February 23 Thursday – Some historians see the bankruptcy on Feb. 23, 1893 of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad as the beginning of the Panic of 1893. Others point to a severe contraction on the N.Y. Stock Exchange which began on May 4. During the panic over 15,000 American businesses went under, some 500 banks failed, and by winter some eighteen percent of the work force was out of work. Kaplan writes, “One after another — the Erie in July, the Northern Pacific in August — the great railroads, more than seventy of them, were failing” [319]. It was the worst depression in the history of the country. The Panic would greatly affect Webster & Co. and Sam’s efforts, and bring a final death knell to the Paige typesetter. Kaplan, “Clemens’ publishing house, an unsound enterprise even in the most favoring business circumstances, had borrowed heavily and was clearly headed for ruin” [319]. It all began on this day with the failure of the Philly & Reading.