BELMONT 480 BELTJCHISTAW miles from Arbroath, nearly opposite the mouth of the river Tay, The lighthouse was erected in 1808-1811 by Robert Stevenson from Rennie's plan at a cost of upward of £60,000. It arises to a height of 120 feet; has a revolving light showing alternately red and white every minute, and visible for upward of 15 miles. It also contains two bells which are rung during thick weather. BELMONT, AUGUST, an American banker, born in Alzey, Germany; edu- cated at Frankfort, and was apprenticed to the Rothschild's banking house there. In 1837 he went to Havana to take charge of the firm's interests, and after- ward represented them in New York, where he established a banking house. He was Consul-General of Austria in 1844-1850; became Charge d'Affaires at The Hague in 1853; and was Minister- Resident there in 1854-1858. He was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1860, and became Chair- man of the National Democratic Com- mittee;, "an office he held till 1872. He died in New York City, Nov. 24, 1890. BELMONT, AUGUST, an American banker, born in New York City, Feb. 18, 1853; son of the preceding. He was graduated at Harvard University in 1875; at once entered his father's bank- ing house, and on the death of his father became head of the firm of August Bel- mont & Co. In February, 1900, he or- ganized the Rapid Transit Subway Con- struction Company to back John B. Mc- Donald, who had been awarded the $35,- 000,000 contract for the construction of a rapid transit system in New York City. He was president of the National Civic Federation (1905-1906) ; chairman Inter- borough Consolidated Corporation and Interborough Subway Construction Co. (1911) ; and a director in numerous other companies. He has taken an active interest in politics on the Democratic side, acting at times as treasurer of the National Committee. He was chairman of the Jockey Club and one of the most active and prominent supporters of horse racing and breeding in the United States. In 1910 he married Eleanor Robson, a well-known Anglo-American actress. BELMONT, PIRRY, an American lawyer, born in New York, Dee. 28, 1851; son of August Belmont; graduated at Harvard University in 1872, and at Co- lumbia College Law School in 1876; was admitted to the bar and practiced in New York till 1881, when he was elected as a Democrat to Congress, and served till 1887, being a member of the Com- mittee on Foreign Affairs. In 1885 he was appointed Chairman of the Con»- mittee on Foreign Affairs, and in 1888 United States Minister to Spain. In 1889 he was a Commissioner to the Universal Exposition in Paris. He was one of the principals in the execution of the great contract for the construction of a rapid transit system in New York City, February, 1900, Captain U. S. Re- serves 1917, member Advisory Board American Defense Society, Commander Legion of Honor, France, etc. BELOIT, city in Rock cc, Wis.; on the Rock river, and the Chicago and Northwestern, and the Chicago, Milwau- kee and St. Paul railroads; 85 miles S. W. of Milwaukee. The city derives fine power for manufacturing from the river; and has one of the largest wood- working machinery plants in the world, besides manufactories of gas engine^, windmills, iron, paper-mill machinery, ploughs, paper, rye flour, and bicycles. The city is widely known as the seat of Beloit College. Pop. (1910) 15,125; (1920) 21,284. BELOIT COLLEGE, a coeducational (non-sectarian) institution in Beloit, Wis.; organized in 1847 by the Congre- gational and Presbyterian Churches; re- ported at the end of 1919: Professors and instructors, 37; students, 300; vol- umes in the library, 50,000; number of graduates, 1,592; president, M. A. Bran- non, Ph. D. BELSHAZZAR, the last of the Baby- lonian kings, who reigned conjointly with his father, Nabonadius. He per- ished 538 B. c, during the successful storming of Babylon by Cyrus. This event is recorded in the book of Daniel; but it is difficult to bring the particulars there given into harmony with the cunei- form inscriptions. BELT, in astronomy, a varjring number of dusky, belt-like bands or zones encirc- ling the planet Jupiter parallel to his equator, as if the clouds of his atmos- phere had been forced into a series of parallels through the rapidity of his ro- tation, and the dark body of the planet was seen through the comparatively clear spaces between. In physical geography, two passages or straits connecting the Baltic with the German Ocean, viz.: (a) the Great Belt, between the islands of Seeland and Laland on the N. and Fiihnen and Langeland, on the W. (b) The Little Belt, between the mainland of Denmark on the W., and the island of Fiihnen on the E. BELUCHISTAN. See BALUCHISTAN.
