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Chapter Seventy-Seven- Explosion on The Mississippi
Chapter Seventy-Seven- Explosion on The Mississippi!
In March 5th 1879, one year before the election. The cabinet of America were to meet on a new experimental kind of boat on the Mississippi. Secretary of Defence Ely S. Parker, Secretary of home development John A. Roebling and Secretary of Health Florence Nightingale would all attend alongside president grant and vice president Schuyler Hamilton. The ship was touring the Mississippi powered completely by a new kind of motor engine without steam. It was a grand affair ready to kick start an American tourism industry. At 9am in the morning the ship set of down the Mississippi with pleasant skies. The ship was mostly made out of wood though some steel was used to save money. Secretary of the Treasury Ada Lovelace had declined to go along as she was too busy with her work and did not understand the need to go on this new ship. The president and the cabinet would mingle with voters and gain southern thoughts on what the president could do, the south was a key voting base in elections. There was food and drinks. The new ship was considered a success and president grant could not wait to provide federal funding to expand the new fleet of naval ships to travel up and down the Mississippi.
At 11am disaster struck; the new engine exploded sending flames licking though the vessel. It was revealed after the engines were in fact steam but pressure build up and overheating caused them to explode, the cabinet were lied to in order be impressed and to persuade them to give clout to the new ships. When the engines exploded fire ignited quickly spread as the ship listed hard throwing many into the alligator infected waters including the vice president who would perish first. Secretary of Defence Ely S. Parker and Secretary of home development John A. Roebling would also perish while trying to stop flooding after a secondary explosion. Florence Nightingale would stay with people for as long as she could helping them of the boat onto the nearby bank before a further list to port made her leave the ship as well. The president who was below deck at the time became trapped within a room under a fallen wooden beam as water gushed in, he too would perish. Half the cabinet, the president and vice president were dead. America began to panic but congress acted. The presidential succession act determined that the next person in line after the death of the president, the vice president and the senior members of the cabinet would be the Secretary of the treasury. That would be Ada Lovelace. The first women ascended to the office under tragedy but was determined to set out her own legacy, to change America . For beter or for worse.