As a small boy, I heard many wonderful stories about McGiffin from my grandfather, Hayden Eames, who was graduated from Annapolis in McGiffin’s class of 1882. Grandfather told me of such exploits of McGiffin as the time that he promised that “Jesus” was going to speak soon. In any event, the resulting explosion came from an old cannon named “Jesus” in the Academy yard.
After McGiffin returned from China, my grandfather gave him a job in Hartford or New Haven but had to discharge him to prevent loss of life among the workers. McGiffin was going to take the law in his own hands in the manner of decapitating one worker with a large butcher knife. Grandfather had to physically subdue McGiffin to keep him from accomplishing his mission.
Once, if I remember correctly, McGiffin, while holding command in the Chinese Navy, was cruising in the vicinity of the ship wherein my grandfather was an ensign. McGiffin wigwagged from his bridge a simple question to the American ship: “Is Eames aboard?” The effect was sufficient to throw the U.S. Navy in a slight dither in that the code was a restricted code.
One McGiffin exploit which stands out in my mind is the one when, in order to gain entrance to some Chinese warlord, McGiffin had to run the gauntlet of some six or eight huge Chinese armed with swords and charged with the mission of keeping such interlopers out.
McGiffin backed off, took a run and a flying leap, and skidded on his stomach by the barrier—escaping death by inches. He was heartily congratulated by his host, who allegedly entertained McGiffin with the execution by decapitation of the guards charged with keeping McGiffin out.
Reprinted from Proceedings, “Discussions, Comments, Notes,” September 1955.
