The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-03-12
From the Kansas City star.


 ZINE of the neutral grounds, where | men of both parties met in peace O just before the stormy days of the civil war, was the superbly furnished gambling house of Pendleton. on Penn svlvania avenue, known to Its frequent or. ss ..The Hall of the Bleeding Heart,
 though he preferred the appellauon Ano p.,ace or rortune." PendIeton belonged to one of the first families Of Vire1n'a' and his wife was the daughter of Rooert
 a,,s the architect of the, treasury. H,s HI, rooms were hung with meritorious pc tures and the art of wood-carving was carried to great perfection in the s'us- boards. secretaries and taoies "hi." served the various purposes or the estaD- ,,shments. The dining and supper 'aoies vere loaded with plate of the pure metaa. The cooking would not have shamed 'ne senius of soyer, and it was uniVersais admitted that the wines were such ss co,,,d have been selected only by con" nn,s..ur This incomparable provioer' had invested sloooo in his cellar ana h'' closet.
 rh. people who nightly assembled to ses i. nd to take part in the entertainments oi n. house consisted of candidates TOT .,. ,r.a,dency. senators and represents .,,,.. members of the cabinet, and tns .t.r workrnen of the third house the ,ohhv pendletcn's, in its palmiest days' ..,-,,. have been called the vestiouie or tn. ,o,nv It's most distinguished profess .ors might be found there. Thoy is"s ,nonev to their clients when the anilh.' .,r.tcbed too roughly" that is 70 say, vh.r the play ran against them, sn1 .,, ,,...nk ..broke," as they sometimes s,ds p.r6,eton himself was an operator ,n inc lobby His professional posi''oA ,.ve him great facilities. He assisted III .h. ,...,nS of many useful bills Of pri- .'... n.ture involving considerable sums of money. A broker in pariaens ,ots. ia an inevitable retainer or oron'' voters.
 ,, .h. outer parlors as midnight ap- ,roach.d mirht have been seen ieadins
 n,ner. of Congress quietly discussins the days proceedings. the prospec's .. .. rt,.s and the character Of punhc he" few officers of the army added to tne rrr,ber and variety of the groups wnicn occupied this apartment. Here Ah ,e dr,nk,ns, smoking and taking senei.ps in, | bright vein. Servants were snoins about ,cvith cigars, toddiss, cocktaiis anu .vn,.lv straishts, on little silver trays' A,org them were two old Virginia ne- rroes. very obliging, who picked up many o,s rters and halves, and not 1ew '"n''s ash" representing T each.
 mt Ike third room was the haunt soE the tiger! The company around tne is.o counters of red, circular pieces oi ''o's' called fish or chips, each or wnich 'ep- resented S. A few, who were neas
 "hroke,, would be using the wnite ones :. o...eftb the value. Tho players were .u.n. a. the grave. because some of then. were in lin great luck" and large ples 2. r.d ch;ps were standing upon diHeren' s. to .bide the event of the deal' ,.h,ch indicated they had been won rom .h. bank: but, alas! the close Of tne
 ,.., -,s. ,nfavorabie. and before the iit- t,e silver box from which the caros "ers dra wn yielded the last of tho pack tns
 most of the red piles had been drawn to the red side. But some or them heo
 doubled. and the owners drew them down
 ss capital for>-the chances of the next LaeaL If one had great good fortune and
 some prudence while possessor of the red piles before named he would leave the
 house with . few hundrsds or thousands
 of dollars, but the chances were that be- tween midnight and dawn the gamestera
 would all retire minus the money they had been able to borrow from friends.
 There were, however, exceptions Tho largest amount ever won from tho pro- prietor at Pendleton's was 3l2oo for . stake of sioo. When Humphrey Marshall
 w>s appointed minister to China by Pres idsnt Pierce in 1852 he lost his ''out- At" and six month"; pay, and was forced to accept loan from Penuletcn to en-