Stump the German

[Eva Elisabeth]

Who was Miss Wayne?

[RJNorton]

During the Springfield years Mary Lincoln hired girls as domestic help. Was Miss Wayne one of these girls?

[Eva Elisabeth]

This is an excellent guess, Roger, but the Miss Wayne I am thinking of stepped later onto the history stage.

Hint #1: Miss Wayne's first name begins with a "P".

Happy Memorial Day! (And "Frohe Pfingsten" especially to Angela!)

[RJNorton]

I know when Julia Taft and the two Taft boys came to the White House lots of games were played. Perhaps fictional characters were devised during the games.

Was Miss Wayne (who maybe had another name beginning with a "P") a character created by the "play group?"

[Eva Elisabeth]

Taft and White House are excellent keywords, Roger, but Miss P. Wayne was not an invented character.

Hint #2: Miss Wayne was born and raised in America, but of German ancestry.

[L Verge]

Our German Miss Eva is being very tricky!

Pauline Wayne came to the White House during the Taft administration. She was of German stock, being a Holstein cow whose services in providing more milk were needed after her predecessor failed to perform to expectations.

[Eva Elisabeth]

Once again Ms. Verge is too smart to not figure my tricks out...

The "Holsteiner Schwarzbunte", or Holstein cow, whose origins began ca.100 BC in the county of Holstein (the capital of which is Kiel, where I live), is the world's highest-production dairy cattle. Pauline's Aunt (Gertrude Wayne) indeed held a world record for butter and milk production. Pauline herself only produced seven and a half gallons of milk a day.

Wisconsin senator Isaac Stephenson presented Pauline Wayne to Mrs. Taft in 1910, and till 1913, Miss Wayne freely grazed the White House lawn. She was the last presidential cow to live at the White House. When Taft left office, Pauline retired to Senator Stephenson's Wisconsin farm again, who delightedly thought she would add dignity to his herd.

Here Pauline poses in front of the Navy Building, which is known today as the Eisenhower Executive Office Building:
   
And the question originated in encountering lots of Pauline's relatives yesterday on my 40-miles Whit Sunday bicycle tour:
   
And consistent with the Whitsun (Sunday and Monday are public holidays in Germany) is the prize - Laurie, you win a peony for your garden:
   
Now what has a peony to do with Whitsun? The German name of the flower is "Pfingstrose", literally "Whitsun rose". And what despite links the peony to Lincoln? It's the state flower of Indiana - although only since 1957 (succeeding the zinnia, which was the state flower from 1931 to 1957).

I also read the peony is a popular decoration at cemeteries for Memorial Day...

[RJNorton]

Fascinating post, Eva! Your bike tour looks wonderful. I think riding a bike 40 miles in one day would do me in.

Speaking of records, this is Jennifer II, one of Carl Sandburg's wife's goats. She broke the World Toggenburg goat record for milk production. She produced 5,750 pounds of milk in one year (1960).

http://www.hobbyfarms.com/farm-breeds/ot...urg-2.aspx

[L Verge]

Once again Ms. Verge is too smart to not figure my tricks out...

The "Holsteiner Schwarzbunte", or Holstein cow, whose origins began ca.100 BC in the county of Holstein (the capital of which is Kiel, where I live), is the world's highest-production dairy cattle. Pauline's Aunt (Gertrude Wayne) indeed held a world record for butter and milk production. Pauline herself only produced seven and a half gallons of milk a day.

Wisconsin senator Isaac Stephenson presented Pauline Wayne to Mrs. Taft in 1910, and till 1913, Miss Wayne freely grazed the White House lawn. She was the last presidential cow to live at the White House. When Taft left office, Pauline retired to Senator Stephenson's Wisconsin farm again, who delightedly thought she would add dignity to his herd.

Here Pauline poses in front of the Navy Building, which is known today as the Eisenhower Executive Office Building:

And the question originated in encountering lots of Pauline's relatives yesterday on my 40-miles Whit Sunday bicycle tour:

And consistent with the Whitsun (Sunday and Monday are public holidays in Germany) is the prize - Laurie, you win a peony for your garden:

Now what has a peony to do with Whitsun? The German name of the flower is "Pfingstrose", literally "Whitsun rose". And what despite links the peony to Lincoln? It's the state flower of Indiana - although only since 1957 (succeeding the zinnia, which was the state flower from 1931 to 1957).

I also read the peony is a popular decoration at cemeteries for Memorial Day...

Thank you for the peony, Eva. I love those flowers, and mine have just about reached their peak. The breezes here today will give them a beating. And, they were, indeed, what we always took to the cemetery on Memorial Day when I was a child - along with some iris and sweet william to add color. Good memories.

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Is Whitsun still observed as a religious holiday in Germany, or has it been converted to a "bank holiday" like England's?

[LincolnToddFan]

That poor goat-she looks awfully uncomfortable!

[L Verge]

That poor goat-she looks awfully uncomfortable!

Mrs. Sandburg needed to get out there and milk her goat immediately.

[Eva Elisabeth]

Re: "Is Whitsun still observed as a religious holiday in Germany, or has it been converted to a "bank holiday" like England's?" - Actually I am not 100% sure what exactly the difference is. Most of our public holidays are officially religious holidays - even if a lot of people indeed just appreciate them as a paid day off. They are determined either by federal or state law, and underlying the same protections as Sundays, i.e. they are "quiet days" where shops (with a few exceptions, like at airports) and most businesses are not allowed to open/work, and certain noisy private works are prohibited (e.g. lawn mowing, drilling, etc.) Nationwide religious holidays are Xmas (25.+26.), Good Friday, Easter Monday, Ascension Day, Whitmonday. Non-religious holidays are New Year, Labor Day and Unity Day.

---

That poor goat-she looks awfully uncomfortable!

Agreed - thanks for posting, Roger!

[Eva Elisabeth]

Congrats to the USA for stumping and beating the Germans - well deserved!
http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/soc.../71027686/
(And Klinsi is just the better coach IMO...)

[RJNorton]

I watched the game, and I think we need to put an asterisk by this victory as I did not see the world's number one goalkeeper, Manuel Neuer, playing for Germany. (nor Thomas Müller)

[Eva Elisabeth]

"The only escape from the miseries of life are music and cats."

It was not Abraham Lincoln who said this, but Lincoln may have agreed. Also on:

"Humanitarianism consists in never sacrificing a human being to a purpose."

...and:

"Example is leadership."

The person received an honorary doctorate of laws from the University of Chicago, and once urged the president:

"May it be given to us both to see the day when the world's people will realize that the fate of all humanity is now at stake, and that it is urgently necessary to make the bold decisions that can deal adequately with the agonizing situation in which the world now finds itself."

Without asking the Google - who?