Congress is preparing a sweeping investigation into Prohibition as America's 'noble experiment' shows serious cracks. The House alcoholic liquor traffic committee voted unanimously to study prohibition's effects amid 'frequent charges that there was no material decrease in drinking under dry law enforcement and that the morals of the youth of the Nation were being corrupted.' Meanwhile, Chicago's gang warfare continues unabated — 'Little Italy' just claimed its 41st victim, a man known as 'Baldelli, the-Eagle,' found shot dead in an alley just one day after immigration raids supposedly cleaned up the area. President Coolidge is pushing Congress to slash government spending to offset a massive $387 million tax cut that he privately considers dangerously large, warning party leaders about 'running on too close financial margin.'

This front page captures America at a crossroads in 1926. Prohibition, meant to purify American society, is clearly failing — Congress itself is admitting the policy may be corrupting youth rather than saving them. Chicago's relentless gang violence shows how the ban on alcohol created a criminal empire that federal raids can barely dent. Meanwhile, the booming economy is generating so much tax revenue that politicians are cutting taxes by nearly $400 million while worrying about balancing budgets. It's the Roaring Twenties in full swing: prosperity, prohibition's contradictions, and the growing tension between America's moral ambitions and messy realities.

• A man applying to be a policeman was found murdered in a Chicago alley with his police application notice still in his clothing — showing how thoroughly crime had infiltrated even law enforcement aspirations.
• The weather forecast promised a high of 39 degrees, but there's an obvious OCR error listing the overnight low as '85 degrees' — it should read 25 degrees, given the morning low of 26.
• W. Clyde Martin built a community hall with his own money in Palmyra, Indiana, but is being put on church trial for being 'too worldly' because he allowed checkers and amateur plays — though he specifically banned dancing and card playing.
• Thousands of birds are starving to death in the snow-covered Northern states, with Massachusetts distributing free grain to rural mail carriers to help save them in what officials call 'the worst situation in years.'

• Senator Burton Wheeler is demanding an investigation into the Hungarian Minister allegedly paying a detective agency $20,000 to 'hound' Count Karolyi — about $340,000 today, showing the international intrigue swirling around American immigration policy.
• The tax bill cutting $387 million would be worth about $6.5 billion in today's money — a massive reduction that had President Coolidge genuinely worried about government finances despite the booming economy.
• Four Baltimore bandits just pulled off a $16,300 heist (about $275,000 today) from the Western Maryland Dairy Company payroll — dairy companies were major employers requiring armed guards for their cash-heavy operations.
• Tyroleans are cabling Senator Borah for help against Mussolini's threatened 'Fascist invasion' — Borah was already emerging as America's leading isolationist voice who would later oppose nearly every international agreement.
• The alcoholic liquor traffic committee had been 'virtually inactive' since Prohibition began, showing how the 18th Amendment had reorganized the entire structure of congressional oversight.