May 4 Thursday – The Panic of 1893 got into high (or maybe more appropriately, low) gear with a severe contraction of the New York Stock Exchange May 3 and 4. Financial reverses would worsen, ultimately forcing the downfall of Webster & Co., as well as the Paige typesetter. From the N.Y. Times, p.10, “Financial and Commercial”:

VERY NEARLY A PANIC ON THE NEW-YORK STOCK EXCHANGE

Wednesday, May 3 — P.M.

The nearest approach to a panic which the Stock Exchange has witnessed since 1884 occurred to-day. The excitement, however, was confined to the industrial group. …

The excitement centred in the industrials was so great that “panic” is the only word to describe it. The morning had been comparatively quiet, but by noon a free selling movement set in. Its full force, however, was not felt until after 2 o’clock, when quotations frequently declined more than a point between sales.

Thursday, May 4 — P.M.

The excitement in Stock Exchange circles was even greater to-day than yesterday. It was made most intense within twenty minutes of the opening by the announcement of the suspension of three Stock Exchange houses, one of them, Henry Allen & Co., being one of the heaviest operators on the Exchange. [Note: by May 15, stock prices reached an all-time low.]