Keith Tillotson
Bootlegging (1928)
Perry and Edith Gaer (date unknown)
Another time they put Perry in jail – I don't know whether that was for they come out and caught him bootlegging. I told you about that one where the sheriff come in the front yard and his deputies went around behind?
Right after Mom and Perry got married, he started bootlegging. 'Course that way it'd give him a chance to be sure he had a lot of whiskey to drink, you know. He had these gallon jugs all over the farm, hidden behind old stumps and everything. The sheriff seemed suspicious of somebody killing a deer, I guess. Somebody killed a deer, which I guess was against the law there at that time – couldn't kill a deer anytime. Probably could now – probably have a season on it, there's so many of them.
The sheriff come out with his deputies. I remember he had this big Buick. Come into the front yard. The sheriff came in, and Perry took off back into the timber. He says, "Tell 'em I went to Alaska." So here I am about 11 or 12 years old, and the old sheriff – he happened to be a neighbor. He lived right beside our school. He knew everybody in the county by their first name. He said, "Keith, I think he's on his way back now." He looked around the house – he had a couple of deputies come in back of the timber, they were bringin' Perry back. I didn't think it was funny then, but that was funny after thinkin' about it later.