The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1893-01-11
READS 242 LANGUAGES.
The Peculiar Wolk Of Bible Proof Reader
Who is Not a Linguist.
from the New York Sun.

ti4SSI ihkSkSShiHS @tANSS<~SANA ~ SAAS
marvellous capacity of the human
brain is found in the person of an
employe of a publishing house in this
city. His duties consist of proof read
ing in 242 languages and dialects.
At the Bible House on Fourth avenue
the American Bible Society employs as
proof reader Mr.. J. Emery Mclean.
He is a native of Canada, nearly sc
years Of age, quite s feet 2 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 n Norriakow, Russian
exile, included the correct English
ing" of the Counts translations of Rus
sian works, and since the demise of the
nobleman, Mr.. Mclean has aided the
Countess Ella Norriakow to some
extent in her labors.
Mr. McLean's functions as a proof
reader cover the final revision of the
proofs of the Holy Scriptures as printed
and circulated by the society, the
languages and dialects (242 in nvmber)
that he handles being designated
under these heads: British Isles, ! to 6:
Continent of Europe, Z to IS; Asia;
SO to l62; the Islands, 1S3 to 1856; Africa
1856 to 217; American continent, 2l8 to
242. For fact, in many cases the
specimens of proofs show the different
alphabets or characters which the peo-
pie use. The Turkish version, for
example, is prepared for Moslems in
the Arabic letter, but for Armenians an
entirely different form is needed, and
for Greeks yet another; thus making
due allowance for repetitions, the speci-
mems (2+2) actually represent about
2l3 languages and dialects.
After taking into account the wonder
fal versatility of brain necessary to
cope with almost endless number OF
words and characters in these Ian
guages, perhaps the strangest feature
of his remarkable gift is the fact that
Mr. Mclean is not a lihguist-does not
converse in any language, but English,
NOR does he understand any other, his
work being done purely through bis
power Of embracing form at sight.
Take, for Illustration, John III, 16
'.For God so loved the world, that He
gave his only begotton Son, that
whosoever belieyeth in Him should
not perish, but have everlasting life
This in Dutch. reads: "Want alzoo
lief heeft God de wereld ghab, dat hij
zjnen eeniggeboren' zoon gegven
heeft, opdat cen iegelijk, die in hem
gelooft, MET verderve, naar het eeuwige
leven hebbe." ~
The Maori (New Zealand) version is
this; "Na, kola ano to aroha te Atua
XII te 40, homai ana ia tana Tamaitl
ko tahi, kia kahore al mate te tangata
whakapono ana ki ia, engari kla
whiwhieai XII te oranga tonutanga."
The Mandingo West Africa reads
thus: "Katuko ALA ye dunya kannu
pyinuyma, an aiding wulukilering di.
mensating mo-amo men late ala, ate
tinyala, barri asi balu abadaring
sotto."
This is Muskokee North American
Indian); "Hasaketomese ekouy vno'
kece mahet ameko, Eppuce homkuse
heehucote emotes, mon estimot Oh
okosamat estemerkekot, nomis kesa'
keto yuksosekon oeoren.',,
In addition there are scores o.
specimens made up OF characters Of let
tiers peculiar to the Burman, the Bghai'
karen, the Pwo-karen: the Tibetan, the
Peguese, the Chinese, the Gujerati, &C.,
and, most difficult of all to read by form
at sight, the Murathi (Modi) and the
Tulu (west of the Mysere).
In an interview relative to his labors
Mr.. Mclean gave some very interesting
facts. .
81 fud,n said he, "that the work tell,
upon ME eseverely and seriously at times
I have experienced spells that almost
verge upon nervous prostration from
the effect Of continuous application to
proof reading, and when Ifeel the spell
coming on am obliged to cease work
entirely and rest. No, I do not under
stand any language but the English.
For instance, if am reading a proofin
Koordish or Arabic, I read by compar-
ison-that is, I have the original before
me, and correct the errors in the proof
by form, and that entails the greatest
possible exhaustion: I mention the
ATaplC ZOE LuS ISoSOu tude tiAC ID oAS VI
the most trying forms of proof to read.
Look at this page. To an inexperienced
eve it resem bles an intoxicated series OF
pothooks, shorthand characters, and fly
specks. The Georgian, as you see here,
is full Of crabs claws and corkscrews;
the ancient and modern Armenian are
each cross between the razzle-dazzle
aud the ta-ra-ra boom-de-ay dances.
The Sanskrit resembles a Mondays
washing hung on lines to dry-big
clothes, little clothes, pinafores, all
kinds of clothes; so does the Punjabi or
Sikh, the Gondi Central India), the
Marathi, and several others, only each
line appears to be burdened with differ
ent styles of garments. The Siamese
makes my head swim until I can hear
the rafters knocking one another, and
the Burman looks like row upon row of
o's and c's coming in at a. m., after a
rapid night out with the boys. The
Chinese, japanese, and Calmuc or Wes-