El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-05-20

printing New Testaments in the Que
Cl-ua. language TO distant Bue nos AyreS,
Many are familiar with the story o.
the Nez Perez indian chief VINO Jour
neyed. with two friends, from ldanO 20
St Louis i'm the winter 5t 1857 tr ash
the United states indian agent mere
for a Bible The agent knew little OF
religion and seemed 10 care less, or AZ
any rate failed To grasp The chieI
message. His two friends died ana
were buried there. and the chief r
turned to Idaho alone and without the
Bible The American Bible society and
its auNiliarieS later had part in BlDls
translation for the NeZ Perez indians,
and today two descendants of the men
Presbyterian elders and prominent In
Nez PIERCE affairs From the time the
New Testaments came to be read BY
the NeZ Perez indians down TO the emu
of the indian wars in 1850 or there
ahOuts. these people we're warm friends
of the government
The story Of Bible translation in the
Philippines Is a most fascinating one
to all who love development encOur-
aged by a liberal policy and permitted
by a free government Bible transla-
ton is at most slow, but the Philip
pines and their opening 10 Protestant
settlement and education have afford
ed to Bible translatOrs opportunity for
all Of the devotion that translation
has brought forth I'm any land. Since
1898 and admiral Dewey's victory all
of the translation work has mad TO be
done. II is difficult on its mechanical
side for there have not been print
ing offices in Manila capable Of hand
ling the work. Copy has had 70 be
sent all the way to mission presses IN
Japan. 1900 miles away, proofs re-
turned to be read. corrections made
and revised proofs submitted A slow
process indeed Recently the American
Baptist foreign mission society, with
headquarters in Boston, has estaD-
lished a mission press at Its headQuar-
Fe~ a
Will make use of il in its Bible work
Speaking the TagalOg are 100000
people, the Nlsayan S,OOO,OOU and the
other languages like the IlacanO, and
the Ibanag are 1000. 900 In the ViSay-
an no fewer than three dialects had TO
be recognized, and translatlOns OF the
Bible made for all These are the Ce-
bu. the Panay and the Samar. The Pa
nay version of the Nisayan has just
been completed
Centuries ago, in Bible translation, one
man did all of the work as the Wyck-
lift Bible. the Tyndall version, and 9TH
ers- Still, in some cases. Individual
tIanslatiOns are made The improve
ment is. however. in the direction OF
committees which have on them men
learned in different lines Some years
ago, when Turkish translation was be-
ing made in COnStantinOple, two No
hammedan scholars Of note were mem
beTs of the committee. They did not
or necessity accept the Christians gOs-
pei and fOrsake MahOmet, but they did
help to change the New Testament. or
some parts of IL, from one language TO
another, and to get it into that other
in such shape that the people might
understand il as IT IS, and not some
ether way.
TRANSACTIONS are usually made, not
from the English Bible into the other
languages. but from rhe original Greek
and Hebrew. the English and other
translatiOns being used as helps Often
20 to 40 years have been required to
make famous translatiOns. In one case
a man had worked 10 years and had
crossed several seas to get plates cast
The snip was lost that carried the re-
turning plates. and all of the transla-
ton and casting had TO be done over
again There are few more heroic stO-
ries in the world than those of Bible
translatOrs, and these deeds Of hero
ism and patience are going on now as
ever. The Philippines, the awaken
ing in Turkey and Persia, the later
opening of China the Panama canal. all
thes furnish field and motive for new
work Never were greater demands
made upon Or wider opportunities be
fore the Bible societies.