"Stump the Yankee"

[L Verge]

Yankee Joe - You may have met your match with this young Scarlett (lord, I hope so!). It has to be the gloves that I overlooked.

Knowing your dirty tricks, however, I suspect that there is one more thing that was found in Mr. Lincoln's pocket and never mentioned. Could it be lint?

[Gene C]

Would have responded even quicker, but was too busy eating my cornbread!!

This reminds me of a classic quote from a famous movie

"'As God as my witness, as God as my witness they're not going to lick me. I'm going to live through this, and when it's all over, I'll never be hungry again"

[J. Beckert]

No, Ma'am and no Ma'am. I wonder if this young Rebel will be able to solve this conundrum.....

---

I missed Miz Paige's response. It's harder than you think as you too have up until now been unable to Stump the Yankee. Give up yet?

[PaigeBooth]

I did indeed respond to you, Mr. Yankee Joe. Check out page 30 to see what I had to say.

[J. Beckert]

I saw that. The only problem is, you didn't mention everything in Lincoln's pockets! Are you ready to sign the surrender terms yet? Can you sing the Battle Hymn of the Republic? Real loud?

[L Verge]

Start singing Dixie, Paige, and never give up. I'm thinking in terms of something that Ashmun(?) may have handed him as he was entering the carriage at the White House???

[J. Beckert]

I'm very sorry, but the time alotted for the Extra Point Challenge has expired. I've cut a switch and it's time to send Miz Paige back home to Grinder's Switch with some bruises!

While you did an excellent job listing the items found in Lincoln's pockets, you've neglected to name all the contents. As revealed here recently in a post by Blaine Houmes, a 20th century inspection of Lincoln's clothes revealed - " in the waistcoat pockets were tiny fragments of hard red and green candy which Lincoln is known to have enjoyed but also there was a fine brownish powder which appeared to be snuff".

According to our Board of Vital Statistics and Ethical Conduct, you awarded me 7.5 points from your question and 7.5 to yourself for the part I couldn't answer. This was a 5 point question, so I get the 5 points. I'm catching up fast! Here's the sorry score, y'all...

Rebels 26.5
Yankee 22.5

[LincolnToddFan]

This is not only the funniest thread here on the Forum, it's the one of the most hilarious on the Internet period. Even though the Yankees are taking a drubbing I am enjoying it immensely!

Keep it going!

[L Verge]

By popular demand: Yankee Joe, WITHOUT ANY HELP FROM ANYONE OR ANY WEBSITE, how much did dinner cost for patrons in the Surratts' public dining room?

[PaigeBooth]

Well, I certainly would not have guessed that! However, I was ready and prepared to mention 2 more items not previously mentioned. I got to thinking about Laurie's idea regarding the George Ashmun connection. Lincoln may also have been carrying a card from Ashmun that night, and a photo of his son.
Great balls of fire! I might have just told the Yankee something he never knew!

[L Verge]

The Chicago Historical Society also has a comb that they claim Lincoln used that night. I suspect that he used it in the White House, but who knows - maybe he carried it in his pocket, knowing that the top hat was going to mess his hair up.

[J. Beckert]

By popular demand: Yankee Joe, WITHOUT ANY HELP FROM ANYONE OR ANY WEBSITE, how much did dinner cost for patrons in the Surratts' public dining room?

Hang on a minute. I'm not going to try and answer this until I know how many points it's worth. I can easily see me submitting a wrong answer and you laughing and saying it was worth 25 points. You're at the top of our Enemy Combatants Watch List. I'm not falling for this.

In the meantime, I'll get to cipherin'. Let's see, some fried hog, collard greens.....

[L Verge]

The Maryland beaten biscuits on that menu are worth at least five cents (er, points), and fried hog is really fried ham with red-eye gravy. I'm with Betty on the fact that collards are green, so they ain't worth a plugged nickel. I'll be kind and make this worth ten points -- and don't you dare consult that known scalawag friend of yours who gives tours at the Surratt House! You had your own behind-the-scenes tour of the museum, and the price list is prominently posted in the tavern. I'm testing YOUR memory retention on this one.

[J. Beckert]

I don't think this is going to go well for me. I have a sinking feeling I'm going to end up looking like my avatar...

O.K. - I didn't look at any websites or call my friend. I thought about texting him and asking him to call me to get around that one, but self control got the better of me. I did take one tour of the tavern last year, but I was so distracted trying to touch the historical exibits while the tour guide wasn't looking, that not much of what she said sunk in. Basically, all I know about the Surratt Tavern is that one Rebel I've read about stopped there and another one I know has an office there.

I'll guess 25 cents.

[L Verge]

WRONG! I actually thought you might get the price right - my trick was in referring to the meal in question as "dinner." Traditionally, dinner was the big meal of the day and served around noon to 1 pm. At Surratt House, travelers would pay 50 cents for that meal.

Supper was the later and smaller meal of the day, served from 6-7 pm. It would cost 37 1/2 cents at the public dining room in Surratt House (the same cost as breakfast there).

So the answer I was looking for was dinner cost 50 cents. Sister Paige, get out the calculator and see how much we Rebs are winning by now, please. Memo to self: Frisk this Yank the next time he visits the museum.