Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1897-02-15
Mystery How He Got the Weapons.

Mystery How He Got the Weapons.
How the captain came in possession
| of the pistols is not yet known. The
| captain was taken to the hospital about
| the middle of last month by his friends
and physician, DR.. Z. 3. Robinson.
Since being in the hospital he has been
attended by DR.. Hammond. About the
insane and it was found necessary to
have him confined in the hospital. TIE
was taken to room on the second floor
of the building with a window in it open
on to Second avenue. He had some sort
of mental trouble for months before it
| developed into insanity and on his being
removed to the hospital he was SO vlo-
lent that it was found necessary to place
him in straight Jacket At that time and
since then DR.. Hammond attributed his
condition to wounds he received III the
battle of the Yalu river. The brother
of the dead man has been notified and 1t
is probable that he will take charge of
the remains and attend to the burial ar
engagements.
PhiIo n McGifin was born in Wash
| ington Pa, in 1862. He was a son of
| Cant. Norton McGifin. who served in
| the Mexican war with distinction and
who was colonel Of the Eighty-eighth
| PENNSYLVANIA volunteers during the War
of the Rebellion. Philo McGifin gradu-
ated from the naval academy at Ann
apolis with high honors in 1882.
Instances of Personal Bravery.
The personal bravery of Capt. McGif-
fin won admiration long before the battle
of the Yalu river. He was thrown by
an accident of travel into the midst OF
the great railroad strike in Pittsburg
in 1887 and rendered his services to the
city. They were accepted and during
the strike he distinguished himself by
! bravery, running an engine slngie-handed
| through mob of strikers to rescue some
soldiers imprisoned in the roundhouse.
He was awarded a gold medal and a
While he was cadet in the naval
academy Mr.. McGifin received the
| thanks of the secretary of the navy for
| rescuing two children from burning
building.
Some two years lated McGiffin was
complimented in general order from
secretary of the navy for an act of per-
sonal bravery in going aloft to secure
a spar on the Constitution during a hur-
ricane when the sailors would not ven
ture into the RIGGING.
After graduating near the head of his
GLASS; Mr.. McGiffin was hOnorably dis
charged in 1884, owing to a reduction
in the number Of midshipmen. He en-
tered the service of China during the
Franco-Chinese war and was distin-
guished for gallantry and was sent to
England to superintend the construction
of ironclads, and at the outbreak of
hostilities with Japan was put in COM
mand of the Chinese squadron.
The Battle of the Ya1u.
The story of the battle Of the Yalu
has been told many times. 1t was
chiefly interesting to civilized countries
because it was the first time that mod
ern warships had been in actual en-
gagement. The Chen Yuen was one of
the few Chinese ships that survived the
/ battle. She was hit more than 400
| times. but she was still able to fight
| when the Japanese fleet withdrew.
| Every man on board of her had been
wounded and many had been killed.
| McGiffin himself had been wounded
many times, his most serious injury
coming from one of his own guns.
side. The Japs kept their guns
pounding on the part Of the vessel that
| was burning, so that the men on board
would not be able to put the fire out.
| Can't. McGifin called for volunteers to
| face the bullets and the shells of the
| Japs. None of the seamen would go
, without an officer, and the Chinese Off
| McGiffin himself stepped into the breach
| and led a party of seamen to fight the
fire. They had been at it little while
| when a shell from one of the japanese
| ships struck the crew of one of the Chen
| Yuen's big guns and killed the gun crew,
! but did not damage the gun. The next
man who took command Of that gun did
not know that McGifin and his men
| were working at the fire and he had
the gun swung around to port. A mo-
| ment before it was fired Capt. McGifhn
| saw it's muzzle pointing almost at the
men at work. He leaped back. The
| gun went off, Most of the men at work
on the fire were killed by the shock and
the fire and smoke that belched out. Nc
| Giffin was knocked down. His hair and
eyebrows were burned off. The sight OF
| one eye was almost destroyed and both
ear drums were fractured. The moment
| he recovered from the shock he was I'll
and fighting again.
Ten minutes later a shell struck lad
der near him, and a splinter of the lad
der was driven deep into his hip, HI
probed for it with pair of pincers anC
| got it out and went on fighting. Later
| he was shot in the head and in a dOze1
or more places in the body; but he KEEP
on fighting until the battle ended.
At the conclusion of the war will