The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1906-05-18
Is This Bachelor Richer
Than John D. Rockefeller?

the Sh1pptn firm to Which young Be1t.
belonged, and as at that time the pros
one, and credit orders were risky. q
crash being possible at any moment,
the firm decided to send out q repre-
sentative to Investigate n report. MI,
Belt was ~ at the time. but he had esq
tablished himself so well 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 wao
not such an easy thing as it is today.
Not an inch OF the 1900 miles of rail-
way now in use had been laid, and tina
only way of travelling in Africa was by
bullock team. In this way Mr.. Belt
~jcurneyed some 800 or 400 miles, from
Cape Town to Kimberley, where he
found a city Of madmen. Gold seek
ers from every part of the civilized
world were there, attracted by the
stories of fortunes a by a stroke OF
the pick. There was no order, no sys-
TEN, no laws, no method either in bus
mess or government; competition had
brought many of the mines to tbs
verge OF ruin; there were enormous
losses from thefts, against which there
was no remedy; illicit diamond buy
ing was carried on on a huge scale,
and general chaos prevailed.
1t was the young Germans great OPP
portunfty he was not slow to seize
1t. His years of training in the Ham
burg shipping office had not been vast
ed. He was cool-headed, a man of Or
derby business methods. and he quick,
ly realized that not all the wealth OF
the mines would save Kimberley from
ruin unless order took he place OF
chaos and the industry was placed on
a proper commercial basis. Forgetting
the purpose for which he had been sent
out, Mr.. Belt set to work to accom7
plish this object, and soon found him.
self so n7iSnnnCah1a To tho diamond i,..
dustry that he resolve to remain in
the country for some years. From that,
time his fortune was made, and since
then it has been growing faster than
he can count 1t.
Belt the Original Diamond King"
Though the late Cecil Rhodes is in
separately associated With the history
Of South Africa, Mr.. Belt was in that
country several years before him. and
it was he who first realized the danger
Of putting too many diamonds on the
market at once. He saw h a diamonds
might easily become so cheap as 10 be-
profitless to mine. and he began to carr
ry out his idea Of controlling the market
by buying up scattered claims. The rel
suit was that when Mr.. Rhodes ap-
peared on the scene Mr.. Belt was al
ready we'll established as a sort of dia-
mond king in his own domain. The adj
vent of Mr.. Rhodes, however, was e s
IN " a q Y AAoAA A1 A4A0
state of affairs.
The great house Of Werner, Belt &
Co., is the leading house in the Kimber-
ley diamond trade. and Mr.. Belt is
also associated With many other gf-
gantic concerns. One OF his firms holds
1000, 900 acres of the most valuab ag-
riculturai and mineral land in he
T%ransvaal. and Mr.. Belt is himself he
largest individual wner of mines and
land in the South Africa republic. He
is a director of the British South Afri-
can company. the United Concessions,
and the Exploration, all of them most
valuabl properties. 1t is beyond doubt
that Mr.. Belt has amassed the biggest
individual fortune ever made out OF
gold and diamond mines.
There was In New York recently u
man who has been intimately acquaint-
ed With Alfred Belt for years. He was
Joseph Lewis, one of the wealthiest and
most successful diamond merchants In
London.
alfred Belt has one of the greatest
business and executive minds l ever
came in contact WITH Mr.. Lewis said.
"He, without exception. eXcels nan
who has gone into the great gold and
diamond fields of Africa. Any one that
knows the man would have no to.
wonder at his tremendous success