The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-05-19
CAPITALS GAMBLING DENs.
Notorious Resorts Where Statesmen
Lost Vast Fortunes.
washington PostA

uegFee, ana there were gambling houses
on every block from the Capitol to the
White House. There were a dozen faro
banks on the avenue near Sixth street
ana many of these houses had club
rooms attached where congressman
ana others could be to themselves. The
last of these gambling houses was
broken up in October, 1870. when Joe
Halls place was closed by the marshal
/ 1t was the last of the great gambling
saloons. and after it was closed Hall
began to slide down hill rapidly and
| died a pauper.
While there is not now a gambling
mouse in Washington, there is still
1 some betting. of course. Some senators
and a good many representatives man
age to get up some pretty stiff games
in their private homes, but the stakes
are as nothing compared TO those wa
gered when Washington was a wide
open town and the sports were left I'M
nolested- Gambling, and for large
sums, was common in those days, and
especially among southern and western
members. Scores of them sGuandered
their modest per diem (then IS only at
the gaming tables, and some impaired
their private fortunes by the same in
! dulgence. The most notorious and
dashins gambler of the day was Ed
ward Pendleton. He came from Vir-
ginia, where he was well connected,
and married most accomplished
young woman of this city, whose faith
er held responsible position under the
government. At his club house PEN
dleton gave sumptuous entertainments,
which were attended by the most emf
nent public men of the day Mr. Man
gum, tken president of the senate;
John c. Crittenden, John NJ Bolts.
John B. Thompson of Kentucky and
| Lynn Boyd, afteTWard speaker of the
house, and others of lesser note, were
frequently his guests. Congress had
enacted strong penal laws TO prevent
gambling. but they were a dead letter,
unless some poor devil made a COM
l,plaint of foul play. or some heeced
blackieg sought vengeance through the
aid of the grand jury. and then the
matter was usually compounded by
the payment of money.
1t was in PendletOn's place that S. s.
Prentiss. then a Whig representa- tive
in congress from Mississippi. and in
the zenith of his fame lost his fortune
in single night at faro. At one time
during the great game Prentiss was
$4,000 ahead. but at daylight his win
nings and $4,000 We're gone. He decided
Pendleton three warehouses i'm Vicks-
burg TO cover a debt of S35 900 which
he owed the bank. An old gambler in
w dSullfk iO0. WHO Witnessed the game
says it was perhaps the heaviest stakes
ever put up in gambling house in this
city
Pendleton's bank was an aristocratic
place, and no man was admitted at any
time or under any pretense unless he
was the holder of an invitation In his
superb dining room at O'Clock each
day Pendleton set a complimentary
dinner Of twenty-four plates for the
ref fcfs rsrI,o
ton--members of the senate and house
generals, commodores and ambassa-
doris There was the rarest food, the
most precious wines and the most ele-
CANT service. His place was a COR
geOus palace-a temple erected to the
haphaZard muse.
1t is a tradition here that Henry
Clay obtained one of the finest corner
lots in Washington at Pendleton's rou-
lette table, having Stakeholder it a drove
of Andulusian jackasses, then on their
way to Kentucky. 1t was not an I'M
common thing for slaves to be wagered
against cash, and plantations and
warehouses the same way.
Whist was favorite game with the
foreign ministers and elder statesmen.
Mr.. Clay. General Scott, Mr. Rodisco
and Mr.. Fox. who represented William
" and Queen Victoria, often PLAYED
together, 800 being the usual stake.
They generally played well, as Hoyle
taught the game. There were always
inveterate minister's in the senate.
There is story of protraeted sitting
at the card table, at which Governor
Stokes of North Carolina and Mount
JOY Bailey. sergeant of the
senate, were two of the players. 1t ran
in this wise: The senate had ad- |
journed from Thursday over to Mon
day
The party sat down to cards Thurs |
day evening. They played all night |
and all the next day, only stopping oc- |
casionally for refreshments. The game
was continued Friday night and Satur- |
day, through Saturday night and all |
day Sunday and Sunday night, the
players resting for a snatch of sleep
as nature became exhausted. Monday |
morning the game was in full blast, |
but at 10 o'clock Bailey moved an ad- |
journment, alleging that his official /
duties required his presence in the
senate chamber Stokes Demonstrated, |
but the sergeant-at-arms persisted and |
rose from the table. The governor |
grumbled and scolded, but finally gave |
1T up, swearing that If he had suspect
ed Bailey would break up the game
thus prematurely he would have seen
him-anywhere before he would have
invited him to join the party
Many southerners, and especially /
Virginians, were addicted to the game |
known as shoemaker 100. President |
Tyler was fond of 100, and on a rainy
day, when there was no great pressure
Of public business, he would make up /
game at the White House and play
all day. His companions usually were |
William Selden, treasurer of the Unit
ed States; Cary Selden. storekeeper at
the navy yard, and Governor Gilmer of |
Virginia, with now and then another
favorite. The amount played for was
always small, but President Tyler was
as much delighted at taking a pool as
If he had won a hundred.
Public opinion was not so averse to |
gambling in Washington as in most of |
the northern cities. Probably the tone
of public morals is no more elevated