Jim Kershner’s this day in history

From our archives, 100 years ago

Tragedy narrowly was averted in Wallace when a fire broke out in the Episcopal Church while 80 Sunday school students were in attendance.

The fire apparently began near the furnace in the basement. Smoke rolled up through the floor, alerting the Rev. Wilfred E. Roach and the Sunday school teachers to the danger.

Nobody panicked. The reverend and the other adults escorted the children out to the street “without confusion or injury.”

The fire broke through the floor and the walls shortly after the children made it to safety. The Wallace Fire Department raced to the scene. Despite the near-zero temperature, the firefighters managed to extinguish the fire, but not before the church was damaged heavily.

The “chancel end of the church, with the organ and furnishings, are practically a total loss, while the basement is flooded.”

The church was only about 4 years old. Arrangements were being made to hold Christmas services in some other church.

Also on this date

(From the Associated Press)

1864: During the Civil War, Union forces led by Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman concluded their “March to the Sea,” which had begun in Atlanta on Nov. 15 and ended with the capture of Savannah, Georgia.

1968: Apollo 8 was launched on a mission to orbit the moon.