The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1906-07-18

niece ties RpcletelleFs oii aIssl
AZ the hea N the tsonss Ts,sf:
chants III Bet llas
l3Been felt most eagii ia rae itiited
States; for Il is mere. clfief Through
the clearfns houses Of aIaisien lane,
that oyer half Of the ygllnls diamond
output Of the world IA sol5 he gem
merchants of Maiden 1lans haze IRE;
quent1y said that sIllee aett became
the permanent head of the world 'ss tiia-
mond industry, directos u the Uni
fed Concessions and of the British
South African Company ana life gov
ernor Of the powerful De neer Con
solidated Mines the prices Of fIta-
mohds have advanced by leaps ma
totnds. often as much as and "
per cent. in a month. in the past
six years prices have advanced ] SO
per cent. so that a necklace which
could have been bought in 1920 for
the trifitng sum of $4,000 will now
cost you $250,o00 For this ADVANCE
Belt was held to be Responsible
Compared With Rocketeller.
A writer who some tine AGO de-
clared Belt to be the richest man IN
the whole world discussed the cues
tIon as to whether Rockefeller IL he
had to couyeH his wealth into cash
or collateral could do 1t as effectively
as Alfred Belt. He ar5nnd that in
such a contest Belt would have the
advantage for diamonds and diamond
mines look more like ''ready money"
than railroads and oil fields. Roeke-
Teller, Of course, could, by turning his
hand, add immeasurabty to his for-
tune by increasing the price Of Oh one
cent gallon; but, on the other hand.
SO could Belt, by pushing up the cost
OF diamonds a shilling or SO karat.
Rockefeller's wealth is the result.
primarily, of his having what the
world must have-otl and It's by prod
ucts. Belt, on the other hand, tioait
only in luxurles. But there are enough
people who must have these luxurtes
to make them practically necessity
1t was precisely his ability to do
this that made him a power in the
money world. He controlled the three
great cones or mines. in Kimberley,
whence all the diamonds Of the werld
come. Two of these are being colt-
stantly worked, and their precious
output stored away to be marketed
when necessary. The third, the rich
est mine of all, it is believed, has
never been touched, and the wealth
1t may contain cannot even be estImat-
ed.
First Trip to. Africa.
About 40 years ago the first dia
n1ond was picked up in South Africa
and there was great rush to the
country from Germany, as well as
from England. A brisk trade spranE
up and large orders for store and ina
chinery OF; all kinds reached the
Hamburg merchants. One of tho
firms affected by this sudden growth
of commerce was the shipping firm
ito which young Belt belonged. and as
at that time the prospect in South
Africa was not a certain one. and
credit orders were risky, crash be-
ing possible at any moment, the hfn4
decided to send out a representative
to investigate and report. Belt was
young, but he had established him
self SO we'll in the good graces Of the
heads of the business that he was
chosen for the task, and set sail for
Cape Town.
Going to Africa in those days was
not such an easy thing as It is to.
day Not an inch of the 1000 miles
of railway now in use had been laid,
and the only way of travelling ia At
RIGA was by bullock team. In this wa2
Mr.. Belt journeyed some 800 or 400
miles, from Cape Town to Kimberly,
where he found city of madmen.
Gold-seekers from every part OF the
civilized world were there, attracted
by the stories of fortunes made By
a stroke of the pick. There was no
order. no system, no laws, notmethod
either in business or. government;
competition had brought many of the
mines to the verge of ruin; there
were enormous losses from thefts,
against which there was no remedy;,
illicit diamond buying was carried
on on huge scale, and general chaos
prevailed.
It was the young Germans great
opportunity, and he was not slow to
seize it. His years Of training in the
Hamburg shipping office had not been
wasted. He was a man of orderly
business methods, and he quickly real
ICED that not all the wealth Of the
mines would save Kimberly from ruin
unless order took the place Of chaos
and the industry was placed on prop.
er commercial basis. Forgetting the
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