The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1898-07-21

/, the bravest men; and these Chinese
sailors were brave. and eager for the
fight. They were prepared neither to
give nor take quarter and expected
! s:ther 10 win or go down with their
/ ship.
| The Chen Yuen, with the flagship.
was TO bear the brunt Of the conflict.
aud McGifiin knew 1t. We can imagine
him standing motionless on the bridge
and listening to the reports OF the
range announced by the subiieuten.
ant in the foretop as the fleets rapidly
neared each other. II touches The
heart to think OF the solitary young
American facing death far away from
his friends and his country. urrounded
by aliens in whose sight he was merely
u fighting machine. The ordeal before
him and his men was more terrible
than soldiers had been called upon to
face In regular battle since the begin.
ming of human wars. That Mc(iitiin
fully realized the situation he 'as
shown us in letter written to ,it
brother upon starting to meet tAs
Japanese ships. "You KNOW" he said,
"it is four killed to one wounded since
! the new ammunition came in. 1t 10 bet
ter SO. don't want to be wounded.
prefer to step down or up and out of
this world" Not extraordinary words.
but splendidly expressive OF a soldier.
like way Of facing fate.
The closing lines OF this letter were
sadly prophetic. McGifiin wrote: II
hate to think OF being dreadfully
mangled and then patched up with halt
my limbs and senses gone"
There was no sound but the painting
Of the ship under forced draught. The
men. grouped quietly at their stations,
did not venture to speak even in whis-
pcrs. "Fifty-two hundred meters" the
range was called. Then the great yell
low flag OF China was raised 10. the
main truck, and the quick-fring guns
!; opened fire and the fight began.
1t Is estimated that McGifiin's ship
was hit 400 times and 1870 times by large
shot or shell. The rain OF projectiles
visited every exposed point Of the ves-
sci. Early in the fight shell exploded
in the fighting top instantly killing
every one of its inmates. Indeed, all
such contrivances proved to be death
traps. Five shells burst inside the
shields OF the bow six-inch gun, COM
pletely cutting the place. Though the
carnage was frightful. the Chinese sail.
ors, with their commander to encour-
age them, stuck to their posts. A chief
gunner was aiming his gun when she'll
took off his head. The man behind
him caught the body, passed 1t back
to his companions, calmly finished the
sighting of the piece and fred il.
The Chen Yuen gave as hard
knocks as she received, and until her
ammunition ran low her fire was rap
id and more effective than that of her
adversaries. One of the last shells,
fired under McGifin's personal direc-
tions from l2-inch gun, disabled the
13-inch gun on the enemy's flagship.
the Matsushima. and exploded the pow
der on deck, killing or disabling more
thnn 10e Japanese officers and men.
Then McGitiiu's Cinnamon cheered joy
fully.
The five hours strain on the COM
mander was terrific. for there ~as no
subordinate who could relieve him and
his presence was required everywhere.
1 While the fight was hottest u fire broke
out jn the superstructure above the
forecastle. Ii became necessary 10 run
out hose in the range Of the starboard
guns which had been ordered to fire
to port across the forecastle. The men
refused TO do this until McGifiin called
for volunteers and offered to lead them.
Word WAS sent to the head gunner at
the starboard battery TO train his
| pieces ahead, and McGiffin and his vol
unteers started with the hose for the
| forecastle. Half Of the men were shot
down by the enemy. AS the captain
stopped over TO grasp the hose n shot
passed between his legs, burning his
wrists and severing the tail of his coat.
A fragment of shell that had burst
against the tower wounded him Sec
| ond time.
Meanwhile men at the forecastle gun
were falling rapidly and the head gun
ner was killed. The man who took his
place. not knowing that his comrades
were In front Of his guns. discharged
one Of them. The explosion knocked
the captain and his men down and
killed several of them. At the same in
slant another shot struck McGifYin.
He would probably have remained
there unconscious II water from cash
in the hose had not revived him. His
first glance on coming to his senses was
into the muzzle Of the starboard gun.
1t was slowly moving into position for
firing. "What an ass am to sit here
and be blown to pieces" thought Nc
GitIin. So he flung himself from the sn-
perstructure and fell eight feet to the
deck below. With blood pouring from
his mouth he crawled into the super
structure and told the men to carry
him aft. In n few minutes he was
u