Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1903-11-03

bors, they came to no harm, whereas
bread from other bakeries brought to
the Webster. succumbed Immediately.
Needless to say the farmers family be-
sides the worry which these amazing
happenings caused them, soon began
To feel the expense OF bak-
ing bread which they could
not keep, The family, by the way,
numbers 10, including children, and
Mrs. Websters Mother Mrs, Webster
keeps no servants, her mother and her
eldest daughter helping her with the
housework Raikes Farm stands In
the center Of lonely country district
and Is about four miles from the near
est town.
MORE NONsEN Sc.
For three months the Websters kept
entirely to themselves the strange
thing which had happened in their
home Meanwhile, they tried every
possible means OF getting 90 the bottom
Of what allied their bread. At first they
thought It must be the -four they We're
using, and this was changed, but with
out result. Then they decided mat Il
must be the water, but bread made With
water from outside proved no more sub
stantial. or course the family had
not failed to realize that someone might
be playing a trick on them, and they
have worked on that basis. one night
the farmer without telling any one In
the house OF hs intention, put some
freshly made bread IN a closed pan set
rat trap inside with II, set another
trap on top OF the i'd sprlnkled Hour
on the floor OF the room I'm which the
pan had been placed and not only
locked the door but stretched two
lengths of cotton yarn across IL. In
the morning. however he found every
thing exactly as he had left H. with
the exception that of the two loavcs
which he ha1 hidden IN tho pan one
had vanished without leaving a single
crumb. ana the other had shIunk to
half It's original size.
NE1GHBoRs STEP IN.
It was Just after this test that Mr..
Webster revealed TO his neighh0rs what
was going on I'm his house and invited
the public generally to help him TO
solve the mystery. In response, a dep
utation formed Of the leading chemists
Of the country round visited Rakes
farm and made careful analysis Of
the bread, but az the end Of II they con-
fessed that they could give no reason
for its strange performances, The bread
seemed absolutely pure-there being no
microbe or fungus in any part of II,
POLICE TAKE A HAND.
Then the country police tried to solve
the mystery, and a constable named
Berridge was stationed I'm the Web
sters' house to make thorough inves-
tivation, When he came he brought
with him two loaves Of bread made in
~ ala s.,
the Webster dairy, locking the door
with a lock which he also had brought
from outside. Next day he went In to
examine the loaves, and, to his delight,
found them apparently sound But
when he cut off the top Of one Of them,
he discovered to his ama2ement that a
great hole had been eaten right through
the middle OF the loaf, Moreover, the
hole gradually grew wider ana wider
even while he stood there, and as for
the second loaf when he took II mp In
his hands Il crumbled as If made Of
dirt. The man was just about nonplus-
sed. but he was game yet and immedi-
ately made another trial. He took 1--WE
new loaves baked IN the house and put
them In another place under lock and |
key, but II was not long before he
found that the top OF one loaf had dis
NIfhltu flAllfll hlNi AAlAA NAi Ah' A"'A
had shrunk In most amazing fa7h'on.
just on principle he made o lot Of other
tests, but they all ended I'm the same
way. and at the finish the officer had TO
confess that the thing was beyond him.
GET SCARED AND LEAVE.
OF late. the different members Of the
Raikes farm household have shown
MAINLY the eject which this gruesome
AFFAIR has had on their nerves. They
are suhdued, speak in whispers. ana |
generally act Ike people who live In
state Of apprehension. II was
only the other day, however that Web
ster and his family at last got TO The
point where they simply couldn't stand
the strain any LONGER and decided def
nltely 20 leave the home whore they
have lived for so long.
To a newspaper man the farmer said
yesterday: II II not that ! am guper-
stitious or frightened but 7 don't like
this thing. Some people think II Is moth
ing more than a ioke on our mart, but
do you think we should be fools ENOUGH
to joke ourselves out Of house and
home2'
Then. SELLING the remains Of loaf OF
bread that was slowly shrinking on the
table and pointlrg to ts wasting sides
and crusts. Webster asked almost
fiercely, DO YOU mean To say that hui
man hands could do that2'