Mecca Temple of Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of Mystic Shrine v. Darrock‪.‬

The debtor, Mecca Temple of the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, is an insolvent membership corporation of some 2,800 members, organized under the laws of the State of New York and having an executive office in New York City. Its assets include an interest in two pieces of real estate, the income from which in 1942 totalled $1,363, two cemetery plots, and bank deposits amounting to $9,597.74. Its annual income from dues is approximately $50,000, and it has small miscellaneous receipts of about $2,500, while its yearly disbursements run to some $10,000 for secretaries, plus around $2,000 for the publishing of a quarterly magazine and $2,500 for rent. The unsecured liability of the organization approximates in principal and interest $1,200,000, as the result of the issuance in 1922, at five per cent interest, of a series of bearer bonds, in principal amount of $763,000, in order to finance the erection of a new temple, later lost by foreclosure. No interest has been paid for ten years on these bonds, nor have any payments been made towards the principal amounts. The bonds, issued in denominations of $100, $500, and $1,000, were originally sold exclusively to members of the debtor and to other fraternal organizations to which Mecca Temple members also belonged, except for the sum of $20,200 principal amount to the architects of the proposed edifice. Through inheritance, assignment, and sale, however, the bonds have so changed hands that present holders are 1,834 in number, scattered throughout the country, and not necessarily all members of the debtor. Appellant is owner of $1,200 of bonds and is in no way connected with the Mecca Temple.