MONTCALM DE SAINT-VERAN 



3911 



MONTE CRISTO 



chiefly of granite, is about thirty miles long and 

 ten miles wide. The highest of its several sum- 

 mits, which is in France, rises 15,782 feet. The 

 lower slopes are covered with dense woods 

 penetrated by swiftly-rushing streams. Great 

 glaciers creased with deep crevasses cover the 

 summits and upper slopes. The most remark- 

 able of these glaciers is the Mer de Glace, wind- 

 ing down the north slope towards Chamouni 

 and giving rise to the River Arve. 



The dangerous ascent of Mont Blanc was first 

 accomplished in 1786 by Jacques Balmat, a 

 guide, and shortly afterward by Dr. Paccard, a 

 local physician. In the following year De Saus- 

 sure, the naturalist, reached its summit and in 

 1840, when the Italian naturalist, Imperial de 

 Sant-Angelo, made the ascent, thirty-three dar- 

 ing travelers had preceded him. The whole 

 journey can now be made in fifty or sixty hours. 

 Natives of the region act as guides and several 

 lodges for the shelter of tourists have been built 

 along the passes. 



MONTCALM DE SAINT-VERAN, mohN 

 kahlm' de saNvarahN', Louis JOSEPH, Mar- 

 quis de (1712-1759), a French general who gave 

 his life for his country in the last great struggle 

 between the French and English for supremacy 

 in America (see FRENCH AND INDIAN WARS). 

 He entered the army when a boy of fourteen, 

 won distinction in the War of the Austrian Suc- 

 cession, and in 1756, having then attained the 

 rank of brigadier-general, was appointed to the 

 chief command of the French forces in Canada. 

 His operations against the English were at 

 first brilliantly successful, including the capture 

 of Fort Ontario and of Fort William Henry, on 

 Lake George, and the occupation of Ticon- 

 deroga. As the war progressed it became evi- 

 dent that the crucial point of the struggle would 

 be the English attack on Quebec, in preparation 

 for which Montcalm concentrated his main 

 forces before the city early in 1759. 



In July the gallant English commander, Gen- 

 eral Wolfe (see WOLFE, JAMES), made an un- 

 successful frontal attack; a few weeks later, in 

 September, by means of a narrow pathway he 

 scaled the heights above the city and led out 

 his whole force upon the Heights of Abraham. 

 There, on the thirteenth of the month, the 

 French and English armies met in open battle, 

 and Canada was won for England. Wolfe died 

 on the field in the moment of victory; his op- 

 ponent, who was also mortally wounded, lived 

 until the next morning. His last words were, 

 "Thank God, I shall not live to see the sur- 

 render of Quebec." A noble monument to the 



memory of Montcalm and Wolfe has been 

 erected on the battlefield, and to the French 

 inhabitants of Canada Montcalm is as much of 

 a national hero as is Wolfe to their English 

 neighbors in other parts of the Dominion. 



MONT CENIS TUNNEL. See CENIS. 



MONTCLAIR', N. J, in Essex County, is a 

 residential city in the northeastern part of the 

 state, seven miles north and west of Newark, 

 and fifteen miles northwest of New York City. 

 It is on the Erie and the Delaware, Lacka- 

 wanna & Western railroads, the Morris Canal 

 and electric interurban lines. The population 

 in 1910 was 21,550; in 1916 it was 26,318 (Fed- 

 eral estimate). 



Montclair is principally the home of Newark 

 and New York business men. Situated at the 

 base and along the slope of the Orange Moun- 

 tains, the streets rise one above another and 

 offer splendid views of the surrounding country. 

 From the highest altitude of the town, 650 feet, 

 may be seen New York City and its harbor. 

 The principal buildings are the Carnegie Li- 

 brary, the municipal building, the high school 

 building, costing $650,000, Montclair Art Mu- 

 seum, club buildings and churches. The city 

 has a state normal school, Montclair Military 

 Academy, Mountainside Hospital and two or- 

 phan asylums. 



The lower part of the town, known as Crane- 

 town, then as West Bloomfield, was settled first 

 and was a part of Newark, later a part of 

 Bloomfield. Upper Montclair was first called 

 Speertown. The name Montclair was adopted 

 by the two sections in 1865, and they were in- 

 corporated as a town in 1894. H.L.M. 



MONTE CARLO, mohn' lay kahr'lo. See 

 MONACO. 



MONTE CRISTO, mohn' lay krees'toh, a 

 small barren island about twenty-seven miles 

 south of Elba, in the Mediterranean Sea, be- 

 longing to Italy. It rises 2,000 feet above the 

 sea and for many years remained uninhabited, 

 but a penal agricultural colony was established 

 there in 1874. The fame of the island is due 

 to the elder Dumas, who gave the name to the 

 hero- of one of his most popular romances. 



The Count of Monte Cristo. This great story, 

 by Alexandre Dumas, was written in 1844 and 

 1845. The most thrilling part is the hero's dis- 

 covery of fabulous treasure on the island of 

 Monte Cristo, and of his escape from the 

 Chateau d'lf after fourteen years' imprison- 

 ment. The book was dramatized, and the play 

 was given for years by leading actors, particu- 

 larly James O'Neill. 



