Daily Davenport Democrat. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1864-1874, 1867-01-26
HOW BIBLES ARE MADE.
Description orthc Bible House II
zsfor Hslrce.

M immense brick e9lic- known IS the
iihle House, a. Aster Place, IN til CITY,
s'anis by Itself On al open square, bounded
10y lir1 ani Fourth avenues, and / rath
and y nth streets. containing sbau. tIree-
quariers Of an acre. ani having efeam-
ference of over 700 let m ta'laing Is
- stories d h, built u hfltk, - 'fee>
s'cre GAPING ana fiosn l., maenltude, adj
m. raj Il proportion, Ga re. neat, and ap-
ft,-nri +, rrt-4 always commands atten-
4ion. Thus vast establishment is devoted to
the manufacture OF one b ,ok-the Bible -
For those who have the time to examine
into the details OF this extensive Bible
mandatory, going over the house from
top to bottom, il will be found il is one Of
the most interesting places to visit in this
city.
No longer than l777, tho Congress Of
the United States, recommended that the
Government take immediate steps TO i'm
port 20,0O0 copies Of the Bible from Ho.
and, Scotland or elsewhere; for on the
breaking out of the Revolutionary var,
all British publications were kept cut OF
the country, and . great scarcity began to
be felt In less than one hundred years,
\ how vas, the change The Bible Society
printed the past year at IFS own expense,
! ,lls,25y volumes Of Bibles, Testament
and Psalms. Aud instead Of being obliged
70 SIND to Engand for a supply, that coun>
ny is now sending 10 New York for plates
10 print the Bible, which she cannot obtain
within her own borders. II may also DO
said with truth that the whole world look :
10 NeS York for lis supply Of . bes, and
4 "A
thi, vast establishment. although crowded
to its utmost, Is unable TO meet the demand.
liibcs arc pr.nted ., this house in fifty dit
fcrent languages aud dialects, at oil prices,
ranging from twenty five cents up TO 81
many dollars. Besides the vast number OF
English Bibles which are printed, tho prin-
cipal languages are German, French, Span
ish, Welsh. Irish. Chinese. Russian, Portu>
ecsr, Danish, Swedish. Italian, Arabic,
Syriac, Hun urian. bohemian. Polish.
Greek. Latin. hebrew, Dutch, Gaelic, Fin
nish, African, Sandwich Islands. Indian,
Armenian, Airaaack, besides a Bible for
the blind.
This formidable list OF languages gives
but an imperfect idea Of the vast number Of
different books and editions which are &C
sually priatcd Under the head Of Indian
| languages, for example, there is the Chero-
kce, Choctsw, OJlbwa, Mohawk and Della
wares, so that tho total number Of different
Bibles issued is 2G2
| This Bible House is the great central or
gsnization for the printing and supplying Of
Bibles, no less than four thousand other or
gnnixa,ions, in this country alone. locking
To il as the head. As may be surmised, IL
| J.. ma. vust t,va If sost,,ss,v sx~.,,. C,,r h.,
pred people being at tho present time en-
poyed to keep the establishment in full
working order. The working force in th,
Bible House is divided into two depart
mcnts, the executive, ond the manuiactur
Ing.
In the first Of these, ffteer persons ar,
employed, in the last of them, comprising
all the departments Of the engineer, dcposi
tory. and those Of printing. elcctrotyping
proof rcating and binding, there are thre.
hundred aud SIXTY eight, making a total o
three hundred aud eighty three. All hi,
Tor the manufacture of Bibles Il NAV l..
interesting to know that with this force til,
..n,ise is able IL Turn out ABOUT thlrtvsfis,
hundred each da,.
cpin.. iuto tho ,neinc room, we find {.
cneiHc 10 be n ipity horse power steam en-
sEH. tarn trfc isa five itrss power sqpsri
ic'"r anu dsna,y eas.ne. Their, a,
nte ~ N4.!,r loAess, fort, Let long Ar
t1r,r iett ~ d alnetef, as i \ I. .e, ilee TOM
Il cnll p.r ia, 1, + Ell ths,n. - a..
,ni,cs al steam pi,c in tie house
Ia ,.ll ipr Bib cs Is 30 greet tlat the &
taAi sNtntni has hatlt3AiitAeue, Adam
c.lhiatd platform power pre . :, i nep
it. If,S,lr,m c,l,tus iccttv ii the
pau4u IA con iieances ~ continual opera
ia. Thus TIL society is able 10 prn' be
tween iaur and five thousand copies d h
Scriptures during every workine DAY in IL
, ear. The Great demand for Blhl,s n, IL
present time Is III the South.
Ia the printing Il .paItnen. there arc six
,y tive men aud girls employed The eam
po>ing.room is large. ana here type in n
lncuagcs may lie seen. with men at worl
upon Hebrew. Indian or Arabic. Tn, srea
work which the Bible House isnoy en.a g,
upon IS the Arabic Scriptures. Some lie
of the vast amount of labor employed upo
Il may be inferred when we earn that ii.
TYNE from winch tie book Is TO bc printed
had to tie manufactured in tins h ,uso n
Is pe founder IN New York or the Unite
safe, would und rtake so costly and deli
catcai ID ~ the casting OF fut ol Ara5.
t,pc
In al T. rope il could rot 10 ob,aine
and wh,n die American B.ble Society ha
finished a set of eieetro;ypc plates OF tn
Asiauc ) riptu,os. the Brat Ia Bible Soeiet,
w,i puichsse a sci, and ono viii he sent |,
SYRIA. Oae hundred and twenty millions Il
human bc:nr - speak aud read this Language
For ov,ra,car aai half the work uuo
this Bible has been in progress. ami il i
couGdeatiy expected that by next .July
viii be compile cd-a splendid triumph d
American genius. bcnevocnos. ski, and in
du,ttv.
Ths estimated COS, Of four is Of pla,e
r the whole Arabic Bible is not less TIA,
$4,000. The work OF translation was be
sun n ls.7 and was no, finished until ,u
gust, 1864. Then all the steel punche.
natt ices, types and elcctro,ype plates la,
20 be made ut the Bill, House. and the frs
pate was not ready To he slectrotyped unit
| March 1850 t,o,puoS;tors lad ~ y. i,