Religion: Temple

And the Lord, whom ye seek, shall come suddenly to his temple, said that sharp little prophet, Malachi. Had any seeker for the Lord pushed his way through the crowd of 8,000-odd witnesses and entered an uptown church in Manhattan, last week, he would have found refreshments in the basement and cinemas on the roof and a trick pony which told fortunes with stamping hoof and twitching ear—all for a small admission fee that the public gladly paid. Such were the festivities that followed, last week, the breaking of the ground for the $4,000,000 Broadway Temple, organized by one Dr, Christian F. Reisner, who raised the money. The assembly marched to the uptown church where, after a prayer by a Baptist minister, a Scripture reading by a rabbi, a onetime U.S. District Attorney (Colonel William Hay ward) talked about money. Said he:

“Dr. Reisner is certainly a good business man. If he ever gets tired of the Temple, there’s many a good banking house would be glad to get him.” The cleric, thus referred to, smiled modestly. Then the police band struck up.