza-
ton Of constructive humanitarian
accomplishments. This ID the his
tory written by Arabia Temple.
of Houston, Texas, in q littls
more than six years OF existence.
To be q little more specific,
this temple, which added several
hundred Of its members and their
ladies to the population Of the
National Capital during shrine
week, Quartered ct thu Hotel Har-
rington, has long since disproved
that the Shrine is the playground
Of Masonry Soon after the or
ganizatiun Of the temple, its Of.
ficers mapped out a program Of
activities that has placed the tenn.
pie in the forefront among the
temples Of the country.
The temple has already spent
nearly $4,000 for charity. It has
acquired property worth more
than quarter Of q million dol.
lars and has In the course Of
maturity plans for the construc.
ton Of b; History million dollar
temple and office building which
will be one OF the finest OF its
kind in the entire country.
Early in its career, the men
who guided the affairs Of the
temple emphasized the importance
of applying their efforts and
those OF the membership to more
than play, and every year the
temple has enlarged and broad
ened it's program of usefulness to
the con1tnunity. and the constant
effort is to make the shrine tenn
pie Of Houston an institution,
rather than an organization.
Plans for the organization OF
Arabia Temple had their incep-
ton in a mass meeting Of the
citizens Of Houston who were
Shriners, held on Tuesday, De.
cember IL, 1914. At this meeting
it was decided to ask the imperial
council Of. the order for q char.
ter for Houston It was long
and hard struggle, but at the
session OF the governing body
held In Seattle, WASH, In the
summer Of 1915. the charter was
granted. and the temple was insti-
tuted in December Of that year.
It is said that this was the first
and only time a charters.. was
granted by the Imperial Council
without requiring the temple to
work a year under a dispensas
ton. At any rate, none have
been granted since, and it is un-
derstood to be the policy of the
Imperial Council to adhere to the
dispensation plan in the future.
OFFICERS OF DIVAN.
John s. Bonner, a prominent
oil man in the city Of Houston,
was the first potentate OF Arabia
Temple. Succeeding him the fol-
lowing have served in the capacity
of potentate: Frank C. Jones, a
lawyer, now the imperial first
ceremonial master on the imperial
divan; L. ]. Cox, tax and land
commissioner for the Southern
Pacific Railroad Company in
Texas; D. w. Michaux, prom
inent business man Of Houston;
Chester H. Bryan. county Judge
of Harris county, Of which Hous-
ton is the county seat; A. ]. Dow,
one Of the leading automobile
dealers Of the section; DIR. 8. M.
Lister, physician; George H.
Pruter, another oil man, and the
present potentate, G. Ed. Settle
CAST, a leading undertaken Of the
city.
The representatives in the i'm.
perial Council at the Washington
session have been selected from
the past potentates, together with
the present potentate, Mr.. Sette-
CAST. Arabia Temple claims the
distinction Of being the youngest
temple in Shrinedom to place
man on the imperial divan. This
was done when the temple was
only three years old, when Frank
c. Jones was started at the bot
tom Of the imperial ladder. He
Is now imperial first ceremonial
master, and at the session In
Washington will be advanced TO
the position of imperial oriental
guide. In five more years he
will occupy the position now
filled by Sunny JIM" when 1t
is anticipated that the organiza-
ton will have passed the million
mark in point of membership.
Arabia Temple has three uni
formed units-a band, patrol and
drum corps. 1t also has an or
ganization of chapters, the cham
pion Shrine baseball team Of
Texas and the finest clubrooms
in the State. The hand of fifty