Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1908-11-10
Mistrllaneuu5 &raaing.
BIBLES NOW IN 500 LANGUAGES
More Sold Than Ever, Despite Growing
Disbelief.

Disbelief.
Despite the fact, which officers Of the
American Bible Society freely acknowl-
edge, that the reading of the Bible has
much decreased among native born
Americans, more Bibles are sold and
read and more money is given for the
work of the society than when every
body believed the Bible literally.
| Last New Years Mrs. Russell Sage Of
fered the society 100000 if it could
raise an equal sum during the calendar
year. The money IS rolling in, and the
society sees the million in hand by
January l. The day after Mrs. Sages
| offer was made public a New York
business man called up the office and
said:
You can put me down for $4,000
IL you won't give me my name"
A couple Of years ago another New
York business man entered the office
and said Il believe in the Bible. /
am also very much interested in the
Mohammedan races. l will give you
piece Of property If you will dedicate
it to the end of time to the circulation
| of the Bible among the Mohammedan
races" The offer was accepted and the
property, a New York office building
worth 100000, was turned over to the
society.
| The distribution of the Bible to the
inhabitants Of the earth's surface is
practically work of the last century
only. At the beginning Of the nineteenth
century the Bible existed in only fifty
languages. Today in round numbers
it exists in 500. The Bible went into
more languages during the nineteenth
century than in the eighteen previous
centuries.
in the papers to the effect that the
American Bible society had completed
the publication of the Bible in Cham
orrO, the chief language Of the Island
Of Guam. Thus the natives got their
first printed book, their first alphabet
a written language and a literature all
in one.
All over the world men are doing
languages have been supplied with an
alphabet and a written form by the
| translators Of the Bible.
Last year, for instance the society
| T,lo
Few persons would know where to find
Pleasant Island on the map. 1t is a
mere dot in the Pacific, 800 miles south
Of the Caroline Islands, with a popu-
lation of 1900; the sort Of island one
reads about in ship wreck stories.
| For ten years one lone missionary
and his wife have been living there. He
learned the language by ear and then
set it on paper phonetically. Then he
translated the 4Sew Testament into it
| Then he begged and entreateG the BIZ
bIe society to publish the Bible. The
society replied: I'VE can't afford to
publish the Bible in language spoken
by only $500 people"
Then the tribe pledged itself to pay
for the work if it could have time. So
the society sent the missionary print
ing press and he and his native helpers
set up and printed the work. Then he
sent it to San Francisco, the society
paid for binding it, and one more little
South Sea Island has a written Ian
guage and literature.
Philologists Of the future will study
extinct languages by means of these
Bibles. Already it is said that Name
Matteo de Turner's version Of the Cos
pels in Quichuea is the only key to the
language Of the Incas.
| Americans have translated the BIZ
BILE or portions OF it into thirty Euro
pean tongues, forty-three Asiatic, elev-
en- African, nine Oceanic and twelve
American. American women have
made translations into fifteen Ian
guages, the names of which are un-
known to the educated public.
In many cases the Bible is all that
will preserve native American Ian
guage from extinction. Only last
year the society published the foul
Gospels in the Winnebago tongue
There are only 1000 Winnebagos left
| Their children are all learning to read
English. In another generation the
tribe will be extinct or assimilated
But some one offered to pay for the
work for the sake of a few old Indians
who would never learn to read Eng
lish, and it was done.
Two copies of the Gospels in the
Seneca language were sold within the
past year, one in Arapahoe, four in Da-
kota, fourteen in Muskogee, twenty-five
in Ojibway, one hundred and orty-siS
in Cherokee and two hundred and for
ty-two in Choctaw.
Down in Oklahoma the rich Indians
the Cherokees and Choctaws, take a
racial pride in preserving their Ian
guage from Oblivion through the use OF
it in their church life. Although most
of the adults read English now, they
prefer to use the Bibles in their tribal
tongues and only a few weeks ago a
letter reached the Bible house asking
if new edition Of the Cherokee hymn
book could not be got out uniform with
the Bible.
| A notable instance Of this tribal
pride came within the past year in an
order to print the Creek Bible, the ex-
penses to be paid by the Creek In
dians of Oklahoma and some Of their
white neighbors. Mrs. A. F. w. Rob
ertson. Congregational missionary
made a version Of the Scriptures in the
Creek or Muskogee language, the la
Dor Of many years. The order came
to publish it after her death.
The board wrote, why do you &c
to such an expense as this when your
children all read English? 1t is fool
ish" The reply came back, I'VE want
it as monument to Mrs. Robertson
and the Creek language"
One year after its organization, in
1877. the society began the translation
of the Gospels into the Delaware and