It was a very calm night. No wind was blowing and the ground was free of ice and snow and the moon was shining brightly. It was a beautiful winter’s night, with no hint of tragedy. Communicants of the First Methodist Church and the Presbyterian Church were meeting for special entertainments.
At Music Hall on Park Avenue, a dance was in progress. In the basement of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, a few yards north of School One, members of the Mechanicville Retail Grocers’ Association were just sitting down to their banquet.