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him to return to the steamboat business as captain of the
Mount.
For fourteen years the Mount Washington remained under
the command of Captain Blackstone and during this time she
was hauled out of the water and underwent one of her periodic
overhauling. In 1916, a new boiler was built at the railroad
shops in North. Billerica, Massachusetts, and installed
in the sturdy old steamboat.
Her popularity with the traveling tourist continued to
increase. Two untoward happenings occurred during these
years, both of which were of minor consequence.
The first incident, the damage to the paddlebox, already
mentioned, and the other, which was much discussed, but
not completely understood, occurred late in the season of
1910 when the Mount grounded on Little Mile Island. It was
here on a foggy Thursday morning that the Mount ran aground
on this small island. There was very little damage done,
but she was laid up for several days. A call was made to
the Boston and Maine Railroad offices In Boston. That evening
a wrecker and crew were sent out to the Mount from the Weirs.
The following morning work began.
In accordance with railroad custom the entire matter was
taken out of the hands of the captain, and all the next
day attempts were made to refloat the Mount by shifting
weights, jacking, towing, etc., but she didn't move an inch.
The following morning a barge was placed on either side
of the vessel opposite the forward gangway openings and
the timber was placed across the forward deck with its ends
extending over the barges. A chain was run under the keel
and its ends were made fast to the ends of the timber. Jacks
on the barges raised the timber six inches and the Mounts
engine was gently reversed. The steamer floated clear without
even a groan. This entire operation was not under that of
the railroad company but rather that of its captain. "It
was as simple as lifting the bow of a rowboat which has
been nosed up on the beach. You lift the bow from the sand
and the buoyancy of the water at the stern does the rest,
but I couldn't make those locomotive men see it." It
wasn't until Sunday that she was free to resume her schedule.
During the winter of 1895-96, the Mount Washington underwent
major repairs and was replanked at a reported cost of $42,000.
Again in 1914, repairs cost $11,000. In 1925, the New Hampshire
Public Service Commission ordered her out of the water for
more repairs.
From Edward H. Blackstone's book, Farewell Old Mount Washington,
her elates the final years under Captain Leander Lavallee.
"In the final years of the steamboat era the name
of Lavallee, which had long been associated with commercial
steamboating, loomed large in the last struggle of this
waning business against changing times.
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