Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-08-30
THE BIBLE IN ARABIC
Completion of DR.. F. E. HoSkinS'
Long Task.
SMALL EDITION PRINTED
Trying to Raise Funds for Stereotyp-
ing the Pages.
nYrpT0JTS nIcEASE 0E NERVES
CURIOUS DISEASE OF NERVES
Remarkable Feats of a Portrait
Painter-The Old and the New Way
of Wooing-A Thrifty Autoist.
BY WILLIAM f. CURTIS.
Special Correspondence OF The and the Chicago
Record Herald.

Record Herald.
RUTLAND, VT. August a. 1907.
Rev. Franklin E. Hoskins, superintendent
OF the American printing office at Beirut,
Syria. and one of the most influential and
useful missionaries in the Presbyterian
Church. has recently completed the type
setting for a reference Bible in the Arabic
language. The first edition was printed from
type in the Presbyterian missionary printing
Office at Beirut about twenty years ago,
when the Rev. DIR. Van Dyke gave more
thar three years of uninterrupted labor and
care to the editing and proofreading, and
the book has been the source of illumination
to the world Unfortunately no stereotyped
plates were made OF the pages of the origt-
nal edition. The type was all distributed
and now that the edition Is entirely ex-
hausted and a new one Is necessary every
page has had to be reset and Mr.. Hoskins
has spent nearly three years IN directing
the work and reading the proofs, just as DR..
Van Dyke did. The difficulties of this work
cannot be thoroughly appreciated by those
who are not familiar with the intricacies of a
language which does not possess alpha
bet: for, like the Chinese and Japanese,
zach word In Arabic is represented by q
sign and more than 5000 different signs
distinct pieces of type-have been necs sSary
In the composition. while similar reference
Bible in English ought not to require more
An edition of 5000 copies has been printed
from the type on the press at Beirut and
the pages are now being bound in that we'll
equipped and admirably conducted estab-
Hshment. But II will cost at least $4,000
to make a set of electro plates for future
editions that the labor of setting the
type and correcting the proofs will not have
to be undertaken again, and the duplicates
OF the plates can be made at any time that
they may be needed in the future.
Mr.. Hosktns has been spending the last
eleven months in the United States on
furlough, and sails for his post by the
Atlantic transport steamer Minneapolis
Will be care of the Presbyterian Board of
Foreign Missions, 100 9Th avenue. New
York city. Although he Is supposed the
oyettcally to be taking vacation and rest
he has travelled over 1000 miles since last
December and has delivered 10 sermons
and thirty Height lectures In twenty different
states and in Canada in response to the
demands of the people to know what Is
going on In Syria. He is very interest
ing speaker. a profound scholar, a man of
practical ideas and keen sense of humor.
which brightens his public addresses and
writings. In collaboration with Prof. Libby
OF Princeton, he recently published
a graphic description of their joint explora-
ton of the Sinaitic peninsula and their
Investigation of the trail of the children
OF Israel through the wilderness. 1t Is
one of the most charming books 1 have
ever read.
Before he returns to Syria Mr.. Hoskins
wants to raise money enough to pay for
the stereotyped plates of the new Bible.
the sl2,OO0 needed. The amount needed
Is so small in comparison with the i'm
portance of the work that he ought to
have no difficulty.