The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-12-13

my ears with cotton which got from the
Quartermaster When [ cot 10 The
coming tower bad tidings began to come
10 me. One said that the turrets were
1ammed, and another that there was diff
Guilty in getting the powder up. But the
worst OF all was message which said:
" The ship is on FIRE al the foremast'
i at once ordered an officer to organize
a nre party and go TO the place. He re-
FUSED TO 20. There was no time TO parley
then, and I ordered another officer. He
also refused 10 obey II was certain.
ueath, ne said, TO go forward on deck.
where shells were bursting every instant.
one after another the officers fatty de-
clned 10 obey my order. / was in de-
spair. The thought of the brave gunners
lighting so splendidly at the guns came
10 me, and, though not a man could we'll
be spared, I went down there and called
for volunteers TO follow me TO the scene
OF the fire. A score Of them volunteered.
We went forward TO rig the hose. Il
was terrible place. Shells were bursting
all about and the air was full Of the frag-
ments. You can realize what IL was when
l tell you that not one of the FIRE party
escaped injury and most of them We're
killed AS I was getting "A hose in posi-
ton a splinter from a she'll cut my wrist
and made a flesh wound in my thigh. IL
was a close shave for me, but the wounds
were not serious enough TO send me be-
low. Not long after, however, "A shell
burst in front Of me. had a sensation of
a grinding, binding flash. and the next
thing / knew ] was aroused to conscious
ness by a stream of water from the hose
pouring over me. I was prOpped up in
somewhat sheltered position as far as the
fire from the enemy was concerned.
Hearing that if / was carried back to
the cunning tower I would lose conscious
ness again, / decided 10 remain where I
was and give my orders from there. Very
soon, however, l became aware of a new
danger, when l saw that the muzzle of a
l2I2-inch gun was pointing right at
me Those in the turret could not sec
me, and l sent a messenger TO tell them
not TO use that gun until the fire party
had left the deck. That means of COM
munication and the messengers head were
both cut off by a shot from the japanese.
BY great effort l managed to roll out of
range of the gun just before il was fired.
If had been little later there would
scarcely have been enough of me TO bury
by this time the fire was out. This was
fortunate, for most of my brave, valuable
hremen were dead. and not one of them
had escaped unwounded. With the help of
another wounded man l contrived TO stag
ger across the ship, but it was out of the
frying pan into a still hotter fire. A shell
burst ten feet in front of me, and again j
lost consciousness. A gunnery officer
found me lying on the deck and got me
into my cabin where / revived. You
wouldn't have known me if you had seen
me then. | was covered with blood and
powder and burns and my hair. nous
tache and eyebrows were singed down
close. As for my clothing that was sim
ply torn into rags. Both eyes were closed.
and when / wanted to see / had to hold
them open with my hands.
I'm gnph a condition 7 Woe 70
mand the vessel so 1 put Lin Tai Sau i'm
command. As soon as / could get up I
went around among the men, who were
still fighting with splendid courage,
though weak from exhaustion, and did
what l could to cheer them on. What /
saw of the battle after this was through
eyes held open with my fingers. In this
way 1 saw four ships go down. The Chih
Yuen sank with all on board. The battle
lasted from noon until half past 6.
THE Chen Yuen was struck fully 400
times by my reckoning. but not shot
pierced the l-inch armor belt
We had no surgeon on the Chen
Yuen, and the poor fellows who were
wounded were in a terrible condition
l was getting along pretty we'll as my
wounds were not dangerous, but l was
suffering much pain and was worn out.
when, at $3.50 O'Clock that night, a doctor
from another vessel attended me
Two days later I boarded Chi
nese tug which, under English colors.
managed to get out of Port Arthur
passed through the japanese fleet. and
took me to Tientsin, where I was nut
aboard the Monocacy, where I got good
American care and companionship. When
/ got mended up somewhat l came here
to the Tao Ting"
This letter is the last received from
Commander McGiffin. Prof. McGimn
does not know whether or not his brother
has returned to the fleet, but thinks that
he probably has. The commander is a
man of sturdy physique and of the great
est determination, and Prof McGimn
thinks IT probable that he went back 10
active lighting on the very first day that
his physical condition warranted it. if
not before.