Chap.4 -Gamblers - Epis.1 - Westlake's Cedar Crest Nightclub

        Emmett Shelton (1905-2000) shares stories about gambling halls around Westlake, roughly 100 years ago.
         Mervin Ash was a big-time gambler and had number of partners around Austin. He sold liquor and ran gambling houses - one at the site of St. Stevens School. He got the rich and powerful from Austin in - and got them to bet big money.
         One of Austin's notorious gamblers, Jack Duval, was Mervin's partner.  After years of problems with the law, Jack got ambushed at a shoeshine parlor on Congress Ave. by two different caliber bullets.
         Roy Schnautz opened a gambling club on Bee Creek. It was against the deed restrictions, so Emmett sued them. Interesting settlement.
         And then, Emmett, Polk and Mervin Ash partnered on the Cedar Crest Nightclub - predecessor to the County Line on the Hill. Beautiful exclusive place. Magic! Emmett describes the First night!
          In the end, Mervin Ash made a brazen offer of a new car to the local chief of police in front of the car dealer. That was the last straw. Mervin's undoing was his own vanity.

Music "In the Danger Zone" by Emmett's son Polk Shelton

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Stories told by Emmett Shelton / compiled and submitted by Cynthia Shelton.