The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-10-14
REMARKABLE HOME
 OF 4 RICH PEON The Palace of Pedro AIVarado
 at Parral A MEXICAN MILLIONAIRE He Has Not Forgotten Ills Old Friends and Has Gaudy Furnishings In
 His Big House-The
 Man Himself.
A MEXICAN MILLIONAIRE

 jure with, any many have already found in 1t basis for legend and romance. Little Is really known of thls interesting char acter, writes R correspondent of the Mex lean Herald from Parral, except that, al- though man of unbounded wealth, he is still friend of the peons who were his friends in the old days. and they are now his devoted admirers,
 The house of Don Pedro stands Just above the banks of the Parral river, and far from being the gaudy overdone palace which 1t Is generally supposed to be, is on the outside, a well balanced house, of considerable proportions of course. but carved richly and artistically with little of the gingerbread" which one would expect from the reports of it. It IS elegant to a considerable degree, and the carvings of the white native stone, on which 300 of Don Pedros friends worked for many months, are very handsome.
 It was while standing watching tho house and the crowd of workmen and beggars waiting about 1t for their pay and aims that an old gentleman. dressed in store clothes, and walking with an impos- ing cane, came up to our party and invited them, with all the cordiality possi- ble, to como and see the house. He hobbled along in front, garrulously point ing out the bits of the interior which were of interest, and led the way into the main patio of the house. Here, he said, was as far as he could take us, but he stood for quarter of an hour pointing out the beauties of the patio, the really hand somely carved pillars and Corinthian cap itals, the figures on the keystone of every fairy arch and the painting which lined the walls. The patio corridors were full of material for the furnishing of the new hotel which Don Pedro is building on one of the plazas of the town, which, when finished. will be one of the hand somest in the republic.
 Greeted By Little Man.
 An onyx stairway led to the upper floors of the house. and the self-appointed guide rippled on garrulously with his won derful tales of the beauties above. Then he suddenly turned, and in the midst OF us stood a little smiling man, not much over 5 feet inches tall. little back eyes sparkling out of white face, on which grew a little beard and mustache. He greeted us with a certain gentle dignity, and invited us to come upstairs and see the house, at the solicitation, indeed, of our guide.
 | So up the onyx stairway we climbed, ! past half a dozen peons who worked and scrubbed to make 1t shine as the day. and rose respectfully as we passed The upper corridor was a repetition of tho l lower with the windows of the rooms l opening on 1t finished in more of the beau- 1 tifully carved stone, and very evidently planned by master hand, and executed by much labor, we'll paid.
 Next we were led to the famous chapel of the house, which rumor has 1t Is hung in cloth of sold and where incense burns night and day. It was not at all as 1t was advertised, but the effort to make 1t superbly elegant was apparent. It was not built in chapel form, might have been expected, but was merely one of the rooms of the house fitted up for the purpose. Don Pedro Is a devout Cath ollie. and he has lavished here all that he could well do in crowding his chapel full of all that could please him.
 Wonderful Altar.
 The altar occupied the middle of the outside wall of the room, and a window on each side gave 1t light. This altar was glady and wonderful in gold and l silver and silks and velvets, and not un- l like the expensive altars to be found in favored shrnes Of almost any of the churches of this country. In the center of the room was 8 great pyramid of black velvet and silver, in memory Of Don Pedro's wife, dead now some years. This was hung with cloth of silver, which draped its base on all sides, and the silver ornaments are costly and mum erous On side of the room was | a throne where the bishop sits when he | comes to say mass for his devout son of the church, and on the other walls were paintings of religious scenes, and the tiny stations of the cross, In one corner was an automatic parlor organ, covered with a guady velvet curtain.
 We passed to the drawing room, which ocoupied nearly the whole of the front of the house on the second floor. This was a room that, but for it's overfurnsh- l ing, might have belonged to a really beautiful house. But, along with the heavy curtains of dark red velvet and the really handsome furniture, also from San Luis Potosi. and besutifully carved and finish ed in dull gray silver and gold, were many mirrors. great silver vases of rich work manship, but filled with artificial flowers. bronze clocks that were not running and ten thousand knikckacks of every sort, l from ore from the mine to clBdr holuel , of copper and silver. The room, like the rest, was crowded full of superb furnish ings, and hung with heavy draperies until it was oppressive.
 Embraced By the Host
 When we left this room, we were still not quite sure our host was Don Pedro himself. and asked our guide, Jesus Jose Primero. as to his exact identity. He referred us to our host. who, evidently made as happy as a child by our admira- ton of the richness of his home. cried out that in very truth he was Don Pedro AL l voarado. and embraced us each in turn on the spot.
 l Then we went out past some of the ten thousand or more birds which fill the house and line all the corridors. with q | word to the two deer and the turtle which occupy the back patio, and through a low 1 ouening into the bodega, half under the ground with rafters touching our heads. Here Don Pedro turned on an electric light calling our attention to 1t, and sat l aax,.., <o,oforta hle on a box. Here he was