noon
One of the keenest and oldest financiers in the city suddenly dropped dead , and a stampede started on the Stock Exchange . It was stayed in a little while , but meantime a number of men had been hard hit , and among these was Norman Wentworth . The papers next day announced the names of those who had suffered , and much space was given in one of them to the decline of the old firm of Wentworth & Son , whose history was almost contemporary with that of New York . By noon it was extensively rumored that Wentworth & Son would close their doors . The firm which had lasted for three generations , and whose name had been the synonym for honor and for philanthropy , which had stood as the type of the highest that can exist in commerce , would go down . Men spoke of it with a regret which did them honor -- hard men who rarely expressed regret for the losses of another . It was rumored , too , that Wickersham & Company must assign ; but this caused little surprise and less regret .