Wichita Eagle in Wichita, Kansas

Monts de Pie te in Paris and early pawnshops history

A long passage traces the Mont de Pieta institutions from Italy to France, noting the first Paris Mont de Piete in 1777, their suppression during the Revolution, and later private pawnshops. It describes operations, interest rates around 5 percent, pledge rewards to hospitals, and three Paris establishments. The text then diverges into unrelated colonial-era anecdotes and biographical fragments.