Interview with Roy Wilhelm, December 24, 1992

'''Roy''': The sheriff had a guy in jail.  Did you ever see that old jail was over there?  Well, it was in that and (they) had a guy in there, he was a crazy guy, a guy named Aaron Adair.  He was a real nut, he was violent and they chained him like a bear.  Chained him up in there and along with all else, why the Wilhelms had the contract of feeding the prisoners when there was prisoners.  So the old man he was off on his daily duties but they appointed, I guess Haight had something else to do and  my Dad, it fell his chore to go and carry the food over there to the prisoners.  They made him a mark, see, for as far as that chain come, so (if) he didn't go inside that, old thing couldn't get im'.  And he said old Aaron Adair'd just plead with him to come over and visit with him.  Pa was too wise.  When he was through eatin' why Adair would come and push the things over the line.  Pa'd get a broom and rake 'em back.  Then another chore, another thing that he had, they had (a) poker game, all night poker game, every night.  The guys didn't trust each other, if one man was a winnin' too much and they couldn't catch him he was slick.  If they'd a caught him there'd a been a shooting.  But if they couldn't catch him why they'd just, some guy when it come his turn to deal, he'd just take the deck they was playing with and take part of the cards out of the deck anyway, ya know and rip 'em in two and just throw 'em out on the floor, order a new deck and they'd start playing with a new deck.  And that happened four or five times a night, that some guy that was a havin' hard luck would tear up part of the deck.  But the cards were all just alike.  They were all bicycle cards except the ones that had been tore up, see, and they're on the floor.  Well, Grandpa got Pa a job a sweepin' out the pool hall, the gamblin' place there, kind of straightenin' things up, so he took an interest in cards and he,  that's one thing, the old man always played cards and believed in that part of it, 'cause it was part of his boyhood, see and he would gather those cards up and pick out the clean ones  that wasn't get messed up, guys spittin' tobacco on 'em or something  and he would make up decks and trade these decks around town.  Make whole decks out of (them), he run quite a little trade there doing that and made himself a little money, and ''(end of tape side one)''