The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1893-01-31
4 sKfLLFUL READER.
A MAN WHO DOES A REMARKABLE
AMOUNT OF WORK IN A YEAR.

Dollars Week-He Tells Interesting
Facts Concerning Bibles
A most interesting illustration of the
capacity of the human brain is
found in the person of an employee of pub
fishing house in this city. His duties con-
sist of proofreading in 242 languages and
dialects.
At the Bible house ON Fourth avenue the
American Bible society employs as proof
reader Mr.. ]. Emery Mclean. He is ma
tive of Canada, nearly thirty years of age,
quite feet ? inches in stature, and has
been resident of New York about four
years. Aside from his trying task as proof
reader, he has found considerable time to
devote to literary work, which, during the
life of the late Count Norriakow, Russian
exile included the correct s'Englishing" of
the counts translations of Russian works,
and since the demise Of the nobleman, Mr..
Mclean has aided the Countess Ella Nor
Krakow to some extent in her labors.
Mr.. McLean's functions as proofreader
cover the final revision Of the proofs of the
Holy Scriptures as printed and circulated
by the society, the languages and dialects
(243 in number) that he handles being des-
ignated under these heads: British isles,
to 6; continent of Europe, to 6s; Asia 60
to 1863; the islands, 1853 to 1856; Africa, LEG to
2l7; American continent, 21s to 242. For
fact, in many cases the specimens of proofs
show the different alphabets or characters
which the people use The Turkish version,
for example, is prepared for Moslems in the
Arabic letter, but for Armenians an en-
tirely different form is needed, and for
Greeks yet another; thus, making due al
lowance for repetitions, the specimens (242)
actually represent about 2l3 languages and
dialects.
After taking into account the wonderful
versatility of brain necessary to cope with
the almost endless number of words and
characters in these languages, perhaps the
strongest features of his remarkable gift is
the fact that Mr.. Mclean is not linguist
does not converse in any language but
English, nor docs he understand any other,
his work being dono purely through his
power of embracing form at sight.
Take for illustration John iii, IS, Tor
God SO loved tho world that he gave his
only begotten son, that whosoever believeth
in him should not perish, but have ever
lasting life
This in Dutch reads, Want alzoo lief
heeft God de wereld Ehab, dat hi ziinen
eeniggcboren' zoon gegvcn hecft, optlgt cen
81
naar het eeuwige leven hebbe."
The Maori (New Zcaland) version is this:
Ma, kola ano te aroha to Atua ki te 40,
homai ana la tuna Tamaiti ko tahi, kia
kahore al e mate tie tangata whakarono
ann ki n Ia, eng&ri kia whiyhi al Hi te
oranga tonutanga."
The Mandiugo West Africa reads thus:
"katuko ALA ye dunya kaunu nyinuyma,
| an aiding wulukilering di, mensating mo
amo men lata ala, ate tinyala, barri asi
balu abadaring sotto."
In an interview relative to his labors Mr..
Mclean gave some very interesting facts.
Il find" said he, that the work tells
upon me severely and seriously at times.
! have experienced spells that almost verge
upon nervous prostratiOn from the effect Of
! continuous application TO proofreading,
and when | feel the spell coming on am
obliged to cease work entirely and rest.
No, do not understand any language but
the English. For instance, if am reading
q proof in kCordish or Arabic | read by
4 comparison--that is, ! have the original
before me and correct the errors in the
proof by form, and that entails the greatest
/ possible exhaustion. mention the Arabic
for tue reason that that is one of the most
trying forms of proof to read Look at this
page.
'lo an inexperienced eye it resembles an
intoxicated series of pothooks, shorthand
!, characters and fly specks The Georgian
as you see here, is full of crabs claws and
corkscrews Tho ancient and modern Ar
menian arc each a cross between the laZzlt
} dazzle and the tn-ra-ra boom-de-ay dances
The Stlnskrit resembles Mondays wash
. ing hung ON lines to dry-big clothes, LITTLE
; clothes, Pinaforcs, all kinds Of clothes. Sc
: does he Ppnjahi or Sikh, the Gon,ii Gen
trad India, the Mnrathi and several others
only each line appears to he burdeu.d Will
different styles of garments
How did you get into the way of sucl
complicated workin
| By years of solid practice. nm 20 nc
custoned to the forms of letters and char
acters that my eyes Instantly lead me Il
detect an error in a word or sentence. Tn,
. public Mt large have not the faintcst idea q
- the magnitude Of the manufacture of Bibles
} Take the American Rible society alone
; 1t was organized in New York in May, 1916
y by a convention of delegates from the Bib,
: societies in different parts of the country
: 1t had been preceded by ii large number 0
i local and independent organizations, til,
!. oldest Of which was that established il
i Philadelphia in 1905 Its work is beneyolcn
II
i English language which ii can circulate i
i that which has been commonly receive,
: since the year 16il.
"lpto date its total issues of Bibles, Ties
). taments and integral portions of the Scrip
a tures are over 5O,000.GDo copies, and III, q;
II penditures will reach nearly SIS, 900, eco Til
G American society acts in conjunction witt
Il the British ard Foreign Bible society so IA
as circulation is concerned The version Il
the English Bible now In common tisc wa
g first printed in l6ll III Il folio volume whicl
!. contains loo pages, each measuring SIX
: teen inches by eleven. If two pages wcr
Il printed ut one time and $50 impression
II We're taken in enc hour each press III ada
/. of ten honrs would Yield the equivalent q
i three Bibles, and tel, presses would be +,
|. quired fer n production Of 5000 Bibles
year,
In 1859 the Protestant missionaricswer
.. rent to Japan, and it took them tNent
IS years before their translation Of tie tiiti.
% New Testament was ready for circulation
N ! mention these facts. merely to ill1lSttitl
=, the labor that is necessarily involved IN III
: branch Of the work. y single error tfgG
,r my pait, ii allowed to Fts, WdRlli rcldl
II useless the complete edition, and III.
&c would Involve Il SaSt xHtGsc. liefics. va
d will readily understand tis;.t IA clear Lrti
- is positive Necessity. Eat mist SAY IT,
- | aln more than coIyintea tAHt my fiisfe
II worth something better th4a tweHt OF
re dollars per week. New Y9rl Sun.
ii, -. ,,,..
h The Sag Ifarknr train due mt Long ISLAM