The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-08-09
Prenare for Centennial

Prepa rations for the celebration Of the centennial of the American Bible society start in earnest with the departure or lone of the society's secretaries, the Rev. Dr. William I. Haven, at the middle of August on a tour of the world. During | this tour Dr. Haven will confer about | forms of the celebration, since it Is to be. like the societys Bible work as wide as the world. The date of the celebration | fails in the winter and spring of lsl6 | Nearly all religious bodies will take at I least some notice of the celebration, 1t | is expected and the Protestant bodies of America and all mission fields will join | in formal observances and invite into | their conventions of that year representa- tives of the society to rejoice with them over 100 years of wonderful Bible trans lation and distribution. Richmond, At | lanta, Birmingham, New Orleansfi Dallas 1 St. Louis, Chicago Denver. San Fran l cisco, Portland, Seattle. Minneapolis. De- 1 troit, Pittsburg Philadelphia. Washing l ton, Baltimore, New York and Boston of American cities are to have largest cele- brations, 1t Is anticipated.
 l Abroad the celebrations are taking place | in Picking, Shanghai, Canton and principal cities of China. in Tokyo and Yokohama | in Japan, Manila, Bangkok, Constanti- I nople, Cairo Seoul in Corea, Mexico, Ha- vana, Panama, Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Santiago, Lima and principal cities | in South America Especially will the mission fields, even India and South Sea l islands have part in rejoicing.
 It is expected that features of the cele- bration in New York and perhaps other cities will be tributes to the society from peoples once in heather darkness. setting {! forth what Bibles in tongues understanded | by the people have done for them. These | tributes will take many forms, it is ex- pected, and come from many out of the | ..E 4l.2 ,rfh DA1f Ion e education as represented in Christian col feges and seminaries. Sunday schools as l fostered by international and other asso- ciations missions in many forms and from | a score of societies, rulers of republics and kingdoms will unite in their tributes. In the field of book making and publish ing no human endeavor for a moment equals Bible distribution. In regular com lmercial trade Bible making and selling run into the millions of dollars a year, but apart from trade for profit there are two great missionary agencies, called Bible societies, and many secondary and minor ones. The oldest and largest so- l ciety is the British and foreign of Lon don, but to America S credit the American | Bible society, in point of age and achieve l ments, is close competitor. The society 1 came into existence as part of that mis- l sionary and religious wave. whose force | is yet far from spent, which drove into action the American board ana nttle later other great Christian agencies whose 1 achievements are at once the honor of | America and of all Americans.
 l The great services which Bible societies render to organized Christian work is l translation of the text in languages and | dialects in great numbers, and the pro- viding of copies at moderate cost for use of Christian workers, and to Christian 1 people as individuals and to millions not 1 Christians the putting into their hands of | Bibles and parts of Bibles in languages l they understand and at nominal cost. l Agencies in many great cities of the l world, and about 800 men and women. l the largest number of them who are col i, porters missionaries. eyangelists and not | infrequently martyrs in all senses save life itself, secure enormous circulatiohs
 of the Bible; circulations that are far be- yond those of other books.
 Another part of the Rev. Dr. Haven s tour about to be entered upon. is coun- sel and encouragement from the society itself to the Bible distributors in many
 lands. Business methods of handling Bi-
 bles will be gone over, for today Bible
 and missionary societies, churches and
 colleges are employing the same eff
 ciency methods that are going in such numbers and ways Into industrial sani- tary and commercial affairs.