BELL-SMITH 



682 



BELT 



and lower board, air is first drawn into the 

 under compartment, then into the upper and 

 then forcibly expelled through a nozzle facing 

 the forge. The advantage of two compart- 



HAND BELLOWS 



ments is a continuous current of air, but small 

 bellows, consisting of one chamber, with a valve 

 at the bottom and a nozzle through which the 

 air is expelled by pressure, are operated by 

 hand to quicken the burning of fires in open 

 hearths and grates. See BLOWING MACHINE 



BELL-SMITH, FREDERICK MARLETT (1846- 

 ), a Canadian painter, equally successful 

 in portraits and landscapes. Among his prin- 

 cipal paintings are Queen Victoria's Tribute to 

 Canada, for which Her Majesty gave personal 

 sittings, Landing oj the Blenheim, in the 

 national collection at Ottawa, and Lights of a 

 City, in the Ontario collection at Toronto. For 

 many years he has made annual visits to the 

 Rocky Mountains, and his sketches of moun- 

 tain scenery are among his best work. Though 

 born and educated in London, England, he 

 made his home in Canada after 1867, when he 

 settled at London, Ont. He was for seven 

 years teacher of drawing in the schools of that 

 city, and then from 1889 to 1891 was director 

 of the Toronto Art School. For thirty years 

 he was also director of fine arts at Alma Col- 

 lege, Saint Thomas, Ont. Bell-Smith was a 

 charter member (1867) of the Society of Cana- 

 dian Artists, and in 1886 became an associate 

 of the Royal Canadian Academy of Artists. 



BELMONT, the name of a family of Amer- 

 ican financiers, two of whose members, father 

 and son, achieved distinction in national life. 



August Belmont (1816-1890) was born in 

 Germany and was sent to the United States in 

 1837 as representative of the banking house of 

 the Rothschilds. He was Austria's consul- 

 general at New York from 1844 to 1850 and in 

 1854 he became American minister to Holland. 

 In addition to a business career which would 

 usually demand all of one's time, he took an 

 active interest in politics, being chairman of 

 the national Democratic committee for twelve 

 years, and he was also an eager sportsman and 

 a collector of paintings. 



August Belmont (1853- ), son of the 

 above, also became a prominent capitalist, ris- 

 ing to posts of officer and director in many 

 large railway, banking and manufacturing cor- 

 porations, including the consolidated traction 

 lines of New York City. Like his father, he 

 became interested in Democratic politics. In 

 1910 he married Eleanor Robson, a leading 

 actress. 



BELOIT, beloit', Wis., a manufacturing 

 center in Rock County, situated on the Rock 

 River, close to the southern state line, about 

 midway between the eastern and western state 

 borders. Chicago is ninety miles southeast. 

 Railway transportation is provided by the 

 Chicago, Milwaukee & Saint Paul and the Chi- 

 cago & North Western railways; an electric 

 line is in operation to Janesville. Beloit was 

 settled in 1824 and was chartered as a city in 

 1856. The population increased from 15,125 in 

 1910 to 17,122 in 1914. The area is less than 

 five square miles. 



The city occupies both banks of the river, 

 at the point where it receives the waters of 

 Turtle Creek. In its territory it is noted as 

 the seat of Beloit College (Congregational), 

 founded in 1846. Abundant water power is 

 derived from the river for manufactures, the 

 largest plants being engaged in making wind- 

 mills, gasoline engines, paper and paper-mill 

 machinery and scales. It has one of the largest 

 wood-working plants and the oldest rye-flour 

 mill in the United States. 



BELSHAZZAR, belshaz'ar, the king of 

 Babylon who saw the "handwriting on the wall" 

 which was interpreted by the prophet Daniel 

 (Dan. V). Belshazzar was the last of the 

 Babylonian kings, and he reigned with his 

 father Nabonidus. He was killed in the storm- 

 ing of Babylon by Cyrus, according to the 

 account in Daniel, on the night in which he 

 saw the writing on the wall. 



The following stanza contains the opening 

 lines from a favorite song of Sunday school 

 children, which graphically describes this epi- 

 sode: 

 At the feast of Balshazzar and a thousand of his 



lords, 

 As they drank from golden vessels, as the Book 



of Truth records, 

 In the night, as they reveled In the royal palace 



hall, 



They were seized with consternation 

 'Twas the hand upon the wall. 



BELT or BELTING, a flexible leather or 

 rubber band, or like material, passing around 

 wheels, pulleys or drums for the purpose of 



