Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1906-10-16
PALACE OF A RICH PEoN.
The House of Pedro Alvarado at Par
raj.

The name OF Don Pedro Alvarado
the peon millionaire Of Parrel, is ont
to conjure with, and many have al
ready found in II basis for legend ant
romance. Little is really known o.
this interesting character writes a cor
respondent Of the Mexican Herald from
Parrel, except that, although a man OF
unbounded wealth, he is still FRIEND
Of the poems who were his friends ir
the old days, and they are now his de-
| voted admirers.
The house of Don Pedro stands just
above the banks Of the Parrel river
and far from being the gaudy, over
done palace which 1t Is generally sup
posed to be is on the outside, well
balanced house, Of considerable pro-
portions Of course, but carved richly
and artistically with little Of the "gin-
gerbread," which one would expect
| from the reports Of 1t. 1t Is elegant to
a considerable degree, and the carvings
CT the white native stone, on which SOC
Of Don Pedros friends worked fol
many months, are very handsome.
It was while standing watching the
house and the crowd OF workmen and
beggars waiting about it for their pay
and aims that an old gentleman, dress
ed In store clothes and walking with
an imposing cane, came up to our par
ii, al 70
diality possible, to come and see the
house He hobbled along In front, gar
rulously pointing out the bits Of the
exterior 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 a quar-
ter Of an hour pointing out the beau
ties Of the patio, the really handsome
ly carved pillars and Corinthian cap
itals. the figures on the keystone OF
every fairy arch and the paintings
which lined the walls. The patio cor
ridors were full of material for the fur
nishing Of the new hotel which Don
Pedro is building on one Of the plazas
Of the town, which, when it Is finish
ed. will be one Of the handsomest in
the republic.
AN onyx stairway led to the upper
floors of the house, and the self-ap-
pointed guide ripplled on garrulously
with his wonderful tales Of the beau
ties above. Then he suddenly turned,
and in the midst of us stood a little
smiling man, not much over five feet
five inches tall. little black eyes spark
grew a little beard and rnustache. He
greeted us with certain gentle digni-
ty. and invited US to come upstairs and
see the house, at the solicitation, in
deed. of our guide.
So up the onyv stairway we climbed
past half a dozen poems who worked
and scrubbed to make II shine as the
day, and rose respectfully as we pass
ed. The upper corridor was a repeti-
tion Of the lower, with the windows OF
the rooms opening on 1t finished In
more CT the beautifully carved stone
and very evidently planned by mas
ter hand. and executed by much labor
we'll paid.
Next we were led to the famous
chapel of the house, which rumor has
it Is hung In cloth Of gold and where
incense burns night and day. 1t was
not at all as 1t was advertised, but the
effort to make 1t superbly elegant was
apparent. 1t was not built in chapel
form, as might have been expected, but
was merely one of the rooms Of the
house fitted up for the purpose. Don
Pedro Is a devout Catholic and he has
lavished here all that he could we'll dc
in crowding his chapel full Of all that
could please him.
The altar occupied the middle Of the
outside wall Of the room, and a win
dow on each side gave 1t light. This
altar was gaudy and wonderful In gold
and silver and silk and velvets, and
not unlike the expensive altars to be
found in favored shrines Of almost any
of the churches Of this country. In the
centre Of the room was a great pyra-
mid Of black velvet and silver, in mem
ory Of Don Pedro's wife, dead now
some years. This was hung with cloth
of silver, which draped its base on al
sides, and the silver ornaments are
costly and numerous. On one side OF
the room was a throne where the bish-
OBS sits when he comes to say mass
for this 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 au-
tomato parlor organ, covered with
yaudy velvet curtain.
We passed to the drawing room
which occupied nearly the whole OF the
front of the house on the second floor
This was a room that, but for its over
furnishing. might have belonged to q
really beautiful house. But. along
with the heavy curtains Of dark rec
velvet and the really handsome furni-
turc, also from San Luis Potosi, and
beautifully carved and finished In dul
gray silver and gold, were many mir
rora, great silver vases of rich work
manship, but filled with artificial flow
ers, bronze clocks that were not run
ming and ten thousand knickknacks OF
every sort, from ore from the mine tc
cigar holders Of copper and silver
The room, like the rest, was crowded
full of superb furnishings. and hung
with heavy draperies until 1t was OPP
pressive.
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, evil
IDENTIFY made as happy as child by oul
admiration of the richness Of his home
cried out that in very truth he was
Don Pedro Alvarado, and embraced VI
each in turn on the spot.
| Then we went out past some OF the
| ten thousand or more birds which I'll
the house and line all the corridors
with word to the two deer and the
turtle which occupy the back patio
anG through low opening into the bo'
dega, half under the ground, with raj
tars touchinp our heads Here Dor