"Captain and Mrs. Lavallee usually lived aboard
the boat, but in the fall of 1939, having purchased
a home at The Weirs, had moved ashore.
"It was necessary to make certain repairs on the
boat which included the installation of a heavy timber
that supported the shaft of the paddle wheels on the
starboard side of the ship. It was decided that it would
be easier to do this work with the steamer moored to
the dock and the bow to the shore.
"On Dec. 23, 1939, work that had been in progress
for several weeks was nearly completed. Just after eight
o'clock in the evening, an over-heated stove in the
railroad station had started a fire. It was discovered
by Fred Moore, a local hotel owner who was passing.
He noted that the stove was filled high with coal, that
the door of the stove was open and that live coals had
fallen out and started a fire which was spreading rapidly.
He promptly notified the local fire department.
"The complex of railroad buildings, which included
station, souvenir shop, platforms and wharf were principally
hard pine construction and highly flammable.
"Firemen and apparatus from Lakeport and Laconia
joined the local fire company and about 5,000 feet of
hose was laid in eight lines, but the fire could not
be contained. Frantic workers broke away the inch-thick
ice which had formed about the ship, but it was impossible
to move her because of the lake had caused her to be
hard aground at the bow.
"Captain Lavallee made a prodigious effort to
reach his beloved and now-doomed ship, which he could
see burning, but his exertions and a weakened heart
caused him to have a fainting spell and he did not reach
the vicinity of the fire until near mid-night whenthe
flames finally died down.
"The following morning only smoking ruins and
blackened iron work told the sad story of the end of
a once reigning queen.
