Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 06.djvu/350

MONTAUBAN 288 MONTDIDIER MONTAUBAN (mong-to-hong') (the ancient Mons Albanus), capital of the department of Tarn-et-Garonne, France, has a seminary with the only Protestant faculty of theology in France; raw silk spinning and manufactures of wool, etc. It owes its origin to the abbey of St. Theodard, or Montauriol, 8th century. In the 16th century a stronghold of the Protestants, the inhabitants formed a republic, and the town was ineffectually besieged in 15&2 and 1621, but sur- rendered in 1629. Pop. about 30,000. MONTAUK (tak') POINT, the ex- treme E. point of Long Island. N. Y. On it is a stone lighthouse (visible 19 miles). Here, in 1898, the War Depart- ment established Camp Wikoff, for sick, wounded, and convalescent soldiers who had served in Spanish-American War campaign. MONTBELIARD (moJi^r-ba-lyar') (German Mompelgard), a town in the French department of Doubs. Carries on manufactures of watch springs, watchmaking tools, and cotton. A posses- sion of the House of Wiirttemberg from 1397, it was a Protestant center from 1525. ceded to France in 1801, and suf- fered in the Franco-German War. Cuvier was a native; and there is a statue of him, as also of Colonel Denfert, defender of Belfort. Pop. about 10,000. MONT BLANC (mong hlong) , the highest mountain in Europe (if the Cau- casus be regarded as Asiatic) ; 15,782 feet above sea-level; situated in France, close to the Italian frontier, 40 miles S. of the Lake of Geneva. It rises into sev- eral sharp peaks (aiguilles) and forms great glaciers — the Glacier du Geant, Mer de Glace, etc. A practicable route to the summit was gained, in June. 1786, by Balmat and Paccard, guides. There is an observatory (1890) at a height of 14,470 feet. MONTCALM (mon^-kalm'), LOUIS JOSEPH SAINT V^BAN, MARQUIS DE, a French general; born near Nimes, France, Feb. 29, 1712. He distinguished himself in several campaigns in Europe, and in 1756 was appointed to the chief command of the French troops in Can- ada. Here he took Fort Ontario (Os- wego), Fort William Henry (on Lake George), and occupied Ticonderoga (1758); but at Quebec, Sept. 14, 1759, was completely defeated by General Wolfe on the Heights of Abraham, both commanders being mortally wounded. MONTCEAU-LES-MINES, a town ot France in the department of Saone-et- Loire. ^ It is the center of an important coal-mining region and has iron works, machine shops, and textile factories, etc. Pop. about 27,000. MONT CENIS (mong suh-ne'), or MONTE CENISIO (mon'te cha-ne'se-6) , an Alpine peak and pass between Savoy and Piedmont; height of the mountain, 11,792 feet; of the pass, 6,884 feet. Over the pass a road was constructed (1802- 1810), under Napoleon's orders. Thirteen TV2 miles long, was begun in 1857 on the miles W. of the pass a railroad tunnel, Italian side, and in 1863 on the French, finished in 1870 at a cost of $15,000,000. MONTCLAIR, a town in Essex co., N. J., on the Erie and the Lackawanna railroads; 6 miles N. by W. of Newark. It is situated on the first range of the Orange Mountains, the average elevation being about 300 feet; is principally a resi- dential place, being the home of many pital, military academy. State normal school, art museum, public library, high school, State and savings banks, weekly newspapers, many handsome residences. Pop. (1910) 21,550; (1920) 28,810. MONT DE PIETE (mong duhpe-a-ta'), a public benevolent institution, existing in Italy, France, Spain, etc., and said to have been first established at Perugia in the later half of the 15th century by Father Barnabas of Temi, and to have taken its name from the hill on which it was situated. The object was to deliver the needy from the usurious Jewish money lenders, by lending money at lowest cost on pledges. The mont de piete of Paris advances to the value of about two-thirds of the pledges, charg- ing interest at the rate of 4^^ per cent, per annum, besides % per cent, pel month for the expenses of the establish- ment. The monti fmmentarii are gran- aries established in different parts of Italy to supply the needy with grain on the same principle as the monts de piete. In 1894, the Rev. David H. Greer, D.D.„ rector of St. Bartholomew's Protestant Episcopal Church, New York city, in- augurated a similar system. MONTDIDIER, a town in northern France. In the World War, during the German drive toward Paris, in Au- gust, 1914, Montdidier was occupied and held by the invaders. When Marshal Foch, commander of the Allied forces, began the great offensive movement against the Germans, in the late summer of 1918, General Debeny's French army captured Montdidier on Aug. 10. Pop. about 5,000.