| BELGRADE | 196 | BELL |
total of over 6,500,000,000 francs. The exports from the United States to Belgium, consisting of wheat, cotton, oil-cake, mineral oil, lard and tobacco, were valued in 1911 at $45,016,622, while the imports from Belgium into the United States, consisting of glass-work, rubber goods, iron and steel work and jewelry, had a gross value of $37,084,743. The railways of Belgium in 1911, including the lines operated by the state and those operated by private companies, were 2,915 miles in length.
Belgrade (bel ′grad), meaning “white town,” is the capital of Servia and lies at the junction of the Save and the Danube, with a population of 90,890. From a Turkish city it is year by year becoming a modern and European one. The royal palace and the national theater are the chief buildings. Opposite the theater is a bronze statue of the murdered Prince Michael III. It is important from the trade of Turkey and Austria which passes through it. Belgrade has been the scene of many hard fights, and has been successively in the hands of Romans, Greeks, Hungarians, Bulgarians, Servians, Turks, Austrians and French. It was made the capital of Servia in 1862, but the citadel was not given up by the Turks until 1867. Elementary education in the city and state is compulsory, and in all the schools under the ministry of education, including the university, education is free. Hence there is little pauperism in the kingdom. Belgrade also forms a department of Servia, area 782 square miles; population, 155,815.
Belisarius, a Byzantine general, was born about 505 and died in 565, the same year as his emperor, Justinian the Great. From the emperor's body-guard he rose to the chief command in the army. The wisdom of Justinian's appointment was apparent, for Belisarius with Narses helped to restore to the Roman Empire part of its lost possessions. In 530 he defeated the Persians, and in 532, when civil disturbances threatened to disrupt the empire and displace the emperor, Belisarius was recalled and with a body of followers restored order. After this he conquered the Vandals, invaded Italy in 548, conquered the Bulgarians in 559 and upon his return to Constantinople was accused of conspiracy. Justinian believed him innocent, however, and restored his rights and property of which he had been deprived. Many narratives are related of Belisarius, as that the emperor had his eyes plucked out and he became a street beggar, others of his imprisonment in a tower, etc. These legends are not credited, since no contemporary writer relates any of them.
Belize (be-lēz′) or British Honduras, a British colony on the Bay of Honduras, in the Caribbean Sea. It forms the southeast part of the Peninsula of Yucatan, and covers 7,562 square miles. The population is 40,458, only 500 being whites. The Cockscomb Mountains (4,000 feet) are the highest elevations, the land along the coast being swampy. The chief exports are mahogany, log-wood, sugar, coffee, cotton, cocoanuts, bananas, and india-rubber. Since 1862 it has been a British colony, and in 1903 the Bank of British Honduras was established at Belize, population 10,478.
Belknap, George Eugene, American naval officer, born in Newport, N H., January 22, 1832. He received appointment as midshipman in the navy in 1852, and was successively lieutenant-commander, commander, captain, commodore and rear admiral. He was present in China in 1856 at the taking of the Barrier Forts, and in the Civil War took part in the bombardment of Charleston Harbor. He achieved distinction while engaged in deep-sea sounding in 1873. While thus engaged in the north Pacific Ocean, he made discoveries relating to the topography of the ocean bed, which attracted the scientific world. He published, among other works, Deep Sea Soundings, and in 1885 was appointed superintendent of the United States Naval Observatory. He was retired in 1894, and died April 7, 1903, at Key West, Florida.
Bell. From the earliest times bells of some sort have been in use. For their manufacture, the material most approved in all ages has been a mixture of copper and tin called bronze; but the proportions of the two metals vary. For a long time in Europe, two parts of copper to one of tin were considered the best ratio, but at present much more copper is used, the ratio being about thirteen parts to four. Steel, silver and glass have also been used for bells, but are not as good as bronze. With any metal the pitch of the bell depends upon the ratio between the thickness of the striking-place and the diameter. Bells were used among many early nations in religious ceremonies, and so came naturally into use in Christian churches. From Italy their use spread over Europe between the 6th and 12th centuries. Most of these bells were hand-bells, made of thin plates of hammered iron, bent into a four-sided shape, fastened with rivets and bronzed. One of these early bells, called The Bell of Patrick's Will, is still preserved at Belfast. When bells came to be hung in steeples or belfries, they were at first small; but were gradually made larger; the largest bell in the world was cast in 1734. It is called the Great Bell or Monarch of Moscow. It is over 21 feet in height and diameter, and weighs 193 tons. It fell down during a fire in 1737, was injured, and remained unrestored until 1837, when it was raised, and now forms the dome of a chapel made
