Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 23.djvu/155



"History of the Hawaiian Mission Press" as described in a manuscript, "Memorandum of Printing/'preserved in the archives of the Hawaiian Board at Oahu, in two different cases four-page books were arranged to be printed on the same demy sheet with an eight-page book when obliged to use demy paper for that purpose, the six-page form of the two combined books easily exceed- ing the limits of the Oregon press.

Finally, as mentioned, we have the explicit statements already quoted from Messrs. Hall, Chamberlain and Bingham, respectively:

"The press designed to be taken is only a small, hand, card press, which was a donation to the mission and came out with us in the Hellespont."

"We shall send **** a card press, being the one which was sent to this mission some years ago, and for which we have had no use."

"The press was a small Hand press presented to this mission but not in use."

The final history of the press is thus related by Dr. Myron Eells in his book, Marcus Whitman:

"Lapwai remained the home of the press until 1846, and during that time, as near as can now be learned, there were printed an elementary book of twenty pages, another of fifty- two pages of 800 copies, another in 1840 of eight pages, some simple laws adopted through the influence of Dr. E. White, U. S. Sub. Indian Agent, in 1843, a small Nez Perces and English vocabulary, a hymn book, 1842, and a translation of Matthew^ All of these were in Nez Perces language. Dr. Whitman was ap- pointed by the mission to prepare the one of 800 copies, but he was so busy professionally and felt that Messrs. Smith and Rogers were so much better qualified in the language that he employed them to prepare it. The rest were prepared, as far as can be learned, by Mr. Spalding. In 1842 one of sixteen pages in the Spokane language was printed. This was prepared by Messrs. Walker and Eells, chiefly by the former, who may prop- erly hence be called the pioneer book writer of the State of Washington, as Mr. Spalding was of Idaho. Mr. Hall remained in the country until 1840, when he returned